Shimon Shkop
Encyclopedia
Shimon Yehuda Hakohen
Shkop (1860-October 22, 1939) was a rosh yeshiva
("dean") in the Yeshiva Shaar Hatorah
and in the Telshe yeshiva
and a renowned Talmud
ic scholar. He was born in Torez
in 1860. At the age of twelve he went to study in the Mir yeshiva
, and at fifteen he went to Volozhin yeshiva
where he studied six years. His teachers were the Netziv and Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik
, with whom he was very close.
and in 1885 was appointed to the Telz Yeshiva, where he remained for 18 years until 1903. While there, he developed a system of talmudic study which combined the logical analysis and penetrating insights of Rabbi Chaim Brisker with the simplicity and clarity of Rabbi Naphtali Zevi Yehudah Berlin (the Netziv) and which became known as the "Telz way of learning".
In 1903, he was appointed Rabbi of Moltsh, and in 1907 of Bransk
. A famous pupil of his in Moltsh was Rabbi Yechezkel Sarna
who studied under him for a year in 1906, before leaving to the Slabodka yeshiva
when Rabbi Shkop himself left. During World War I, the communal leaders urged him to leave before the Germans arrived, but he refused and stayed with his community.
, he succeeded Rabbi Alter Shmuelevitz as Rosh Yeshiva of the renowned Sha'ar HaTorah in Grodno. He raised the level of the institution and transformed it into one of the finest yeshivos
in Poland and beyond. Hundreds of young men flocked there from near and far. For many years, Rabbi Zelik Epstein
, who was married to a granddaughter of Rabbi Shkop, has headed a successor in Queens
. It is known as an exemplary institution. It was there that he taught Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz
, the Suvalker Rav.
As a young man of eighteen, Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz
was invited by Rabbi Shimon to give the third level lecture in the Yeshivah Ketanah in Grodno. At the age of 22, he headed a group of students who transferred from Grodno to Mir. However, his four years in Grodno with Rabbi Shimon had a profound influence on his approach to Talmudic analysis.
, he eventually acceded to Rabbi Bernard (Dov) Revel
's invitation to serve as a Rosh Yeshiva of Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan
(RIETS) in New York
. In his absence from Poland, he was greatly missed by Rabbis Yisrael Meir Kagan
and Chaim Ozer Grodzinski
, who pleaded with him to return. He also received a scathing letter from Rav Yeruchom Levovitz, the mashgiach of Mir, which, according to an eyewitness, he ignored. For family reasons, Rabbi Shkop chose to return to Europe in the fall of 1929.
of the Agudas Yisroel
. Many of his students attained distinction, among them Rabbis Elchonon Wasserman
of Baronovitch, Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman
of Ponevezh and Isser Yehuda Unterman
, a future Israeli Chief Rabbi. Dayan Michoel Fisher
of London was also a pupil of Rabbi Shkop.
Shkop formed close bonds with [the younger] Rabbi Yehuda Zev Segal, the future Manchester
Rosh Yeshiva. He would sometimes come to England to raise funds for his yeshiva, and Rabbi Segal took advantage of these opportunities to serve as his attendant, spending one vacation at Rabbi Shimon's summer resort, studying with him and accompanying him on his walks.
, Bava Metzia
, and Bava Basra were published posthumously in 1947 with a preface by his son, and on Nedarim, Gittin, and Kiddushin in 1952, and on Yevamos and Ketuvot
in 1957. Rabbi Shkop's Talmudic novellae are still studied in yeshivos throughout the world today.
Sha'arei Yosher is largely concerned with the intellectual principles by which the law is established, rather than with concrete laws, and is stylistically similar to the Shev Shema'tata
of Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller
, on which it was partly based.
and he himself died two days later on the 9th of Cheshvan
5700 (1939) in Grodno. Including his death, the Jewish people lost three Rabbis and Torah giants in 10 months: Harav Shimon Shkop, Harav Boruch Ber Leibowitz of Kamenitz and Harav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski
. He is buried in the Jewish cemetery in the Zaniemanski Forshtat section of Grodno.
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
Shkop (1860-October 22, 1939) was a 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...
("dean") in the Yeshiva Shaar Hatorah
Yeshiva Shaar Hatorah
Yeshiva Shaar Hatorah is a yeshiva in Queens, New York that includes a high school and a program for post-high-school-age men . The Yeshiva also awards Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Talmudic law.It was founded in 1974 by Rabbis Kalman Epstein and Sholom Spitz...
and in the Telshe yeshiva
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...
and 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....
ic scholar. He was born in Torez
Torez
Thorez is a city of oblast subordinance in Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine. Population - 72,346 . Most residents living here are working in the mine industry, although now declining...
in 1860. At the age of twelve he went to study in the Mir yeshiva
Mir yeshiva (Poland)
The Mir yeshiva , commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, was a Haredi yeshiva located in the town of Mir, Russian Empire...
