Nosson Tzvi Finkel (Mir)

Not to be confused with Nosson Tzvi Finkel (Slabodka).

Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel
Rosh Yeshivas Mir
Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel
Position	Rosh yeshiva
Yeshiva	Mir yeshiva (Jerusalem)
Began	1990
Ended	8 November 2011
Predecessor	Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz, Rabbi Nachum Partzovitz
Successor	Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel
Personal details
Birth name	Nosson Tzvi Finkel
Born	12 March 1943 Chicago, Illinois
Died	November 8, 2011(2011-11-08) (aged 68) Jerusalem, Israel
Buried	8 November 2011
Nationality	United States, Israel
Denomination	Haredi
Residence	Jerusalem, Israel
Spouse	Rachel Leah Finkel
Children	11

Nosson Tzvi Finkel (12 March 1943 – 8 November 2011) was an American-born Haredi rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. During his tenure from 1990 until his death in 2011, he built the Mir into the largest yeshiva in Israel with 6,000 students.^[1] He was also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel HaTorah.^[2] He was known for his Torah erudition and his great concern for his students.^[1]

Early life

Nosson Tzvi Finkel was born in Chicago, Illinois to Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Finkel and his wife Sara. He was a great-grandson of the Alter of Slabodka, for whom he was named.^[1] His brother is Rabbi Gedaliah Finkel,who also serves as a lecturer in the Mir yeshiva.

In his youth, Nosson Tzvi grew up as a "typical American Jewish boy" known to his friends as Natty Finkel.^[1] He took his secondary education at the co-educational Chicago Jewish Academy, where he served on the Student Council.^{[citation needed]} During a visit to Israel following graduation, his great-uncle Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel ("Reb Leizer Yudel", the former Rosh Yeshiva of Mir Poland and founding rosh yeshiva of Mir Jerusalem), recognized his potential for Torah scholarship and pressed him to stay in Israel and pursue advanced Talmudic studies. He provided the young Nosson Tzvi with chavrutas (study partners) and the youth blossomed in Torah study. Finkel eventually married Reb Leizer Yudel's granddaughter, Rachel Leah, the eldest daughter of Rabbi Beinish Finkel and Sara Greineman, who was his second cousin.^[3] He and his wife had 11 children.^[2] Upon the death of his father-in-law in 1990, Rabbi Finkel acceded to the position of rosh yeshiva of Mir Jerusalem,^[4] together with Rabbi Refoel Shmuelevitz (son of former Mir rosh yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz), and personally took on the financial responsibility for the yeshiva.

Illness

Finkel was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in the late 1980s.^[3] Though he experienced much difficulty in walking and talking, and suffered from involuntary tremors and spasms, he gave regular shiurim (Torah lectures) in the yeshiva and embarked on regular fund-raising trips abroad.^[4] When he was too weak to sit in a chair during the chaburas (small-group learning sessions) that he organized for students in his home, he would lie down on a couch and encourage the students to begin the session.^[3] He refused to take medication for his condition, since the drugs would make his mind foggy or cause memory loss.^[3] He reportedly explained his refusal to one student: "I'd rather be ill my whole life than to forget even one word of the holy Torah".^{[citation needed]}

Growth of the Mir

When Finkel became rosh yeshiva of the Mir, it had less than 1,000 students. Under his stewardship, the yeshiva grew by leaps and bounds, enrolling nearly 6,000 students by the time of his death. Much of this growth is credited to Finkel's open door policy: whoever wished to learn at the Mir was welcome. In the late 1990s, Finkel began fund-raising for additional buildings, resulting in the opening of four new sites. He apportioned specific groups to each beis medrash, making one for Israeli students, one for students who wished to study on their own without a regular shiur, etc. As enrollment continued to grow, several students of the main maggidei shiur (lecturers) began delivering shiurim in English, and Finkel raised money to open a new beis medrash in 2006 for these shiurim too. Yet another beis medrash was constructed in recent years.^[3]

Death

On November 8, 2011 (11 Cheshvan 5772) at 6 a.m. Finkel suddenly went into cardiac arrest at his home; EMS personnel were unsuccessful in resuscitating him. An estimated 100,000 people^[2][5] attended his funeral, which began at the Mir yeshiva in Beit Yisrael and continued on foot to Har HaMenuchot. The Edah HaChareidis ordered all Haredi businesses to close during the funeral, and Litvishe Torah leaders Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv and Aharon Leib Shteinman instructed teachers and students of Talmud Torahs, yeshivas, and kollels to join the funeral procession.^[2][6]

Rav Finkel's death was a double blow for the Jerusalem Litvishe yeshiva world, coming one day after the death of Rabbi Dov Schwartzman, another respected Litvishe rosh yeshiva in Jerusalem. Rabbi Finkel participated in Rabbi Schwartzman's funeral on 7 November.^[7]

At the funeral it was announced that Finkel's eldest son, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, would succeed his father as rosh yeshiva.^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Jerusalem - Torah Chigri Sak! Hagaon Harav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, Zt"l". Vos Iz Neias?. 8 November 2011. http://www.vosizneias.com/94340/2011/11/08/jerusalem-torah-torah-chigri-sak-hagaon-harav-nosson-tzvi-finkel-ztl. Retrieved 8 November 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Ben Gedalyahu, Tzvi (8 November 2011). "Mir Yeshiva Rabbi Finkel Passes Away". Arutz Sheva. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/149526. Retrieved 8 November 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Heimowitz, Rabbi Yehuda (9 November 2011). "Special Tribute Edition: One Father, Myriads of Orphans". Mishpacha. http://www.mishpacha.com/Browse/Article/1567/Special-Tribute-Edition-One-Father-Myriads-of-Orphans. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Boruch Dayan Haemes: Harav Nosson Tzvi Finkel". Lakewood Local. 8 November 2011. http://www.lakewoodlocal.com/2011/11/07/tefilos-needed-for-harav-nosson-tzvi-finkel/. Retrieved 8 November 2011. 
5. ^ "Photos: 100,000 Attend Levaya of Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt"l". matzav.com. 8 November 2011. http://matzav.com/100000-attend-levaya-of-rav-nosson-tzvi-finkel. Retrieved 8 November 2011. 
6. ^ "Jerusalem – Tens Of Thousands Attend Levaya of R’ Nosson Tzvi Finkel, Zatzal (photos)". Vos Iz Neias?. 8 November 2011. http://www.vosizneias.com/94357/2011/11/08/jerusalem-tens-of-thousands-attend-levaya-of-r%E2%80%99-nosson-tzvi-finkel-zatzal-photos. Retrieved 8 November 2011. 
7. ^ Sever, Yechiel (8 November 2011). "אלפים רבים בהלוויית הגאון הגדול רבי דב שוורצמן זצוק"ל [Thousands at the Funeral of the Great Torah Genius Rabbi Dov Schwartzman]" (in Hebrew). Yated Ne'eman: p. 1. 

External links

• " Videos, Photos: Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel Arrives in the US, Speaks in Lakewood" (February 2010)

Persondata
Name	Finkel, Nosson Tzvi
Alternative names
Short description	Rosh yeshiva, Mir yeshiva, Jerusalem
Date of birth	12 March 1943
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois
Date of death	8 November 2011
Place of death	Jerusalem