Berlin, Naphtali Zevi Judah

views updated

Berlin, Naphtali Zevi Judah (known as ha-Neziv, 1817–93). Jewish Talmudic scholar. From 1854, he was head of the yeshivah at Volozhin which became the spiritual centre of Russian Jewry. Ultimately he was exiled by the Russian authorities and the yeshivah was closed.

His son, Meir Berlin (Bar-Ilan), 1880–1949, was prominent in religious Zionism, and became a leader in the Mizraḥi movement, first in Berlin, then (1915–26) in the USA. From 1926 he settled in Palestine, where he was involved in initiating the Talmud Encyclopedia. The Orthodox university, Bar-Ilan, was established in 1955 to honour his memory.

About this article

Berlin, Naphtali Zevi Judah

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article