On the 5th of Shevat, 1892, the Russian government closed the Volozhin Yeshiva, 1892.
The Valozhyn Yeshiva, which is also known as the Etz Chaim Yeshiva, was situated in the city of Valozhyn, known today as Belarus during the 19th century.
The yeshiva was founded in 1803 by the famous Rabbi Chaim Volozhin who was a disciple of the Gaon of Vilna. In 1821 Reb Chaim's son Isaac took over the Volozhin Yeshivah and ran the Yeshivah until he dies in 1849. Rabbi Eliezer Fried was appointed head of the Yeshiva after the passing of Rabbi Issac, together with Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin as his assistant. Soon after, in 1854, Rabbi Fried died and thus Rabbi Berlin became the new Rosh haYeshiva along with Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveichik, Reb Chaim's great-grandson who was the assistant Rosh Yeshiva.
The reason for the closure of the Yeshiva by the Russian Government was because the Russian authorities sought to introduce a program of secular studies into the yeshiva. As this would seriously undermine the aims of the institution, Rabbi Berlin saw no other solution than to let the government close the yeshiva.
No comments:
Post a Comment