Rav Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer

Early years

Rav Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer zt"l was one of the great rabbonim who placed Yerushalayim at the height of their concerns and dreamed of the day when Jews would settle Eretz Yisroel and live there. He worked with all his strength to see the Land settled and rebuilt.

He was the son of Rav Shlomo Kalischer and was born on 4 Sivan 5555 (1795) in Lissa, in the province of Posen, Germany. In his youth he learned Torah from great Gaonim, Rav Yaakov of Lissa, author of Chavos Daas, and Rav Akiva Eiger of Posen. He was known for his extraordinary gifts and remarkable diligence.

Rav of Thorn

Many communities asked him to become their rav, but he did not want to use the Torah for material ends. After his marriage he settled in his wife's hometown of Thorn (now Torun, Poland) and started a small business that his wife ran while he learned Torah day and night. The community of Thorn quickly recognized the greatness of the young avreich and asked him to be its rav. He accepted, and he held the position without a salary for the rest of his life, some forty years.

On his desk he kept a box marked "For settling in Eretz Yisroel," and anyone who wished could leave a donation. His house was always open, and people came from near and far for his help and advice. He had a good heart and supported the poor and married off orphans with his own money. He involved himself in everything that happened in Thorn. Because Thorn was near the border, Jewish refugees from Poland and Russia came to him, and he helped them as much as he could to reach wherever they wanted to go. His whole life was devoted to Torah and wisdom, tzedakah and generosity.

Teachings and seforim

In 5603 (1843) he published his first sefer, Even Bochen, a commentary on Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat, siman 89, as a sample of his larger work Moznayim LaMishpat U'Mishnah Acharonah. A dozen years passed before he could publish the great work itself, Moznayim LaMishpat, with extensive commentary on each halacha and halachic rulings on all of Choshen Mishpat. This made his name famous in Germany, and many of the leading rabbonim sent him their questions in Torah and halacha.

He did not confine himself to halacha. He was also deeply involved in Tanach and Hebrew grammar and was interested in both medieval and contemporary Jewish philosophy. In the same year as Even Bochen he published Emunah Yesharah in two parts, and later he wrote a commentary on the five books of the Torah. He also wrote a commentary on the Aggadah called Yetzias Mitzrayim, glosses on Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah, printed in the Romm edition of Vilna under the title Tzvi LaTzaddik, and notes on the mishnayos of Nashim and Nezikin, printed in the Romm edition of the Mishnah.

Love of Eretz Yisroel

Rav Tzvi Hirsch loved Eretz Yisroel and devoted his life to it. He wrote at length on the mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisroel and corresponded with the leading rabbonim of his generation about rebuilding the Beis Hamikdash and the possibility of building a mizbeach and offering korbanos. In his sefer Derishas Tzion he set out a plan to buy back the land from foreigners and settle Jewish farmers on it. He wrote, "When we redeem the land, we make a pathway for our God and a way toward the final redemption."

In early 5623 (1862) he travelled to Koenigsberg with many rabbonim of Russia and explained his plan to them. Rav Yisroel of Salant, who was present, promised that when he returned to Kovno he would see that Jewish property owners who rented out their land would give one percent of the rent toward farming in Eretz Yisroel, and that tenants would give the same.

He also influenced generous Jews such as Moses Montefiore and Amschel Rothschild to support the Eretz Noshavet foundation that he established. He was overjoyed to learn that on his fourth trip to Eretz Yisroel Montefiore bought a plot near Yaffo and planted an orchard, the first Jewish orchard in the new settlement of the Holy Land.

Later years and passing

In his later years Rav Tzvi Hirsch decided to travel to Eretz Yisroel, the love of his life. His family, worried about the fragile health of a father already seventy-six years old, begged him not to go. He asked the advice of the tzaddik Rav Avrohom of Chernov, who told him not to go, because a person like him could do more good for the Holy Land and for the poor by staying where he was. He stayed in his city and continued his work for the settlement of Eretz Yisroel.

Rav Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer passed away on 5 Cheshvan 5635 (1874) in Thorn, where he was buried with great honor. After his passing, the little money found in the Eretz Noshavet fund box was used to buy a plot for him near the kever of Rachel Imeinu.