Meir Bar-Ilan
Encyclopedia
Meir Berlin, later Hebraized
to Meir Bar-Ilan, (1880-1949), born Volozhin, Lithuania
, died Jerusalem, Israel
) was an
Orthodox
rabbi
and leader of Religious Zionism
, the Mizrachi movement in USA and British Mandate of Palestine. He inspired the founding of Bar Ilan University in Israel which is named for him.
as well as the son of an important Orthodox rabbi, Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin
, known as the Netziv, who was the head of the famous Volozhin Yeshiva
in Lithuania. He studied in the traditional yeshivas of Volozhin
, Telshe, Brisk and Novardok
, where he learned with his grandfather, the renowned Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein
. Gaining Semicha
in 1902, he travelled to Germany
where he became acquainted with a more modern form of Orthodox Judaism
that had a more tolerant attitude to secular education and to political Zionism
(although such attitudes were also present in the Lithuania of his youth, and in his grandfather). There, he attended the University of Berlin.
, representing it at the Seventh Zionist Congress, voting against the "Uganda Proposal" to create a "temporary" Jewish "homeland" in Uganda
in East Africa
, as suggested by Great Britain
.
In 1911 he was appointed secretary of the world Mizrachi movement. In 1913 he came to the United States and developed local Mizrachi groups into a national organisation, chairing the 1st U.S. Mizrachi convention, held in Cincinnati in 1914. In 1915 he became president of the U.S. Mizrachi, holding the position until 1928, whereupon he became honorary president. He was an active member of the JDC
during World War I
, also serving as vice president of the Central Relief Committee of New York City in 1916. He founded the Mizrachi Teachers Institute in 1917. In 1925 he became a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish National Fund
devoted to financing the rebuilding of the Jewish homeland in the then British Mandate of Palestine. In 1923, he also briefly served as acting president what is now Yeshiva University
during the temporary absence of its then-president, Bernard Revel
.
In 1923 he moved to Jerusalem. He opposed the Palestine partition plan in 1937, and of the British White Paper of 1939
, he advocated civil disobedience
and non-cooperation by the Jews with the British.
He was president of the Talmudical Encyclopedia, on the board of directors of the Mizrachi Bank, the founder and editor of Hatzofeh in Tel Aviv
in 1939, and authored:
Along with Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin
, he was also the editor of the Talmudical Encyclopedia Volume I (Jerusalem, 1946) and Volume II (published posthumously in 1949). He wrote articles on Talmudic subjects for various periodicals and died in Jerusalem, Israel, on April 17, 1949.
in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv
, founded in 1950, by the American Mizrachi movement, which is named for him: "The name Bar-Ilan was chosen, in honor of Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan (Berlin), a spiritual leader who led traditional Judaism from the ashes of Europe to rebirth and renaissance in the Land of Israel." Bar-Ilan Street in Jerusalem is also named for him.
Hebraization of surnames
The Hebraization of surnames is the process of adopting Hebrew family names ....
to Meir Bar-Ilan, (1880-1949), born Volozhin, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, died Jerusalem, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
) was an
Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
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 leader of Religious Zionism
Religious Zionism
Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Jewish religious faith...
, the Mizrachi movement in USA and British Mandate of Palestine. He inspired the founding of Bar Ilan University in Israel which is named for him.
Youth
He was a scholar of TalmudTalmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
as well as the son of an important Orthodox rabbi, Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin
Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin
Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, , also known as Reb Hirsch Leib Berlin, and commonly known by the acronym Netziv, was an Orthodox rabbi, dean of the Volozhin Yeshiva and author of several works of rabbinic literature in Lithuania.- Family :Berlin was born in Mir, Russia in 1816 into a family of Jewish...
, known as the Netziv, who was the head of the famous Volozhin Yeshiva
Volozhin yeshiva
The Volozhin Yeshiva, also known as Etz Chaim Yeshiva, was a prestigious Lithuanian yeshiva located in the town of Volozhin, Russia, . It was founded by Rabbi Chaim Itzkovitz, a student of the famed Vilna Gaon, and trained several generations of scholars, rabbis, and leaders...
in Lithuania. He studied in the traditional yeshivas of Volozhin
Volozhin yeshiva
The Volozhin Yeshiva, also known as Etz Chaim Yeshiva, was a prestigious Lithuanian yeshiva located in the town of Volozhin, Russia, . It was founded by Rabbi Chaim Itzkovitz, a student of the famed Vilna Gaon, and trained several generations of scholars, rabbis, and leaders...
