Yechezkel Sarna
Yechezkel Sarna | |
---|---|
Born | Horodok, Russia | 18 February 1890
Died | 20 August 1969 | (aged 79)
Nationality | Israeli |
Yechezkel Sarna (1890–1969)[1] was a disciple of Nosson Tzvi Finkel, (known as the "Alter (elder) of Slabodka"), spiritual mentor of the Slabodka yeshiva.[2] He was sent by Finkel to move the yeshiva from Europe to Hebron in 1925, and following the 1929 Hebron massacre, to Jerusalem.[3] In 1934, he assumed the position of rosh yeshiva. Over the years, he produced thousands of students, many of whom became prominent roshei yeshiva and rabbis in Israel and abroad.
Early years
Sarna was born in
When he was 11, he was sent to the Ohr Hachaim yeshiva in Slabodka, headed by Tzvi Levitan, a student of the Simcha Zissel Ziv, "the Alter of Kelm".[4] During the year that he studied there, he was exposed to the musar teachings of the mashgiach, Eliyahu Laicrovits.[citation needed]
In 1902, he journeyed to Maltsch to study under Zalman Sender Kahana-Shapiro, who also presided as the Chief Rabbi of the city. Due to an internal conflict in the yeshiva, Kahana-Shapiro left Maltsch, and transferred to Kriniki, barely a year after Sarna had arrived.[citation needed] Without a mentor, Sarna left Maltsch. A year later, he returned to Slabodka to study under Chaim Rabinowitz in Knesses Beis Yitzchok.[4]
In 1904, Rabinowitz invited Sarna to join a group of select students he took along with him while being transferred to the
World War I
With the outbreak of
Shortly after the Slabodka yeshiva had arrived in Minsk, which was near the battlefront, it was forced to flee to a safer city,
After the
Shortly after World War I, the yeshiva managed to leave Russia and to return to Slabodka, which, after the war, was re-annexed to
Palestine
In 1924, following the edict requiring enlistment in the military or supplementary secular studies in the yeshiva, the decision was made to transfer the yeshiva to
In the course of the 1929 Hebron massacre, 24 of the yeshiva's students had been killed and many were injured. Sarna succeeded in reestablishing the yeshiva in Jerusalem. He renamed it "Hebron", in memory of those who were massacred in that city. While Leib Chasman, the yeshiva's mashgiach, dedicated himself to encouraging the students, Sarna took the task of fund raising for the yeshiva, traveling extensively,[4] even making several trips to the United States.[6] [citation needed]
In a letter to Isaac Sher of Slabodka, he wrote, "The first weeks were very difficult, since the students were both destitute and despondent. But by the 15th of
When his father-in-law, Moshe Mordechai, died in 1933, four years after the Hebron Massacre, Rav Yechezkel was officially appointed rosh yeshiva of Hebron.[4]
Community involvement and leadership
With the start of World War II and the Holocaust, Sarna expanded the scope of his activities: he was among the founders of the Vaad Yeshivos, and was also active in the
Despite the involvement in community and Jewish projects, the Hebron yeshiva and its students remained his lifework. He delivered shiurim in
As rosh yeshiva and mashgiach, he acted warmly toward his students. This attitude is apparent in one of his letters, in which he wrote, "Yesterday, I entered the yeshiva close to midnight, and found thirty students studying with exceptional fervor. At that time, I thought, 'Fortunate is the generation which has merited such young people. May Hashem protect them and bless them.'" Over time, his brothers-in-law, Rabbis Aaron Cohen and Moshe Chevroni, were appointed roshei yeshiva of Hebron, while Meir Chadash was appointed mashgiach. Later, Rabbis Hillel Paley, Simcha Zissel Broide and Avrohom Farbstein were also invited to become roshei yeshiva there.[4]
Final days
In his last months, Sarna kept
Family
Sarna and his wife Pesha Miriam had one son, Chaim.[7] Their daughter Chana (married name Farbstein) was born 1923.[8]
Works
- Rearrangement of the Kuzari by Rav. Sarna, Transl. Rabbi Avraham Davis; Metsudah 1986
- Iyunim on Mesilat Yesharim available at http://hebrewbooks.org/41769
- Daliot Yechezkel
References
- ^ "Turn that frown upside down". The Jewish Press. October 29, 2017.
- ^ Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb (September 27, 2011). "Circles Of Change". The Jewish Press.
- ^ a b Dr. Yitzchok Levine (August 22, 2007). "American Victims of the 1929 Hebron Massacre". The Jewish Press.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Sofer, D. "Rav Yechezkel of Sarna ZT"L". tzemachdovid.org. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
- ^ Leo Gottesman (1930). "The Martyrs of Hebron by Leo Gottesman - FULL TEXT". the Jewish Community of Hebron. https://www.amazon.com/martyrs-Hebron-Personal-reminiscences-Palestine/dp/B0008BNSVY. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
During most of my stay at Hebron, Rabbi Mosheh Mordecai Epstein, the Dean, was in America, and the burdens of the Yeshivah management fell upon his son-in-law, Rabbi Jechezkel [Yechezkel] Sarna, affectionately called Reb Chatzkel. The latter, who shared the two-family house in which I lived with Eliezer Dan SIonim, was constantly appealing to my host for assistance and all manner of favors which the Yeshivah needed.
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- ^ סורסקי, אהרן. "בית יעקב No. 121-122 Av 5729 - לוין, פנחס יעקב הכהן (page 16 of 40)". www.hebrewbooks.org. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
Hebrew article makes mention of Epstein's trip to the United States. Not clear Sarna went as well.
- ^ Hebrew Wikipedia article: . The Hebrew Wiki article about the father mentions that the son wrote about his father after the latter's death. A second Hebrew wiki article is about the son.
- ^ David Wilder (August 5, 2013). "Zechut Avot : An Eternal Birthright". The Jewish Press.