Yitzchak Yaacov Reines
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Yitzchak Yaacov Reines ( he, יצחק יעקב ריינס, Isaac Jacob Reines), (October 27, 1839 – August 20, 1915) was a Lithuanian
Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
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 of ...
and the founder of the Mizrachi
Religious Zionist Movement Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...
, one of the earliest movements of
Religious Zionism Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, Romanization of Hebrew, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religiou ...
, as well as a correspondent of
Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern p ...
.


Biography

Yitzchak Yaacov Reines, a descendant of
Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen (c. 1482 – 12 January 1565) (also, Meir of Padua, or Maharam Padua, he, מאיר בן יצחק קצנלנבויגן) was a German rabbi born in Katzenelnbogen. Biography Meïr ben Isaac, who was often called afte ...
,Neil Rosenstein ''The Unbroken Chain: Biographical Sketches and Genealogy of Illustrious Jewish Families from the 15th-20th Century'' Volume 1 & 2:C.I.S. Publishers, The Computer Center for Jewish Genealogy, Elizabeth, NJ, 1990. . was born in Karolin (now a part of
Pinsk Pinsk ( be, Пі́нск; russian: Пи́нск ; Polish: Pińsk; ) is a city located in the Brest Region of Belarus, in the Polesia region, at the confluence of the Pina River and the Pripyat River. The region was known as the Marsh of Pinsk a ...
,
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 R ...
). He studied at Eishistok “Kolel Prushim” and earned at the
Volozhin Yeshiva Yeshivas Etz Ḥayyim (), commonly called the Volozhin Yeshiva (), was a prestigious Lithuanian ''yeshiva'' located in the town of Volozhin, Russian Empire (now Valozhyn, Belarus). It was founded around 1803 by Rabbi Ḥayyim Volozhiner, a stude ...
before becoming the rabbi of Saukenai, Lithuania in 1867. He then served as rabbi in Svencionys, where in 1882 he founded a yeshiva with a curriculum that included secular subjects. He also founded a modern yeshiva in
Lida Lida ( be, Лі́да ; russian: Ли́да ; lt, Lyda; lv, Ļida; pl, Lida ; yi, לידע, Lyde) is a city 168 km (104 mi) west of Minsk in western Belarus in Grodno Region. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuani ...
which attracted many students from throughout Russia. He named the yeshiva Torah Vedaas. Reines wrote many books on
rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...
. Reines developed a rational approach to
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 ...
study in his ''Hotem Toknit'' a new plan for a modernized, logical method of studying the Talmud. He was one of the rabbis and representative Jews who assembled in St. Petersburg in 1882 to consider plans for the improvement of the moral and material condition of the Jews in Russia, and there he proposed the substitution of his method for the one prevalent in the yeshivot. His proposition being rejected, he founded a new
yeshivah A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are stud ...
in which his plans were to be carried out. It provided a ten years’ course, during which the student was to acquire the rabbinical knowledge necessary for ordination as a rabbi, and at the same time secure the secular education required in a government rabbi. Although the plan to supply Russian-speaking rabbis agreed in principle with the aims of the Russian government, there was so much Jewish opposition to his yeshivah that it was closed by the authorities after an existence of four years; all further attempts of Reines to reestablish it failed. He was instrumental in the establishment of the first “
kollel A kollel ( he, כולל, , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim (lectures) and learning ''sedarim'' (sessions); ...
” perushim, for the purpose of subsidizing young married men studying for the rabbinate, under Rabbi
Yitzchak Blazer Yitzchak Blazer (Hebrew: יצחק בלאזר) ‎(1837–1907) was an early important leader of the Musar movement. He is also sometimes referred to as Rav Itzele Peterburger due to his position as Chief Rabbi of St. Petersburg at a time when i ...
. In 1870, while rabbi of Lida, his son, Moses was born. Moses Reines was the author of Jewish historical materials for the history of Jewish culture in Russia and for a history of the yeshivot in Russia. Moses died in Lida on March 7, 1891.


