Author | Yonasan Rosenblum |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Series | Artscroll History Series |
Subject | Biography |
Genre | Non-fiction |
Publisher | Mesorah Publications, Ltd. |
Publication date | February 1993 |
Pages | 393 |
ISBN | 0-89906-413-2 (hardcover) 0-89906-415-9 (paperback) |
Reb Yaakov: The Life and Times of HaGaon Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky is a biography on Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky, written by Yonasan Rosenblum and based on the research of Rabbi Noson Kamenetsky. It was published by Artscroll-Mesorah in 1993 as part of the Artscroll History Series.
The book is divided into two sections. Part I details the life of Rabbi Kamenetsky, beginning with his childhood and school years, moving on to his rabbinic career in Lithuania and the United States. It also discusses the Slabodka Yeshiva of Lithuania in depth. Part II focuses on specific attributes of Rabbi Kamenetsky, with a chapter dedicated to his character, another to his general happiness, a third to his guidance, and several more.
The book was published with the help of Rabbi Kamenetsky's family, namely his sons, Rabbis Shmuel, Binyamin and Avraham Kamenetsky; his sons-in-law, Rabbis Hirsh Diskind and Yisroel Shurin; and his grandsons, Rabbis Mordechai and Dovid Kamenetzkty and Rabbi Yitzchak Shurin. The cover picture was supplied by Ed Bernstein, while other photos and illustrative materials came from the Chicago Community Kollel, Dos Yiddishe Vort, Jewish Library Montreal, The Jewish Observer , New York Public Library, Torah Umesorah, Trainer Studios, Yeshivas Slabodka, and many individuals.
Rabbi Aharon Feldman in The Jewish Observer called Reb Yaakov a "remarkable book which genuinely evokes the spirit of Reb Yaakov." He contrasted the book with other biographies about gedolim which are written in a hagiographic fashion, and don't focus on the subject's hard work. "With notable exceptions, [gedolim biographies] frequently ignore the self-sacrifice and dedication which of necessity must have gone into the development of every gadol," Rabbi Feldman writes. "The second flaw of the gedolim genre is the usual emphasis on the extraordinary intellectual gifts of these gedolim–their lightning grasp, brilliance of conception and total recall; i.e., their genius aspect....It would serve the reader better to emphasize the hard work, sweat and tears that went into making them gedolim. Portraying gedolim as geniuses tends to make their accomplishments appear unattainable....Reb Yaakov: the Life and Times of Hagaon Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky, by Yonason Rosenblum, based on the research of Reb Yaakov's illustrious son, Rabbi Noson Kamenetzky, is a refreshing exception to the standard gedolim biography genre." [1]
The book was used for reference in Rabbi A. Leib Scheinbaum's A World That Was: America (published by Hebrew Academy of Cleveland), and recommended for further reading. [2] Additionally, Devorah Gliksman writes in her book, A Tale of Two Worlds: Rabbi Dovid and Rebbetzin Basya Bender that she used Reb Yaakov as a historical reference. [3]
Nosson Tzvi Finkel was an influential Lithuanian Jewish leader of Orthodox Judaism in Eastern Europe and founder of the Slabodka yeshiva, in the town of Sloboda Vilyampolskaya. He is also known by the Yiddish appellation der Alter and as the Alter of Slabodka. Many of his pupils were to become major leaders of Orthodox Judaism in the USA and Israel.
Yaakov Kamenetsky, was a prominent rabbi, rosh yeshiva, posek and Talmudist in the post-World War II American Jewish community.
Making of a Godol: A Study of Episodes in the Lives of Great Torah Personalities is a two-volume book written and published in 2002, with an improved edition published in 2005, by Rabbi Nathan Kamenetsky (1930-2019), son of Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky, about the life of his father and of various other Jewish sages of the 19th and 20th centuries, who are revered by Orthodox Jews. The word Godol means "great [one]" in Hebrew, and refers to exceptional Talmudic scholars who are often prominent Roshei Yeshiva.
