Meir Ashkenazi (rabbi)

Former Chief Rabbi of Shanghai

For the 16th century Crimean envoy, see Meir Ashkenazi (merchant).

Rabbi

Meir Ashkenazi

Personal
Born| December 25-26, 1891

Chernihiv, Russian Empire

Died| August 25, 1954 (aged 62)

New York, United States

Religion| Judaism
Children| Moshe Ashkenazi
Denomination| Chabad
Buried| Queens, New York, United States
Semikhah| Rabbi Tzvi Tumarkin, Rabbi Chaim Eliezer Soloveitchik
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Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi (Hebrew: מאיר אשכנזי) was a Chabad rabbi who served as chief Rabbi of Shanghai from 1926 to 1949.

## Early life

[edit]

Ashkenazi was born to Shneur Zalman and Kayla (Zislin), Chabad Chasidim in Chernihiv.[1] He was taught by his brothers and teachers in his hometown before leaving to study in Lubavitch at the Tomchei Tmimim yeshiva where he studied for a year despite contracting typhoid fever.[2] He received semicha from Rabbi Tzvi Tumarkin and from Rabbi Chaim Eliezer Soloveitchik, the rabbi of the city and his future father in law. In 1914 he became engaged to Toiba Liba Soloveitchik but the wedding was postponed due to his enlistment in the Russian army during World War I.

## Rabbinic positions

[edit]

### Vladivostok

[edit]

He was appointed as rabbi of Vladivostok. In 1919 his future father in law fled to Harbin in Manchuria due to the spread of communism. He then married his wife in Harbin before returning to Vladivostok where he continued to serve as rabbi until 1926.[3]

### Shanghai

[edit]

In 1926, with the help of Jewish communist youth he had hosted in his home, he received exit visas to leave the Soviet Union for the United States of America. He planned to accept a position in Boston. En route to America he passed through Shanghai, China where Jewish community residents requested that he remain there and be appointed rabbi.[4] Based on the direction of his rabbi, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, he accepted the offer and became the chief rabbi of Shanghai.[5][6]

In 1927 he encouraged the creation of a larger space for the existing Ohel Moshe Synagogue.[4] Today the synagogue is the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum where there is an exhibit dedicated to Ashkenazi's life and tenure as chief rabbi.[7][8]

In 1934 his parents brought his son Moshe to Israel to study in Yeshivas Toras Emes in Shikun Chabad.[9][3]

In 1939 Rabbi Ashkenazi helped set up a Talmud Torah for Jewish children.[10] By 1941 it had 120 students and its height had 300 students. He also established a yeshiva ketana headed by his son-in-law, Rabbi Hershel Milner.[3]

During the Holocaust, Ashkenazi assisted the thousands of Jews fleeing the Nazis that arrived in Shanghai as refugees.[11][12][13] He also helped arrange weddings for the yeshiva students who became engaged during their time in Shanghai.[14] Ashkenazi also collected funds for the yeshivas as well as being the preferred distribution channel for funds from elsewhere.[15]

In 1949, after the majority of the refugees had left Shanghai and the Jewish community dwindled, Askenazi moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

## Death

[edit]

Ashkenazi died in 1954 and is buried in the Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York.[16]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Ashkenazi, Yosef (2013). אוצר החסידים. חזק.
2. ^ Yehuda Geberer. "Shliach to Shanghai: The Life & Heroics of Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi" (Podcast). Retrieved 24 March 2021.
3. ^ a b c Liebermann, Miriam (26 March 2018). "From Russia To Shanghai". Jewish Press. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
4. ^ a b Falbaum 2005, p. 40.
5. ^ "Meir Ashkenazi - 1891". Amud Aish Memorial Museum. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
6. ^ Klayman, Alison (29 July 2008). "Dates in Chinese Jewish history". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
7. ^ Falbaum 2005, p. 44.
8. ^ "Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, Shanghai". GPS My City.
9. ^ Falbaum 2005, p. 42.
10. ^ Falbaum 2005, p. 69.
11. ^ Small, Chaya Leah. "Reflections on Shanghai". JDC. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
12. ^ Posner, Menachem (14 January 2015). "Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi, 71, Chief Rabbi of Kfar Chabad, Israel". Chabad.org. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
13. ^ Jacobson, Aileen (25 April 2019). "The Secret History of the Jews From Shanghai". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
14. ^ Raichik, Sholom D. "The Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Shanghai". Levi Yitzchak Online. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
15. ^ Raichik, Sholom D. "From Kobe to Shanghai". Levi Yitzchak Online. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
16. ^ "Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi". Kevarim.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021.

## Sources

[edit]

* Falbaum, Berl, ed. (2005). Shanghai Remembered: Stories of Jews who Escaped to Shanghai from Nazi Europe. Momentum Books. ISBN 1879094738.

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Jews and Judaism in Shanghai

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