, and at fifteen he went to Volozhin yeshiva
Volozhin yeshiva
The Volozhin Yeshiva, also known as Etz Chaim Yeshiva, was a prestigious Lithuanian yeshiva located in the town of Volozhin, Russia, . It was founded by Rabbi Chaim Itzkovitz, a student of the famed Vilna Gaon, and trained several generations of scholars, rabbis, and leaders...
where he studied six years. His teachers were the Netziv and Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik
Chaim Soloveitchik
Chaim Soloveitchik , also known as Reb Chaim Brisker, was a rabbi and Talmudic scholar credited as the founder of the popular Brisker approach to Talmudic study within Judaism. He was born in Volozhin in 1853, where his father, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik served as a lecturer in the famous...
, with whom he was very close.
Telz
Shkop married a niece of Rabbi Eliezer GordonEliezer Gordon
Eliezer Gordon also known as Reb Laizer Telzer, served as the Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of Telz, Lithuania.-Early years:...
and in 1885 was appointed to the Telz Yeshiva, where he remained for 18 years until 1903. While there, he developed a system of talmudic study which combined the logical analysis and penetrating insights of Rabbi Chaim Brisker with the simplicity and clarity of Rabbi Naphtali Zevi Yehudah Berlin (the Netziv) and which became known as the "Telz way of learning".
In 1903, he was appointed Rabbi of Moltsh, and in 1907 of Bransk
Bransk
Brańsk is an Urban Gmina in Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is located north-eastern Poland.-Etymology:The name of the town comes from the river Bronka, a nearby tributary of the Nurzec River.-Location:...
. A famous pupil of his in Moltsh was Rabbi 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...
who studied under him for a year in 1906, before leaving to the Slabodka yeshiva
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...
when Rabbi Shkop himself left. During World War I, the communal leaders urged him to leave before the Germans arrived, but he refused and stayed with his community.
Grodno
Between 1920 and 1939, at the request of Rabbi Chaim Ozer GrodzinskiChaim Ozer Grodzinski
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski was a pre-eminent Av beis din , posek , and Talmudic scholar in Vilnius, Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
, he succeeded Rabbi Alter Shmuelevitz as Rosh Yeshiva of the renowned Sha'ar HaTorah in Grodno. He raised the level of the institution and transformed it into one of the finest yeshivos
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 Poland and beyond. Hundreds of young men flocked there from near and far. For many years, Rabbi Zelik Epstein
Zelik Epstein
Zelik Epstein, also known as Zelig Epstein , was a prominent Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Shaar HaTorah-Grodno, a private, Talmudical institution in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York, containing a high school, Beis Midrash, and Kollel...
, who was married to a granddaughter of Rabbi Shkop, has headed a successor in Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
. It is known as an exemplary institution. It was there that he taught Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz
Dovid Lifshitz
Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz was a distinguished Rosh yeshiva in the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary for almost fifty years. He was appointed upon the invitation of Rabbi Samuel Belkin in 1944. He was also known as the "Suvalker Rav", due to his previous position as the Rabbi of the European...
, the Suvalker Rav.
As a young man of eighteen, Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz
Chaim Shmuelevitz
Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz, , was a member of the faculty of the Mirrer Yeshiva for more than 40 years, in Poland, Shanghai and Jerusalem, serving as Rosh yeshiva during its sojourn in Shanghai from 1941 to 1947, and again in the Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem from 1965 to 1979...
was invited by Rabbi Shimon to give the third level lecture in the Yeshivah Ketanah in Grodno. At the age of 22, he headed a group of students who transferred from Grodno to Mir. However, his four years in Grodno with Rabbi Shimon had a profound influence on his approach to Talmudic analysis.
Yeshiva University
In 1928 Shkop traveled to the United States in order to raise much needed funds for the Yeshiva. After delivering a lecture at Yeshiva UniversityYeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
, he eventually acceded to Rabbi Bernard (Dov) Revel
Bernard Revel
Bernard Revel was an Orthodox rabbi and scholar. He served as the first President of Yeshiva College from 1915 until his death in 1940...
's invitation to serve as a Rosh Yeshiva of Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University, located in Washington Heights, New York. It is named after Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, who died the year it was founded, 1896...
(RIETS) 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...
