Finkel, Nathan Ẓevi ben Moses

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FINKEL, NATHAN ẒEVI BEN MOSES

FINKEL, NATHAN ẒEVI BEN MOSES (1849–1927), roshyeshivah and one of the leaders of the *Musar movement. Born in Raseiniai, Lithuania, Finkel was orphaned at an early age and brought up in his uncle's home in Vilna. At the age of 15 he was already acknowledged as a rabbinic scholar. A chance meeting in 1871 with Simhah Zissel b. Israel *Broida, known as the "Sabba [grandfather] of Kelme" and one of the outstanding disciples of Israel *Lipkin (Salanter), founder of the Musar movement, had a profound effect upon Finkel. He was so struck by the forcefulness of Simhah Broida's personality that he became his most devoted follower, dedicating his life to the dissemination of the doctrine of musar. Finkel first assisted Broida in directing his well-known yeshivah, Bet Talmud, which had recently transferred from Kelme to Grobina and aimed at combining the traditional method of Talmud study with that of musar. Because of a difference in views, however, Finkel left the yeshivah and established a *kolel for young married men, the first of its kind in *Slobodka. He also exerted a spiritual influence over the kolel *perushim of Kovno, established in 1879 and directed by Isaac Elhanan *Spektor, rabbi of the city. In addition to these activities Finkel was the overseer of the yeshivah Or ha-Ḥayyim.

In 1882 Finkel established in Slobodka his own independent yeshivah, Keneset lsrael, where hundreds of rabbis and talmudic scholars were educated. Finkel himself refused to accept any salary from the yeshivah. Supported from the proceeds of a small store managed by his wife, he was able to live with his students. In 1897 Finkel set up a branch of his yeshivah in Slutsk and also assisted in the founding of yeshivot in Telz, Bransk, Stutsin, Shklov, Lodz, and Grodno, as well as many minor yeshivot. At the outbreak of World War i the yeshivah of Slobodka was moved to Minsk and in 1916 to Kremenchug in the Ukraine, where it remained until 1920. In 1921 Finkel reestablished a kolel, Bet Yisrael, with 20 young married students, in Slobodka, and entrusted its administration to his son-in-law, Eisik Scherr. When in 1924 it was decided to establish a branch of the yeshivah in Ereẓ Israel, in Hebron, Finkel followed in 1925 and played a prominent role in its spiritual leadership. As a mark of the deep admiration which his students felt for him they dubbed him the "Sabba from Slobodka" in the manner of the title previously given to his own teacher, and it was thus that Finkel was best known.

Finkel, an outstanding pedagogue and educator, based his ethical system upon the eminence of man. "A soldier," he said, "who does not aspire to the rank of general is not even a soldier." He stressed the need for perfection and love of truth and for spirituality in one's daily life to justify the fact that "everything created was created for the sake of man." In 1881 he anonymously published Eẓ Peri, containing essays by Israel Lipkin and Isaac Elhanan Spector, with an introduction by Israel Meir ha-Kohen, author of the Ḥafez Ḥayyim. In his regular talks with his pupils he stressed the greatness of man and the profound compassion of God toward His creatures, which demands a similar compassion on their part. Man's purpose in the world is to attain such perfection that he imitates the characteristics and ways of God.

Finkel left no manuscripts. His discourses and way of life were summarized after his death in the Or ha-Ẓafun (1928, 1959–682), arranged according to the weekly portions of the Book of Exodus. These discourses were compiled from copies of the "musar talks" he delivered in Slobodka and Hebron. In most cases those who noted them did so in the manner in which they were delivered. At times, however, the editors expanded the contents and put the ideas in a more acceptable literary form. A collection of his discourses, Siḥot ha-Sabba mi-Slobodka, was published by Z. Kaplan (1955). At present there exist numerous yeshivot founded by his disciples where his system is studied. Of his sons, Moses was principal of the Hebron yeshivah, Eliezer Judah of the Mir yeshivah, and Samuel one of the promoters of the Grodno yeshivah.

bibliography:

D. Katz, Tenu'at ha-Musar, 3 (n.d.), 17–316; Zinowitz, in: Shanah be-Shanah, 1 (1961), 347–52; H.E. Zeitschik, Ha-Me'orot ha-Gedolim (19673), 206–59; M. Gerz, in: L.S. Dawidowicz (ed.), Golden Tradition (1967), 179–85.

[Itzhak Alfassi]

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