Yitzhak of Volozhin

Belarusian Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva

HagRIts

Yitzhak ben Chaim of Volozhin

Title| Rabbi
Personal life
Born|

Yitzchak Ickovits

1780

Volozhin, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Died| 16 June 1849(1849-06-16) (aged 68–69)

Ivenets, Minsk Oblast, Russian Empire

Parent|

* Chaim of Volozhin (father)

Religious life
Religion| Judaism
Denomination| Orthodox Judaism
Position| Rosh yeshiva
Yeshiva| Volozhin Yeshiva

Yitzhak of Volozhin (also known as Rabbi Yitzhak ben Chaim of Volozhin, Rabbi Itsele Volozhiner, and HagRIts; 1780 – 16 June 1849) was a rosh yeshiva of the Volozhin Yeshiva.

## Biography

[edit]

Yitzhak was born in 1780 in Volozhin, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to rabbi Chaim Ickovits of Volozhin.[1][2] As Rosh Yeshiva, his father taught him in the Volozhin Yeshiva, making him one of his closest disciples in Torah.[3][4]

Yitzhak would later become a teacher there during his father's lifetime and inherit the position of Rosh Yeshiva after his father's death.[5][6][7][8] He would also name the yeshivah Eitz Chaim in honor of his father.[4] He would earn the acronym HagRIts, Hagaon Rabbi Itskhak, according to rabbi Baruch Epstein.[3][9] He would continue to operate the yeshiva after it was officially closed by government authorities in 1824, making a name for himself as a misnaged figure.[10][11]

Photo of the Volozhin Yeshiva

In 1843 Yitzhak would attend a government convened conference on reforming Jewish education.[12][13] The government, under the leadership of Tsar Nicholas I and Minister of Education Count Sergey Semionovich Uvarov, sought to push russification on the Jewish population through their agent Max Lilienthal. In the face of this, Yitzchak defended the Orthodox position, alongside leaders such as the Third Lubavitcher Rebbe, and would make a positive impression on Count Uvarov.[14][15] Where the Lubavitcher Rebbe was putting up a desperate defense, claiming that the Jewish people's spiritual concerns supersede the Czar's government, Yitzhak presented the misnagdim as fearful of being brushed aside by the government and made attempts to achieve concessions from the Russian government without surrendering Jewish identity and values.[16] Yitzchak argued that public school would be a danger to Jewish upbringing and that the Jewish people needed more political rights.[10]

Yitzhak died on 16 June 1849 in Ivenets.[10][13] Rabbi Eliezer Fried, the husband of one of his daughters, would succeed Yitzhak as Rosh Yeshiva.[5][17] Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, a second son in law of Yitzhak, would succeed Rabbi Fried.[7][18][19]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Brown, Benjamin (March 2020). "The Comeback of "Simple Faith": The Ultra-Orthodox Concept of Faith and Its Development in the Nineteenth Century". www.researchgate.net. Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
2. ^ Rosman, Dovid (2016). Torah connections : reaching your potential through the Parashah. [Jerusalem]. ISBN 978-1-68025-045-9. OCLC 962758166.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
3. ^ a b Frishman Gabbay, Anita (1970). "Rabbi Itsele Volozhiner – Hagaon Rabbi Itskhok ("Hagrits"): R' Itsele, his personality, cleverness and sharpness". In Leoni, E. (ed.). Wolozyn; sefer shel ha-ir-shel yeshivat "Ets Hayim" [Wolozin; the Book of the City and of the Etz Hayyim Yeshiva]. Translated by Porat, Moshe. Tel-Aviv. pp. 99–102. Retrieved 2020-12-02.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
4. ^ a b Gliksman, Devora (2009). A Tale of Two Worlds: Rabbi Dovid and Rebbetzin Basya Bender : the Bridge Between the Yeshivah-Bais Yaakov Worlds of Pre-War Europe and Post-War America. Mesorah Publications. ISBN 978-1-4226-0888-3.
5. ^ a b Assaf, David (2008-04-09). Journey to a Nineteenth-Century Shtetl: The Memoirs of Yekhezkel Kotik. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-3733-2.
6. ^ Ferziger, Adam S. (1999). "The Lookstein Legacy: An American Orthodox Rabbinical Dynasty?". Jewish History. 13 (1): 127–149\. doi:10.1007/BF02337433. ISSN 0334-701X. JSTOR 20101362. S2CID 162244473.
7. ^ a b "The Volozhin Revolution". www.jewishhistory.org. 2011-12-12. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
8. ^ Bierman, Michael A. (2003). Memories of a Giant: Eulogies in Memory of Rabbi Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Zt"l. Urim. ISBN 978-965-7108-50-5.
9. ^ Epstein, Baruch (2004). Mekor Baruch. Mekhon Shorashim.
10. ^ a b c Редакция. "Воложинер Хаим бен Ицхак". Электронная еврейская энциклопедия ОРТ (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-12-02.
11. ^ Schneersohn, Shalom Dov Baer (1969). Kuntres Umaʻayon Mibais HaShem. Kehot Publication Society.
12. ^ Etkes, I. (1993). Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Mussar Movement: Seeking the Torah of Truth. Jewish Publication Society. ISBN 978-0-8276-0438-4.
13. ^ a b "Isaac Beb Ḥayyim of Volozhin - JewishEncyclopedia.com". www.jewishencyclopedia.com. 1906. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
14. ^ Lempertas, I. (1991). Материалы научной конференции "Просвещение и культура евреев Литвы до Катастрофы" (in Lithuanian). Lietuvos Kultūros ir švietimo ministerija, Lietuvos MA Istorijos institutas, Vilniaus Pedagoginis institutas, Vilniaus Žydų nacionalinė mokykla, Lietuvos Pedagogų draugija.
15. ^ Meiselman, Shulamit Soloveitchik (1995). The Soloveitchik Heritage: A Daughter's Memoir. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. ISBN 978-0-88125-525-6.
16. ^ Loewenthal, Naftali (1990-05-31). Communicating the Infinite: The Emergence of the Habad School. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-49045-8.
17. ^ Leibowitz, Nehama (1976). Studies in Bereshit (Genesis): In the Context of Ancient and Modern Jewish Bible Commentary. World Zionist Organization, Department for Torah Education and Culture.
18. ^ Frankel, Jonathan. Jews and Gender: The Challenge to Hierarchy. Oxford University Press.
19. ^ "The Lithuanian Yeshivot". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Retrieved 2021-05-31.

