- Rogatchover Gaon
The Rogatchover Gaon, Yosef Rosen (
1858 -5 March 1936 ) (Hebrew : יוסף רוזין), also known by the name of his main work Tzafnath Paneach, was aRabbi and one of the prominentTalmudic scholars of the early 20th century, known as a "Gaon " (genius) because of his photographic memory and razor-sharp mind.Biography
He was born in
Rogachev , now inBelarus , in a Hasidic family ofKapust erHasidim , and was educated in the local "cheder " (Torah school for small children). His unusual capabilities were noticed at age thirteen, when he was sent to study with RabbiChaim Soloveitchik , five years his senior, then in Slutzk. He subsequently studied under Rabbi MosheYehoshua Leib Diskin "(Maharil Diskin)" inShklov . He then assumed the rabbinate of the Hasidic community in Dvinsk, where his non-Hasidic counterpart was RabbiMeir Simcha of Dvinsk ; and they served in parallel until the late 1920s.Among those who received "
semicha " (Rabbinic ordination) from him were, RabbiMordecai Savitsky ofBoston ; RabbiZvi Olshwang (1873-1959?) ofChicago a brother-in-law of RabbiShimon Shkop ; RabbiAvrohom Elye Plotkin , the author of Birurei Halachot (a copy of the actual "semicha" is included in that work); and RabbiMenachem Mendel Schneerson , the seventh LubavitcherRebbe .The "Rogatchover" is remembered for his breadth of Torah knowledge and caustic wit. He did not suffer inadequacy lightly. He was similarly reputed to rarely quote any rabbinic authority after
Maimonides , and avoided recent rabbinic works of the "Achronim " in favour of the "Rishonim " (those preceding the late 15th century). Famously, however, he regarded theShulchan Aruch HaRav of theAlter Rebbe (founder ofChabad movement) on the same level as the works ofRishonim Fact|date=November 2007 and quoted it. His responses to queries of Jewish law could be enigmatic and cryptic.He died in
Vienna in 1936 after unsuccessful surgery.Throughout his life, despite not being an official
Lubavitcher Chassid, he was very close toLubavitcher Chabad Chassidim and their Rebbeim,Rashab andRayatz (afterRashab 's death, he supported the decision of making the youngRayatz a new Rebbe). He also gave rabbinic ordination (smichah ) to the 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe,Menachem Mendel Schneerson . The Rogatchover is a famous figure inChabad Lubavitch folklore; his name often comes up in stories told in yeshivas and during farbrengens -- content ranging from self-sacrifice and dedication to Torah values despite the pressures of Russian government, to special sensitivity of spiritual dimension of the Torah (in Chassidus and Kabbalah), to his genius in the revealed Torah. RebbeMenachem Mendel Schneerson once quoted the Rogatchover, who said that the whole Judaism to him could be condensed into ten basic ideas, and if he was smarter, it would be only one idea.Works
His main work, a commentary on Maimonides, was published during his lifetime, as well as five volumes of responsa. The remainder of his surviving writings appeared in the
United States many years after his death; all are titled "Tzafnath Paneach" "decipherer of secrets", (a title given to the Biblical Joseph byPharaoh (Genesis 41:45)). His manuscripts were smuggled out ofLatvia on microfilm during World War II by his successor, RabbiYisrael Alter Safrin-Fuchs (1911-1942), who remained in Latvia to complete this task, and his daughter, who had come to Dvinsk fromEretz Yisroel to help preserve her father's manuscripts. Both died at the hands of theNazis as a result. A portion of the manuscripts were edited and published by Rabbi Menachem M. Kasher of New York.His works include
responsa and novellae onTorah andTalmud . They are regarded as difficult and inaccessible, as he employs the philosophical terminology ofMaimonides ' "Guide for the Perplexed " even in non-philosophical analyses. Rabbi Kasher therefore included "Mefa'aneach Tzefunoth", an explanatory commentary, to facilitate understanding of the "Rogatchover's" influential work.References
* Rabbi Y. Feitman, [http://www.tzemachdovid.org/gedolim/jo/tpersonality/rogatchover.html The Rogatchover Gaon] (biography)
* [http://www.rumbula.org/daugavpils_jewish_today.htm Jewish Daugavpils today]
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