Mir yeshiva (Poland)

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Mir yeshiva (Poland)

The Mir yeshiva (Yeshivas Mir), commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, was a Haredi

Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
yeshiva

Yeshiva

Yeshiva or yeshivah , or metivta or mesivta ) also frequently referred to as a Beth midrash, Talmudical Academy, Rabbinical Academy or Rabbinical School is an institution unique to classical Judaism for Torah study, the study of Talmud, Rabbinic literature and History of responsa....
located in the Eastern European town of Mir

Mir, Belarus

Mir is a town in Karelicy raion, Hrodna Voblast, Belarus about 85 kilometers southwest of the national capital, Minsk.Mir village was founded sometime prior to 1345....
, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
, currently in Belarus

Belarus

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north....
. After relocating a number of times during World War II

World War II

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
and the other in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is one of the five Borough of New York City, located at the western end of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area....
.

Mirrer Yeshiva was founded in 1815, twelve years after the founding of the Volozhin Yeshiva

Volozhin yeshiva

The Volozhin Yeshiva, also known as Etz Chaim Yeshiva, was a yeshiva in the town of Volozhin , founded in 1803 by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin, a student of the Vilna Gaon....
, by one of the prominent residents of a small Polish town of Mir, Belarus

Mir, Belarus

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Encyclopedia

The Mir yeshiva (Yeshivas Mir), commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, was a Haredi

Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
yeshiva

Yeshiva

Mir, Belarus

Mir is a town in Karelicy raion, Hrodna Voblast, Belarus about 85 kilometers southwest of the national capital, Minsk.Mir village was founded sometime prior to 1345....
, Poland

Poland

Belarus

World War II

Jerusalem

Brooklyn

Origins

The Mirrer Yeshiva was founded in 1815, twelve years after the founding of the Volozhin Yeshiva

Volozhin yeshiva

Mir, Belarus

Mir is a town in Karelicy raion, Hrodna Voblast, Belarus about 85 kilometers southwest of the national capital, Minsk.Mir village was founded sometime prior to 1345....
(then Russia), Rabbi Shmuel Tiktinsky. After Rav Shmuel's death, his youngest son, Rabbi Chaim Leib Tiktinsky, was appointed rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
. He was succeeded by his son, Rav Avrohom, who brought Rabbi Eliyahu Boruch Kamai into the yeshiva. During Rabbi Kamai's tenure the direction of the yeshiva wavered between those who wished to introduce the study of musar

Mussar movement

Mussar movement refers to a Judaism ethics, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Orthodox Judaism Eastern Europe, particularly among the Lithuanian Jews....
and those who were against it.

In 1903 Rabbi Kamai's daughter Malka married Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, son of the legendary Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the Alter of Slabodka, the who joined the yeshiva faculty in late 1906. Under his influence the yeshiva joined the musar movement definitively and Rabbi Zalman Dolinski of Radin was appointed as its first mashgiach

Mashgiach ruchani

Mashgiach Ruchani or mashgiach for short, means a spiritual supervisor or guide; better known by the colloquial term "Super Rabbi". It is a title which usually refers to a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives....
.

World War I

With the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
in 1914, the yeshiva moved from Mir to Poltava

Poltava

File:Poltava 1850 Main Square.PNGFile:October Parc Poltava 1550.JPGPoltava is a city in central Ukraine. It is the Capital city of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Poltavskyi Raion within the oblast....
, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
. Following the death of Rabbi Kamai in 1917, Rav Eliezer Yehuda was appointed as rosh yeshiva, ushering in the golden age of the yeshiva. In 1921, The yeshiva moved back to its original facilities in Mir, where it blossomed, attracting the cream of the yeshiva students. The yeshiva's reputation grew, attracting students not only from throughout Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, but also from America

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
and Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, and the student body grew to close to 500. By the time World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
broke out there was hardly a rosh yeshiva of the Lithuanian school who had not studied in Mir. During this period Rabbi Yeruchom Lebovitz joined the yeshiva as mashgiach in succession to Rabbi Zalman Dolinski.

In 1929, one of the yeshiva's prime students, Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz, married the daughter of Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel. Rabbi Chaim 'Stutchiner' was appointed to the faculty in 1935.

Escape to the East

The invasion of Poland

Invasion of Poland (1939)

The Invasion of Poland in 1939 precipitated World War II. It was carried out by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak invasion of Poland contingent....
in 1939 by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
from the west and the Red Army

Red Army

The Red Army was the armed force first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and, in 1922, became the army of the Soviet Union....
from the east meant the yeshiva was unable to remain in Mir, which was now under Communist rule. Many of the foreign-born students left, but the bulk of the yeshiva relocated, first to Vilna

Vilnius

Vilnius is the largest city and the Capital of Lithuania, with a population of 555,613 as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality....
, then temporarily in independent Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest....
, and then to Keidan, Lithuania

Kedainiai

Kedainiai is one of the oldest city in Lithuania. It is located on the Neve?is River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population as of 2008 was 30,214....
. Not many months elapsed before Lithuania lost its independence to invading Soviet forces, and the future of the yeshiva was again in peril. The yeshiva was split into four sections: The "first division", under the leadership of Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz as rosh yeshiva and Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein

Yechezkel Levenstein

Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein, known as Reb Chatzkel, , was the mashgiach ruchani of the Mir yeshiva , in Mir, Belarus and during the yeshiva's flight to Lithuania and on to Shanghai due to the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in World War II....
as mashgiach, relocated to Krakinova; the other three divisions went to the three small towns of Ramigola, Shat and Krak.

