Sunday, April 18, 2010

Rav Herzog's obituary for Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, 1927.

Here is an article about a recently deceased Rabbi Meir Simcha Hakohen of Dvinsk, the author of Or Sameach, which was written by Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog and printed in the Jewish Chronicle on February 25, 1927. In addition to being a highly interesting obituary, I personally found it most interesting for how modern it sounds. I've read many things written in Jewish periodicals of the era, and this does NOT sound like it's 1927. Although Rav Herzog was nearly 40 at this time, to me he seems to presage a later era, a point which perhaps will be fleshed out in the comments, should there be any.

Interesting quote: "[R. Chayim Solovetichik's] mind resembled a chemical laboratory," but he means it as a compliment. One should also not be surprised that he was reading the Jewish Chronicle one shabbos morning.


  1. R. Herzog wrote the Main Institutions of Jewish Law

  2. DF

    A friend of mine just last week named his son Meir Simcha, telling me he had heard that R. meir Simcha had no children, and he promised "great things" to all those who name their children after him. Anyone ever heard this?


  3. He had a daughter who was married to R. Abraham Luftbir who died young without any children. R. Menchem Ziemba was instrumental in publishing his novellae as he was a close friend of his. This sefer is available here and contains some of R. MS's letters to his son in law

  4. This is from Wikipedia on R' MS. Take it or leave it, but to fit it to the previous comments - it may have been the letters were from the engagement:

    He had one daughter, who predeceased him before her marriage. One of his most prominent students and a close friend, Rabbi Yisrael Avraham Abba Krieger, adopted his name since Rabbi Meir Simcha had no surviving children, carrying the full name Yisrael Avraham Abba Meir Simcha Krieger.

  5. Lawrence Kaplan

    Note the reference to Ahad Haam.



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