- Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman
Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman (1901-1987) was a prominent
Talmud ic scholar and Rabbi who founded and served asRosh Yeshiva ofYeshiva Ner Israel in Baltimore.He was born in Dolhinov,
Russia , where his father Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ruderman was the rabbi. He studied in Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael in Slobodka, under the "Alter", Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, and the rosh yeshiva, RabbiMoshe Mordechai Epstein , receivingSemicha from the latter in 1926.Among Rabbi Ruderman's distinguished colleagues in Slobodka were his second cousin Rabbi
Yaakov Kaminetsky , RabbiReuven Grozovsky , RabbiAharon Kotler and RabbiYitzchak Hutner .Building Torah in America
In 1930, Rabbi Ruderman joined his father-in-law Rabbi Sheftel Kramer at the latter's yeshiva in
New Haven, Connecticut . In 1933, he moved to Baltimore, where he was he immediately offered a rabbinical post. Rabbi Ruderman accepted the position on the condition that he be permitted to open a yeshiva using thesynagogue facilities; he named the new yeshiva "Ner Yisroel", or "Ner Israel".The yeshiva grew quickly, and Rabbi Ruderman approached the renowned Rabbi
Shimon Schwab , at the time rabbi of another Baltimore congregation, and invited him to join the faculty. Rabbi Schwab gave the first-yearshiur (class) in Ner Israel for several years, until he moved to Washington Heights.Rabbi Ruderman led the yeshiva for 54 years until his passing and, together with his brother-in-law, Rabbi Naftoli (Herman) Neuberger, built it into one of the largest yeshivas in America, producing thousands of rabbis, educators and learned laymen.
Rabbi Ruderman was also involved in many aspects of Jewish communal life outside of the Yeshiva. He was a member of the Council of Torah Sages of Agudath Israel and the chairman of the Rabbinic Advisory Board of
Torah Umesorah .Death
Rabbi Ruderman's death on
July 11 ,1987 , the 14th of Tammuz, followed less than 18 months after the passing of RabbiYaakov Kaminetsky and RabbiMoshe Feinstein . Rabbi Ruderman was one of the last surviving "Roshei Yeshiva" (yeshiva heads) who came to America fromLithuania early in the 20th century.Works
Around 1926, Rabbi Ruderman published his only written work, "Avodas Levi". Posthumously, his students have published two volumes of his teachings: ethical insights based on the weekly parsha named "Sichos Levi", and lectures on the 19th century work "Minchas Chinuch" and other
Talmudic andhalachic insights in "Mas'as Levi".
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