Yitzchak Yaacov Reines
Encyclopedia
Yitzchak Yaacov Reines יצחק יעקב ריינס (Isaac Jacob Reines), (1839-1915) was a Lithuanian
Orthodox
rabbi
and the founder of the Mizrachi
Religious Zionist Movement.
, was born in Karolin (now a part of Pinsk
, Belarus
). He studied at Eishistok “Kolel Prushim” and semikhah at the Volozhin Yeshiva
before becoming the rabbi of Saukenai, Lithuania, from 1867.
He was then rabbi in Svencionys, where in 1882 he founded a yeshiva with a curriculum that included secular subjects, from 1869, and Lida, (now in Belarus) from 1885 until his death. He also founded a modern yeshiva in Lida which attracted many students from throughout Russia. He named the yeshiva Torah Vodaas.
Reines wrote many books on rabbinic literature. Reines developed a rational approach to Talmud study in his “Hotem Toknit” Mainz
, 1880; vol. ii, Presburg, 1881) 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 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. But 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 yeshibah 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
” perushim, for the purpose of subsidizing young married men studying for the rabbinate, under Rabbi Yitzchak Blazer
.
His son, Moses was born at Lida (where his father R. Isaac Jacob Reines, was rabbi) in 1870; died there March 7, 1891. Moses Reines was the author of Jewish historical materials for the history of Jewish culture in Russia and for a history of the yeshibot in Russia.
movement from its inception, Rabbi Yitzhak Reines joined Rabbi Samuel Mohilever
in proposing settlement that Torah and labor. Mohilever coined the phrase: the Mercaz Ruchani (religious center) or in short Mizrachi. Ten years later, when Rabbi Reines was looking for a good name for a religious Zionist movement, he adopted the name.
Theodor Herzl
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, he attended the Third Zionist Congress (1899).
While most of his eastern and western European rabbinical colleagues remained opposed to political Zionism, in 1902 Reines published a book, Or Hadash al Tzion ("[A] New Light on Zion") which presents a call to a Zionist Judaism including a call to all include all Jews, economic productivity and training, and a renewed Judaism in thought, emotion, and action.
He believed that whereas medieval Jews saw the Divine hand in nature, contemporary Jews see the Divine hand in history especially surviving the exile to return to modern Zion. He commissioned Zev Yaavetz to write an appropriate Jewish history work to use for 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
, Slovakia
) in 1904.
In 1905, Reines accomplished his own personal dream, with the establishment of a yeshiva in Lida where both secular and religious subjects were taught.
At the fifth Zionist congress, the Swiss and radical student faction threatened to turn the movement in a direction which would lead away from religion. In contrast, Reines’ Mizrahi branch became the strongest branch of the Zionist organization in Russia.
He supported the British Uganda Program
as temporary measure to save Jews.
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 Maimon, settled in Israel in 1913.
Besides the above-mentioned work Reines published: notes on the ’Edut bi-Yehoshef of his father-in-law (Wilna, 1866); ’Edut be-Ya’akob on testimony (ib., 1872); Sha’are Orah on Haggadah and Midrash (ib. 1886); Orim Gedolim on Halakah (ib. 1887); Nod shel Dema’oteulogies or funeral sermons (ib. 1891); Or Shib’at ha-Yamim (ib, 1896); Orah we-Shimhah (with a preface explaining Zionism from the Orthodox point of view); Or hadash ‘al Ziyyon , a refutation of the arguments which are advanced by the ultra-Orthodox against Zionism (ib. 1902).
Lithuanian Jews
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks are Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania:...
Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rabbi
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...
and the founder of the Mizrachi
Mizrachi (Religious Zionism)
The Mizrachi is the name of the religious Zionist organization founded in 1902 in Vilnius at a world conference of religious Zionists called by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaacov Reines. Bnei Akiva, which was founded in 1929, is the youth movement associated with Mizrachi...
Religious Zionist Movement.
Life
Reines, a descendant of Saul WahlSaul Wahl
Saul Wahl was a wealthy and politically influential Polish Jew. According to legend, he was king of Poland for a single day, August 18, 1587...
, was born in Karolin (now a part of Pinsk
Pinsk
Pinsk , a town in Belarus, in the Polesia region, traversed by the river Pripyat, at the confluence of the Strumen and Pina rivers. The region was known as the Marsh of Pinsk. It is a fertile agricultural center. It lies south-west of Minsk. The population is about 130,000...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
). He studied at Eishistok “Kolel Prushim” and semikhah at the 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...
before becoming the rabbi of Saukenai, Lithuania, from 1867.
He was then rabbi in Svencionys, where in 1882 he founded a yeshiva with a curriculum that included secular subjects, from 1869, and Lida, (now in Belarus) from 1885 until his death. He also founded a modern yeshiva in Lida which attracted many students from throughout Russia. He named the yeshiva Torah Vodaas.
