Avraham Yoffen (or Jofen; 1887 - April 19, 1970), also known as "Avraham Pinsker" was a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

, son-in-law to

Yosef Yozel Horowitz Yosef Yozel Horowitz (), also Yosef Yoizel Hurwitz, known as the Alter of Novardok (1847–December 9, 1919), was a student of Rabbi Yisroel Salanter, the founder of the Musar movement. The Alter was also a student of Rabbis Yitzchak Blazer and Sim ...

, the ''Alter of Novardok'' and director of Novardok Yeshiva. He fled to the U.S. at the outbreak of World War II and opened a

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 stu ...

in Borough Park. In 1962 he moved to and founded a

kollel A kollel (also kolel) (, , , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced Torah study, study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features Shiur (Torah), shiurim (lectures) and ...

in Jerusalem.

Bais Yosef yeshiva

Yoffen supervised a network of satellite yeshivas in pre-World War II Poland and Ukraine, all named Yeshiva Bais Yosef. He used this name for the yeshiva he founded in Borough Park. In Europe, for a while, Yoffen had the assistance of Rabbi Gershon Liebman.

Biography

Yoffen was arrested by the Russian government in 1921, along with some of his students. Two years later he went back to Poland. He was buried on Har HaMenuchot among numerous famous rabbis.

Notable students

* Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, the Steipler * Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld, Breslov mashpia (spiritual mentor) in America, who was a

chavrusa ''Chavrusa'', also spelled ''chavruta'' or ''ḥavruta'' (, lit. "fellowship"; : , ''ḥāḇrāwāṯā''), is a traditional rabbinic approach to Talmudic study in which a small group of students (usually 2–5) analyze, discuss, and debate a ...

of the son of the

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

, Rav Yaakov Yoffen, and was one of only five students to receive '' Semichah'' directly from Rav Yoffen after completing Shas twice at age 23.

References

Burials at Har HaMenuchot People from Pinsk district Rosh yeshivas 1970 deaths 1887 births 20th-century Russian rabbis 20th-century American rabbis {{rabbi-stub