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Rabbi Meir Chadash (alternatively transliterated as ''Meir Chodosh'') (; 1898-1989) was the
When
mashgiach
A mashgiach (, "supervisor"; , ''mashgichim'') or mashgicha (pl. ''mashgichot'') is a Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment. Mashgichim may supervise any type of food service establishment, including slaughterhouses ...
of the Hebron Yeshiva
Hebron Yeshiva, also known as ''Yeshivas Hevron'', or Knesses Yisroel, is a yeshiva (school for Talmudic study). It originated in 1924 when the Rosh yeshiva, roshei yeshiva (deans) and 150 students of the Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael (Slabodka), Slabo ...
and a leading mussar disseminator in the 20th century.
Chadash was a ''talmid muvhak'' (primary student) of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel (often referred to as the "Alter (elder) of Slabodka").
His strength was described as "adaptation and modification" of the Alter's teachings to "the nascent yeshiva world of Eretz Yisroel" both before and especially "after the war".
Early life
Chadash was born 27 Shvat 5658 (February 19, 1898) to Ben Tzion and Machla Chadash, who were living at the time in Paritch, (jewish "Lithuania", today Belarus). Two older siblings were his brother Dovid and his sister Gronia. He married Tzivia Leah Hutner, a daughter of Rav Naftali Menachem Hutner, in 1927. At age ten he was sent to ayeshiva
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 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 ...
, Belarus. Somewhat before reaching bar mitzvah
A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...
his cousin took him to Slabodka.
Hebron
When military draft
Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...
exemptions for yeshiva students were cancelled in Lithuania, the Alter sent a group to found what became the Hebron Yeshiva. Chadash was in "the final group of students" to move what was left of their yeshiva.
His approach was described as "innovative teachings" based on "never said anything that he had not heard from" yet, when facing something new, to "say what his rebbe would have said" because he would "work out how his rebbe would have approached" the situation. By the time of the Alter's death, Meir had advanced to be described as "the Alter's close disciple and confidant." Rabbi Yechezkel Sarna
Yechezkel Sarna (; 1890–1969) was a disciple of Nosson Tzvi Finkel, spiritual mentor of the Slabodka yeshiva. He was sent by Finkel to move the yeshiva from Europe to Hebron in 1925, and following the 1929 Hebron massacre, to Jerusalem. In 1 ...
later said it was like "the closeness of Yehoshua bin Nun to Moshe Rabbenu."
An explanation he gave for why he asked all visitors to leave his hospital room when a certain medical staff member entered was: "difficulty locating my veins. I didn't want the visitors to see him fumbling, because he might have been embarrassed. That is why I asked them to leave."
References
1898 births 1989 deaths Haredi rabbis in Israel Hebron Yeshiva alumni {{Israel-rabbi-stub