Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin of Volozhin

Early years

Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin zt"l, known as the Netziv of Volozhin, was born in Mir in 5577 (1816), the son of Rav Yaakov Berlin. His father was a talmid chacham from a German rabbinic family, though he did not serve as a rav, and his mother was a direct descendant of Rav Meir Eisenstadt. The Netziv was also a descendant of Rabbeinu Elchanan Baal HaTosfos.

As a young man he was not considered outstanding. It is told that he threw himself into his learning after he overheard his parents discussing whether he should learn a trade. Through extraordinary diligence he grew into one of the greatest scholars and leaders of his time.

At the age of fourteen he married the daughter of Rav Yitzchok of Volozhin, son of Rav Chaim of Volozhin, and for twenty years he learned in his father-in-law's home. In those years he was known to stand for long hours with his feet in a pail of cold water through the night.

Torah and leadership

After Rav Yitzchok passed away, the Netziv's brother-in-law, Rav Eliezer Yitzchok, became rosh yeshivah of the yeshivah Etz Chaim in Volozhin, which Rav Chaim of Volozhin had founded. Three years later, when Rav Eliezer Yitzchok also passed away, the Netziv took his place. He led the yeshivah from 1854 until it was closed in 1892, almost forty years, and in that time it grew from about 100 to 400 talmidim.

The common way of learning was to analyze the sugya (topic) at hand in great depth. The Netziv's approach was to immerse himself in all the related passages across Tannaitic literature and to go back always to the earliest sources. He gave special attention to the writings of the Geonim and the earliest Rishonim, who were closer to the time of the Gemara, convinced that only in this way could a text be properly understood. Rav Dovid Luria strongly encouraged this approach. His way of learning stood in contrast to the highly analytical style pioneered by Rav Yosef Dov (Yoshe Ber) Soloveitchik.

The Netziv stressed the study of Chumash and Nach, and after Shacharis each day he gave a shiur on the weekly parsha. Volozhin produced great scholars during his years there, among them Rav Issur Zalman Meltzer, the Dvar Avrohom, Rav A. Shapiro, Rav Avrohom Y. Kook, Rav Moshe M. Epstein, Rav Zelig Benges and Rav Shimon Shkop.

Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, who later served as rav of Slutsk, Warsaw and Brisk and founded the dynasty that bears his name, challenged the Netziv's leadership in Volozhin. The two had a falling out but later made peace, and their families were joined when Rav Chaim Soloveitchik married the Netziv's daughter.

The Netziv supported the settlement of Eretz Yisroel. He was an early supporter of the Chovevei Tzion movement, though he later distanced himself from it. He opposed selling the Land for the Shemittah year, and, unlike Rav Hirsch, he opposed forming separate communities.

Teachings and seforim

The Netziv's works include Emek She'elah on the Sheiltos of Rav Achai, Emek Netziv on the Sifri, Meromei Sadeh on Shas, the responsa Meishiv Davar, his commentaries on the Torah, HaEmek Davar and Harchev Davar, and Maytiv Shir on Shir HaShirim.

Later years and passing

Trouble came to the yeshivah more than once. In 5639 the authorities closed it over the question of secular studies. The Netziv fought the maskilim, and Volozhin reopened in 5641. In 5646 a fire destroyed the yeshivah, and he rebuilt and reopened it.

The maskilim could not bear the yeshivah's success and kept seeking its end. Their complaints reached the government, which demanded that the curriculum and hours of study be completely changed. Hoping to save the yeshivah, the Netziv at first accepted some secular studies. But the demands grew heavier. All teachers were to hold college diplomas, no Torah subjects could be taught between nine in the morning and three in the afternoon, night learning was forbidden, and the total hours of study could not exceed ten a day. These terms would have stripped the yeshivah of its character, and in 1892 the Netziv felt compelled to close it.

His whole life was bound up with the yeshivah, and after it closed his health began to decline. He traveled to Vilna and other cities to clear the yeshivah's debts. In his last months he suffered from diabetes and from the effects of a stroke. He had hoped to travel to Eretz Yisroel, but his condition made it impossible. He spent his final weeks in Warsaw, and he passed away there on Rosh Chodesh Av 5653 (1893), less than two years after the yeshivah closed.

Legacy

His son Rav Chaim Berlin served as Av Beis Din of Kobrin and as rabbi of Moscow, and his son Rav Meir Berlin became known as Bar-Ilan. His sons-in-law were Rav Refael Shapira, Av Beis Din of Babroisk, and Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, Av Beis Din of Brisk.

The ohel of the Netziv and Rav Chaim Soloveitchik stands in the Jewish cemetery of Warsaw. The yeshivah building in Volozhin, in Belarus, still stands today and serves as a shul for those who travel through Europe to daven at the kevarim of tzaddikim.