Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman (2 July 1868 – 1 June 1953) was a renowned
Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
Shmuel Yitzchak (English: Samuel Isaac) Hillman was born in
Kovno
Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...
,
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, the son of Paya Rivka and Avraham Chaim Hillman. In his youth, he studied
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
under his uncles, Rabbi Mordechai Hillman,
av beth din
The ''av beit din'' ( ''ʾabh bêth dîn'', "chief of the court" or "chief justice"), also spelled ''av beis din'' or ''abh beth din'' and abbreviated ABD (), was the second-highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period, ...
of Pasvatin, and Rabbi Noach Yaakov Hillman of Pasval. After his marriage, he studied intensively by himself in the house of his father-in-law, Rabbi Yitzchak Hirsch in the town of Franks in Kurland.
Rabbi Hillman received
semicha
Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination.
The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 C ...
Volozhin
Valozhyn, Vałožyn or Volozhin ( be, Вало́жын, , russian: Воло́жин, lt, Valažinas, pl, Wołożyn, yi, וואָלאָזשין ''Volozhin''; also written as Wolozin and Wolozhin) is a town in the Minsk Region of Belarus. The pop ...
Ridvaz
Rabbi Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky (February 7, 1845 – October 2, 1913), known by the acronym Ridvaz or Ridbaz, was a renowned rabbi, Talmudic commentator and educator.
Biography
Wilovsky was born in Kobrin, Russia on February 7, 1845.
Wilovsky held ...
of Slutsk.
In 1897, when Rabbi Hillman was 29 years old, he became rabbi and head of the Beth Din of
Berazino
Byerazino ( be, Беразіно́, Bierazino), or Berezino (russian: Березино́, pl, Berezyna, lt, Berezinas), also known as Biarezan (Бярэзань, yi, בערעזין, Berezin), is a town on the Berezina River in Minsk Region of ...
in the Minsk Region of then-Russia, an old and distinguished community that had been graced with many great rabbis in the past. In 1908, he was appointed rabbi in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, serving and founding the
Beth Din
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...
there until 1914, when he was appointed a dayan of the
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
Beth Din.
After retiring from the London Beth Din in 1934, Dayan Hillman settled in Jerusalem, devoting himself to study and writing. He co-founded the Jerusalem yeshiva ''Ohel Torah'' together with his son-in-law Chief Rabbi of IsraelYitzhak HaLevi Herzog, and served as its
rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
.
His grandson
Chaim Herzog
Major-General Chaim Herzog ( he, חיים הרצוג; 17 September 1918 – 17 April 1997) was an Irish-born Israeli politician, general, lawyer and author who served as the sixth President of Israel between 1983 and 1993. Born in Belfast and ...
, and great-grandson
Isaac Herzog
Isaac "Bougie" Herzog ( he, יצחק "בוז׳י" הרצוג, Yitskhak "Buzhi" Hertsog; born 22 September 1960) is an Israeli politician who has been serving as the 11th president of Israel since 2021. He is the first president to be born in ...
both served as Presidents of the State of Israel.
Lineage
Rabbi Hillman was a descendant of his namesake Rabbi Shmuel Hillman (Helman), the Av Beth Din of
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...
, who is mentioned in the introduction to the
responsa
''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...
''Noda Bihudah''. On his mother's side, he was a descendant of Rabbi Michal Datnover, who was known in his time as an exceptional scholar and Kabbalist. His mother, Faya Hillman, moved to Hebron after the death of her husband. She survived the
1929 Hebron massacre
The Hebron massacre refers to the killing of sixty-seven or sixty-nine Jews on 24 August 1929 in Hebron, then part of Mandatory Palestine, by Arabs incited to violence by rumors that Jews were planning to seize control of the Temple Mount in ...
by laying still amid the bodies of victims. A photograph of her laying wounded in a hospital bed appears in the book ''TARPAT Hebron'' with the caption "Faya Hillman, mother of the rabbi from London." Both she and her son were mentioned by descendant President Isaac Herzog during a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony.
In addition, Rabbi Hillman was a direct sixth-generation descendant of the author of ''Knesses Yechezkel'', who was the Av Beth Din of Altona,
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
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, postal ...
Katzenellenbogen The surname Katzenellenbogen originated in the Rhineland, Germany. The surname is derived from the County of Katzenelnbogen and the Castle Katzenelnbogen. The origin of the name may come from Chatti Melibokus. Chatti Melibokus is an old tribe who ...
family, and could trace his lineage back to the Maharam (Rabbi Meir ben Isaac) of
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
Rabbi Hillman died in Jerusalem in 1953. Thousands of people followed his funeral through the streets of Jerusalem, among them Cabinet ministers, Members of the Knesset, and leading rabbis and rosh yeshivas. Dayan Hillman's death caused deep sorrow in Jerusalem, where he was greatly beloved.
Eulogies were delivered by the deceased's son-in-law Chief Rabbi Herzog, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer (with whom Dayan Hillman learned with in the Volozhin yeshiva), the Minister of Religious Affairs Mr Moshe Shapira, and others. He was survived by his wife; his daughter Sarah, the wife of Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog; and his son David Hillman, a London artist.
Soon after Dayan Hillman died, a memorial service was held in London, where Chief Rabbi
Israel Brodie
Sir Israel Brodie (10 May 1895 – 13 February 1979) was the Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth 1948–1965.
Biography
He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. He served as a Rabbi of Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Australi ...
and Dayan Yehezkel Abramsky spoke, full of praise, respect and admiration for the deceased. Dayan Lazarus, Dayan Grunfeld, Dayan Grossnass and Rabbi Isidore Epstein were among those in attendance.
Works
Dayan Hillman authored many scholarly works, including a 20-volume commentary on every tractate of the Babylonian and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
Taharos
''Tohorot'' (Hebrew: טָהֳרוֹת, literally "Purities") is the sixth and last order of the Mishnah (also of the Tosefta and Talmud). This order deals with the clean/unclean distinction and family purity. This is the longest of the orders in t ...
Sifra
Sifra (Aramaic: סִפְרָא) is the Halakhic midrash to the Book of Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim", a ...
, entitled ''Or Hayashar'' (London, Jerusalem). He also published novellae on the
Arakhin Arakhin (Arachin, עֲרָכִין) ( ows of thevalues f people is the fifth Talmud, tractate in the Order of Kodashim (Holy of Holies, holies). It deals mostly with the details of the laws in ,
Chapters
Chapters 1–6 (based on ) deal with ...
and Temura—all in the Order of Kodshim—and responsa on all four sections of the
Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Is ...
.
References
Sources
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Jewish Chronicle
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...