Slabodka yeshiva
From Free net encyclopedia
Slabodka yeshiva (Knesset Yisrael), was known colloquially as the "mother of yeshivas" (rabbinical seminaries) devoted to highly level study of Judaism's Talmud. The yeshiva was located in the Lithuanian town of Slabodka, adjacent to Kovno (Kaunas) (now Vilijampole, a part of Kaunas). It functioned from the late 19th century until World War II and was named after its location.
It was headed by Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, also known as Der Alter ("The Elder") of Slabodka. Its Rosh yeshiva was Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein. Among the graduates of the Slabodka yeshiva were Rabbis Aharon Kotler, Yitzchok Ruderman, Dovid Leibowitz, Yitzchok Hutner, Avigdor Miller, Yechezkel Sarna and Saul Lieberman.
Professor Harry Austryn Wolfson of Harvard University also attended the Slabodka Yeshiva.
The Slabodka yeshiva ceased operation during the Holocaust. Prior to the outbreak of war, a large number of its students had relocated to Hebron under Rabbi Finkel's leadership, and the yeshiva was then headed by Rabbi Yitzchok Isaac Sher.