Rabbi
Abba Berman
Personal
Born
Abba Mordechai Berman

Tu BiShvat 1919
Łódź, Poland
DiedMay 12, 2005(2005-05-12) (aged 85–86)
ReligionJudaism
SpouseItka Greenberg
Parent
  • Shaul Yosef Berman (father)
DenominationHaredi Judaism
PositionRosh yeshiva
YeshivaYeshivas Iyun HaTalmud, Yeshivas Knesses Yitzchok of Chadera-Kiryat Sefer
Yahrtzeit3 Iyar, 5765

Abba Mordechai Berman (1919–2005) was a Talmudist and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivas Iyun HaTalmud.

Early life

Abba Berman was born on Tu BiShvat 5679 (1919) in Łódź, Poland, to Shaul Yosef Berman, rosh yeshiva of Toras Chesed in Lodz[1] and a student of the Chofetz Chayim.[2] As a young child, Berman's greatness was recognized by the Chofetz Chaim.[3] The Berman family were descendants of Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz.

Following his Bar Mitzvah, Berman learned in Yeshivas Mir where he became close to the mashgiach ruchani, Yerucham Levovitz.[4] Upon his arrival, the other students gave Berman the nickname "Abba Einstein" in recognition of his brilliance. The name stuck so well that Chaim Shmuelevitz, acknowledging this comparison, remarked "A bochur (young man) has arrived with such an interesting name... Einstein..." Aryeh Finkel quoted Shmuelevitz as saying "They have Einstein, but we have Abba Lodzer!"[1] Berman particularly impressed Eliezer Yehuda Finkel with his novellae on Kodashim.[5] He was a study partner of Nachum Partzovitz.[5]

World War II

Along with most of the student body of the Yeshivas Mir, Berman fled to Shanghai during World War II. Between sedorim (study sessions) in Shanghai he managed to obtain the only copy of Chaim Soloveitchik's chiddushim on the Rambam that was in the yeshiva. Cutting down on the time he spent at meals, he toiled over Reb Chaim instead until he'd finished the entire sefer (book). Thereafter he saw himself as a student of Soloveitchik and modeled the way he learned upon his approach.

New York City

Berman eventually migrated to the United States where he became one of the founding members of the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where he married Itka Greenberg.[2] Berman established Yeshivas Iyun HaTalmud on Beach 17th Street in Far Rockaway, Queens.[6]

Land of Israel

After several years, Berman emigrated to Israel and re-established Yeshivas Iyun HaTalmud in Bnai Brak. The yeshiva relocated to Jerusalem, then finally to the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Sefer in the West Bank. In his final years he served as rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Knesses Yitzchok of Chadera-Kiryat Sefer.[1]

Death

He died on May 12, 2005, corresponding to the 3rd of Iyar, 5765. His Talmudic lectures were published posthumously under the title "Iyun HaTalmud" (עיון התלמוד).

Berman was survived by his wife and six daughters. His wife died at the end of Cheshvan, 5770. One of his daughters, Mrs. Ornstein, runs the Hadar Seminary for Women in Jerusalem, where two of Berman's other daughters also teach. One of those was married to Mosheh Twersky, the elder son of Yitzhak Twersky of Boston, and a grandson of Joseph B. Soloveitchik, who taught at Yeshivas Toras Moshe and was murdered in the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue attack.[7]

Notable students

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 Berelson, Refael (3 May 2006). "We Moved During Bava Kama - HaRav Abba Berman zt"l His First Yahrtzeit - 3 Iyar". www.chareidi.org. Dei'ah veDibur. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Gedolim Yahrtzeits", Chinuch.org
  3. ↑ Yabrov, Tzvi (25 January 2006). "Chanoch Lana'ar Al Pi Darko". www.chareidi.org. Dei'ah veDibur. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  4. ↑ The Legacy of Mir Archived October 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. 1 2 Staff. (25 April 2012) "Rav Abba Berman zt”l, On His Seventh Yahrtzeit, Today, 3 Iyar", Matzav.com. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  6. ↑ "The Leiman Library". www.leimanlibrary.com. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  7. ↑ "Rabbi Moshe Twersky, Dean At Torat Moshe Yeshiva, Murdered In Har Nof". Jewish Business News. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  8. ↑ "BD'E – Harav Chaim Zev Malinowitz, Zt"l". Hamodia. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
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