* v
* t
* e

Volozhin Yeshiva

Faculty|

Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin
Eliezer Fried
Refael Shapiro
Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (Beis Halevi)
Chaim Soloveitchik
Chaim of Volozhin
Yitzchak Volozhin

Location
Valozhyn, Belarus

Alumni|

Shmuel Alexandrov
Meir Bar-Ilan
Zelig Reuven Bengis
Micha Josef Berdyczewski
Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin
Hayim Nahman Bialik
David Cohen
Israel Davidson
Alter Asher Droyanov
Baruch Epstein
Moshe Mordechai Epstein
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski
Abraham Harkavy
Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman
Jacob Joseph
Nachum Kaplan
Chaim Mordechai Katz
Abraham Isaac Kook
Moyshe Kulbak
Moshe Landyski
Boruch Ber Leibowitz
Aryeh Levin
Isser Zalman Meltzer
Samuel Mohilever
Shlomo Polachek
Yitzhak Isaac Halevy Rabinowitz
Yitzchak Yaacov Reines
Mnachem Risikoff
Zundel Salant
Refael Shapiro
Shimon Shkop
Chaim Soloveitchik
Zalman Sorotzkin
Elchonon Wasserman
Kalman Zev Wissotzky

* See also: Valozhyn, Belarus

* v
* t
* e

Pre–World War II European Yeshivos

Lithuania|

| Yeshivos|

* Kelm Talmud Torah
* Ponevezh Yeshiva
* Ramailes Yeshiva
* Slabodka Yeshiva
* Telshe Yeshiva

|

Notable roshei yeshiva|

* Avraham Yitzchak Bloch
* Yosef Leib Bloch
* Moshe Mordechai Epstein
* Nosson Tzvi Finkel
* Eliezer Gordon
* Shlomo Heiman
* Tzvi Hersh Levitan
* Israel Salanter
* Yitzchak Isaac Sher

Notable mashgichim|

* Leib Chasman
* Meir Chadash
* Dov Tzvi Heller
* Ben Zion Kranitz
* Yeruchom Levovitz

Belarus|

| Yeshivos|

* Baranovich Yeshiva
* Grodno Yeshiva
* Kaminetz Yeshiva
* Kobrin Yeshiva
* Mir Yeshiva
* Novardok Yeshiva
* Pinsk Yeshiva-Novardok
* Radin Yeshiva
* Slonim Yeshiva
* Slutsk-Kletsk Yeshiva
* Volozhin Yeshiva
* Tomchei Tmimim

|

Notable roshei yeshiva|

* Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin
* Eliezer Yehuda Finkel
* Yosef Yozel Horwitz
* Yisrael Meir Kagan
* Elya Baruch Kammai
* Aharon Kotler
* Moshe Landynski
* Boruch Ber Leibowitz
* Isser Zalman Meltzer
* Pesach Pruskin
* David Rappoport
* Shimon Shkop
* Chaim Soloveitchik
* Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik
* Chaim Leib Tiktinsky
* Naftoli Trop
* Chaim of Volozhin
* Yitzhak of Volozhin
* Elchonon Wasserman
* Shabsi Yogel

Notable mashgichim|

* Shlomo Harkavy
* Yisroel Yaakov Lubchansky
* Yosef Leib Nenedik
* Zalman Dolinsky
* Sheftel Kramer

Poland|

| Yeshivos|

* Keser Torah Radomsk
* Lomza Yeshiva
* Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva
* Mesivta of Warsaw
* Novardok Yeshiva

|

Notable roshei yeshiva|

* Aryeh Tzvi Frumer
* Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky
* Meir Dan Plotzky
* David Moshe Rabinowicz
* Meir Shapiro
* Avraham Yoffen

Notable mashgichim|

* Moshe Rosenstain
* Yehuda Leib Nekritz

Slovakia|

| Yeshivos|

* Nitra Yeshiva
* Pressburg Yeshiva

|

Notable roshei yeshiva|

* Akiva Sofer
* Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer
* Moses Sofer
* Simcha Bunim Sofer
* Shmuel Dovid Ungar

Western
Europe|

| Yeshivos|

* Gateshead Yeshiva
* Heide Yeshiva
* Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary
* Manchester Yeshiva
* Montreaux Yeshiva
* Torah Lehranstalt
* Yeshivas Chachmei Tzorfas

|

Notable roshei yeshiva|

* Eliyahu Botchko
* Solomon Breuer
* Joseph Breuer
* Chaim Yitzchok Chaiken
* Azriel Hildesheimer
* David Zvi Hoffmann
* Avrohom Eliyahu Kaplan
* Nachman Dovid Landinski
* Moshe Yitzchak Segal
* Shraga Feivel Shapiro
* Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg

Related articles|

* Yeshivas in World War II
* Vaad HaYeshivos

Category

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Israel

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