Yitzchok Zilber
Encyclopedia
Rabbi Yitzchok Zilber was a Russian-born Haredi Rabbi
and a leader of the Russia
n baal teshuva movement
.
, Russia, several months before the Russian Revolution in 1917. His father, Rabbi Ben Tzion Chaim Zilber (originally Tsiyuni), a respected rabbinic scholar and rabbi of the city of Kazan, refused to send his son to an anti-religious Soviet
school and taught him privately at home, teaching him Jewish law and tradition as well as secular knowledge.
By the time young Yitzchok Zilber was 15, he was giving classes in Judaism
across the town, despite the fact that this was against the Soviet law.
His brilliance gained him entrance to the faculty of Mathematics
of the University of Kazan despite never having attended public school. Rabbi Zilber married Gita Zeidman, and they had four children – Sarah, Ben Tzion Chaim, Chava, and Fruma Malka.
, Rabbi Zilber was imprisoned in a gulag
for a technical accidental crime (a fellow Jew left some illegal papers by him, and a search revealed them. He did not want to tell to police whom it is so he got imprisoned himself. ironically, the owner himself regretted Rabbi Zilber being imprisoned for him and went to the police to admit his responsibility. As typical to Russia at the time, they happily admitted him to prison as well, leaving Rabbi Zilber there as well). He was forced to do heavy menial labor, but with great self-sacrifice managed never to violate the Shabbat
and other Torah commandments. In fact, he taught Torah to other Jewish prisoners.
Rabbi Zilber received amnesty
after Stalin's death in 1953, and returned to Kazan. While not openly violating state rules, in 1960 the KGB
started harassing him, making a cover story about the sorry children of a religiously fanatic father who makes them suffer for Jewish laws etc. A large gathering was announced in the school where he taught and in the school where his wife taught. He was barred from his teaching job, and the KGB
also attempted to take his children away from him, and promising his wife an apartment and a quiet life if she would agree to a divorce.
When he received an invitation for an interview in the KGB, Yitzchok Zilber fled from Kazan, and after a long journey stayed in Tashkent
and was able to move his family there a short time later. The family tried to emigrate to Israel
, but was refused for years, until they finally received permission and emigrated in 1972.
, Rabbi Zilber was shocked to find that the vast majority of Russian-speaking Jews were not observant and for the most part, completely ignorant, of Jewish law and tradition. He undertook to change this situation, and began teaching extensively throughout the country as well as organizing circumcisions, since the Israeli rabbinate
was not as yet prepared for such a large number of immigrants who needed to have a circumcision performed.
Rabbi Zilber invested many efforts in helping Russian women receive gittin (bills of divorce) after being abandoned by their husbands, making endless efforts and using equisite inventiveness and tricks to find lost husbands,and to convince them to agree for a divorce.
He was available to everyone who came to seek his advice, which led to his fame in certain circles as "the father of Russian Jewry." Rabbi Zilber taught in Russian organizations such as Dvar Yerushalayim, Torat Haim, the Russian division of Ohr Somayach, Shuvu, and Shvut Ami.
In 2000, he established the Toldos Yeshurun
organization to provide Jewish education to the secular Russian Jews, which continues his work today, under the guidance of his only son, Rabbi Ben Tzion Zilber.
Rabbi Yitzchok Zilber died in 2003, on the eve of Tisha b'Av (the Ninth of Av), the greatest day of tragedy in Jewish history.
His extensive teaching and personal guidance has brought thousands of Russian-speaking Jews to observance, and transformed large parts of secular Russian Jews into religious communities. The vast majority of Russian-speaking Rabbis, Torah teachers and Jewish leaders today are either his students or students of his students. His son is Rabbi Ben Zion Zilber a teacher and adviser to Russian Jews.
His sons-in-law are Rabbi Avraham Kooperman, teacher in the Mir Yeshiva
, Rabbi Chaim Zavdi, a mashgiach ruchani
, and Rabbi Yosef Shvinger, director of a State organization governing holy places in the land of Israel.
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 a leader of the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n baal teshuva movement
Baal teshuva movement
The Baal Teshuva movement is description of the return of secular Jews to religious Judaism. The term "baal teshuva" is a term from the Talmud literally meaning "master of repentance". The term is used to refer to a worldwide phenomenon among the Jewish people...
.
Early life
Rabbi Yitzchok Zilber was born in KazanKazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
, Russia, several months before the Russian Revolution in 1917. His father, Rabbi Ben Tzion Chaim Zilber (originally Tsiyuni), a respected rabbinic scholar and rabbi of the city of Kazan, refused to send his son to an anti-religious Soviet
Religion in the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion and its replacement with atheism. To that end, the communist regime confiscated religious property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated atheism in schools...
school and taught him privately at home, teaching him Jewish law and tradition as well as secular knowledge.
