Zundel Salant

Rabbi Yosef Zundel of Salant (1786-1866) (also known as Zundel Salant) was the primary teacher of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter.

Reb Zundel was born in 1786 in Salantai, Lithuania. Little is known of his early years. He descended from Rabbi Fayvush Ashkenazy of Vilna (late 17th-early 18th century) and his father was Rabbi Benyamin Beinush, who was a shochet and chazzan in Salant.

As a young man, Reb Zundel studied in the Volozhin Yeshiva under Rabbi Chaim Volozhin. Following Rabbi Chaim's death in 1821, Reb Zundel would make trips to study with Rabbi Akiva Eiger.

Reb Zundel provided the spiritual inspiration for his most famous student, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, the founder of the Mussar Movement.

In 1837, Reb Zundel settled in Jerusalem where he served as one of the leaders of the Ashkenazic community. His son-in-law Rabbi Shmuel Salant became Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Yosef Zundel Salant died on Friday 12 October, (3rd Cheshvan) 1866 and was buried on the Mount of Olives.

References

• Mussar Movement - Dov Katz, 1945; English Edition translated by Leonard Oschry, Tel Aviv, Israel 1975. Pages 114-115.
• Toldot Rabbi Yosef Zundel from Salant - Eliezer Rivlin, Jerusalem 1927, reprinted 1983.