Slabodka yeshiva
Encyclopedia
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...
s" and was devoted to high=level study of the 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....
. The yeshiva was located in the Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n town of Slabodka, adjacent to Kovno (Kaunas)
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
, now Vilijampolė
Vilijampole
Vilijampolė is an elderate in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania, located on the right bank of the Neris River and the Nemunas River, near their confluence. The elderate covers 1,720 hectares and houses about 32,000 people....
, a suburb of Kaunas. It functioned from the late 19th century until World War II.
Origins
From the second half of the 19th century, Kovno became a center of Jewish cultural activity in Lithuania. Prominent there were Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan SpektorYitzchak Elchanan Spektor
Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor was a Russian rabbi, Posek and Talmudic sage of the 19th century.- Early struggles :...
(the "Kovner Rav"; officiated 1864-96); Abraham Mapu
Abraham Mapu
Abraham Mapu was a Lithuanian-born Hebrew novelist of the Haskalah movement. His novels later served as a basis for the Zionist movement.-Biography:...
, one of the first modern Hebrew writers; and Israel Isidor Elyashev
Israel Isidor Elyashev
Dr. Israel Isidor Elyashev was a Jewish neurologist and the first Yiddish literary critic.He introduced the world to the works of the great contemporary Yiddish classical writers: Sholem Rabinovich, better known as Sholem Aleichem, Mendele Mocher Sefarim, Isaac Leib Peretz and Nachum Sokolov;...
, the "Ba'al Makhshoves", the first Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
literary critic. The yeshivot of Slobodka, in particular the Or HaChaim yeshivah founded by Tzvi Levitan about 1863, attracted students from other countries and were headed by noted scholars. Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, also known as "Der Alter fun Slabodka" (The Elder of Slabodka), introduced Musar
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...
ideals there. Headed by 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...
Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein
Moshe Mordechai Epstein
Moshe Mordechai Epstein was Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Knesseth Yisrael in Slabodka, Lithuania and is recognized as having been one of the leading Talmudists of the twentieth century.-Childhood:...
, the Alter's yeshiva was known as the Slobodka yeshivah from 1881. Subsequently there was opposition among the students to the Musar method, and in 1897 the yeshivah was divided into two. The followers of Musar established the Knesses Yisrael yeshivah, named after Rabbi Yisroel Salanter, while its opponents founded the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshivah, named after Rabbi Spektor.
Relocation to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. The Alter sent Rabbi Avraham Grodzinski
Avraham Grodzinski
Rabbi Avraham Grodzinski was a Haredi Rabbi born in 1883 in Warsaw, Poland and died in 1944 in Kovna, Lithuania. He is best known for being the primary disciple of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the "Alter of Slabodka", serving as the Mashgiach Ruchani of the Slabodka yeshiva, and for authoring a book...
to head this group and establish the yeshiva in Hebron
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...
. Upon Grodzinski's return to Slabodka, the Alter transferred the mashgiach ruchani
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...
responsibilities to him, and the rosh yeshiva duties to Rabbi Yitzchok Isaac Sher, and himself moved to Hebron to lead the yeshiva there. Hebron was chosen over Jerusalem to avoid the influence of the Conservative Old Yishuv
Old Yishuv
The Old Yishuv refers to the Jewish community that lived in the Land of Israel from the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE to the First Aliyah in 1881-82, prior to the onset of Zionist immigration....
. The Slabodka yeshiva ceased operation during the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
. A branch was also established in Bnei Brak.
1929 Hebron massacre
Twenty-four students were murdered in the 1929 Hebron massacre1929 Hebron massacre
The Hebron massacre refers to the killing of sixty-seven Jews on 23 and 24 August 1929 in Hebron, then part of the British Mandate of Palestine, by Arabs incited to violence by rumors that Jews were massacring Arabs in Jerusalem and seizing control of Muslim holy places...
, and the yeshiva was re-established in the Geula
Geula
Geula is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, Israel populated mainly by Haredi Jews. Geula is bordered by Zikhron Moshe and Mekor Baruch on the west, the Bukharim neighborhood on the north, Meah Shearim on the east and the Jerusalem city center on the south.-History:Geula was established in...
neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Despite a delay after the death of Rabbi Moshe Hebroni, the last of the previous generation, the yeshiva moved into a new and larger campus in the south-central Givat Mordechai
Givat Mordechai
Givat Mordechai, is a Jewish neighborhood in southwest-central Jerusalem, Israel, midway between the neighborhoods of Nayot and Malcha. The neighborhood was named after an American philanthropist, Maxwell Abbell of Chicago...
neighbourhood in 1975.
Prominent alumni
- Meyer AbovitzMeyer AbovitzMeyer Abovitz was a Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva active in Mizrachi in Eastern Europe between the Two World Wars....
