Yeruchom Levovitz

Rav Yeruchom Levovitz ( he, ירוחם ליוואוויץ; ca. 1875-1936), also known by his hundreds of students simply as The Mashgiach, was a famous mashgiach ruchani and baal mussar (Jewish Ethics) at the Mir yeshiva in Belarus.

Early life

Maran Yeruchom Levovitz was born in 1875 (5635 in the Jewish calendar) in Lyuban, Minsk Voblast, Belarus (near Slutsk) to Avraham and Chasya Levovitz. He received his education in the yeshivas of Slobodka and Kelm.Rabbis who came from Lyuban
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He was a disciple of Nosson Tzvi Finkel, and Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv of Kelm.

Mir Yeshiva

R' Yeruchom was the spiritual leader of the Mir Yeshiva in Belarus until his death in 1936. His disciples were said to have followed his every word, never doing anything that they "felt" he would not want them to do. Most of the leaders of the yeshivas of inter-war Poland were Levovits's disciples. They would come on occasion to visit him and seek his advice.

After World War II, much of orthodox Jewry in Europe was wiped out, along with their many yeshivas (Jewish schools of higher learning). One of the only yeshivas to survive as a whole body was the Mir Yeshiva, which managed to escape to Shanghai, China, and then on to America.

Disciples

Some of R' Yeruchom's better known disciples include Simcha Zissel Halevi Levovitz, Avrohom Levovitz, Chaim Shmulevitz, Dovid Povarsky, Isser Yehuda Malin, Aryeh Leib Malin, Abba Berman, Zelik Epstein, Shimon Schwab, Shlomo Wolbe, Zeidel Smiatcky, Aryeh Leib Bakst, Chaim Wysoker, Binyomin Zeilberger, Nachum Patrovitz.

His many discourses and lectures are preserved for posterity in the following sefarim: "Daas Torah," "Daas Chochma U'Mussar," "Shvivai Daas," and "Sifsai Daas on Pirkei Avos" which are a staple of many yeshiva libraries today, as well as many Orthodox Jewish households.

He died on the 18th of Sivan in the year 1936 at the age of sixty-three. He is buried in the town of Mir, Belarus. His grave site (recently rebuilt by his family) is a common destination for the many Jewish tourists who visit the decimated cities of pre-war eastern Europe.

Rebuilding in America

Most of R' Yeruchom's family escaped the Nazis and made it to America where they were pioneers of the rebuilding of Orthodox Jewry in the United States. His son, Rav Simcha Zissel Halevi Levovitz, was the founder of a yeshiva in Boro Park, Brooklyn, and was responsible for publishing the writings of his father, as well as publishing the writings of Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, the Alter of Kelm. His son-in-law Rav Yisroel Chaim Kaplan, former rosh yeshiva in Brisk, Lithuania, came to America and served as rosh yeshiva in Beth Medrash Elyon in Monsey, NY. Ten of his talmidim convened to open Yeshivas Beis HaTalmud. Reb Leib Maalin served as the rosh yeshiva until his passing when the leadership of the yeshiva was passed to Chaim Wysoker. After R' Chaim's passing, many other Rabbanim tried becoming Rosh Yeshiva, resulting in Rabbi Katz, a Patterson talmid, being there today.

Rav Yeruchom - the Light of the Torah World

Although we are living in dark times, Hashem, in His kindness created beacons of light for us throughout our long exile. If not for these lights, it would be impossible to navigate our way through the darkness.
Rav Yeruchom Halevi Levovitz zt”l, the Mirrer Mashgiach, was one of those beacons of light. He lived right before World War II and the destruction of European Jewry, one of the darkest times in Jewish history. He was a Heaven-sent messenger to illuminate the darkness by disseminating with profound wisdom the Toras Ha’mussar that he had acquired from his illustrious Rebbeim of Kelm.
Students came from all corners of the world, and all walks of life, to benefit under Rav Yeruchom’s tutelage and to bask in his light. His deep understanding of the human spirit built and inspired thousands of talmidim, each in a personalized way. In fact, many of his students became the Roshei Yeshivos and Rebbeim of the Post World War II generation.
Rav Yeruchom – The Light of the Torah World is more than just a biography. It’s an inspiring, life-altering, and eye-opening book that reveals the heights a human being can strive for, and the eternal guidance of the Mirrer Mashgiach, whose impact on the Torah world is still felt today.

To purchase this life-altering book, go t
JudaicaPress.com

References

at www.famousrabbis.com
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070702132043/http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/archives5760/bechukosai/features.htm Wolff Rosengarten

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levovitz, Yeruchem
Haredi rabbis in Europe
Mashgiach ruchani
1873 births
1936 deaths
Musar movement
Lithuanian Haredi rabbis
Mir mashgiach ruchanis
People from Mir, Belarus