Rabbi
Yaakov Kamenetsky
Personal
BornFebruary 28, 1891
Kalushkove, Lithuania
DiedMarch 10, 1986
Baltimore, Maryland
ReligionJudaism

Yaakov Kamenetsky (February 28, 1891 – March 10, 1986), was a prominent rabbi, rosh yeshiva, posek and Talmudist in the post-World War II American Jewish community.

Biography

Yaakov Kamenetsky was born at a folwark called Kalyskovka owned by his grandfather Samuel-Hirsh Kamenetsky, Russia, in 1891.[1] Shortly afterwards his family moved to the village of Dolhinov where he grew up. He studied in Minsk and then for 21 years in Slabodka yeshiva under Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel. It was there that he met his lifelong friend Rabbi Aharon Kotler, who later founded the Lakewood yeshiva. His younger cousin, Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman, also grew up in Dolhinov.

Kamenetsky was appointed rabbi of Tzitavyan in 1926 and moved to North America in 1937, where he initially took rabbinical positions in Seattle and then (from 1938 to 1945) Toronto. From 1948 to 1968 he headed Mesivta Torah Vodaath in Brooklyn, New York. After leaving the yeshiva he moved to Monsey, New York, where he focused on publishing his books. Along with Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Reb Yaakov (as he was affectionately called)[2] led American Jewry in issues of halachic and spiritual guidance until 1986, when both men died.

He was renowned as "Chakima D'Yehudai", the wise man of the Jews. Aside from his extensive Torah scholarship, he was known for his ever-present warm smile and his expertise in Hebrew grammar. He was an advocate for English-language sefarim, even commenting that quality English-language sefarim will be used by Jews in the Messianic era as, like Yiddish in its time, "today English has become a language of Torah."[3]

Family

Kamenetsky's first wife was Itta Ettil (Heller) Kamenetsky,[2]: p.317  who died on July 9, 1954. In 1958, Kamenetsky married Chana Urman of Toronto.[2] The officiator at Kamenetsky's marriage to Chana was his close friend and colleague, Rabbi Zelik Epstein. Chana died shortly after her husband in 1986.

Kamenetsky's son, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, heads the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia and chairs the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. His other sons are: Rabbis Binyamin (1923–2017), founder of the Yeshiva of South Shore in Long Island, NY, Nathan (1930-2019), vice Rosh yeshiva at Yeshivas Itri, and author of Making of a Godol on his father, and Avraham (1930–2013). His oldest daughter, Malka (1921–2013), was married to Rabbi Yisrael Shurin (d. 2007).[4] A second daughter, Rivka, was married to Rabbi Hirsch Diskind (1922–2013), the long-time Dean of Bais Yaakov of Baltimore.[5]

Dozens of his descendants serve in key leadership positions across North America in other countries. They include: Rabbis Mordechai Kamenetzky, Dean of the Yeshiva of South Shore, Shalom Kamenetsky, Rosh Yeshivas Philadelphia, Avraham Kamenetsky, R"M in Yeshivas Beis Yisrael in Jerusalem, Yosef Kamenetsky, Rosh Kollel in Moscow, Zvi Kamenetzky, Dean of the Dwek Ohr HaEmet Sephardic Academy of Toronto, and Yitzchak Shurin, Dean of Midreshet Rachel-Shapell's. His grandson Dov Shurin is a singer-songwriter and musician.

Works

  • Emes leYaakov al HaShas ("Truth to Jacob") – a five-volume work with in depth commentary on the Talmud.
  • Emes leYaakov al Shulchan Aruch – a volume with commentary and rulings on Shulchan Aruch, The Jewish Code of Law
  • Emes leYaakov (Formerly known as Iyunim BaMikra) – a two volume commentary on Torah and Prophets, which includes grammatical observations on the Hebrew of the Bible (dikduk).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kamenetsky, Nathan. Making of a Godol.
  2. 1 2 3 Yonason Rosenblum (1993). Reb Yaakov: The Life and Times of HaGaon Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky. p. 317. ISBN 0-89906-413-2.
  3. ↑ Rabbi Nosson Scherman in The Mandate to Communicate Torah in the Vernacular: Excerpts From a Presentation to an Eleventh Grade (The Jewish Observer, April 1998, p. 27).
  4. ↑ Bio of R' Yisroel Shurin, Reprinted from Ya'ated Neeman, 2007
  5. ↑ Rav Hirsch Diskind zt"l, reprinted from Matzav.com

Rosenblum, Yonason (1993). Reb Yaakov. Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications. ISBN 0-89906-413-2.

Kamenetsky, Noson (Nathan) (2005). Making of a Godol—Improved Edition. ISBN 965-90379-2-9.

Dor-Shav (Dershowitz), Zecharia (2022). "Personal Experiences with Great Rabbis of My Generation". Dershowitz Family Saga. ISBN 9781510770232.

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