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Aryeh Leib Baron
Rabbi Aryeh Leib Baron (; March 2, 1912 – October 3, 2011) 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. Early life Rabbi Aryeh Leib Baron was born on March 2, 1912, in the town of Horodok in the Minsk Region of Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire, to Reuven Baranovich (his last name, Baron, is a shortened version of "Baranovich"). His Hebrew birthday was on the Fast of Esther. In his youth, he studied under Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz in Rakov and later at a yeshiva in Stowbtsy, Belarus. As a younger man, he studied in the Baranovich Yeshiva under Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman and Rabbi David Rappoport. Wasserman used the notes that he took in ''shiur'' (class) to publish his ''sefer'', Kovetz He'aros. In the early 1930s, Baron went to study in the Mir Yeshiva, where he s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hebrew Birthday
A Hebrew birthday (also known as a Jewish birthday) is the date on which a person is born according to the Hebrew calendar. This is important for Jews, particularly when calculating the correct date for day of birth, day of death, a bar mitzva or a bat mitzva. This is because the Jewish calendar differs from the secular and Christian Gregorian calendar as well as from the Islamic calendar, in most years the two birthdays do not coincide - typically, they coincide just once in 19 years. :"A person wanting to know the civil date for celebrating a Jewish birthday ... must first determine the date within the Jewish calendar (not necessarily a straightforward procedure) and then determine the corresponding day in the civil calendar." The exercise is made more complicated by the fact that Jewish days start and end in the evening, so a person born after dusk will have the following day's date as their birthday. Especially among Hasidic Jews, there is a custom that a boy's first haircut ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German-occupied Europe
German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly military occupation, militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany, government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 and 1945, during World War II, administered by the Nazi regime under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler.Encyclopædia Britannica German occupied Europe.World War II. Retrieved 1 September 2015 from the Internet Archive. The occupied European territory: * as far east as Franz Joseph Land in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (1943–1944) * as far north as Franz Joseph Land in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (1943–1944) * as far south as the island of Gavdos in the Kingdom of Greece * as far west as the island of Ushant in the French Third Republic, French Republic In 1941, around 280 million people in Europe, more than half the popul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaunas
Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Voivodeship, Trakai Palatinate since 1413. In the Russian Empire, it was the capital of the Kovno Governorate, Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915. During the interwar period, it served as the temporary capital of Lithuania, when Vilnius was Polish–Lithuanian War, seized and controlled by Second Polish Republic, Poland between 1920 and 1939. During that period Kaunas was celebrated for its rich cultural and academic life, fashion, construction of countless Art Deco and Lithuanian National Revival architectural-style buildings as well as popular furniture, interior design of the time, and a widespread café culture. The city in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chiune Sugihara
was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through Japanese territory, risking his career and the lives of his family. The fleeing Jews were refugees from German-occupied Western Poland and Soviet-occupied Eastern Poland, as well as residents of Lithuania. Lithuania declared the year 2020 as "The Year of Chiune Sugihara" in his honor. Today, the estimated number of descendants of those who received "Sugihara visas" ranges between 40,000 and 100,000. In 2021 a street in Jerusalem was dedicated in his honor. Early life and education Chiune Sugihara was born on 1 January 1900 ( Meiji 33), in Mino, Gifu prefecture, to a middle-class father, , and an upper-middle class mother, . When he was born, his father worked at a tax office in Kozuchi-town and his family lived in a borrowed temple, with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population was 607,667, and the Vilnius urban area (which extends beyond the city limits) has an estimated population of 747,864. Vilnius is notable for the architecture of its Vilnius Old Town, Old Town, considered one of Europe's largest and best-preserved old towns. The city was declared a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The architectural style known as Vilnian Baroque is named after the city, which is farthest to the east among Baroque architecture, Baroque cities and the largest such city north of the Alps. The city was noted for its #Demographics, multicultural population during the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, with contemporary sources comparing it to Babylon. Before World War II and The Holocaust in Lithuania, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sefer (Hebrew)
