Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael (Slabodka)

54°54′38″N 23°53′12″E / 54.910623°N 23.886702°E / 54.910623; 23.886702

Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael הישיבה הקדושה כנסת ישראל בסלבודקה-קובנה‎
Portraits of rabbis and students, 1922
Location
Vilijampolė Lithuania
Coordinates	54°54′38″N 23°53′12″E / 54.910623°N 23.886702°E / 54.910623; 23.886702
Information
Other name	Slabodka Yeshiva
Type	Mussar
Religious affiliation(s)	Orthodox Judaism
Established	1882
Founder	Nosson Tzvi Finkel
Closed	c. 1941
Dean	Moshe M. Epstein Yitzchak Isaac Sher
Staff	Dov Tzvi Heller Avraham Grodzinski
Enrollment	350 (1920s)

Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael (Yiddish: סלאבאדקער ישיבה; Lithuanian: Vilijampolės (Slabados) ješiva) was a yeshiva located in the town of Vilijampolės Slabada in the Kovno Governorate of the Russian Empire (now Vilijampolė in Kaunas, Lithuania). It operated from the late 19th century until World War II.

From the second half of the 19th century onwards, Kovno became a hub of Jewish cultural activity in Lithuania. Prominent scholars included Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor (the "Kovner Rav"; officiated 1864-96), Abraham Mapu, one of the first modern Hebrew writers, and Israel Isidor Elyashev, known as the "Ba'al Makhshoves," the first Yiddish literary critic. The yeshivot of Slobodka, particularly the Or HaChaim yeshivah founded by Tzvi Levitan around 1863 (also known as Yeshivas R' Hirschel), attracted students from other countries and were led by noted scholars. Nosson Tzvi Finkel, also known as "Der Alter fun Slabodka" (The Elder of Slabodka), who had also founded several kollelim in the area, served as mashgiach ruchani (spiritual supervisor) and introduced Musar ideals there.

In 1882, Nosson Tzvi Finkel merged his kollelim and the Ohr Hachaim yeshiva to form the "Slabodka Yeshiva".^[a] Finkel oversaw the institution while Yitzchak Yaakov Rabinowitz was appointed rosh yeshiva, a position he held until 1893. After his departure, Finkel appointed two brothers-in-law, Moshe Mordechai Epstein and Isser Zalman Meltzer, as rosh yeshivas. Meltzer left three years later to lead the Slutsk Yeshiva of the Ridvaz.^[1]

In 1897, opposition to the Musar method emerged among the students, leading to a split in the yeshiva. The Musar movement followers moved to a separate building, while the opponents established the Knesses Beis Yitzchak yeshivah, named after Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor.^[2] Finkel, a strong proponent of the Musar movement, led the Knesses Yisrael faction. Epstein, who remained loyal to Finkel, continued his role at Knesses Yisrael despite being offered the position of rosh yeshiva at Knesses Beis Yitzchak.

Although there was initial rivalry between the two institutions, they eventually achieved a peaceful coexistence. This was largely due to Epstein becoming a posek in Slabodka under Moshe Danishevky, who served as Knesses Beis Yitzchak's rosh yeshiva, facilitating cooperation between the two rosh yeshivas.^[1]

Shortly after World War I began in 1914, some members of the yeshiva, including Finkel, Epstein, and the mashgiach ruchani Ber Hirsch Heller, fled Slabodka for Minsk, which was farther from the front lines. When the Germans started bombing Minsk, most of the yeshiva moved to Kremenchug, though a small group remained in Minsk under the leadership of Finkel's son, Moshe Finkel. The yeshiva in Kremenchug had approximately 40 to 50 students, in addition to the teachers and their families. In 1920, the yeshiva was prepared to return to Slabodka. They traveled through Minsk and Vilnius, and had to pay smugglers to cross the Russian-Lithuanian border.^[3]

A 1924 edict mandating military enlistment or supplementary secular studies in the yeshiva prompted many students from the Slabodka yeshiva to relocate to Mandatory Palestine. The Alter of Slabodka sent Avraham Grodzinski and Yechezkel Sarna to Palestine to find a suitable location for the yeshiva, and they chose Hebron.^[4] The staff of the yeshiva in Lithuania was divided between the original Lithuanian yeshiva and the new Hebron branch, known as the Hebron Yeshiva. Epstein was appointed rosh yeshiva in Hebron, while Finkel and Yehuda Leib Chasman served as mashgiachs. In Lithuania, Finkel's son-in-law Yitzchak Isaac Sher became rosh yeshiva, with Ber Hirsch Heller and Grodzinski serving as mashgiachs. Following the 1929 Hebron massacre, which resulted in the murder of twenty-four students, the yeshiva was re-established in the Geula neighbourhood of Jerusalem.^[1]

After World War II, the original yeshiva building was confiscated by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The building, with its unique design—shaped like a Torah scroll—is still visible today in Lithuania. The yeshiva was reestablished by Sher in Bnei Brak, Israel as Slabodka yeshiva Bnei Brak.

• Kovno Kollel, a Musar-type yeshiva in nearby Kaunas
• Kelm Talmud Torah, another Musar-type Lithuanian yeshiva

• Yeshiva of Slobodka, YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe