Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin (1818–1898), also known as the Maharil Diskin, was a leading

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 ...

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 ...

ist, and

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

commentator. He served as a rabbi in

Łomża Łomża () is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately to the north-east of Warsaw and west of Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the capital of Łomża County and has been the se ...

, Mezritch,

Kovno 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. Kaun ...

Shklov Shklow is a town in Mogilev Region, Belarus, located north of Mogilev on the Dnieper River. It serves as the administrative center of Shklow District. It has a railway station on the line between Orsha and Mogilev. In 2009, its population was ...

, Brisk, and, finally,

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 ...

, after moving to

Eretz Yisrael The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definitions ...

in 1878. He opened what today is known as the Diskin Orphan Home in 1881.

Biography

Yehoshua Leib Diskin was born on December 8, 1818, in

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

, then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. His father, Binyamin Diskin, was rabbi of that city, (also known as Grodno) then Volkovisk, and later Łomża. He married Hinda Rachel, daughter of Rabbi Broder, and lived with his father-in-law in Wolkowitz. He received ''

semikhah ''Semikhah'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 CE. Si ...

'' (rabbinic ordination) at the age of 18, and inherited his father's rabbinate of Łomża at the age of 25. Diskin's second wife, Sarah, was known as the "Brisker Rebbetzin". She had a very strong mind, and came from a prestigious family descended from

Yechezkel Landau Yechezkel ben Yehuda HaLevi Landau (8 October 1713 – 29 April 1793) was an influential authority in halakha (Jewish law). He is best known for the work ''Noda Biyhudah'' (נודע ביהודה), by which title he is also known. Biography Land ...

(the "Nodah bi-Yehudah") and

Joshua Zeitlin Joshua Zeitlin (1742 in Shklov, Belarus – August 18, 1822, in Kherson, Novorossiya) was a Russian rabbinical scholar and philanthropist. He was a pupil of the Talmudist Rabbi Aryeh Leib ben Asher Gunzberg, who was the author of ''Sha'agat ...

. She died in 1907. Diskin's brother Avraham Shmuelborn 1827 in Łomża, who later became a rabbi himselfpre-deceased him.

Rabbinic career

In 1878, Diskin left his rabbinical position in

Brest-Litovsk Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as the admini ...

and moved to

Ottoman Palestine The region of Palestine (region), Palestine is part of the wider region of the Levant, which represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia.Steiner & Killebrew, p9: "The general limits ..., as defined here, begin at the Plain of ' ...

, where he became recognized as a leading rabbinic figure in the Ashkenazi community of

. In the 1880s, Diskin was offered the position of

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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, which he declined. Diskin established 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 ...

by the name of Ohel Moshe (). He held the line against attempts by (Jewish Enlightenment) to introduce secular institutions to Jerusalem. His son was Yitzhak Yerucham Diskin.

Diskin Orphanage

The city's large religious community was then living under near impossible conditions. The persecution and disease from which the Jews of the Holy Land suffered moved Diskin to open a home for orphans in the Old City, after bringing needy children into his own home. The

Diskin Orphanage The Diskin Orphanage was an orphanage in the Old City of Jerusalem, established in 1881 by Yehoshua Leib Diskin. From the Jewish Quarter, it moved to Street of the Prophets Street of the Prophets (, ''Rehov HaNevi'im'') is an east–west a ...

(initially known as the Diskin Orphan Home) was formally established in 1881. From the

Jewish Quarter Jewish Quarter may refer to: *Jewish quarter (diaspora), areas of many cities and towns traditionally inhabited by Jews *Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem), one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem *Jewish Quarter (), a popular name ...

, it moved to

Street of the Prophets Street of the Prophets (, ''Rehov HaNevi'im'') is an east–west axis road in Jerusalem beginning outside Damascus Gate and ending at Davidka Square. Located to the north of Jaffa Road, it bisects the neighborhood of Musrara, Jerusalem, Musrara. ...

outside the walls of the Old City. Diskin's second wife, Sarah (Sonia Rotner),p. 9 known as the Brisker Rebbetzin, brought 40,000 rubles into the marriage which was used for the support of this institution.

Death and legacy

Diskin died on January 23, 1898 (29 Tevet 5658). 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 ...

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 ...

. Diskin Street in the Sha'arei Hesed neighbourhood is named after him.

References

External links

The official Diskin Orphanage website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diskin, Yehoshua Yehudah Leib 1818 births 1898 deaths Haredi rabbis in Europe Lithuanian Haredi rabbis Ashkenazi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine Polish Haredi rabbis Rabbis from Lomza Rabbis in Jerusalem Immigrants of the First Aliyah People from Grodno Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire