Yisrael Meir Kagan: Difference between revisions

|birth_date = {{birth date|1838|12|266}}

|death_date = {{death date and age|1933|9|15|18391838|1|26}}<br />(24 Elul 5693)

[[File:Chofetz Chaim, 1923.jpg|thumb|Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan arriving at the first ''Knessia Gedolah'' of Agudas Yisroel in Vienna, 1923<ref name="Chofetz Chaim">{{Cite web |title=Chofetz Chaim |url=https://www.yonasan.orgweebly.com/chofetz-chaim.html |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=yonasan.orgweebly.com |language=en}}</ref>|343x343px]]

'''Rabbi''' '''Yisrael Meir ha-Kohen Kagan ''' (JanuaryFebruary 266, 1838 – September 15, 1933) was an influential [[Lithuanian Jews|Lithuanian Jewish]] [[rabbi]], [[sobriquetHalakha|Halakhist]], [[posek]], and [[ethics|ethicist]] whose works continue to be widely influential in Orthodox Jewish life. He was [[Sobriquet|known popularly]] as '''the''' '''[[Chofetz Chaim]]''',{{Efn|Hebrew: חפץ חיים, romanized: Chafetz Chaim, lit. 'Desirer of Life'}}, after his [[Chofetz Chaim|his book]] on [[lashon hara]], who was also well known for the Mishna Berurah,{{Efn|Hebrew: משנה ברורה "Clear Teaching"}} [[Mishnah Berurah|his book]] on [[Orach Chayim|ritual law]],.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fishman|first=Tzvi|title=Hilchos Aliyah: Kissing The Ground, Shehechiyanu, & More|url=https://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/felafel-on-rye/hilchos-aliyah-kissing-the-ground-shehechiyanu-more/2019/08/22/|access-date=2022-02-03|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-07-19|title=Praying Towards Jerusalem Or Towards The Aron - Practical Halacha|url=https://outorah.org/p/27229/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=OU Torah}}</ref> was an influential [[Lithuanian Jews|Lithuanian Jewish]] [[rabbi]], [[Halakha|Halakhist]], [[posek]], and [[ethics|ethicist]] whose works continue to be widely influential in Orthodox Jewish life.

== Biography ==

Rabbi Kagan was born on 26February January6, 1838 in Dzienciol ({{lang-yi|זשעטל|Zhetl}}), [[Grodno Governorate]] in [[Russian Empire]] (today [[Dzyatlava]] in [[Belarus]]), and died on 15 September 1933 in [[Radun, Belarus|Raduń]] ({{lang-yi|ראַדין|Radin}}), [[Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Nowogródek Voivodeship]] in [[Second Polish Republic]] (now in [[Belarus]]). HisWhen surname,Kagan Poupko,was isten notyears widelyold, known.<ref>"Israelhis Meirfather Ha-Kohen"died Encyclopediain Judaica.a Jerusalem: Keter, 1972. [https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/israel-meir-ha-kohen Excerpt]</ref> Rabbi Kagancholera himselfepidemic usedat the name "Kagan" (The Russian formage of "Kohen") in official and legal documents46.<ref>{{cite web | urlname=https://www.ivelt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8918 | title=רבי ישראל מאיר הכהן מראדין ה'חפץ חיים' זצ"ל ומשפחתו - אידישע וועלט פארומס }}<Artscroll"/ref> When Rabbi Kagan was ten years old, his father died. His mother moved the family to [[Vilnius]] in order to continue her son's Jewish education. While in Vilnius, Rabbi Kagan became a student of Rabbi [[Jacob Barit]]. Rabbi Kagan's mother later remarried (Epstein) and moved to Radin, taking the name of her new husband, Poupko, which the young Kagan adopted as well. At 17, he married the daughter of his stepfather, and settled in Radin. Later in life, he would revert his name back to Kagan. This is why there are a number of letters of his extant that he signed as Poupko and others as Kagan. When Kagan arrived in Vilnius, Rav Chaim Nachman Parnas, who had know Kagan's father well, was friendly to him. Reb Yisrael Gordon, a friend of Parnas, took the young Kagan into his home and paid him to learn with Gordon's son, Mordechai.<ref name="Artscroll"/>

He served as the town rabbi of Radin for a short period. He then resigned from this position to establish a [[yeshiva]] in the city, which eventually became world-famous first being led by the notable Reb Naftali [[Naftoli Trop|Trop]], followed by the esteemed son-in-law of his rabbi, [[Mendel Zaks|Rabbi Mendel Zaks.]]. By all accounts, he was a modest and humble man, faithfully devoted to his Jewish faith. For a while, he had a shop selling household provisions, which he and his wife managed.<ref>[https://www.judaica.com/books.html# Chofetz Chaim]</ref> From 1864 to 1869 he taught [[Talmud]] in [[Minsk]] and [[Vasilishki|Vashilishok]].<ref>Moses M. Yoshor, ''Israel Meir haKohen'' in ''Jewish Leaders'', ed. [[Leo Jung]]. p. 462.</ref>

In 1869, heKagan formed a yeshiva in Radin. The yeshiva was a success and grew to prominence, later becoming known as "[[Radin Yeshiva|Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim of Radin]]". In addition to spreading Torah through his yeshiva, Kagan, who became known as "the Chofetz Chaim", was very active in Jewish causes. He traveled extensively to encourage the observance of [[Mitzvot]] and Shabbat amongst Jews. He became one of the most influential rabbis within [[Orthodox Judaism]] during the late 19th and early 20th century, taking a central leadership role in the [[World Agudath Israel]] movement in [[Eastern Europe]]. An author of many works of [[musar literature]], he was sometimes been associated with the [[Musar movement]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Rabbi Dov Katz|title=Musar movement: Its history, leading personalities and doctrines|publisher=Feldheim Publishers|year=1996|edition=new}}</ref> although he did not support all aspects of that movement.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kamenetsky|first=Rabbi Nathan|title=Making of a Godol|publisher=Hamesorah Publishers|year=2002|isbn=965-90379-0-2|pages=573–575}} Rabbi Nathan Kamenetsky quotes that "R'Rabbi Zelig Epstein revealed that the Chafetz-Chaim himself, like most of the other Torah greats, was against Musar, 'not that he was among the vehement mithnagdim, but he did not approve its entire approach'".</ref>