By the time young Yitzchok Zilber was 15, he was giving classes in Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
across the town, despite the fact that this was against the Soviet law.
His brilliance gained him entrance to the faculty of Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
of the University of Kazan despite never having attended public school. Rabbi Zilber married Gita Zeidman, and they had four children – Sarah, Ben Tzion Chaim, Chava, and Fruma Malka.
Life under Communist rule
After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Rabbi Zilber was imprisoned in a gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
for a technical accidental crime (a fellow Jew left some illegal papers by him, and a search revealed them. He did not want to tell to police whom it is so he got imprisoned himself. ironically, the owner himself regretted Rabbi Zilber being imprisoned for him and went to the police to admit his responsibility. As typical to Russia at the time, they happily admitted him to prison as well, leaving Rabbi Zilber there as well). He was forced to do heavy menial labor, but with great self-sacrifice managed never to violate the Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and other Torah commandments. In fact, he taught Torah to other Jewish prisoners.
Rabbi Zilber received amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
after Stalin's death in 1953, and returned to Kazan. While not openly violating state rules, in 1960 the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
started harassing him, making a cover story about the sorry children of a religiously fanatic father who makes them suffer for Jewish laws etc. A large gathering was announced in the school where he taught and in the school where his wife taught. He was barred from his teaching job, and the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
also attempted to take his children away from him, and promising his wife an apartment and a quiet life if she would agree to a divorce.
When he received an invitation for an interview in the KGB, Yitzchok Zilber fled from Kazan, and after a long journey stayed in Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
and was able to move his family there a short time later. The family tried to emigrate to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, but was refused for years, until they finally received permission and emigrated in 1972.
Life in Israel
When he arrived in IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Rabbi Zilber was shocked to find that the vast majority of Russian-speaking Jews were not observant and for the most part, completely ignorant, of Jewish law and tradition. He undertook to change this situation, and began teaching extensively throughout the country as well as organizing circumcisions, since the Israeli rabbinate
Rabbinate
The term rabbinate may refer to the office of a rabbi or rabbis as a group:*Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the supreme Jewish religious governing body in the state of Israel...
was not as yet prepared for such a large number of immigrants who needed to have a circumcision performed.
Rabbi Zilber invested many efforts in helping Russian women receive gittin (bills of divorce) after being abandoned by their husbands, making endless efforts and using equisite inventiveness and tricks to find lost husbands,and to convince them to agree for a divorce.
He was available to everyone who came to seek his advice, which led to his fame in certain circles as "the father of Russian Jewry." Rabbi Zilber taught in Russian organizations such as Dvar Yerushalayim, Torat Haim, the Russian division of Ohr Somayach, Shuvu, and Shvut Ami.
In 2000, he established the Toldos Yeshurun
Toldos Yeshurun
Toldos Yeshurun is a Non-Profit organization for Jews from the former USSR. It was founded by Rabbi Yitzchok Zilber, leader of the Russian baal teshuvah movement and often called "the father of Russian Jewry", in 2000 with the support of Rabbi Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, and...
organization to provide Jewish education to the secular Russian Jews, which continues his work today, under the guidance of his only son, Rabbi Ben Tzion Zilber.
Rabbi Yitzchok Zilber died in 2003, on the eve of Tisha b'Av (the Ninth of Av), the greatest day of tragedy in Jewish history.
Influence
Rabbi Yitzchok Zilber's books – especially his autobiography "To Remain A Jew", his "Talks on Torah", a collection of essays on the weekly Torah portion, "The Fire will not burn you" – are very popular among Russian-speaking Jews and have inspired many to return to their Jewish heritage and become baalei teshuva or learn more about Judaism.His extensive teaching and personal guidance has brought thousands of Russian-speaking Jews to observance, and transformed large parts of secular Russian Jews into religious communities. The vast majority of Russian-speaking Rabbis, Torah teachers and Jewish leaders today are either his students or students of his students. His son is Rabbi Ben Zion Zilber a teacher and adviser to Russian Jews.
His sons-in-law are Rabbi Avraham Kooperman, teacher in the Mir Yeshiva
Mir yeshiva
Mir Yeshiva or Mirrer Yeshiva may refer to:* Mir yeshiva * Mir yeshiva * Mir yeshiva...
, Rabbi Chaim Zavdi, a mashgiach ruchani
Mashgiach ruchani
Mashgiach ruchani or mashgiach for short, means a spiritual supervisor or guide. It is a title which usually refers to a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.The position of mashgiach ruchani arose with the...
, and Rabbi Yosef Shvinger, director of a State organization governing holy places in the land of Israel.