Rabbi Yichiel Michel Epstein

Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829-1907), often called "the Aruch ha-Shulchan" (after his main work, Arukh HaShulkhan), was a Rabbi and posek (authority in Jewish law) in Lithuania. His surname is often preceded by ha-Levi, as he descended from a family of Levites. Image File history File links Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, The Aruch HaShulchan File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, The Aruch HaShulchan File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Arukh HaShulkhan is a work of Jewish scholarship, written by Yechiel Michel Epstein. ... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbÄ«; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbÄ«) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished,. In the ancient Judean schools the sages were addressed as רִבִּי (Ribbi or Rebbi... Posek פוסק (Hebrew; pl. ... Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish rabbinic law, custom and tradition. ... In the Jewish tradition, a Levite (לוי Attached, Standard Hebrew Levi, Tiberian Hebrew Lēwî) is a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi. ...

Biography

Yechiel Michel Epstein was born into a family of wealthy army contractors for the Czarist Russian army in Babruysk (presently in Belarus). His mother was the sister of Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (the Netziv), who would become the rosh yeshiva (head) of the Volozhin yeshiva. (Berlin was later to marry a daughter of Epstein, after being widowed of his first wife.) Tsar, (Bulgarian цар�, Russian царь; often spelled Czar or Tzar in English), was the title used for the autocratic rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires since 913, in Serbia in the middle of the 14th century, and in Russia from 1547 to 1917. ... The city of Babruysk (Belarusian: Бабру́йск; Russian: Бобру́йск, Bobruisk) is located in Mahilyow voblast of Belarus on the Berezina river. ... Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (1817- 10 August 1893) was a rosh yeshiva (dean of a yeshiva) and author if several works of rabbinic literature in Lithuania. ... A Rosh yeshiva (Hebrew: ראש ישיבה) (plural in Hebrew: Roshei yeshiva, but also referred to in the English form as Rosh yeshivas) is a rabbi who is the academic head, or rosh (ראש), of a yeshiva (ישיבה), a college of higher Talmudic study. ... Valozhyn (Belarusian: Вало́жын; Russian: Воло́жин) is a town in the Minsk voblast of Belarus, 75 km northwest of Minsk. ... Yeshiva or yeshivah (Hebrew: ישיבה pl. ...

Epstein studied Torah locally, and was encouraged to do so by the town's rabbi and his parents (the concept of an out-of-town yeshiva was only slowly gaining ascendance). After his marriage he received semicha (rabbinic ordination) and accepted his first position. Torah study is the study of Jewish religious texts by Jews for the religious (as opposed to academic) purposes. ... Semicha (סמיכה) (meaning leaning [of the hands] in Hebrew) is roughly equivalent to the word ordination (in Hebrew: semichut סמיכות) of a rabbi within Judaism. ... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbÄ«; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbÄ«) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished,. In the ancient Judean schools the sages were addressed as רִבִּי (Ribbi or Rebbi...

Epstein became the rabbi of Novozypkov (east of Minsk), a town with a large number of Hasidic Jews, mainly adherents of Chabad Lubavitch. He visited the rebbe of the time Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (the Tzemach Tzedek), and forged a close relationship with him; this would increase his statue in Hasidic circles. Victory Square, the central place of Minsk Minsk (Belarusian: Мінск (official spelling in Belarus), Менск; Russian: ) is the capital and a major city of Belarus with a population of 1. ... Hasidic Judaism (Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות, meaning pious from the Hebrew root word chesed חסד meaning loving kindness) is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. ... Chabad Lubavitch, or Lubavich, is a large branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. ... The seventh and last Lubavitcher rebbe was named similarly: Menachem Mendel Schneerson (without the h in his last name, as he was a cousin. ...

Nine years after accepting his position in Novozypkov, in 1863, Epstein was appointed as the rabbi of Novogrudok (or Novogradok, south of Minsk), where he would serve for 34 years, until his death. Here, he was recognised as a posek (decisor of Jewish law), and he was to compose most of his writings in Novogrudok. 1863 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Navahradak (Нава́градак in Belarusian; Polish: Nowogródek; Russian: Novogrudok, Lithuanian: Naugardukas) is a Belarusian city with an old history, the first capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. ... Posek פוסק (Hebrew; pl. ... Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish rabbinic law, custom and tradition. ...

Epstein died and is buried in Novogrudok. His son, Rabbi Baruch Epstein, was a bookkeeper by profession but produced a number of scholary and popular works. Rabbi Baruch Epstein or Baruch ha-Levi Epstein (1860-1941) was a Lithuanian rabbi. ...

Bibliography

• Or li-Yesharim (a commentary on the classic work Sefer ha-Yashar, attributed to the Tosafist Rabbi Yaakov ben Meir, Rabbeinu Tam)
• Arukh HaShulkhan (see above);
• Arukh HaShulkhan he'Atid (Laying the Table of the Future) - a parallel work to Arukh HaShulkhan summarising and analysing the laws that will apply in Messianic times; this work became more relevant when Jewish farming communities were re-established in Israel, since many agricultural laws are covered in this work;
• Mical ha-Mayim - a commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud;
• Leil Shimurim - a commentary on the Haggada;

Tosafists were medieval rabbis who collected commentaries on the Talmud, and appear in virtually every edition since it was first printed. ... The Jerusalem Talmud (In Hebrew Talmud Yerushalmi, in short known as the Yerushalmi), also known as the Palestinian Talmud, (not related to current Palestinian issues at all!), was written in the Land of Israel at the same time of the writing of the the Babylonian Talmud, (which is known as... The Haggadah (הגדה) is a Hebrew language text used at the Passover service containing the Seder. ...

References

• Chaim Shapiro. The Aruch HaShulchan. In: "The Torah Personality", ed. Rabbi Nisson Wolpin. Brooklyn, New York: Mesorah publications, 1988. ISBN 0-89906-860-X.