Dov Berish Weidenfeld
Encyclopedia
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
of Tshebin (Trzebinia
Trzebinia
Trzebinia is a town in Chrzanów County, Lesser Poland, Poland with an Orlen oil refinery and a major rail junction of the Kraków - Katowice line that connections to Oświęcim and Spytkowice.-History:...
), Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
spent his final years in Jerusalem. His principal work of Jewish law is titled "Dovev Meisharim".
Dov Berish was born in Hrimlov, Galicia (now Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) on 5 January 1881 (5 Shvat 5641 in the Jewish calendar) to his father Jacob 'Yekele' Weidenfeld, rabbi of the town and author of the responsa Kochav miYaakov.
With Reb Yekele's passing shortly before Beirish's Bar Mitzvah, the delicate task of raising a new prodigy fell to his widow - herself renowned for her genius and wit (she wrote a great number of her husband's responsa on dictation) and to her two older sons: Reb Yitzchak, who replaced his late father as Rav of Rimlov, and Reb Nachum, Rav of Dombrovo and author of the Chazon Nachum, and later celebrated as a great posek in his own right.
By age 19 Reb Beirish entered by marriage into the illustrious family of Rav Yisroel Yoseif HaCharif of Tshebin. Since he did not want any rabbinic post, his wife administered a modest coal business, while he continued his single-minded pursuit of Torah study, amassing knowledge of phenomenal breadth and scope. Nonetheless, the avalanche of requests from varied kehillos
Kehilla
The Qahal was a theocratic organisational structure in ancient Israelite society, according to the Masoretic Text of the Bible. In later centuries, Qahal was the name of the autonomous governments of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe....
that he lead them as their Rav continued, and his friend, Reb Meir Arik
Meir Arik
Rabbi Meir Arik is a famous Galician Torah scholar.Rabbi Arik was so highly respected by the leading Rabbis of his generation, that following the death of Rabbi Schwadron, the Belzer Rov directed all halachik questions to Rabbi Arik in his place.He was the posek of the Galician town Buchach Rabbi...
, prayed that his business fail so that Klal Yisrael
Klal Yisrael
Klal Yisrael is an expression developed since the 1880s among Orthodox Jews of the Hibbat Zion movement to describe and promote a sense of shared community and destiny among all Jews, in Palestine, in the diaspora, and later in Israel and the USA...
not be deprived of his leadership. For twenty years, this Tshebiner ba'al habayis (layman) - already renowned as the "Gaon of Tshebin" - was consulted by leading rabbanim with whom he maintained a vigorous correspondence; still he remained deaf to all rabbinical offers. However, due to his love of learning and teaching, he would commute daily to and from [Cracow] to say shiur
Shiur
Shiur is a lesson on any Torah topic, such as Gemara, Mishnah, halakha, Tanakh, etc.-History:The shiur has been a primary method of teaching since Mishnaic times. In a famous Talmudic passage, Rabbi Judah haNasi averred that he gained his sharp mind from watching Rabbi Meir deliver the shiur...
im to the local bachurim after business hours.
He carefully collected copies of these responsa
Responsa
Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
, amassing enough material to publish ten volumes. In 1937 he succeeded in producing the first and only sefer every printed in Tshebin, entitled Doveiv Meishorim - the other nine volumes were never published.
His noted son-in-law, his successor as rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
of Kochav MiYaakov, and a noted gaon and author in his own right, Rabbi Baruch Shimon Schneersohn relates: Upon republishing these responsa some 26 years after they were written, he included the Rav's subsequent handwritten glosses to the first edition. He found not one correction, only additional proofs to those very answers originally written without as much as a Gemara
Gemara
The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
.
The Tshebiner Rav's picture, along with those of the Rebbeim of Ger
Ger (Hasidic dynasty)
Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish name of Góra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland....
and Belz
Belz
Belz , a small city in the Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, is located between the Solokiya river and the Rzeczyca stream....
, had appeared in the venomous tabloid Der Sturmer
Der Stürmer
Der Stürmer was a weekly tabloid-format Nazi newspaper published by Julius Streicher from 1923 to the end of World War II in 1945, with brief suspensions in publication due to legal difficulties. It was a significant part of the Nazi propaganda machinery and was vehemently anti-Semitic...
, his caption reading: "The world's greatest Talmudist." Realizing that he was a target for elimination, he fled, crossing the Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
border and entering Lvov (Lemberg). Communist authorities were carrying out their systematic erasure of religious life, and the gaon of Tshebin, along with his wife, youngest daughter and thousands of other Jews, were deported to Siberia, arriving in Sverdelovsk, Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, in late 1940.
The Tshebiner Rav arrived on Erev Pesach, 1946, in Jerusalem, which he was to call home for the rest of his life. He was soon recognized as one of the leaders of Chareidi Jewry in the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
and served as a leading member of the Council of Sages
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah refers to the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of any of several related Haredi Jewish organizations....
of Agudas Yisroel
Agudas Yisroel
Agudas Yisroel may refer to:* World Agudath Israel, the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism* Agudat Israel, the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel...
.
He established the Kochav miYaakov Yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
in Jerusalem, first in the Shaarei Chesed neighborhood and later in a purpose-built building in Tel Arza
Tel Arza
Tel Arza is a Hareidi neighborhood in northern Jerusalem. It is bordered by Ezrat Torah on the north and west, Golda Meir Blvd. on the East, and Bar Ilan St. and Yirmiyahu St...
.
He passed away on the fourth of Cheshvan, 5726, 70 minutes before Shabbos. He was intered on Har HaMenuchot
Har HaMenuchot
Har HaMenuchot is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel. It is located at the western edge of the city adjacent to the neighborhood of Givat Shaul, with commanding views of Mevaseret Zion to the north, Motza to the west, and Har Nof to the south.-History:...
.