Rabbi Shmaryahu Yitzchak Bloch (1864 – December 1923) was a rabbi and

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 in Tsarist Russia and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Biography

There is very scant information about Rabbi Bloch's life. He was born in

Kretinga Kretinga (Yiddish: קרעטינגע) is a List of cities in Lithuania, city in Klaipėda County, in north-western Lithuania. It is the capital of the Kretinga District Municipality. It is located east of the popular Baltic Sea resort town of Pala ...

, a

shtetl or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...

now in

Klaipėda County Klaipėda County () is one of ten counties in Lithuania, bordering Tauragė County to the southeast, Telšiai County to the northeast, Kurzeme in Latvia to the north, and Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia to the south. To the west is the Baltic S ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. It is known that Rabbi Bloch served as rabbi of Druskenik from 1884 until his emigration to England in 1888, and subsequently served as a rabbi in the communities of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about northeast of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of orthodox Ashken ...

and

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, where he died in December 1923 ( Hebrew date: 7 Teves 5684). Rabbi Bloch was also an examiner for many years at the

Etz Chaim Etz Hayim, also transliterated as Eitz Chaim ( , meaning "Tree of Life"), is a common term used in Judaism. The expression can be found in , referring to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. It is also found in the Book of Proverbs, where it i ...

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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He gave an approbation to the

Sefer Sefer may refer to: * Sefer (Hebrew), a term for a book People with the surname * Franjo Šefer (born 1905), Yugoslav tennis player * Bela Šefer, Yugoslav footballer playing in 1924 People with the forename * Sefer Reis, Turkish privateer and O ...

''Doresh Tov L'amo'' authored by Rabbi Mordechai Tzvi Schwartz and published in London in 1917. Upon his sudden death, the ''

Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

'' wrote that Rabbi Bloch was a

"Staunch champion of Orthodoxy... Even his most casual acquaintance must have been struck by his love - nay, his passion - for 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 ...
. Possessed of a prodigious memory and of a zeal for study almost without parallel, he acquired so accurate a knowledge of the whole of the Talmud and the glosses thereon that his ''Bekius'' xtensively wide knowledgebecame proverbial. His mind was a veritable treasure-house of Rabbinic lore. No concordance was so reliable a guide. His piety was remarkable... he dug wells of learning wherever he sojourned... a pioneer in the establishment of Talmud Torah's and Yeshiboth."

References

*''Jewish Chronicle archival'' material
"Druskieniki" - Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities in Poland''Yakra d'Chayei'', page 47
British Orthodox rabbis 19th-century rabbis from the Russian Empire 20th-century English rabbis 1864 births 1923 deaths Date of birth missing Date of death missing Place of death missing Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom People from Kretinga 19th-century English rabbis {{UK-rabbi-stub