''Sifrei Kodesh'' (), commonly referred to as ''sefarim'' (), or in its singular form, ''sefer'', are books of Jewish religious literature and are viewed by religious Jews as sacred. These are generally works of Torah literature, i.e. Hebrew Bible, Tanakh and all works that expound on it, including the Mishnah, Midrash (Halakha, Aggadah), Talmud, and all works of Musar literature, Musar, Hasidic philosophy, Hasidism, Kabbalah, or ''Jewish Thought, machshavah'' ("Jewish Thought"). Historically, ''sifrei kodesh'' were generally written in Hebrew with some in Judeo-Aramaic or Judeo-Arabic, Arabic, although in recent years, thousands of titles in other languages, most notably English, were published. An alternative spelling for 'sefarim' is ''seforim''. Terms The term ''Sifrei Kodesh'' is Hebrew for "Holy Books", and includes all books that are considered holy in Rabbinic Judaism. This includes all Torah literature as well as siddur, Jewish prayer books. Among Orthodox Jews the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Rappoport
Rabbi David HaKohen Rappoport () (1890 – September 23, 1941) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi in Baranovich, Belarus (then part of Poland). He is known for leading Yeshiva Ohel Torah in Baranovich alongside Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman. Early life Rabbi Rappoport was born in Minsk, Russian Empire, in 1890. On his father's side, he descended from Rabbi Akiva Eiger, and on his mother's side from the Vilna Gaon. His father was Rabbi Akiva Rappoport (named for his ancestor, Rabbi Akiva Eiger) and his mother was Chaya Sara Rappoport. As a youngster, David would study Torah in the synagogues and shteiblach (small synagogues) of Minsk, with barely any instruction. Even during the night, after his family would go sleep, he would leave the house to study Torah until dawn, after which he'd come home for a short nap, and awaken at the same time as the others in his home. During World War I, the family had to escape Minsk and found refuge in the German city of Danzig, where his fathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elchonon Wasserman
Elchonon Bunim Wasserman (; ; 18746 July 1941) was a prominent rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) in prewar Europe. He was one of the closest students of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (the Chofetz Chaim) 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. Early life and education Elchonon Bunim Wasserman was born in Biržai (Birz) in present-day Lithuania to Naftali Beinish, a shopkeeper and Sheina Rakhel.Weekly Biography: Hagaon Harav Elchanan Wasserman Hy"d, ''Hamodia''; 9 July 2008; pg. C3 In 1890, the family moved to Bauska (Boisk) in present-day Latvia, and Wasserman, then 15 years old, studied in the Telshe Yeshiva in Telšiai (Telz) under Rav Eliezer Gordon and Rav Shimon Shkop. When Wasserman returned home during vacation, he participated in classes given by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook, who was appointed rabbi of Bauska in 1895. In the summer of 1897, Wasserman met Rav Chaim So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stowbtsy
Stowbtsy (, ) or Stolbtsy (, ; ; ; ) is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Stowbtsy District. It is located on the Neman River. As of 2024, it has a population of 17,737. Etymology "Stowbtsy" means "columns" or "posts" in Belarusian. A suggested version for the name origin: once the Neman River was very deep, and sailing boats had to be tied to wooden posts to secure the boats against a strong flow of the river. History The town was founded in 1593. For a long time it was a ''shtetl'' with significant Jewish population. In August 1924, while Stowbtsy was part of the Second Polish Republic, the town was the site of a Soviet-Polish border incident in which a company of Soviet raiders attacked its police station and government building in order to free two imprisoned communist activists (see Soviet raid on Stołpce). Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the municipality was o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yeshiva
A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The studying is usually done through daily '' shiurim'' (lectures or classes) as well as in study pairs called '' chavrusas'' ( Aramaic for 'friendship' or 'companionship'). '' Chavrusa''-style learning is one of the unique features of the yeshiva. In the United States and Israel, different levels of yeshiva education have different names. In the U.S., elementary-school students enroll in a '' cheder'', post- bar mitzvah-age students learn in a '' mesivta'', and undergraduate-level students learn in a '' beit midrash'' or '' yeshiva gedola'' (). In Israel, elementary-school students enroll in a Talmud Torah or '' cheder'', post-bar mitzvah-age students learn in a ''yeshiva ketana'' (), and high-school-age students learn in a ''yeshiva gedola''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
