Shimon Yehuda Shkop ( he, שמעון שקופ; 1860 – October 22, 1939) was a

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 ...

(dean) of the Yeshiva of Telshe and then of Yeshiva Shaar HaTorah of

Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...

, and a

Talmid Chacham ''Talmid Chakham'' is an honorific title which is given to a man who is well versed in Jewish law, i. e., a Torah scholar. Originally he, תלמיד חכמים ''Talmid Chakhamim'', lit., "student of sages", pl. תלמידי חכמים ''talmid ...

(

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 ce ...

ic scholar).

Early life

Shkop was born in

Torez Chystiakove ( uk, Чистякове, ), formerly Torez ( uk, Торез), is a city of regional significance in the Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine. The city is a center of the regional coal industry and much of its economy relies on mining industr ...

, today in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

, in 1860. At the age of twelve he went to study in the Mir Yeshiva for two years. He then traveled to the Volozhin yeshiva where he studied with

Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (20 November 1816 in Mir, Russia – 10 August 1893 in Warsaw, Poland), also known as Reb Hirsch Leib Berlin, and commonly known by the acronym Netziv, was an Orthodox rabbi, '' Rosh yeshiva'' (dean) of the Volozhin ...

for six years. His study partners included Chaim Ozer Grodzinski.

Telz and Grodno

Shkop married a niece of Eliezer Gordon, and in 1884 was appointed a rosh mesivta at Telz Yeshiva, where he remained for 18 years. While there, he developed a system of Talmudic study which became known as the "Telz way of learning." In 1903, he became

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

of Moltsh, and in 1907 of Bransk. Among his students in Moltsh was Yechezkel Sarna, who studied under Shkop for a year in 1906, before leaving to the Slabodka yeshiva when Shkop himself left. Reb Chaim Ozer

From 1920 to 1939 he was Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva Sha'ar HaTorah in

Yeshiva University

In 1928, Shkop traveled to the United States in order to raise funds for the Yeshiva. After delivering a lecture at

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

, he became Rosh Yeshiva of

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS ) is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (YU). It is located along Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Named after Yitzchak Elchanan ...

in New York. In 1929, Shkop returned to Europe.

Students

His students included: * Michoel Fisher * Yisrael Zev Gustman * Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman * Shmuel Rozovsky * Isser Yehuda Unterman * Elchonon Wasserman

Major works

*''Sha'arei Yosher'' (1925) *''Ma'arekhet ha-Kinyanim'' (1936) *Novellae on tractates

Bava Kamma Bava Kamma ( tmr, בָּבָא קַמָּא, translit=Bāḇā Qammā, translation=The First Gate) is the first of a series of three Talmudic tractates in the order Nezikin ("Damages") that deal with civil matters such as damages and torts. The o ...

Bava Metzia Bava Metzia (Talmudic Aramaic: בָּבָא מְצִיעָא, "The Middle Gate") is the second of the first three Talmudic tractates in the order of Nezikin ("Damages"), the other two being Bava Kamma and Bava Batra. Originally all three formed ...

, and Bava Basra (1947) *Novellae on

Nedarim In Judaism, a neder (נדר, plural ''nedarim'') is a kind of vow or oath. The neder may consist of performing some act in the future (either once or regularly) or abstaining from a particular type of activity of the person's choice. The concept o ...

Gittin Gittin (Hebrew: ) is a tractate of the Mishnah and the Talmud, and is part of the order of Nashim. The content of the tractate primarily deals with the legal provisions related to halakhic divorce, in particular, the laws relating to the ''Get'' ...

, and Kiddushin (1952) *Novellae on Yevamos and Ketuvot (1957) ''Sha'arei Yosher'' is largely concerned with the intellectual principles by which the law is established, rather than with concrete laws, and is stylistically similar to the

Shev Shema'tata Shev Shema'tata ( he, שב שמעתתא), most commonly pronounced Shev Shmaytsa or ''Shev Shmaisa'', is a work on Talmudic logic and methodology by R. Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller. The name of the book is Aramaic, and means "seven passages". It c ...

of Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller, on which it was partly based.

Death

As the Russian army was about to enter Grodno during World War II, Shkop ordered his students to flee to

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...

. He himself died two days later, on the 9th of

Cheshvan Marcheshvan ( he, מַרְחֶשְׁוָן, Standard , Tiberian ; from Akkadian , literally, 'eighth month'), sometimes shortened to Cheshvan (, Standard Tiberian ), is the second month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei), and the e ...

5700 (1939) in Grodno. Shkop is buried in the Jewish cemetery in the Zaniemanski Forshtat section of Grodno.

References

External links

Shaarei Yosher Vol 1 with commentaries, Jerusalem, 5770, Harav Daniel Meir Assayag

Shaarei Yosher Vol 2 with commentaries, Jerusalem, 5772, Harav Daniel Meir Assayag

Introduction to Sha'arei Yosher
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shkop, Shimon 1860 births 1939 deaths Kohanim writers of Rabbinic literature Haredi rabbis in Europe Lithuanian Haredi rabbis Rosh yeshivas Yeshiva University rosh yeshivas Belarusian Jews Rabbis from Grodno Mir Yeshiva alumni