Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk (1843-1926) was a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. He was a kohen, and is therefore often referred to as Meir Simcha ha-Kohen. He is known for his writings on the Mishneh Torah, titled Ohr Sameiach, and his novellae on the Torah, titled Meshech Chochma.

Biography

Meir Simcha was born in Butrimonys (Yiddish: Baltrimantz), Lithuania, to Samson Kalonymus, a local wealthy merchant. His later success in Torah study is attributed to two blessings his parents had received from local rabbis before his birth.

He received his education locally, and managed to hide from the regular roundups of Jewish boys that were being held as a result of the Cantonist decrees that had been in effect since 1827.

After marrying in 1860, at age 17, he settled in Bialystok, Poland, where he was supported by his father-in-law while continuing his religious studies. After 23 years there he finally, after turning down many offers, accepted the rabbinate of the mitnagedim (non-Hasidim) in the Latvian town of Dvinsk, now known as Daugavpils. He would remain in the position until his death.

In Dvinsk, his counterpart was the Hasidic Rabbi Yosef Rosen, known as the Rogatchover Gaon or by his work Tzofnath Paneach. The two had a great respect for each other, despite Rosen's legendary fiery temper, and on occasions referred questions in Jewish law to each other. They also shared a love for the works of Maimonides.

In 1906, a certain Shlomo Friedlander published two tractates of the Jerusalem Talmud that had been considered lost for hundreds of years. Reb Meir Simcha was one of the few who discovered that the work was a very clever forgery.

In Dvinsk, he received visitors from the whole region, and he was frequently consulted on issues affecting the community at large, including Poland and Lithuania. He reputedly turned down offers for the rabbinate in various large cities, including Jerusalem, New York and Kovno.

He died in a hotel in Riga while seeking medical treatment. He had one daughter, who predeceased him before her marriage.

Ideas and influence

His political ideas were decidedly anti-Zionist, although he has been recorded to have welcomed the Balfour Declaration. He was present at the founding meetings of Agudath Yisrael in the German town of Bad Homburg, but could not attend the first large conference in Kattowitz due to poor health. He had several clashes with some of his contemporaries, including Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (the Chafetz Chaim) on political issues and questions of Jewish law.

It is harder to determine his exact stance in philosophical matters, although much can be gleaned from his Meshech Chochma (see below).

Bibliography

Rabbi Meir Simcha authored Ohr Sameiach ("The delighted light", a play on his name, possibly derived from Proverbs 13:9), a collection of novellae on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah. His approach is highly original, gathering material from the breadth of Jewish religious literature to approach difficult contradictions in Maimonides' main work of Jewish law. It was published during his lifetime and immediately became popular.

Other works, novellae on the Talmud and responsa, did not have the same impact but are still used for reference.

His main contribution to Jewish philosophy was to be posthumous. His pupil Menachem Mendel Zaks published Meshech Chochma ("The Price of Wisdom", Meshech is the acronym of Meir Simcha Kohen, and the words derive from Job 28:18), which contains novellae on the Torah, but very often branches off into questions of Jewish philosophy. He is often quoted as having predicted the Holocaust in a statement in this work: "They think that Berlin is Jerusalem".

External links

• Long biography (http://www.tzemachdovid.org/gedolim/orsomeach.html)
• Shorter biography (http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/dvinsk.htm)
• Jewish Daugavpils today (http://www.rumbula.org/daugavpils_jewish_today.htm)
• History of Latvian Jews (http://www.rumbula.org/history_of_latvian_jewry.htm) (with image of Reb Meir Simcha)