Yitzchak Blazer (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: יצחק בלאזר) ‎(1837–1907) was an early important leader of the

Musar movement The Musar movement (also Mussar movement) is a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Lithuania, particularly among Orthodox Lithuanian Jews. The Hebrew term (), is adopted from the Book of Proverbs (1 ...

. He is also sometimes referred to as Rav Itzele Peterburger due to his position as Chief Rabbi of

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

at a time when it was the capital of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Background

Rav Yitzchak Blazer was a student of Rabbi

Yisroel Salanter Yisrael ben Ze'ev Wolf Lipkin, also known as "Israel Salanter" or "Yisroel Salanter" (November 3, 1809, Zhagory – February 2, 1883, Königsberg), was the father of the Musar movement in Orthodox Judaism and a famed Rosh yeshiva and Talmudist. ...

, founder of the Musar movement, under whose direction, despite his relatively young age (25) he was appointed Chief Rabbi of St. Petersburg.

Accomplishments

Among Blazer's accomplishments, in addition to his own authorship of ''Pri Yitzchak'', a

halakhic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

responsa text, was the publishing of many of Salanter's letters in ''Or Yisrael'' ("The Light of Israel"), as well as articles on Musar,

Teshuvah Repentance ( he, תשובה, literally, "return", pronounced ''tshuva'' or ''teshuva'') is one element of atoning for sin in Judaism. Judaism recognizes that everybody sins on occasion, but that people can stop or minimize those occasions in th ...

, and the life of his teacher, Rav Yisrael Salanter. He also authored ''Kochvei Ohr''. From 1880 to approximately 1891, he served as the head of the Kovno Kollel in

Kaunas 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 ...

, which was founded by Salanter. Under Blazer's direction, the kollel came to be "considered by its contemporaries as a bastion of the

Mussar movement The Musar movement (also Mussar movement) is a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Lithuania, particularly among Orthodox Lithuanian Jews. The Hebrew term (), is adopted from the Book of Proverbs (1 ...

," a Jewish ethical movement based in Lithuania within the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, and was attacked by the

's opponents. He later joined Nosson Tzvi Finkel in leading the

Slabodka Yeshiva Slabodka yeshiva may refer to: * Hebron Yeshiva, a branch of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Hebron, relocated afterward to Jerusalem * Slabodka yeshiva (Bnei Brak), a branch of the Slabodka yeshiva in Bnei Brak * Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael (Slabodka) Ye ...

. Rabbi

Yosef Yozel Horwitz Yosef Yozel Horowitz ( he, יוסף יוזל הורוביץ), also Yosef Yoizel Hurwitz, known as the Alter of Novardok (1847–December 9, 1919), was a student of Rabbi Yisroel Salanter, the founder of the Musar movement. Horowitz was also a stude ...

was one of the primary pupils of Rabbi Blazer.

Later years

In 1904 he emigrated to Jerusalem, where Rav

Shmuel Salant Shmuel Salant ( he, שמואל סלנט; January 2, 1816 – August 16, 1909) served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem for almost 70 years. He was a renowned Talmudist and Torah scholar. Early life Shmuel Salant was born in Białysto ...

was Chief Rabbi; during Rav Itzele's last three years they worked together on several communal and charitable projects. Rav Blazer died on 11 Av 5667 (1907).

Personal ''Anivus''

In keeping with his teacher's ideas and ideals, his acts of personal ''Anivus'' (humility) included: * worked as a painter until stopped by Rav Salanter. * worked as a clerk during his last three years of life, rather than take communal funds. * wrote that he was not to be given a formal eulogy.

References

External links

R' Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff on Yitzchak Blazer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blazer, Yitzchak 1907 deaths 19th-century rabbis from the Russian Empire Musar movement 1837 births Rabbis from Kaunas