Simcha Wasserman

Last updated
Rabbi
Simcha Wasserman
Personal
Born
Elazar Simcha Wasserman

1899
DiedOctober 29, 1992 (aged 9293)
Jerusalem, Israel
Religion Judaism
SpouseFeiga Rachel Abowitz
Parents
Denomination Orthodox Judaism
PositionRosh yeshiva
Yeshiva Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon (Los Angeles)
OtherRosh yeshiva, Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon (Jerusalem)

Elazar Simcha Wasserman (1898 - October 29, 1992) [1] was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva. Born in the Russian Empire, he was sent before World War II to the United States by his father, Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, to improve the level of Jewish education there. He established yeshivas in the United States and Israel. He was described as "a pioneer educator". [2]

Contents

Early life and family

Elazar Simcha Wasserman was born in the Russian Empire, [2] the eldest of the three sons born to Elchonon Wasserman and his wife Michla. He was a nephew of Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzensky. [3] He married Feiga Rachel, the daughter of Rabbi Meir Abowitz, Rav of Novordok, and his wife Chana. [4]

Except for him and his brother David, all his birth family died during World War II. He and his wife, who outlived him, had no children.

Career

Although most of his career was in the United States, Wasserman established his first rabbinical seminary in Strasbourg in 1933. [2] During the 1940s Wasserman strengthened [2] Detroit's Yeshiva Beth Yehudah and served as dean. It had been founded in 1914 as a Talmud Torah and renamed as a yeshiva in 1925.

Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon

Two of the schools founded by Wasserman were named Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon, one in the United States, the other in Israel.

The school in Los Angeles included elementary, secondary, college, and post-graduate classes, with some students "from as far as Arizona and Colorado". [2] Ten of the initial students at the college and post-graduate school were sent from Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, handpicked by Rabbi Gedalia Schorr. [5] This was well before the school attained 300 students. [2]

Outreach

Among the keywords describing Wasserman's methodology are patience and simplicity: [6] "Whatever is within my ability to fulfill I do, and whatever I can’t accomplish I don’t worry about." [7]

In 1970 he wrote an article for The Jewish Observer titled "Memorandum To: Concerned individuals From: Rabbi Simcha Wasserman Re: Reaching out" [8] in which he encourages more outreach "to the entire Jewish community," adding that "Unless the public is Torah educated, the Yeshiva contributor will soon be supplanted by the philanthropist whose list of priorities does not even include Yeshivos."

He was not a fan of "new and improved" when it came to Judaism: "... the plastic potato. It looked like a potato, smelled like a potato, even tasted like a potato .. the only significant difference .. was that when you planted a plastic potato, it didn’t grow, it couldn’t reproduce, it was sterile." [5] :p.49 [9]

Works

While in Israel he facilitated the reprinting of his father's works; some of his own writings were printed in a booklet, Simchat Elazar. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiryat Mattersdorf</span> Haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem

Kiryat Mattersdorf is a Haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem. It is located on the northern edge of the mountain plateau on which central Jerusalem lies. It is named after Mattersburg, a town in Austria with a long Jewish history. It borders Kiryat Itri and Romema. The main thoroughfare is Panim Meirot Street, which segues into Sorotzkin Street at the neighborhood's eastern end. In 2015, Kiryat Mattersdorf had approximately 700 residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mordechai Gifter</span> 20th-century American rabbi and rosh yeshiva

Mordechai Gifter was an American Haredi rabbi. He was the rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Telz Yeshiva in Cleveland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elchonon Wasserman</span> Belarusian Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva (1874–1941)

Elchonon Bunim Wasserman was a prominent rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) in prewar Europe. He was one of the closest students of Yisrael Meir Kagan and a noted Talmid Chacham. In the interwar period, he served as rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ohel Torah-Baranovich. He was murdered during the Holocaust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baruch Sorotzkin</span>

Rephoel Baruch Sorotzkin was the Rosh Yeshiva of the Telz Yeshiva in Cleveland and among American Jewry's foremost religious leaders.

Israel or Yisrael Mendel Kaplan, known as "Reb Mendel" was an American Orthodox Jewish rabbi and author. He was best known as a teacher in the Hebrew Theological College of Chicago and the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, where he mentored many future leaders of Orthodox Jewry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aryeh Leib Malin</span> Polish-born American Haredi rabbi, educator, and Talmudic scholar (1906-1962)

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.

Shlomo Heiman, (1892–1944) known informally as "Reb Shlomo", was a rabbi, Talmudist, and rosh yeshiva. He led some of the most prominent yeshivas in Europe and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendel Weinbach</span>

Chona Menachem Mendel (Mendel) Weinbach was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, educator, author, and speaker. As the co-founder and dean of Ohr Somayach Institutions, a Jerusalem-based yeshiva for newly-observant Jewish men, he was considered one of the fathers of the modern-day baal teshuva movement.

Naftoli (Naphtalie) Carlebach (1916–2005) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and accountant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ezrat Torah</span> Neighbourhood in Jerusalem

Ezrat Torah is a Haredi neighborhood in northern Jerusalem. It is bordered by Kiryat Sanz on the west, Golda Meir Blvd. on the north and east, and Shikun Chabad and Tel Arza on the south.

