Rav Meir Simchah HaKohen of Dvinsk
The Rav of Dvinsk for nearly forty years, a towering gaon known for his Ohr Sameach on the Rambam and his Torah commentary Meshech Chochmah.
Biography
Early years
Rav Meir Simchah HaKohen of Dvinsk zt"l, author of the Ohr Sameach and the Meshech Chochmah, was born in 1843 in Baltermantz, near Vilna, the son of Rav Shimshon Kalonymous Kalman HaKohen. As a youth he was already expert in nearly all of Shas Bavli and Yerushalmi, as well as in works of Kabbalah. His rebbe was Rav Moshe Danishevsky, Av Beis Din of Slovak.
He married young, taking as his wife the daughter of Rav Tzvi Paltiel of Bialystok. While living in Bialystok he learned Torah day and night with the Av Beis Din, Rav Yom Tov Lipa, author of the responsa Oneg Yom Tov, and with the author of Shai Lamoreh on Maseches Bechoros.
Torah and leadership
Rav Meir Simchah lived in sanctity and purity and became a leader of his generation. Many turned to him from all over the world to settle difficult Torah questions and doubts, and for this he came to be known by the title ilui (genius) of Dvinsk. Chaim Nachman Bialik once called him a walking encyclopedia.
He served as Rav of Dvinsk for nearly forty years and was deeply loved by his congregants. He often helped couples make peace. In 1906 he was offered the position of Rav of Yerushalayim, but he gave way to the pleas of his congregants and stayed in Dvinsk. Twenty prominent leaders of the city wrote to Yerushalayim that taking their master and teacher would destroy not only Dvinsk but the entire Russian Golah, for whom he was the teacher and the one who answered everyone who sought the word of Hashem.
His mastery of the Yerushalmi was such that in 1906, when Shlomo Friedlander claimed to have discovered the lost Yerushalmi on Seder Kodashim, Rav Meir Simchah recognized at once that it was a forgery.
He stood at the forefront of the struggle against the maskilim of Russia and against the Zionists, in whose movements he saw the beginning of the removal of Torah and yiras Shomayim from the center of the Jewish outlook. At the same time he strongly supported the settlement of Eretz Yisroel and greeted the Balfour Declaration with enthusiasm. He also held that a Rav, in order to lead his community truly, must be fluent in the language of the land.
During World War I, when many Jews fled Dvinsk, he said that if only nine Jews remained he would be the tenth, and that every bomb has a specific address. He was respected by every part of the population.
Teachings and seforim
His magnum opus, the Ohr Sameach on the Rambam's Mishneh Torah, shows his sharp mind and great command of Torah. His commentary on the Torah, the Meshech Chochmah, is described by its editor, Rav Yehudah Copperman, as a unique blend of halacha, thought and commentary. In it Rav Meir Simchah shows the unity of the Written and Oral Torah and offers strikingly original explanations of verses and passages of Gemara. His mastery of the whole of philosophic and kabbalistic literature can be felt throughout.
He also wrote chiddushim on the Gemara and a volume of responsa, which were found and printed in recent times.
Later years and passing
Rav Meir Simchah had no sons. His son-in-law, Rav Avrohom Loftbar of Warsaw, was the author of Zera Avraham.
He passed away on Shabbos Parshas Shoftim, 4 Elul 5686 (1926), and was laid to rest in Dvinsk.
Stories
Dancing for Peace in the Home
It is told that a couple once came to Rav Meir Simchah to speak about a problem between them. They stayed with him for a long while, and then the sound of singing and dancing came from his room.
The Rav's secretary peeked in and saw an astonishing sight. The Rav himself was dancing with the husband and wife, doing all he could to bring them back together.
Teachings
When Berlin Is Called Jerusalem
In Parshas Bechukosai, in a famous passage written before 1926, Rav Meir Simchah sets out a brilliant understanding of Jewish history in exile. He speaks of those who forget their origins and think that "Berlin is Jerusalem," and warns that they are doomed to destruction.
Meshech Chochmah, Bechukosai
Why a Jew Gives His Life for Hashem
Rav Meir Simchah wrote that it is not surprising that a Jew willingly gives his life to sanctify Hashem's Name. When a person is confronted by an opposing force, his true essence comes to the surface.
Meshech Chochmah, Vaeschanan
Seforim
- Ohr Sameach: His magnum opus, a commentary on the Rambam's Mishneh Torah.
- Meshech Chochmah: A commentary on the Torah, blending halacha, thought and commentary and showing the unity of the Written and Oral Torah.
- Chiddushim on the Gemara and a volume of responsa: Found and printed in recent times.
Family & talmidim
Teachers: Rav Moshe Danishevsky, Av Beis Din of Slovak, Rav Yom Tov Lipa, Av Beis Din of Bialystok, author of Oneg Yom Tov, The author of Shai Lamoreh on Maseches Bechoros
Children: No sons; a son-in-law, Rav Avrohom Loftbar of Warsaw, author of Zera Avraham