Although the anti-religious attitudes which pervaded [[Zionism]] greatly distressed him, Rabbi Kagan initially refused to become personally involved in the matter and refrained from publicly denouncing the movement. When his views became known, he cautioned his students about joining the Zionists<ref name="Eckman1975-2">{{cite book|author=Lester Samuel Eckman|title=The history of the Musar movement, 1840–1945|year=1975|publisher=Shengold Publishers|page=100|quote=Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan received protests from many rabbis concerning his silence and lack of objection against the leaders of the Zionist movement as well as against the mocking of religion. By nature Rabbi, Kagan was a man who avoided quarrels, and in the dispute over the Zionist movement he tried to avert further altercation. Nevertheless, "his heart was broken upon hearing that the leaders of Zionism [were] leading Jews astray in the colonies in Palestine and at home from the ways of the Torah; [...] Rabbi Kagan's stand was this: He denied "young scholarly-religious students under his jurisdiction [permission] to follow in the footsteps of the irreligious Zionist leaders, especially when one of the enlightened Zionists, reputed for always telling the truth, after his visiting all the schools in Palestine, testified that in the schools the critical method [was] used to study the Holy Books."}}</ref><!-- he revealed his mind only to his close friends and to the friends of rabbinical seminaries." Soon, however, his stand on the irreligiosity of Zionism was announced among the religious Jews. Zionist leaders, who were anxious to receive the support of the most illustrious rabbi of his day, argued with Rabbi Kagan about his acceptance of "false information" about the heresy in the colonies in Palestine. --> and declared its political aims as being contrary to the Torah.<ref name="Sacks1992">{{cite book|author=Sacks, Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Sacks|title=Crisis and Covenant: Jewish Thought After the Holocaust|year=1992|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-4203-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/crisiscovenantje00sack/page/66 66]|quote=The saintly Rabbi Israel Meir ha-Cohen invoked the talmudic passage of the [[three oaths]] to remind his followers that the Jewish fate was to remain in exile until redeemed by God.|url=https://archive.org/details/crisiscovenantje00sack/page/66}}</ref><ref name="Ravitzky1996">{{cite book|author=Ravitzky, Aviezer|title=Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious Radicalism|year=1996|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-70578-1|page=176|quote=To be sure, this fierce opposition has not yet abated. There is little to distinguish the approach of Rabbi Hayyim Soloveichik of Brisk at the birth of Zionism from that of Rabbi Velvel Soloveichik after the establishment of the state. Just as the criticism levelled against the Zionists by the Hafetz Hayim and Rabbi Elhanan Wasserman is once more extensively cited today, buttressing the attacks made by Rabbi Schach and his circle. As Rabbi Schach quipped, "When I am asked by the heavenly court why I did not identify with the Zionist idea, I will unhesitatingly place the blame for this on the Hafetz Hayim and the other leading scholars who preceded me, and they will already know what answer to give."}}</ref><ref name="ČejkaKořan2015">{{cite book|author1=Marek Čejka|author2=Roman Kořan|title=Rabbis of Our Time: Authorities of Judaism in the Religious and Political Ferment of Modern Times|date=16 October 2015|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-317-60544-7|page=83|chapter=The rabbi for everyday: Israel Meir Ha-Kohen/Kagan|quote=The book is also a vital component of the Judaic critique of Zionism, In this context the Chaftez Chaim was also very critical not only towards the state building attempts of Zionists, but also towards their efforts to create a modern Hebrew language. He sarcastically condemned the activities of Zionist philologist [[Eliezer Ben-Yehuda]]. […...] Even through the Chaftez Chaim died 15 years before the establishment of the State of Israel, he influenced later rabbinical anti-Zionism in Israel very significantly.}}</ref><ref name="Heilman1992">{{cite book|author=Heilman, Samuel C.|author-link=Samuel Heilman|title=Defenders of the Faith: Inside Ultra-Orthodox Jewry|year=1992|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22112-3|page=29|chapter=Who are the Haredim?|quote=Second was the objection to the religiously unacceptable notion of a Zionism that suggest the Jews could become a "People like all other people." […] The Orthodox did not want a "normal Jewish state," but one that was altogether different. "It was not worthwhile," the Hafetz Hayim was quoted as saying, "to become another Albania or even another Belgium after nineteen centuries of suffering. A state must be established on Torah foundations.”}}</ref> The [[Chafetz Chaim (rabbi)|Chofetz Chaim]]Kagan famously said that it would be preferable to lose a third of the amount of Torah we have throughout the world rather than join the WZO (World Zionist Organization).<ref name=":0" /> R’ [[Elchonon Wasserman]] (killed in the Holocaust 6 July 1941) said that this means even if the majority of yeshivos would have to close, we would not be allowed to join the WZO.<ref name=":0">Wasserman, R. Elchonon. Kovetz Maamarim, vol. 1 “Eretz"Eretz Yisrael”Yisrael", p. 155.</ref> In 1903, his wife Frieda died, and two years later he married Miriam Freida,the daughter of Rabbi Hillel ofLapisof Lapis, Miriam Freida, who was more than thirty years younger than him. It was from this marriage that his son Rabbi Aharon Kagan and his daughter Feigl Chaya Sacks were born. His son-in-law was [[Mendel Zaks]].

In 1925, it was announced that he would be leaving Warsaw with his daughter and son-in-law to permanently settle in [[Petach Tikvah]] (the Gate of Hope, in Hebrew), in Palestine.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chofetz Chaim Will Leave for Palestine Nov. 1|work=The [[Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle]]|location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin|date=30 October 1925|page=6}}</ref> Upon discovering his plans, prominent rabbis and ''yeshiva'' deans persuaded him to remain in Radin<ref name="Eckman1975">{{cite book|author=Lester Samuel Eckman|title=The history of the Musar movement, 1840–1945|year=1975|publisher=Shengold Publishers|pages=101–2|quote=When his plans became public, a committee of leading rabbis and deans of theological seminaries requested him to postpone his journey, because the seminaries needed his guidance in the critical time of their existence. Rabbi Kagan complied...}}</ref> and he died there on September 15, 1933, aged 95.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chofetz Chaim Ill|work=The Kingston Daily Freeman|location=Kingston, New York|date=7 May 1932|page=5}}</ref> He was interred in the nearby cemetery.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Gershon Hellman|date=Feb 14, 2018|title=Returning to Radin|magazine=[[Ami Magazine]]|issue=355|page=50}}</ref> Miriam Freida arrived in Montreal with her son Rabbi Aharon via Siberia and Japan in 1942, and died in New York in 1946.

Many other Jewish religious institutions throughout the world also bear his name. One American [[yeshiva]] named in his honor is the [[Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen]] centered in [[Queens, New York]] founded by his great nephew, Rabbi [[Dovid Leibowitz]], with several branches in the United States, Canada, and Israel. Rabbi Kagan's teachings have inspired some English-speaking [[American Jew]]s to establish the [[Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation]], dedicated to the dissemination of his teachings to Jewish communities around the world. An Orthodox [[kibbutz]] in Israel, [[Hafetz Haim]], was named in his honor.

