Rabbi Dov Berish Einhorn (1877 – 1942) was the Chief

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

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 ...

Mstów Mstów may refer to: * Mstów, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, a village in Limanowa County, Poland *Mstów, Silesian Voivodeship, a village in Częstochowa County, Poland *Gmina Mstów __NOTOC__ Gmina Mstów is a rural gmina (administrative district) ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Biography

Dov Berish Einhorn was born in 1877 in the small town of

where his father, Efraim Tzvi , served as the town's Rabbi. In Mstów, Efraim Tzvi had established one of the first formal

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 ...

s in Poland. In 1888, at age 11, Dov Berish was sent to

Olkusz Olkusz ( ''Elkish'') is a town in southern Poland with 36,607 inhabitants (2014). Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998), it is the capital of Olkusz County. Olkusz is known for its ...

to study the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

for three years under the tutelage of Rabbi Lublinski. With the encouragement of the Radomsker Rebbe, Dov Berish excelled in his studies. After mastering and memorizing several

tractates Tractate, a written work dealing formally and systematically with a subject, may refer to: * Masekhet, an organizational element of Talmudic literature * Minor tractate The minor tractates (, ''masechtot qetanot'') are essays from the Talmudic ...

gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aram ...

, he was tested by his father and then accepted into his

in Mstów, where he was considered one of the best students. At age 15, he married Rachel, the daughter of Rabbi

Pinchas Menachem Justman Pinchas Menachem (Elazar) Justman (1848–1920) The Piltzer Rebbe, also known by the title of his main work, the Siftei Tzadik was a Hasidic Rabbi who after the passing of his brother-in-law Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, became a Rebbe for some ...

. Dov Beirish then settled in his wife;s hometown of Ger where his father-in-law and his wife's uncle, Rabbi

Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (, 15 April 1847 – 11 January 1905), also known by the title of his main work, the ''Sfas Emes'' (Ashkenazic Pronunciation) or ''Sefat Emet ('') (Modern Hebrew), was a Hasidic rabbi who succeeded his grandfather, Rabbi ...

, encouraged him to continue his study of the

. After many years of marriage the couple realized that they could not produce a child and agreed to divorce. Rabbi Dov Berish then proceeded to marry the widow of Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Rabinowicz who had been the

of Klobutzk, author of emes l'yakov and son of Rabbi

Avraham Yissachar Dov Rabinowicz Avraham Yissachar Dov Hakohen Rabinowicz (also Avraham Yissachar Ber Rabinowicz, Rabinowitz, Rabinowich, or Rabinovitch) (November 15, 1843 – September 5, 1892)Besser, Rabbi Shlomo C. "The Chessed L'Avraham of Radomsk: In honor of his 120th ...

Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva

In 1901 Einhorn's father, Efraim Tzvi died and the Jewish community in Mstów appointed him to succeed his father as both

and

. Einhorn then received Rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Yitzhak Yehudah Shmelkis, Chief Rabbi of Levov and author of several books. Upon assuming leadership of the yeshiva, he chose to rename it ''Nachlas Efraim'', in memory of his father. Under his leadership, the

was considered one of the most prestigious and exclusive in all of Poland. Einhorn continued to lead the yeshiva for almost 40 years. Among his notable students was Rabbi

Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft (Hebrew: ) was a rabbi and Rosh Hashochtim of Poland (overseeing the country's kosher slaughterers) before the Holocaust. After the Holocaust he was Chief Rabbi of Hanover and Lower Saxony. After emigrating to the United S ...

, who was Rosh Hashochtim of Poland and later became Chief Rabbi of

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

and

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

Death

When the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

invaded

, Einhorn was forced to relocate to the

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

Radomsko Radomsko () is a city in southern Poland with 44,700 inhabitants (2021). It is situated on the Radomka river in the Łódź Voivodeship. It is the county seat of Radomsko County. Founded in the 11th century, Radomsko is a former royal city located ...

. In 1942, during the holiday of

Shavuot (, from ), or (, in some Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi usage), is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday, one of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may ...

, Nazi soldiers ordered Einhorn to board a train to the

Treblinka Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, ...

extermination camp. He refused, and was shot dead.

Works

In 1990, Einhorn's insights into the Torah were posthumously published together with those of his father, in a book called ''Shearis Efraim-Dov''.

References

{{Authority control Rosh yeshivas 20th-century Polish rabbis 1942 deaths Hasidic rabbis in Europe Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust Polish Hasidic rabbis 1877 births Executed people from Silesian Voivodeship Jewish Polish writers People from Częstochowa County