. In his absence from Poland, he was greatly missed by Rabbis Yisrael Meir Kagan
Yisrael Meir Kagan
Yisrael Meir Poupko , known popularly as The Chofetz Chaim, was an influential Eastern European rabbi, Halakhist, posek, and ethicist whose works continue to be widely influential in Jewish life...
and Chaim Ozer Grodzinski
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski was a pre-eminent Av beis din , posek , and Talmudic scholar in Vilnius, Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
, who pleaded with him to return. He also received a scathing letter from Rav Yeruchom Levovitz, the mashgiach of Mir, which, according to an eyewitness, he ignored. For family reasons, Rabbi Shkop chose to return to Europe in the fall of 1929.
Character and personality
Shkop had a winning personality. He was an active member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorahMoetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah refers to the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of any of several related Haredi Jewish organizations....
of the Agudas Yisroel
World Agudath Israel
World Agudath Israel , usually known as the Aguda, was established in the early twentieth century as the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism, in succession to Agudas Shlumei Emunei Yisroel...
. Many of his students attained distinction, among them Rabbis Elchonon Wasserman
Elchonon Wasserman
Elchonon Wasserman was a prominent rabbi and rosh yeshiva in pre-World War II Europe. He was one of the Chofetz Chaim's closest disciples and a noted Torah scholar.-Biography:...
of Baronovitch, 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 :...
of Ponevezh and Isser Yehuda Unterman
Isser Yehuda Unterman
Rabbi Isser Yehuda Unterman was the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1964 until 1972.Born in Brest-Litovsk in modern Belarus, Unterman was educated at the Etz Chaim Yeshiva in Maltsch. There, he became a pupil of its Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Shimon Shkop...
, a future Israeli Chief Rabbi. Dayan Michoel Fisher
Michoel Fisher
Dayan Michoel Fisher was a distinguished Orthodox rabbi, orator and exceptional Talmudic scholar, with complete mental mastery of the entire Talmud.-Early years:...
of London was also a pupil of Rabbi Shkop.
Shkop formed close bonds with [the younger] Rabbi Yehuda Zev Segal, the future Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
Rosh Yeshiva. He would sometimes come to England to raise funds for his yeshiva, and Rabbi Segal took advantage of these opportunities to serve as his attendant, spending one vacation at Rabbi Shimon's summer resort, studying with him and accompanying him on his walks.
Major works
He published his classic essay titled Sha'arei Yosher (The Gates of Honesty) in 1925 and Ma'arekhet ha-Kinyanim in 1936. Novellae on the Talmud tractates Bava KammaBava Kamma
Bava Kamma is the first of a series of three Talmudic tractates in the order Nezikin that deal with civil matters such as damages and torts...
, Bava Metzia
Bava Metzia
Bava Metzia is the second of the first three Talmudic tractates in the order of Nezikin , the other two being Bava Kamma and Bava Batra. Originally all three formed a single tractate called Nezikin , each Bava being a Part or subdivision...
, and Bava Basra were published posthumously in 1947 with a preface by his son, and on Nedarim, Gittin, and Kiddushin in 1952, and on Yevamos and Ketuvot
Nashim
Nashim is the third order of the Mishnah , containing the laws related to women and family life...
in 1957. Rabbi Shkop's Talmudic novellae are still studied in yeshivos throughout the world today.
Sha'arei Yosher is largely concerned with the intellectual principles by which the law is established, rather than with concrete laws, and is stylistically similar to the Shev Shema'tata
Shev Shema'tata
Shev Shema'tata , sometimes pronounced Shev Shmaytsa, is a work on Talmudic logic and methodology by R. Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller...
of Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller
Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller
Aryeh Leib Heller-Kahane was a Rabbi, Talmudist, and Halachist in Galicia. He was known as "the Ketzos" based on his greatest work, Ketzot Hachoshen, קצות החושן.-Biography:...
, on which it was partly based.
Death
As the Russian army was about to enter Grodno during World War II, he ordered his students to flee to VilnaVilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
and he himself died two days later on the 9th of Cheshvan
Cheshvan
Marcheshvan , sometimes shortened to Cheshvan , is the second month of the civil year and the eighth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew...
5700 (1939) in Grodno. Including his death, the Jewish people lost three Rabbis and Torah giants in 10 months: Harav Shimon Shkop, Harav Boruch Ber Leibowitz of Kamenitz and Harav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski was a pre-eminent Av beis din , posek , and Talmudic scholar in Vilnius, Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
. He is buried in the Jewish cemetery in the Zaniemanski Forshtat section of Grodno.