Reines wrote many books on rabbinic literature. Reines developed a rational approach to Talmud study in his “Hotem Toknit” Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, 1880; vol. ii, Presburg, 1881) 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 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. But 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 yeshibah 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
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
” perushim, for the purpose of subsidizing young married men studying for the rabbinate, under Rabbi Yitzchak Blazer
Yitzchak Blazer
Yitzchak Blazer , also known as Reb Itzelle Peterburger, was one of the early leaders of the Musar movement, a Jewish ethical movement based in Lithuania. He was a student of the founder of the movement, Yisrael Salanter, and was responsible for publishing many of Salanter's letters in Or Yisrael...
.
His son, Moses was born at Lida (where his father R. Isaac Jacob Reines, was rabbi) in 1870; died there March 7, 1891. Moses Reines was the author of Jewish historical materials for the history of Jewish culture in Russia and for a history of the yeshibot in Russia.
Zionism
He was a member of the Hovevei ZionHovevei Zion
Hovevei Zion , also known as Hibbat Zion , refers to organizations that are now considered the forerunners and foundation-builders of modern Zionism....
movement from its inception, Rabbi Yitzhak Reines joined Rabbi Samuel Mohilever
Samuel Mohilever
Samuel Mohilever , also Shmuel Mohilever, was a rabbi, pioneer of Religious Zionism and one of the founders of the Hovevei Zion movement.Mohilever was born in Głębokie and studied in the Volozhin yeshiva....
in proposing settlement that Torah and labor. Mohilever coined the phrase: the Mercaz Ruchani (religious center) or in short Mizrachi. Ten years later, when Rabbi Reines was looking for a good name for a religious Zionist movement, he adopted the name.
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl , born Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl was an Ashkenazi Jew Austro-Hungarian journalist and the father of modern political Zionism and in effect the State of Israel.-Early life:...
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, he attended the Third Zionist Congress (1899).
While most of his eastern and western European rabbinical colleagues remained opposed to political Zionism, in 1902 Reines published a book, Or Hadash al Tzion ("[A] New Light on Zion") which presents a call to a Zionist Judaism including a call to all include all Jews, economic productivity and training, and a renewed Judaism in thought, emotion, and action.
He believed that whereas medieval Jews saw the Divine hand in nature, contemporary Jews see the Divine hand in history especially surviving the exile to return to modern Zion. He commissioned Zev Yaavetz to write an appropriate Jewish history work to use for 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
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
) in 1904.
In 1905, Reines accomplished his own personal dream, with the establishment of a yeshiva in Lida where both secular and religious subjects were taught.
At the fifth Zionist congress, the Swiss and radical student faction threatened to turn the movement in a direction which would lead away from religion. In contrast, Reines’ Mizrahi branch became the strongest branch of the Zionist organization in Russia.
He supported the British Uganda Program
British Uganda Program
The British Uganda Programme was a plan to give a portion of British East Africa to the Jewish people as a homeland.-History:The offer was first made by British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain to Theodore Herzl's Zionist group in 1903. He offered of the Mau Plateau in what is today Kenya...
as temporary measure to save Jews.
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 Maimon, settled in Israel in 1913.
Works and references
- Reines, Isaac Jacob. Sefer ha-`arakhim. `Arakhim `arukhim, be-derekh ha-hegyoni veha-mehkar ha-pilosofi `al ha-adam veha-teva`, `al ha-dat veha-le'om, `al Yisra'el ve-tikvotav, `al Erets-Yisra'el ve-binyanah ve-`al kol ha-`inyanim ha `omdim be-rum ha-`olam ha-enoshi veha-Yisre`eli me-et ... Yitshak Ya`akov Reines. Mesudar li-defus ve-yotse la-or mi-tokh ketav-yad `al-yede beno ... Avraham Dov Ber Reines. Pp. viii, 343. Nyu-York, 686 [1926]
- Reines, Isaac Jacob. `Edut be-Ya`akov : she'elot u-teshuvot, hakirot u-ve'urim be-`inyene `edut. Pp. 515. Yerushalayim: Mosad ha-Rav Kuk, c2000.
Besides the above-mentioned work Reines published: notes on the ’Edut bi-Yehoshef of his father-in-law (Wilna, 1866); ’Edut be-Ya’akob on testimony (ib., 1872); Sha’are Orah on Haggadah and Midrash (ib. 1886); Orim Gedolim on Halakah (ib. 1887); Nod shel Dema’oteulogies or funeral sermons (ib. 1891); Or Shib’at ha-Yamim (ib, 1896); Orah we-Shimhah (with a preface explaining Zionism from the Orthodox point of view); Or hadash ‘al Ziyyon , a refutation of the arguments which are advanced by the ultra-Orthodox against Zionism (ib. 1902).