Spector/Spektor Isaac Elchanan

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Spector/Spektor Isaac Elchanan (1817–96). Lithuanian Jewish religious leader. Spektor served as the rabbi of a number of communities, ultimately of Kovno. Because of the deteriorating situation of Jews in Russia, he supported the Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) movement, and publicly proclaimed the religious duty of settling in Erez Israel. Many of his letters and responsa have been published. Two yeshivot were founded in his memory in 1897, one of them in New York—the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. This developed into Yeshiva University, one of the largest Jewish institutions of higher education in the USA.