, av beis din in Russia - Yehuda AmitalYehuda AmitalYehuda Amital was an Orthodox rabbi, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion and a former member of the Israeli cabinet.-Biography:Amital was born in Oradea in Romania. When Germany occupied the area in 1944, the Nazis sent his entire family to Auschwitz where they were killed. Amital was sent to...
, rosh yeshiva, Yeshivat Har EtzionYeshivat Har EtzionYeshivat Har Etzion, ', commonly known as "Gush," is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, a community in Gush Etzion in the West Bank, near Jerusalem, Israel. With a student body of 484, it is one of the largest hesder yeshivas in Israel... - Yechezkel Abramsky, av beis din, London Beth DinLondon Beth DinThe London Beth Din is the Ashkenazi Beth Din of the United Synagogue, the largest Ashkenazi synagogal body in London, England. In its capacity as Court of the Chief Rabbi, it is historically the supreme halakhic Authority for Mitnagdim Ashkenazim several Commonwealth countries and additionally is...
- Zvi Block, Talmudic instructor, Mir yeshiva (Brooklyn)Mir yeshiva (Brooklyn)The Mir yeshiva , commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, is officially registered with the College Board as the Mirrer Yeshiva Central Institute. It is a prominent, Haredi yeshiva located in Brooklyn, New York known for its excellence in talmudic studies.Its long-time Rosh Yeshiva was...
- David CohenDavid Cohen (rabbi)David Cohen was a rabbi, talmudist, philosopher, and kabbalist. A noted Jewish ascetic, he took a Nazirite vow after making aliyah to Israel.-Biography:...
- Yisroel Zvi Yoir DanzigerAleksander (Hasidic dynasty)The Aleksander chasidic movement flourished in Poland from 1880 until it was largely destroyed by Nazi Germany during World War II.Now nearly extinct, the Aleksander Hasidim were the second largest Hasidic group in pre-Holocaust Poland.Between the world wars, Hasidic Jews from all over flocked to...
, of Aleksander - Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi, rosh yeshiva, Yeshiva Ateres Yisrael, Jerusalem
- Tzvi Hirsch FerberTzvi Hirsch FerberRabbi Tzvi Hirsch Ferber was a renowned Talmudic and Torah scholar, gifted orator, prolific author and tireless community builder...
, rabbi in SohoSohoSoho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
, London - Shlomo GorenShlomo GorenShlomo Goren , was an Orthodox Religious Zionist rabbi in Israel who founded and served as the first head of the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces and subsequently as the third Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983.He served in the Israel Defense Forces during three wars,...
, AshkenaziAshkenazi JewsAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
Chief Rabbi of IsraelChief Rabbinate of IsraelThe Chief Rabbinate of Israel is recognized by law as the supreme halakhic and spiritual authority for the Jewish people in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate Council assists the two chief rabbis, who alternate in its presidency. It has legal and administrative authority to organize religious... - Avraham GrodzinskiAvraham GrodzinskiRabbi Avraham Grodzinski was a Haredi Rabbi born in 1883 in Warsaw, Poland and died in 1944 in Kovna, Lithuania. He is best known for being the primary disciple of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the "Alter of Slabodka", serving as the Mashgiach Ruchani of the Slabodka yeshiva, and for authoring a book...
, mashgiach ruchani, Slabodka yeshiva - Reuven Grozovsky, rosh yeshiva, Yeshiva Torah VodaasYeshiva Torah VodaasYeshiva Torah Vodaas is a yeshiva located in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.- History :...
- Yitzchok HutnerYitzchok HutnerYitzchok Hutner was an Orthodox rabbi and American rosh yeshiva.-Early years:Yitchok Hutner was born in Warsaw, Poland, to a family with both Ger Hasidic and non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jewish roots. As a child he received private instruction in Torah and Talmud...
, rosh yeshiva, Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim BerlinYeshiva Rabbi Chaim BerlinYeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin or Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, is a Haredi Lithuanian-type yeshiva located in Brooklyn, New York. Established in 1904 as Yeshiva Tiferes Bachurim, it is the oldest yeshiva in Kings County... - Meyer JuzintMeyer JuzintMeyer Juzint, . Rabbi Meyer Juzint was a talmudic scholar and faculty member of the Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago, and the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, IL.-Biography:...
, American Talmudic scholar - Yaakov KamenetskyYaakov KamenetskyRabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky , was a prominent rosh yeshiva, posek and Talmudist in the post-World War II American Jewish community....
, rosh yeshiva, Yeshiva Torah Vodaas - Avraham Elya KaplanAvrohom Eliyahu KaplanAvrohom Eliyahu Kaplan was a prominent Orthodox rabbi. He was born in Kėdainiai, a town in the Kaunas County in Lithuania. He was born an orphan, and named Avrohom Elya for his deceased father, who had died suddenly at the age of 33 several months before his son's birth...
