Elijah David Rabinowitz-Teomim (; 11 June 1843—8 February 1905), also known by his acronym ADeReT, was a Lithuanian rabbi in the 19th century who served as the leader of the Jewish community of

Panevėžys Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

, as the rabbi of Mir, led 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 in

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 ...

, and published many brilliant original arguments in Torah jurisprudence.

Biography

Rabinowitz-Teomim was born in the town of Pikeln.In his autobiography, Ha-Aderet wrote that he was born in the year 5605 (1845), but most biographers indicate the year 1843 as the year of his birth. See Seder Eliyahu. Jerusalem: Mosad Rav Kook, 1983. P. 17. At the age of five his mother died and from then on, his father, Rabbi Benjamin Rabinowitz, raised him and his brother, Tzvi-Yehudah, alone. He studied

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

and rabbinics under the tutelage of his father and by the age of fifteen he had acquired a substantial knowledge of Talmudic and rabbinic literature. Rabinowitz-Teomim was married to Feige Minna, with whom he had seven children. His daughter Batsheva married

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as HaRav Kook, and also known by the Hebrew-language acronym Hara'ayah (), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. H ...

in 1886; however she died a few years later, whereupon Rabinowitz-Teomim encouraged Rabbi Kook to marry his niece (the daughter of his brother Tzvi-Yehudah). He encouraged Rabbi Kook to become the Chief Rabbi of

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

. He died on 3 Adar 5665 (8 February 1905). He is buried on the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...

Rabbinical career

In 1875, he was invited to serve the rabbinate of the town of

(Poneviezh). In 1893, he was appointed as 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 ...

of Mir, where he served until 1899. He then

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

. In 1901, he was appointed as assistant to the aging Rabbi Shmuel Salant, who was the chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi

Perushim The ''perushim'' () were Jewish disciples of the Vilna Gaon, Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, who left Lithuania at the beginning of the 19th century to settle in the Land of Israel, which was then part of Ottoman Syria. They were from the section o ...

community in Jerusalem.

Published works

Rabinowitz-Teomim was a prolific writer and penned over 120 books. His work includes original insights on

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' (), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' (), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''halakha'') authored by Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon/Rambam). The ''Mishneh Torah'' was compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE ( ...

, as well as on the Talmud in his works, "Ha-Tebunah," "Kebod ha-Lebanon," "Ha-Ẓofeh," "Ha-Maggid," "Keneset Ḥakme Yisrael," "'Iṭṭur Soferim," and "Keneset ha-Gedolah." Much of his work has also been disseminated alongside the works of others to whom he gave his approbation. Recently several publishing houses have decided to print his works, thereby spurring renewed interest in his thought. Some of these texts include, “Seder Eliyahu”, an autobiography, “Teffilat David”, an explication of the meaning of the

Siddur A siddur ( ''sīddūr'', ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ''tef ...

, “Cheshbonos Shel Mitzvah”, an exposition on the 613 biblical commandments, “Seder Parshios”, a commentary on the weekly portion of the Torah, “Zecher Lemikdash”, a work concerning rabbinic precepts intended to be observed as a remembrance of the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

, and many others.

Legacy

Several centres of Torah education throughout

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

are named after Rabinowitz-Teomim, such as Yeshivat

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva (, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established in Mandatory Palestine in 1929, advocating the values of Torah and labor. Bne ...

Aderet high school in the city of

Bat Yam Bat Yam ( ) is a city on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, on the Central Coastal Plain just south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area and the Tel Aviv District. In , it had a population of . History British Mandate Bat Y ...

References

External links

*
Biography of Rabbi Rabinowitz Teomim
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabinowitz-Teomim, Eliyahu David 1843 births 1905 deaths 19th-century Lithuanian rabbis Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire Lithuanian Orthodox rabbis Ashkenazi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine Rosh yeshivas People from Panevėžys 20th-century rabbis in Jerusalem