, Telshe, Brisk and Novardok
Novardok yeshiva
The Novardok yeshiva in Navahrudak, then the Russian Empire, was one of the biggest and most important yeshivas in pre-World War II Europe, and a powerful force within the Mussar movement. The yeshiva was established in 1896, together with a Kollel for married men, under the direction of Rabbi...
, where he learned with his grandfather, the renowned Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein
Yechiel Michel Epstein
Yechiel Michel Epstein , often called "the Aruch ha-Shulchan" , was a Rabbi and posek in Lithuania...
. Gaining Semicha
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
in 1902, he travelled to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
where he became acquainted with a more modern form of Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
that had a more tolerant attitude to secular education and to political Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
(although such attitudes were also present in the Lithuania of his youth, and in his grandfather). There, he attended the University of Berlin.
Mizrachi movement
In 1905 he joined the Mizrachi movementMizrachi (Religious Zionism)
The Mizrachi is the name of the religious Zionist organization founded in 1902 in Vilnius at a world conference of religious Zionists called by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaacov Reines. Bnei Akiva, which was founded in 1929, is the youth movement associated with Mizrachi...
, representing it at the Seventh Zionist Congress, voting against the "Uganda Proposal" to create a "temporary" Jewish "homeland" in Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
in East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, as suggested by Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
In 1911 he was appointed secretary of the world Mizrachi movement. In 1913 he came to the United States and developed local Mizrachi groups into a national organisation, chairing the 1st U.S. Mizrachi convention, held in Cincinnati in 1914. In 1915 he became president of the U.S. Mizrachi, holding the position until 1928, whereupon he became honorary president. He was an active member of the JDC
JDC
JDC can refer to:* American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee* Juvenile detention center* Jeju Free International City Development Center * John Deere Classic a PGA Tour tournament...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, also serving as vice president of the Central Relief Committee of New York City in 1916. He founded the Mizrachi Teachers Institute in 1917. In 1925 he became a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
devoted to financing the rebuilding of the Jewish homeland in the then British Mandate of Palestine. In 1923, he also briefly served as acting president what is now Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
during the temporary absence of its then-president, Bernard Revel
Bernard Revel
Bernard Revel was an Orthodox rabbi and scholar. He served as the first President of Yeshiva College from 1915 until his death in 1940...
.
In 1923 he moved to Jerusalem. He opposed the Palestine partition plan in 1937, and of the British White Paper of 1939
White Paper of 1939
The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government under Neville Chamberlain in which the idea of partitioning the Mandate for Palestine, as recommended in...
, he advocated civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
and non-cooperation by the Jews with the British.
He was president of the Talmudical Encyclopedia, on the board of directors of the Mizrachi Bank, the founder and editor of Hatzofeh in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
in 1939, and authored:
- Fun Volozhin biz Yerushalayim (autobiography) in 2 volumes (in Yiddish, NYC in 1933; in Hebrew, Tel Aviv, 1939-40)
- Bishvil ha-Techiah (Tel Aviv, 1940)
- Raban shel Yisrael (NYC, 1943)
Along with Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin
Shlomo Yosef Zevin
Shlomo Yosef Zevin was one of the most prominent Orthodox rabbis of the 20th century. He founded the Encyclopedia Talmudit, a Hebrew Halachic Encyclopedia.- Rabbinate and scholarship :...
, he was also the editor of the Talmudical Encyclopedia Volume I (Jerusalem, 1946) and Volume II (published posthumously in 1949). He wrote articles on Talmudic subjects for various periodicals and died in Jerusalem, Israel, on April 17, 1949.
Scholarship
After 1948, his activities were scholastically oriented. He organized a committee of scholars to examine the legal problems of the new state in the light of Jewish law and founded an institute for the publication of a new complete edition of the Talmud. He also served as Minister of Religion in the Israeli government.Bar-Ilan University
He inspired the founding of Bar-Ilan UniversityBar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...
in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, founded in 1950, by the American Mizrachi movement, which is named for him: "The name Bar-Ilan was chosen, in honor of Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan (Berlin), a spiritual leader who led traditional Judaism from the ashes of Europe to rebirth and renaissance in the Land of Israel." Bar-Ilan Street in Jerusalem is also named for him.
External links
- A Brief History of Bar-Ilan University
- The Central Zionist ArchivesCentral Zionist ArchivesThe Central Zionist Archives The Central Zionist Archives The Central Zionist Archives (CZA; Hebrew: (הארכיון הציוני המרכזי (אצ"מ) is an archive in Jerusalem, Israel, housing the historical archives of the Zionist movement from 1880-1970 and documenting the growth of the Zionist movement throughout...
in Jerusalem site. Office of Rabbi Meyer Berlin (S45).