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually prestigious Roshei Yeshiva or Hasidic rebbes, who are also usually regarded by many Haredi Jews to be the Gedolim ("great/est") sages of Torah Judaism. Before the Holocaust, it was the supreme authority for the World Agudath Israel in Europe.
Boruch Ber Leibowitz (Yiddish: ברוך בער לייבאוויץ Hebrew: רב ברוך דוב ליבוביץ, romanized: Boruch Dov Libovitz; 1862 – November 17, 1939, known as Reb Boruch Ber, was a rabbi famed for his Talmudic lectures, particularly in that they were rooted styled in the method of his teacher Chaim Soloveitchik. He is known for leading Yeshivas Knesses Beis Yitzchak in Slabodka and Kaminetz.
Aryeh Leib Malin (1906–1962) was a Polish-born American Haredi Jewish rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Mussarist who taught the Torah and spread rabbinical education in Europe, China, Japan, and the United States.
Shmuel Kamenetsky is a Lithuanian–American ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) rabbi. He is the co-founder and rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia. He is also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.
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. Epstein was considered by many to be the last of the Gedolim of his generation.
Nesanel Hakohen Quinn was a Haredi Jewish rabbi and educator. He was connected with Yeshiva Torah Vodaas in Brooklyn, New York, for nearly 80 years, rising to menahel (director).
Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael was a yeshiva located in the town of Sloboda Vilyampolskaya in Kovno Governorate of Russian Empire. It was known colloquially as the "mother of yeshivas" and was devoted to high-level study of the Talmud. It functioned from the late 19th century until World War II.
Vichna Kaplan was an Orthodox Jewish teacher and school dean who, together with her husband Rabbi Boruch Kaplan, brought the Bais Yaakov movement to America. A prize pupil of Sarah Schenirer, the founder of Bais Yaakov in Poland, Kaplan opened the first Bais Yaakov High School in Williamsburg, New York, in 1938. She later opened the first Bais Yaakov Teachers Seminary, which provided teachers for all Bais Yaakov schools that subsequently opened in America and Israel.
Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz was a Polish-American Orthodox rabbi. He was a rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York, from 1964 to 1998.
The Ramailes Yeshiva was an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Šnipiškės, Vilnius, Lithuania. It was established in the early nineteenth century, most likely in 1815.
The Lomza Yeshiva was an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Łomża, Poland, founded by Rabbi Eliezer Bentzion Shulevitz in 1883. Rabbi Yechiel Mordechai Gordon served as the yeshiva's rosh yeshiva for many years, and Rabbi Moshe Rosenstain served as the mashgiach. A branch of the yeshiva was established in Petach Tikvah, Palestine in 1926, where Rabbi Reuven Katz served as co-rosh yeshiva alongside Rabbi Gordon.
Dov Tzvi Heller commonly called by his Yiddish name, Ber Hirsch Heller, was a rabbi and mashgiach ruchani at the Slabodka Yeshiva in Europe, as well as the father-in-law of Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky and Rabbi Avraham Grodzinski.
Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Sher was the rosh yeshiva of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Lithuania and Bnei Brak. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the Alter of Slabodka.
Rabbi Yisroel Yaakov Lubchansky was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi in Baranavichy, Russia. He served as the mashgiach ruchani of the Baranovich Yeshiva there in the mid-twetienth century.
Rabbi Shabsi Yogel was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi in Belarus and Israel. He served as the rosh yeshiva of the Slonim Yeshiva in Europe and after the Holocaust, reestablished it in Ramat Gan, Israel.
Yaakov Bender is an American Orthodox rabbi. He is the rosh hayeshiva (dean) of Yeshiva Darchei Torah. He was appointed first as a seventh-grade rebbi in 1978 and less than a year later as principal. The school's enrollment has grown since then and now exceeds 2,500. Bender is a speaker, writer and adviser on Jewish education.