Chaim Berlin (1832,

Valozhyn Valozhyn or Volozhin (, ; ; ; ; ) is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Valozhyn District. It is located northwest of the capital Minsk, on the Valozhynka River in the Neman, Neman River basin, and the begi ...

– 1912,

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

) (חיים ברלין) was an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

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 ...

and

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

from 1865 to 1889. He was the eldest son of the Netziv, Rabbi

Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (20 November 1816 – 10 August 1893), also known as Reb Hirsch Leib Berlin, and commonly known by the acronym Netziv, was a Russian Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshiva ( dean) of the Volozhin Yeshiva and author of several work ...

Biography

Chaim Berlin was the son of Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, the Netziv, and his first wife. Berlin initially learned with his father. His connection to the

House of David The Davidic line refers to the descendants of David, who established the House of David ( ) in the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. In Judaism, the lineage is based on texts from the Hebrew Bible, as well as on later Jewish tradit ...

as a descendant of Rabbi

Meir Katzenellenbogen Meir ben Isaac Katzenellenbogen (c. 1482 – 12 January 1565) (also, Meir of Padua, or Maharam Padua, ) was a German rabbi born in Katzenelnbogen. Biography Meïr ben Isaac, who was often called after his native town, was the founder of the Katz ...

, the Maharam of Padua, is detailed in ''The Unbroken Chain''.Rosenstein, Neil. "The Unbroken Chain: Biographical Sketches and Genealogy of Illustrious Jewish Families from the 15th-20th Century," Volumes 1 and 2, Revised Edition, CIS Publishers: New York, 1990. . Berlin lived in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, where he was head of a rabbinical court. In 1891, his father appointed him head of the

yeshiva. There was controversy regarding this appointment as many students felt that Rabbi

Chaim Soloveitchik Chaim (Halevi) Soloveitchik (Yiddish: חיים סאָלאָווייטשיק, ), also known as Chaim Brisker (1853 – 30 July 1918), was a rabbi and Talmudic scholar credited as the founder of the Brisker method of Talmudic study within Judaism ...

was more deserving to head the yeshiva.

Family

He was married to his first wife from 5608/1847 until her passing 5642/1882. He subsequently was married from approximately 5644/1884 until the passing of his second wife 5649/1889.

Career

He served as

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

of: *

from 1865 to 1889 *

Kobryn Kobryn or Kobrin is a town in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Kobryn District. It is located in the southwestern corner of Belarus, where the Mukhavets river and Dnieper–Bug Canal meet. The town lies about east ...

from 1892 to 1897 *

Kropyvnytskyi Kropyvnytskyi (, ) is a city in central Ukraine, situated on the Inhul, Inhul River. It serves as the administrative center of Kirovohrad Oblast. Population: Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name several times. The settlement ...

(Elizavetgrad) from 1897 until 1906. Berlin left

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in 1906 and settled in

. He became the assistant

of the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

community with Rabbi

Shmuel Salant Shmuel Salant (; January 2, 1816 – August 16, 1909) served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem for almost 70 years. He was a renowned Talmudist and Torah scholar. Early life Shmuel Salant was born in Białystok, then part of the Russ ...

. He also assisted Rabbi Salant in the management of the Rabbi Meir Baal Haneis Salant charity founded by Rabbis Zundel and Salant in 1860. After Rabbi Salant died at the end of 1909, Berlin led the Jerusalem Rabbinate and the Rabbi Meir Baal Haneis Salant charity until his death in 1912 (5673). RavPicture 068

Legacy

He died at age 81 on 13 Tishrei 5663 (September 24, 1912) and was buried in the

Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery The Jewish Cemetery on the Mount of Olives () is the oldest and most important Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives had been a traditional Hebrew/Jewish burial location in antiquity. The present-day main cemetery is approximately fiv ...

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin or Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin () is an American Haredi Lithuanian-type boys' and men's yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. The school's divisions include a preschool, a ''yeshiva ketana'' (elementary school), a ''mesivta ...

, established in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in 1904 as ''Yeshiva Tiferes Bachurim'', was renamed for Rabbi Chaim Berlin in 1914, at the suggestion of his brother, Rabbi

Meir Berlin Meir Bar-Ilan (; – ) was an orthodox rabbi, author, and religious Zionist activist, who served as leader of the Mizrachi movement in the United States and Mandatory Palestine. Bar-Ilan University, founded in 1955, was named in his honour ...

(Bar-Ilan).

Writings

His major extensive writings were not published for nearly a century after his passing.
This changed with three publications: * 2002: ''Sefer Nishmat Hayyim, She'elot u-Teshuvot'' (R. Ya'akov Kosovsky-Shachor ed., Beni-Brak, 412 pp.) * 2003: ''Sefer Nishmat Hayyim, Mamorim u'Mechtavim'' (R. Ya'akov Kosovsky-Shachor ed., Beni-Brak, 424 pp.) * 2008: ''Otzar Reb Hayyim Berlin, Shu"t Nishmat Hayyim, Jerusalem, 4 vol., 446, 462, 449, 298 pp.)

References

External links

Biography of Rabbi Chaim Berlin
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin, Chaim 1832 births 1912 deaths Ashkenazi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine People from Valozhyn People from Oshmyansky Uyezd Belarusian Orthodox rabbis 19th-century rabbis from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian rabbis Chief rabbis of populated places Volozhin rosh yeshivas Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives