Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman (; ; , known also as the Ponevezher Rav), was an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

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 ...

and

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; 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, primarily the Talmud and th ...

(dean) of the Ponevezh Yeshiva. He was also a member of the

Council of Torah Sages Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (, "Council of great Torah ages) is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually pres ...

of Agudath Israel.

Biography

Kahaneman was born 13 May 1886 in

Kuliai Kuliai ( Samogitian: ''Kulē'', ) is a town in Telšiai County, 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 Ba ...

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kovno (Kaunas). It was formed on 18 December 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas I from the western part of Vilna Govern ...

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 ...

(present-day

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 ...

), a town of about 300, of whom about a third were Jewish. As a child he attended the yeshiva in

Plungė Plungė (; Samogitian: ''Plongė''; ) is a city in Lithuania with 17,252 inhabitants. Plunge is the capital of the Plungė District Municipality which has 33,251 inhabitants (2022). Two parts of the city are separated by the Babrungas River and ...

led by Rabbi

Chaim Yitzchak Bloch Hacohen Hayyim Yitzhak HaCohen Bloch (; 1864–1948) was a prominent Lithuanian born rabbi. In 1922 he left Latvia for the United States, where he became the Rabbi and Av Beit Din (head judge of religious court) of Jersey City, New Jersey. He remained th ...

. At the age of 14 he went to study

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 ...

at the

Telshe yeshiva Telshe Yeshiva (; ; also spelled ''Telz'') is a yeshiva in Wickliffe, Ohio, formerly located in Telšiai, Lithuania. During World War II the yeshiva relocated to Cleveland, Ohio in the United States and is now known as the Rabbinical College of ...

, where he studied Torah until he was twenty, under rabbis

Eliezer Gordon Rabbi Eliezer Gordon (; 1841–1910) also known as Reb Laizer Telzer (), served as the rabbi and ''rosh yeshiva'' of Telz, Lithuania. Early years Eliezer Gordon was born in 1841 in the village of Chernyaty (or Chernian in Yiddish), Belarus, ...

and

Shimon Shkop Shimon Yehuda Shkop (; 1860 – October 22, 1939) was Rosh Yeshiva (dean) of the Yeshiva of Telshe, and later of Yeshiva Shaar HaTorah of Grodno. Having innovated a style of Torah study, applying both to Halacha and to Talmud, he was widely r ...

. He then spent half a year in Novardok yeshiva, after which he spent three years in

Raduń Yeshiva The Radin Yeshiva, originally located in Radun, Belarus, Radun, Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now in Belarus), was established by Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan (known as the ''Chofetz Chaim'' after the title of his well-known ''Sefer (Hebrew), sefe ...

studying under the

Chofetz Chaim The ''Sefer'' ''Chofetz Chaim'' (or ''Chafetz Chaim'' or ''Hafetz Hayim'') (, trans. "Pursuer of Life") is a book by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, who is also called "the Chofetz Chaim" after it. The book deals with the Jewish laws of speech. The ...

and Rabbi

Naftoli Trop Rabbi Naftoli Trop (April 1871 - September 24, 1928) was a renowned Talmudist and Talmid Chacham. He served as ''rosh yeshiva'' of Raduń Yeshiva, Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim in Radun, Belarus, Radun, Second Polish Republic, Poland. Early years In his ...

. He married the daughter of the rabbi of Vidzh, and became rabbi there at the end of 1911, when his father-in-law became the rabbi of Vilkomir (

Ukmergė Ukmergė (; previously ''Vilkmergė''; ) is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, located northwest of Vilnius. It is the administrative center of the Ukmergė District Municipality. Ukmergė (Vilkmergė) was mentioned for the first time as a ...

). His nephew was

Daniel Kahneman Daniel Kahneman (; ; March 5, 1934 – March 27, 2024) was an Israeli-American psychologist best known for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making as well as behavioral economics, for which he was awarded the 2002 Nobel Memor ...

, a psychologist and economist. After Rabbi

Yitzhak Yaakov Rabinovich Yitzhak Yaakov Rabinovich (1854–1919), , known also as reb Itzele Ponevezher, was an Orthodox rabbi, supporter of socialist ideas and founder of the Ponevezh Yeshiva. Biography Yitzhak Yaakov Rabinovich was born in 1854 in Shereshevo, Beloru ...

died in 1919 Kahaneman was appointed the new rabbi of Ponevezh. He built three yeshivas there, as well as a school and an orphanage. All of these institutions were destroyed, and many of his students and family killed, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was elected to the

Lithuanian parliament The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameral legislative body of the Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendments to ...

. He was also a member of the autonomous National Council of Lithuanian Jewry and an active member and leader of

Agudat Yisrael Agudat Yisrael (; Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Agudas Yisroel'') is a Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jewish political party in Israel. It began as a political party representing Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews in Poland, originating in the Agudath Israel movement ...

. The outbreak of

caught him during his visit to the British Mandate of Palestine, after which he was intending to visit the United States. Learning about the Red Army's occupation of Lithuania, he decided to stay in Palestine. He continued, from a distance, to oversee the Ponevezh Yeshiva. After the entrance of the Nazis in Ponevezh, the yeshiva was destroyed and all students were murdered. A few years later, in 1944, Kahaneman succeeded in re-establishing the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. After unsuccessful attempts to save European Jews, Kahaneman focused on developing communities in Palestine, building ''Kiryat Ha-Yeshiva'' ("Town of the Yeshiva") in

Bnei Brak Bnei Brak ( ) or Bene Beraq, is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an area of 709 hectares (1,752 acre ...

and ''Batei Avot''

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

s. He also traveled widely in the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

to secure financial support for the yeshiva, which he constantly improved and extended. With the help of longtime friend Rav

Moshe Okun Moshe is the Hebrew version of the masculine given name Moses. Bearers include: * Moshe Arens (1925–2019), Israeli politician * Moshe Bar, several people * Moshe Bejski (1921–2007), Israeli judge * Moshe Brener (born 1971), Israeli basketball ...

, Kahaneman succeeded in turning the re-established Ponevezh yeshiva into one of the largest in the world- a leading one among the Litvishe. He sought to take care of many orphans, especially the ''Yaldei

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

'' ("Children of Tehran") – children who escaped from Nazi Europe by walking across Europe to Tehran - as well as other refugees, among them Biala

Rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

– Rabbi Ben Zion Rabinowitz. Kahaneman died on 3 September 1969 in Bnei Brak, Israel. After his death the Ponevezh Yeshiva community divided into two over the conflict on leadership. Kahaneman wrote Talmudic commentaries and an exegesis on the

Passover Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to rec ...

, though these - together with transcripts of his lessons - were published only after his death.

Opinion on State of Israel and Zionism

In contrast to the prevalent

Haredi Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

opposition to

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

, Kahaneman showed signs of support for the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. He considered the establishment of the State of Israel to have religious significance, especially after the experience of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, believing it was God's plan. He is known for insisting that the

flag of Israel The flag of the State of Israel ( ; ) was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. It consists of a white background with a blue Star of David in the centre and two horizontal blue stripes at the ...

be flown outside of the Ponevezh Yeshiva on Israel's

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

. He also refrained from saying the

Tachanun ''Tachanun'' or ''Taḥanun'' ( "Supplication"), also called ''nefilat apayim'' ( "falling on the face"), is part of Judaism's morning (''Shacharit'') and afternoon (''Mincha'') prayer services; it follows the recitation of the ''Amidah'', the ce ...

prayer - a daily prayer of penitence - on that day, as a sign of celebration. He said in an article that Israel's military victories during the

Six Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states, primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June 1967. Military hostilities broke ...

"obvious miracles", and that "even blind people can sense palpable miracles... the miracles, wonders, salvations... the comforts and battles". Kahaneman opposed the idolization of the Israeli warrior, seen as tough in contrast to Holocaust victims seen as enfeebled.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahaneman, Yosef Shlomo 1886 births 1969 deaths People from Plungė District Municipality People from Telshevsky Uyezd Jews from the Russian Empire Lithuanian Haredi rabbis Lithuanian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Ashkenazi rabbis in Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Haredi rabbis in Israel Members of the Seimas Ponevezh Rosh yeshivas Ponevezh Yeshiva Raduń Yeshiva alumni Rabbis in Bnei Brak Novardok Yeshiva alumni Agudat Yisrael

Biography

Opinion on State of Israel and Zionism

See also

References