, rosh yeshiva, Hildesheimer Rabbinical SeminaryHildesheimer Rabbinical SeminaryThe Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary was founded in Berlin on 22 October 1873 by Rabbi Dr. Azriel Hildesheimer for the training of rabbis in the tradition of Orthodox Judaism.-History:... - Aharon KotlerAharon KotlerAharon Kotler was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania, and later the United States, where he built Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.- Early life :...
, rosh yeshiva, Beth Medrash GovohaBeth Medrash GovohaBeth Medrash Govoha is a Haredi yeshiva located in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. It is commonly known as BMG, or Lakewood Yeshiva.... - Shneur KotlerShneur KotlerYosef Chaim Shneur Kotler was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey from 1962 to 1982. During his tenure, he developed the Lithuanian-style, Haredi but non-Hasidic yeshiva into the largest post-graduate Torah institution in the world...
, rosh yeshiva, Beth Medrash Govoha - Yeruchom Levovitz, mashgiach ruchani, Mir yeshiva (Belarus)
- Dovid LeibowitzDovid LeibowitzDovid 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...
, rosh yeshiva, Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen - Saul LiebermanSaul LiebermanSaul Lieberman , also known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or The Gra"sh , was a rabbi and a scholar of Talmud...
, professor of Talmud, Jewish Theological Seminary of AmericaJewish Theological Seminary of AmericaThe Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A... - Avigdor MillerAvigdor MillerRabbi Avigdor Miller was a Haredi rabbi, author and lecturer in the United States. He served simultaneously as a communal rabbi and as the mashgiach ruchani of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and as a teacher in Beis Yaakov for many years.-Biography:Rabbi Miller was born in 1908 in Baltimore...
, mashgiach ruchani, Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, and community rabbi - Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, rosh yeshiva, Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, Baltimore
- Yechezkel SarnaYechezkel SarnaRabbi 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...
, rosh yeshiva, Slabodka yeshiva - Dov Schwartzman, rosh yeshiva, Yeshivas Beis HaTalmud
- Elazar ShachElazar ShachElazar Menachem Man Shach also spelt Eliezer Schach, was a leading Lithuanian-born and educated Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. He also served as one of three co-deans of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak along with Rabbis Shmuel Rozovsky and Dovid Povarsky...
, rosh yeshiva, Ponovezh yeshiva - Avraham ShapiraAvraham ShapiraAvraham Elkanah Kahana Shapira was a prominent rabbi in the Religious Zionist world. Shapira had been the head of the Rabbinical court of Jerusalem, and both a member and the head of the Supreme Rabbinic Court. He served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1983 to 1993...
, rosh yeshiva, Mercaz HaRavMercaz haRavMercaz HaRav , more properly, Mercaz HaRav Kook ), is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1924 by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. It has become synonymous with his teachings.... - Moshe ShatzkesMoshe ShatzkesMoshe Shatzkes was a renowned rabbi, Talmudic scholar and noted genius, commonly known as the "Lomzshe/Łomża Rov". He was one of the pre-eminent Roshei Yeshiva and one of the greatest rabbis in all of Poland...
, Polish-born rabbi and rosh yeshiva, Yeshivas Grodno - Zalman SorotzkinZalman SorotzkinZalman Sorotzkin was a famous Orthodox rabbi. He is also known as the "Lutzker Rav", as he served as the Rabbi of Lutsk, Poland....
, Polish-born rabbi - Selig StarrSelig StarrRabbi Selig Starr born Zelig Starobinski was a 20th century talmudic scholar in Poland, Chicago and Jerusalem...
, Talmudic instructor, Hebrew Theological CollegeHebrew Theological CollegeThe Hebrew Theological College, known as "Skokie Yeshiva," is a Yeshiva in Skokie, Illinois which also functions as a private university on campus. The primary focus of the Yeshiva is to teach Torah and Jewish traditions... - Naftoli TropNaftoli TropRabbi Naftoli Trop was the Rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim in Raduń, Poland. He was a renowned Talmudist and Talmid Chacham.-Early years:...
, rosh yeshiva, Raduń YeshivaRadun YeshivaRaduń 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... - Yechiel Yaakov WeinbergYechiel Yaakov WeinbergRabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg was a noted European Orthodox rabbi, posek and rosh yeshiva. He is best known as author of the work of responsa Seridei Eish....
, rosh yeshiva, Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary - Harry Austryn WolfsonHarry Austryn WolfsonHarry Austryn Wolfson was a scholar, philosopher, and historian at Harvard University, the first chairman of a Judaic Studies Center in the United States...
, Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
scholar - Nissan Yablonsky, rosh yeshiva, Hebrew Theological College