During his lifetime, heKagan was venerated by Jews and non-Jews alike. Orthodox Jews across the world viewed him as one of the [[Tzadikim Nistarim|36 righteous people]],<ref>{{cite news |date=16 September 1933 |title=Chofetz Chaim, 105 Is Dead in Poland |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/09/16/archives/chofetzchaim105-is-dead-in-poland-venerated-by-orthodox-jews-as-one.html }}</ref> and Polish farmers were said to have lured him into their fields believing his feet would bring blessing to their crops.<ref>{{cite book|author= William G. Braude|title=The Journal of Reform Judaism|volume=35|year=1988|publisher=Central Conference of American Rabbis.|page=49|chapter=Longevity's Secret|quote=He was sage, saint, and legend. Polish peasants used sundry ploys to get him to walk across their fields, believing that the touch of his feet would improve the soil.}}</ref>

According to some reports, despite his rabbinic leadership he did not hold ''[[semikhah]]'' until late in life, when he had to apply for a [[passport]] and needed formal ''semichah'' in order to honestly enter "rabbi" as his [[profession|occupation]]. He then received his ''semikhah'' by [[telegraph]] from Rabbi [[Chaim Ozer Grodzinski]] of [[Wilna]].<ref>Yissocher Frand, ''Listen To Your Messages'', p.89</ref> According to another report, though, he received ''semikhah'' much earlier, at age 17.<ref>[https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3966859,00.html בן 14 עתר: תנו לי להיות רב]</ref>

== Works ==

[[File:חפץ חיים - תמונה נדירה.jpg|thumb|Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan towards the end of his life.|333x333px]]

* ''[[Mishnah Berurah]]'' ("Clarified teachings") is an important and widely used commentary, consisting of six volumes, on the [[Orach Chayim]] section of [[Yosef Karo]]'s digested compilation of practical [[Halakha|Jewish Law]], the [[Shulchan Aruch]]. It combines his own elucidations and differing opinions with those of other [[Aharonim]] (post-medieval authorities.) [As found in the book by Rabbi Moses M. Yoshor "The Chafetz Chaim" on page 603 the [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14170 1st volume] was published in 1884; [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14164 2nd volume] in 1886; [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14171 3rd volume] in 1891; [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14169 4th volume] in 1898; [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14165 5th volume] in 1902; [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14166 6th volume] in 1907.]

* ''Sha'ar HaTziyyun'' ("Gate of Distinction") serves primarily to document sources for laws and customs quoted in the ''Mishnah Berurah'', but sometimes serves also to clarify ambiguous legal statements. The name ''Sha'ar HaTziyyun'' derives from the phrase ''sh'arim m'tzuyanim ba'halacha'', translated as "gateways distinguished in (or marked in) Jewish Law," referring to the Torah study and scholarship that would distinguish Jewish homes. Rabbi Kagan chose the title as a [[pun]], hinting at the distinction of the scholarship referenced in his work, but primarily referring to (as he writes on his title page) the function of ''Sha'ar HaTziyyun'' to document (mark) sources.

* ''Machaneh Yisrael'' – one volume, on the minimum requirements of [[Torah observance]] for soldiers in the army.

* [[File:Portrait of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan.jpg|thumb|350x350px|Artistic portrait of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan <ref>{{Cite web |title=Chofetz Chaim |url=https://www.yonasan.org/chofetz-chaim.html |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=yonasan.org |language=en}}</ref>]]''[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14235 Chovas Hashemiro]'' – one volume, published in 1915.

* ''Tzipita Lishuah'' ("Have you yearned for the redemption") is based on a passage from tractate Shabbat, which states that after one passes away, he is asked by the heavenly court: "Have you yearned for the redemption?" This work describes the importance of actively awaiting [[Moshiach]] every day and doing everything in ourone's power (learning Torah and doing mitzvot) to bring the redemption. The Chofetz Chaim's expectation of the immediate redemption was so strong that he would always carry special garments to change into once the redemption beginsbegan.

== References ==

== Sources ==

== External links ==

* [http://www.chofetzchaimusa.org/ Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825205050/http://www.chofetzchaimusa.org/ |date=2007-08-25 }}