Zionist activism

He was a member of the
Hovevei Zion Hovevei Zion ( he, חובבי ציון, lit. ''hose who areLovers of Zion''), also known as Hibbat Zion ( he, חיבת ציון), refers to a variety of organizations which were founded in 1881 in response to the Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian ...
movement from its inception. Reines joined Rabbi
Samuel Mohilever Samuel Mohilever (1824 – 1898), also Shmuel Mohilever, was a rabbi, pioneer of Religious Zionism and one of the founders of the Hovevei Zion movement. Biography Mohilever was born in Głębokie (now Hlybokaye, Belarus) and studied in the Voloz ...
in proposing, ca. 1893, a
Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
settlement that would synthesize Torah and labor. Mohilever coined the phrase, "Mercaz Ruchani" (religious center), abbreviated as "Mizrachi." Although the settlement did not succeed, Reines revived the Mizrachi name in 1901, for a new religious Zionist movement he founded.
Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern p ...
recognized the need for rabbis to support the new Zionist movement, and Reines was one of the first rabbis to answer Herzl's call to become part of the movement. As such, Reines attended the Third Zionist Congress in 1899. At the fifth Zionist congress (1901 in Basel), the Swiss and radical student faction threatened to turn the movement in a direction which would lead away from religion. In contrast, Reines’ religious Zionism faction became the strongest branch of the Zionist organization in Russia. He supported the
British Uganda Program The Uganda Scheme was a proposal presented at the Sixth World Zionist Congress in Basel in 1903 by Zionism founder Theodor Herzl to create a Jewish homeland in a portion of British East Africa. He presented it as a temporary refuge for Jews to ...
as a temporary measure to save Jews.Herzl and the Rabbis
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
Most of his eastern and western European rabbinical colleagues remained opposed to political Zionism. In 1902, Reines published a book, ("A New Light on Zion"). In it, he made a call to a Zionist Judaism for all Jews, one that included economic productivity and training, and a renewal of Jewish thought, emotion, and action. He believed that, whereas medieval Jews saw God's hand in nature, contemporary Jews see God's hand in history - especially surviving the exile to return to modern Zion. He commissioned Ze'ev Yaavetz to write an appropriate work on Jewish history to use in education. The same year, he organized a conference of the religious Zionist movement in Vilna, where the Mizrachi movement was founded. He was recognized as the movement's leader at its founding convention in Pressburg (today's
Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
,
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
) in 1902. In 1905, Reines accomplished his own personal dream, with the establishment of a yeshiva in Lida where both secular and religious subjects were taught. Reines was succeeded by Judah Leib Fishman, a preacher (''maggid'') and rabbi who met Rabbi Reines in 1900 and took part in the movement's founding conference in Vilna. He participated in the second and subsequent Zionist congresses and was a member of the Zionist General Council. Fishman, who changed his name to
Yehuda Leib Maimon Yehuda Leib Maimon ( he, יהודה לייב מימון, 11 December 1875 – 10 July 1962, also known as Yehuda Leib HaCohen Maimon) was an Israeli rabbi, politician and leader of the Religious Zionist movement. He was Israel's first Minist ...
, settled in the Land of Israel in 1913, and would eventually become the first Minister of Religious Affairs of the modern state of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.


Published works

*Reines, Isaac Jacob. ... Yitshak Ya`akov Reines. Avraham Dov Ber Reines. Pp. viii, 343. (New York, 1926). *Reines, Isaac Jacob. , pp. 515. (Jerusalem: Mosad ha-Rav Kook, c. 2000). * Notes on of his father-in-law (Vilna, 1866) * on testimony (ib. 1872) * on Haggadah and Midrash (ib. 1886) * on Halakah (ib. 1887) * - eulogies and funeral sermons (ib. 1891) * (ib. 1896) * (with a preface explaining Zionism from the Orthodox point of view) * - a refutation of the arguments which are advanced by the Haredim against Zionism (ib. 1902).


References


Further reading

*Maimon, Judah Leib. . Pp. 24. Yerushalayim: Defus Salomon, 694
933 or 1934 Year 933 (Roman numerals, CMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Hugh of Italy, Hugh of Provence, king of Kingdom of Italy ...
*Bath Yehudah, Geulah. . Pp. 370. Yerushalayim: Mosad ha-Rav Kuk, c1985. *Aryeh Strikovski, . Pp. 45. , 759, 1999. *Shapira, Joseph, Hagut, (Tel Aviv: 2002). *Yosef Lindell, "Beacon of Renewal: The Educational Philosophy of the Lida Yeshiva in the Context of Rabbi Isaac Jacob Reines' Approach to Zionism," ''Modern Judaism'', 29,2 (2009), 268–294.


External links


Jewish Encyclopedia entry on Reines
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reines, Yitzchak Yaacov 1839 births 1915 deaths Clergy from Pinsk Belarusian Orthodox rabbis Religious Zionist rosh yeshivas 19th-century Lithuanian rabbis 20th-century Russian rabbis Religious Zionism Hovevei Zion