Kobe

As the Nazi armies continued to push to the east, the yeshiva as a whole eventually fled across Siberia

Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
by train

Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles that move along a track to rail transport from one place to another. The track usually consists of two rail tracks, but might also be a monorail or magnetic levitation train guideway....
to the Far East

Far East

The Far East is a term current in English language to refer to the countries of East Asia. The term is often expanded to also include Southeast Asia and South Asia, for economic and cultural reasons, for example because Buddhism is common to East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia....
, en route to the USA. The yeshiva reopened in Kobe

Kobe

is the List of Japanese cities by population in Japan and as the capital city of Hyogo Prefecture and a prominent port city in Japan with a population of about 1.5 million....
, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
in March 1941.

While the Yeshiva was in Kobe, a controversy arose as to when to observe the Sabbath. The opinions of the Chazon Ish and Rav Yechiel Michel Tokachinsky were solicited. Ultimately, the students refrained from biblical Sabbath violations on two days, but kept it completely on only one of the days.

Several smaller yeshivas managed to escape alongside the Mirrer Yeshiva and, despite the difficulties involved, the leaders of the yeshiva undertook full responsibility for their support, distributing funds (mostly received from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is an American Jews charitable organization with the declared mission to "serve the needs of Jews throughout the world, particularly where their lives as Jews are threatened or made more difficult."...
) and securing quarters and food for all the students. The heroism of the Japanese consul-general in Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara

Chiune Sugihara

was a Japanese people diplomat, serving as Vice Consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania. Soon after the Occupation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union, he helped several thousand Jews leave the country by issuing transit visas to Jewish refugees so that they could travel to Japan....
, who issued several thousand travel visas to Jews, permitting them to flee to the east, has been the subject of several books.

Shanghai

A short time later Japan expelled the Jews from its mainland, and the yeshiva relocated again, to (Japanese-controlled) Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population in China and one of the List of metropolitan areas by population in the world, with over 20 million people....
, China

China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, where they remained until 1947. In Shanghai, Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi, a Lubavitcher chasid who served as the spiritual leader of the Jewish refugees, arranged for the yeshiva to occupy the Beit Aharon Synagogue, built in 1920 by a prominent Jewish Shanghai businessman, Silas Aaron Hardoon

Silas Aaron Hardoon

Silas Aaron Hardoon was a wealthy businessman and well-known public figure in the city of Shanghai in the early 20th century....
. For the first few weeks, until funds could be sourced for provisions, the yeshiva community suffered from malnutrition.

Re-establishment after the war

Following the end of the war, the majority of the Jewish refugees

Jewish refugees

In the course of history, Jewish populations have been expelled or ostracised by various local authorities and have sought political asylum from antisemitism numerous times....
from the Shanghai ghetto

Shanghai ghetto

The Shanghai ghetto, formally known as the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees, was an area of approximately one square mile in the Hongkou District of Empire of Japan Shanghai, where about 20,000 Jewish refugees, having fled from Nazi Germany, Anschluss, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Lithuania during World War II and settled across Shangha...
left for Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is derived from a name used already much earlier for a narrower geographical region, mainly along the coastal region....
and the United States

United States

Mir yeshiva (Jerusalem)

The Mir yeshiva , commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, is an Orthodox yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. It is presently distinguished as the largest yeshiva in the world, with its student body numbering around 5,000 post-high school students, mostly from the United States....
in Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
and the other as the Mirrer Yeshiva Central Institute in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
. The yeshiva's leaders, Rabbi Shmuelevitz and Rabbi Levenstein, left Shanghai for New York in early 1947 with the last contingent of students. Three months later they set sail for Palestine, where the Mirrer Yeshiva had been re-established under the leadership of Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, who emigrated there before World War II.

Prominent alumni

Prominent faculty

Rosh yeshivas

Rabbi Shmuel Tiktinsky (1815-
Rabbi Chaim Leib Tiktinsky
Rabbi Eliyahu Boruch Kamai ( -1917)
Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel (1917-1965)
Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz (1940-1947)

Mashgichim

Rabbi Zalman Dolinski
Rabbi Yeruchom Lebovitz
Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein
Yechezkel Levenstein

Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein, known as Reb Chatzkel, , was the mashgiach ruchani of the Mir yeshiva , in Mir, Belarus and during the yeshiva's flight to Lithuania and on to Shanghai due to the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in World War II....

Mir yeshiva (Poland)

Origins

World War I

Escape to the East

Kobe

Shanghai

Re-establishment after the war

Prominent alumni

Prominent faculty

Rosh yeshivas

Mashgichim

External links