Rabbi Nochum Partzovitz was a rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir and is known worldwide for erudite explanations of Talmudic topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon (Jerusalem)</span> Yeshiva ketana, yeshiva gedola school

Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon is a Lithuanian-style Orthodox yeshiva in Jerusalem. The yeshiva was initially established in 1953 in Los Angeles, California, by Rabbi Simcha Wasserman, who named it in memory of his father, Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, rosh yeshiva in Baranowicz, who was murdered in the Holocaust in Lithuania. The yeshiva operated in Los Angeles from 1953 to 1977, when it was sold to the Chabad movement. After Wasserman immigrated to Jerusalem, he established another Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon in the Ezrat Torah neighborhood in 1979. A second branch was opened in the Romema neighborhood in 1993. Ohr Elchonon enrolls hundreds of boys in yeshiva ketana and yeshiva gedolah, and close to 100 married men in its kollel. Additional yeshiva ketana branches have been established in the Israeli cities of Modiin Illit, Rishon Letzion, and Tiberias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeshiva of Aix-les-Bains</span>

The Yeshiva of Aix-les-Bains is one of the principal Talmudic academies in France. It is officially named Yeshivas Chachmei Tsorfat after the medieval rabbinic authorities who lived in France, including Rashi and many Baalei Tosafot. Since 1945, the Yeshiva has been located in the spa town of Aix-les-Bains, and is directed currently by Rabbi Yitzhak Weil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yonah Karpilov</span> European Yeshiva student and rabbi

Yonah Karpilov, known among his peers as Rav Yonah Minsker, was an Orthodox yeshiva student in what is now Belarus. He was considered a genius and was said to be the "greatest of all yeshiva bachurim in pre-war Europe."

Yeshiva Ohel Torah-Baranovich, commonly referred to as the Baranovich Yeshiva or simply as Baranovich, was an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Baranavichy, Belarus. Established circa 1906 by Rabbi Yosef Yoizel Horowitz, the Alter of Novardok (Navahrudak), it attracted leading rabbis such as Rabbi Yisroel Yaakov Lubchansky and Rabbi Avraham Yoffen as instructors, but was forced to disband with the outbreak of World War I. After the war, Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, a student of the Radin Yeshiva who had been forced into exile in Smilavičy during the hostilities, agreed to serve as rosh yeshiva (dean) upon the recommendation of the Chofetz Chaim. In the interwar period, the yeshiva gained widespread fame and a large student body. Wasserman's style of teaching emphasized the simple meaning of the Talmudic texts and students advanced to the point that they were able to study independently. The yeshiva went into exile and disbanded a second time during World War II, and Wasserman and many of the students were murdered by Lithuanian Nazi sympathizers. Torah institutions named after the Baranovich Yeshiva and Wasserman were later established in the United States and Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nisson Wolpin</span> American rabbi and editor (1932–2017)

Nisson Wolpin was an Orthodox rabbi and (1932-2017), renowned for being the editor of The Jewish Observer. He also served as the learning director of Camp Munk for many summers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aryeh Leib Baron</span> Russian-born Canadian Haredi rabbi and Talmudic scholar (1912-2011)

Rabbi Aryeh Leib Baron was a Russian-born Canadian Haredi Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshiva Merkaz HaTorah and the rabbi of Beis Medrash Merkaz HaTalmud in Montréal, Canada, as well as the founder of Yeshiva Ahavas Torah Baranovich in Jerusalem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Rappoport</span> Belarusian Haredi rabbi

Rabbi David HaKohen Rappoport was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi in Baranovich, Belarus. He is known for leading Yeshiva Ohel Torah in Baranovich alongside Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman.

Rabbi Aharon Sorasky is a Haredi author in Israel, his specialty being biographies about Orthodox rabbis. He has also written under the pseudonym A. Safran.

References

  1. Names and authorities database of the National Library of Israel.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mathis Chazanov (November 5, 1992). "Rabbi Wasserman, a Pioneer Educator, Dies". The Los Angeles Times .
  3. "2 Cheshvan". Torah Umesorah.
  4. Sorasky 2009, pp. 185–7.
  5. 1 2 "Rav Mendel Weinbach" (PDF). p. 13.
  6. Akiva Tatz; Yaakov Branfman (1994). Reb Simcha Speaks: Rabbi Simcha Wasserman's Insights. ISBN   978-0899-06116-0.
  7. Yochanan Gordon (October 27, 2013). "Something Positive For A Change". Five Towns Jewish Times .
  8. Rabbi Simcha Wasserman (November 1970). "Memorandum To: Concerned individuals From: Rabbi Simcha Wasserman Re: Reaching out" (PDF). The Jewish Observer . pp. 3–5.
  9. Zadok Shmuel Suchard (2005). Inspiring Insights Into the Parashah. p. 158. ISBN   1583308172. As Rabbi Simcha Wasserman ... a potato created in a laboratory may ...
  10. "Letter from Rabbi Elazar Simcha Wasserman".

Sources