Eliezer Yehuda Finkel is a Haredi

Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....

 Jewish

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

 rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 and rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...

 (dean) of the Mir Yeshiva

Mir yeshiva (Jerusalem)

The Mir yeshiva , known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, is an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. With 6,000 students, it is the largest yeshiva in Israel. Many of the students are from the United States and Canada. It is also believed to be the largest yeshiva in the world...

 in Jerusalem, which is considered to be the largest yeshiva in Israel with a student body of 6,000 students. He acceded to the position of rosh yeshiva after his father, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel

Nosson Tzvi Finkel (Mir)

Nosson Tzvi Finkel was an American-born Haredi Litvish rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. During his tenure from 1990 until his death in 2011, he built the Mir into the largest yeshiva in Israel with nearly 6,000 undergraduate students and over 1,600 avreichim...

, died suddenly on 8 November 2011.

Biography

Finkel was named after his maternal grandfather, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, known as "Reb Leizer Yudel", who became rosh yeshiva of the Mir yeshiva in Poland in 1917 and re-established the yeshiva in Jerusalem after World War II. His maternal great-grandfather was the celebrated Mussar

Mussar movement

The Musar movement is a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Eastern Europe, particularly among Orthodox Lithuanian Jews. The Hebrew term Musar , is from the book of Proverbs 1:2 meaning instruction, discipline, or conduct...

 leader, the Alter of Slabodka.