Rabbi Naftoli Trop was the 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 Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim

Radun Yeshiva

Raduń Yeshiva, originally located in Raduń, Poland , was established by the Chofetz Chaim in 1869.-Origins:In 1869 when the Chofetz Chaim returned from Vashilyshok to Raduń his first action was to establish a group to whom he could spread the knowledge of Torah...

 in Raduń

Radun

Radun is a township in Belarus, in the Voranava district, Hrodna Voblast.It is famous for being the home of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, known as the Chofetz Chaim, and his Raduń Yeshiva....

, 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...

. He was a renowned Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

ist and Talmid Chacham

Talmid Chacham

Talmid Chacham is an honorific title given to one well versed in Jewish law, in effect, a Torah scholar....

.

Early years

He was born in Grodno, where he studied with his father, Rabbi Moshe Trop, who was Rosh yeshiva of a local yeshiva. At 14, he left to learn in Kelm

Kelm Talmud Torah

The Kelm Talmud Torah was a famous yeshiva in pre-holocaust Kelmė, Lithuania. Unlike other yeshivas, the Talmud Torah focused primarily on the study of Musar and self-improvement.-Under the Leadership of Simcha Zissel Ziv:...

, where his study partner for ten years was Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz

Yerucham Levovitz

Rabbi Yeruchom Halevi Levovitz , also known by his hundreds of students simply as The Mashgiach, was a famous mashgiach ruchani and baal mussar at the Mir yeshiva in Poland....

, who went on to become mashgiach

Mashgiach ruchani

Mashgiach ruchani or mashgiach for short, means a spiritual supervisor or guide. It is a title which usually refers to a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.The position of mashgiach ruchani arose with the...

 of the Mir yeshiva

Mir yeshiva

Mir Yeshiva or Mirrer Yeshiva may refer to:* Mir yeshiva * Mir yeshiva * Mir yeshiva...

. Rabbi Trop proceeded to briefly study in Slabodka

Slabodka yeshiva

Hebron Yeshiva, also known as Yeshivas Hevron, or Knesses Yisroel, and originally as Slabodka Yeshiva, is known colloquially as the "mother of yeshivas" and was devoted to high=level study of the Talmud. The yeshiva was located in the Lithuanian town of Slabodka, adjacent to Kovno , now...

 and Telz

Telshe yeshiva

Telshe yeshiva was a famous Eastern European yeshiva founded in the Lithuanian town of Telšiai. After World War II the yeshiva relocated to Wickliffe, Ohio, in the United States and is currently known as the Rabbinical College of Telshe, It is one of the most prominent Haredi institutions of Torah...

, where he became close to Rabbi Eliezer Gordon

Eliezer Gordon

Eliezer Gordon also known as Reb Laizer Telzer, served as the Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of Telz, Lithuania.-Early years:...

. He learned for a short time in the Novardok yeshiva

Novardok yeshiva

The Novardok yeshiva in Navahrudak, then the Russian Empire, was one of the biggest and most important yeshivas in pre-World War II Europe, and a powerful force within the Mussar movement. The yeshiva was established in 1896, together with a Kollel for married men, under the direction of Rabbi...

 in Slonim

Slonim

Slonim is a city in Hrodna Voblast, Belarus, capital of the Slonim District. It is located at the junction of the Shchara and Isa rivers, 143 km southeast of Hrodna. The population in 2008 was 50,800.-Etymology and historical names:...

, where he formed a close relationship with the Alter of Novardok, Rabbi Yosef Yozel Horwitz. In 1889, Rabbi Trop returned to Slabodka, when Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak (Itzele) Rabinowitz was appointed Rosh yeshiva. He became a close pupil of the latter.

At the age of twenty-one, Rabbi Trop became engaged to the daughter of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel. However, she died a few months before the wedding. In 1895, Rabbi Trop married Pesya Leah, the daughter of the well-known Rabbi Eliezer Yaakov Chavas of Yanishok

Joniškis

Joniškis is a city in northern Lithuania with a population of about 11,150. It is located 40 kilometers north of Šiauliai and 14 kilometers south of the Lithuania–Latvia border...

. Shortly after the wedding, he returned to Kelm where he joined a large group of outstanding young married scholars. He was greatly influenced by the mussar movement

Mussar movement

The Musar movement is a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Eastern Europe, particularly among Orthodox Lithuanian Jews. The Hebrew term Musar , is from the book of Proverbs 1:2 meaning instruction, discipline, or conduct...

 approach he chiefly absorbed in Kelm, but also in Slobodka and by means of his contact with Rabbi Horowitz in Slonim. After four years of studying in Kelm, Rabbi Trop was appointed rosh yeshiva of the Or HaChaim yeshiva in Slabodka, by its founder Rabbi Tzvi (Hirshel) Levitan.

Radin

In 1903, by invitation of the Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Trop replaced Rabbi Moshe Landinski as Rosh yeshiva in Raduń, where he remained for the rest of his life and had a major impact. Among his students in Radin were Rabbis Dovid Leibowitz

Dovid Leibowitz

Dovid Leibowitz was a leading rabbi and disciple of prewar Europe's Slabodka Yeshiva in Lithuania who went on to found the Rabbinical Seminary of America as its first Rosh yeshiva in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, New York...

, Yechezkel Sarna

Yechezkel Sarna

Rabbi Yechezkel Sarna was the successor to Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the Alter of Slabodka, as the spiritual mentor of that Yeshiva. He moved it from Europe to Hebron in 1925 and following the Hebron Massacre of 1929 to Jerusalem. In 1934 he assumed the position of Rosh Yeshiva...

 and Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman

Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman

Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman , יוסף שלמה כהנמן, was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Ponevezh yeshiva. He was a renowned Torah and Talmudic scholar.- Biography :...

. Rabbi Kahaneman studied under Rabbi Trop for over five years in Radin and was effusive in his teacher's praises.

Family

Rabbi Trop's wife Pesya Leah contracted typhus and died in 1920. His oldest son Avraham also served as a Rosh yeshiva in Radin until the outbreak of 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...

. He immigrated to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, where he became Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim in New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, and was later Rosh yeshiva of Karlin-Stolin

Karlin (Hasidic Dynasty)

Karlin-Stolin is a Hasidic dynasty originating with Rebbe Aaron the Great of Karlin in present-day Belarus. Karlin was one of the first centres of Hasidim to be set up in Lithuania....

. He settled in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 a year before he died in 1978.

Rabbi Trop's second son Reuven immigrated to Palestine with the group of Slobodka students who founded the Knesses Yisroel yeshiva in Chevron

Hebron

Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...

 and later headed the yishuv yeshiva. Rabbi Trop's oldest daughter Toiba married Rabbi Yehoshua Eizek Kaminetsky, one of Radin's finest students, also known as "Eizekel Kobriner". He and his family were murdered by the Nazis.

His second daughter Feige married the brilliant Rabbi Boruch Yosef Feivelson, who succeeded Rabbi Trop as Rosh yeshiva of Radin, but died only four years after his appointment.

Works

• Chiddushei ha-Granat, a series of 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...
  
   published in 1989.
• In 1942 Rabbi Trop's lectures on Nedarim were published, having been exactingly prepared by Rabbi C. M. Luban in the United States.
• In 1985 Rabbi Moshe Drayen of Jerusalem published additional methodical editions of Rabbi Trop's discourses.

Rabbi Trop's works are now mainstays in yeshivas worldwide.