Nachum Kaplan
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Reb Menachem Nachum ben Uzziel Kaplan (1811 – October 25, 1879) was a
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n Talmudist, philanthropist,
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography: *Gurvich, in ''Razsvyct'', 1879, No. 7; *Lipshitz, ''Nekrolog Rabbi Nokhim iz Grodno'' (reprinted from ''Russki Yevrei'', 1879, No. 9), St. Petersburg, 1879; *'' Ha-Ẓefirah'', 1879, No. 42; *''
Ha-Meliẓ ''HaMelitz'' (Hebrew: ) was the first Hebrew newspaper in the Russian Empire. It was founded by Alexander Zederbaum in Odessa in 1860. History ''HaMelitz'' first appeared as a weekly, and it began to appear daily in 1886. From 1871, it was publish ...
'', 1879, No. 43; *Friedenstein, '''Ir Gibborim'', pp
95
96, Wilna, 1880.
and '' Talmid Chacham'' who was known throughout
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and
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as Reb Nachum'ke of Horodna or Reb Nahum Grodner. Rabbi Kaplan was well-versed in the
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 the
poskim In Jewish law, a ''posek'' ( , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the application of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah, in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities are inconc ...
as well as in
kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...
and
Acharonim In Halakha, Jewish law and history, ''Acharonim'' (, , ; ; ) are the leading rabbis and Posek, poskim (Jewish legal decisors) living from roughly the 16th century to the present, and more specifically since the writing of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' ...
. Yet, he refused to render halachic decisions (except for one occasion when it was a matter of
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) and held the humble position of '' shammash'' (sexton) in the Synagogue ''Chevra Shas''. His piety, simplicity of life, and dedication to the community earned him recognition among the Russian Jewry.


Biography

Rabbi Nachum was born in Baisogala to Uziel Kaplan, a laborer in a
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distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...
, and his wife, Meida. In his youth, he studied under Rabbi Karpl Atlas of Baisogala (grandfather of Rabbi Meir Atlas) and his sons, Binyamin Beinush and Meir. Later he studied at
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under Rabbi Mordechai Ganker, and afterwards at the
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 ...
of Rabbi Chalavna Lapidus, the '' maggid'' of
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, after which he studied at
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. At age 19, he decided to leave Vilnius in order to study at Ashmyany under Rabbi Avraham Kahana of Horodna (known today as
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). After studying for a while at Ashmyany, he went on to study at the Yeshiva of Mir. When he was about twenty years old, he married Itta, the daughter of Yosef Eliezer (a chimney sweep by trade) of Nesvizh, and moved into the latter's home in Nesvizh. Throughout the day, he studied
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 ...
,
halacha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mi ...
, and works of '' hashkafah'' such as '' Chovot HaLevavot'' and '' Menoras HaMaor'' until he committed them to memory. When he was in his early twenties, he decided to leave Nesvizh and traveled to Valozhyn, where he studied at the Volozhin Yeshiva under Rabbi Eliezer Yitzchak Freid. Afterwards, he headed for
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where he studied Gemara and halacha under the '' rav'' of the city, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Rabinowitz. He also studied
Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
; or ''midrashot' ...
and
Aggadah Aggadah (, or ; ; 'tales', 'legend', 'lore') is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly the Talmud and Midrash. In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporat ...
under Rabbi Eliyahu Ragoler of Slabodka. During this time, he traveled to Torez where he studied the teachings of the
Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman''), also known as the Vilna Gaon ( ''Der Vilner Goen''; ; or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym Gr"a ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu": "Our great teacher Elijah"; Sialiec, April 23, 172 ...
under a student of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. Afterwards, he returned to Nesvizh and a short while later he moved to Horodna. During the almost fifty years that he lived there, he was offered many prominent positions. Yet, he refused opportunities for leadership in public life, choosing instead the position of ''shammash'' in the Synagogue ''Chevra Shas'' in Horodna, a position he retained for the rest of his life. In the last years of his life, he suffered from a serious spinal disorder, a severe intestinal ailment, swelling of the feet, and other discomforts. Yet, on Simchat Torah, he led the congregation in spirited singing and dancing, clutching a ''
Sefer Torah file:SeferTorah.jpg, A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema file:Köln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG, An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Inte ...
'' in one arm while his free hand held his stomach to ease the pain. A
Hebrew language Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...
biography of Rabbi Nachum was written by Rabbi Yisrael David Miller who knew Rabbi Nachum personally. Rabbi Miller was stricken by the cholera pandemic that struck Horodna in 1872 and firmly believed that Rabbi Nachum's prayers saved his life. Rabbi Nachum died at Grodno on October 25, 1879. Twenty thousand people attended his funeral which took place the next day. His son-in-law was Rabbi Gavriel Zev Margolis.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Nachum 1811 births 1879 deaths People from Grodno Lithuanian Orthodox rabbis Orthodox rabbis from Russia 20th-century Lithuanian rabbis Date of birth missing Mir Yeshiva alumni Volozhin Yeshiva alumni