Meyer Abovitz (מאיר בן ישעיהו אבוביץ; alternate spelling Meir Abowitz; born 1876 - died 1941) was a

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 ...

and

Rosh Yeshiva Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; 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, primar ...

active in Mizrachi in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...

between the Two World Wars.

Biography

He studied in Slabodka, Kovno and Radin, and received ''

Semicha Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 ...

'' (ordination) from Rabbis Moshe Danishevsky, Hirsh Rabinovich, and Malkiel Tannenbaum, respectively holding the positions of '' Av Beit Din'' in Slabodka, Kovno and Lomza. He was married to Chana ''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

'' Malach; their daughter Feige Rachel ("Fanny") was married to Rabbi

Simcha Wasserman Elazar Simcha Wasserman (1898 - October 29, 1992) was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva. Born in the Russian Empire, he was sent before World War II to the United States by his father, Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, to improve the level of Jewish edu ...

. Rabbi Abovitz was Av Beit Din and ''Rav'' in Telatycze, White Russia and then Lubiezh (Lubcza, modern Lubcha). The latter was destroyed during the early days of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, and he then relocated to German held

Navahrudak Novogrudok ( be, Навагрудак, Navahrudak; lt, Naugardukas; pl, Nowogródek; russian: Новогрудок, Novogrudok; yi, נאַוואַראַדאָק, Novhardok, Navaradok) is a town in the Grodno Region, Belarus. In the Middle A ...

, where he headed the ''Bet Yosef''

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; 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 stu ...

; see Novardok Yeshiva. The ''Rav'' there was Meyer Meyerovitz. Rabbi Abovitz participated in the founding assembly of Mizrachi of Lithuania and Poland, in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional ur ...

, 1919; he was involved in various committees of the movement in Poland between the two World Wars. See Mizrachi in Poland. He was also active in "religious national education" which he saw a counterweight to the Jewish secular schools founded in Navahrudak following the First World War. Despite his involvement with Mizrachi he was also accepted by the '' Agudath Yisrael''. Navahrudak was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in July 1941, and Rabbi Abovitz was martyred with the rest of the Jewish population; see .

Works

He authored the following works: *''Zichron Yeshayahu'' - ''derushim'' *''Kochvei Ohr'' - explanations of the ''

Aggadah Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, ...

'' *''Pnei Meir'' - on the

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...

*''Pnei Meir'' - on the

Weekly Torah portion It is a custom among religious Jewish communities for a weekly Torah portion to be read during Jewish prayer services on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The full name, ''Parashat HaShavua'' ( he, פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ), is po ...

References

External links and references

* אנציקלופדיה של הציונות הדתית, א, עמ 2–1; ספר הציונות הדתית, ב, עמ 499 {{DEFAULTSORT:Abovitz, Meyer 1876 births 1941 deaths Belarusian Orthodox rabbis Rosh yeshivas 20th-century Russian rabbis Soviet rabbis