web analytics
June 19, 2013 / 11 Tammuz, 5773
At a Glance ▼
Sections
Sponsored Post
Bicycle in South Pioneers of the Periphery: Olim of the South

Got that pioneering spirit? You’re invited to help build Israel’s periphery by planting roots in southern soil with Nefesh B’Nefesh.



Rededication Of Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin in Poland (Part II)

Published: February 21st, 2007
tell a friend

The Old Yeshiva

 

      Last week’s column, mostly pictures, on the rededication of Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin, could only partially describe the joyous event. The historic yeshiva building is once again in the hands of the Jewish community, and the sounds of Torah are heard in its halls.

 

      To fully understand the significance of the building and the institution it once housed, we have to go back close to eighty years, when the venerable Rabbi Meir Shapiro decided to build a yeshiva that would set an example for all other houses of higher Torah learning.

 

      Rabbi Shapiro dreamt of a yeshiva that would cater to the most talented Torah scholars. At the first Agudah Convention, he proposed to build the yeshiva. This was the very same convention, at which he broached the inception of the now-famous Daf Yomi.

 

      To do this he set about creating an atmosphere in which the students would be able to have all their needs, spiritual and physical, taken care of. They had the best teachers to challenge them intellectually and for the first time a campus able to house and feed them adequately.

 

      During the laying of the corner stone, 20,000 people came from all over to celebrate the inauguration of the yeshiva. These included dozens of renowned rabbis, representatives of the local and federal governments and numerous journalists and donors.

 


Unveiling the Facade Of The Restored Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin

 

 

      The building, most modern of its time in Lublin, was built by funds that Rabbi Shapiro gathered on trips abroad. He traveled all over Europe as well as the U.S. where he spent 15 months visiting over 200 locales. Even with all the money he collected, the building fund had a substantial deficit and Rabbi Shapiro had to take out a major loan to cover the gap. This debt curtailed many planned projects.

 

      Rabbi Shapiro insisted that if they were going to teach the top students, they had to provide them with the best. During his trips to collect money, he also collected books and manuscripts that would eventually fill the library off the main study hall. There was also a separate room that held a model of the Beit HaMikdash so the students studying the laws of the Temple could visualize what they were learning.

 

      The yeshiva opened on June 23 1930, to much fanfare. The mezuzah on the front door was affixed, in the presence of thousands, by Rabbi Yisrael Friedman, the Chortkover Rebbe. A large banner was unfurled, depicting a Torah Scroll being held up by the hands of Yissaschar, while the hands of Zevulun placed a crown of glory on top, against a background of the Polish national flag.

 

      While many invitations went out from the office of the yeshiva to officials and dignitaries, Rabbi Shapiro felt he owed a debt of gratitude to the former great leaders of the Jewish community in Lublin.

 

      In an article in Der Jud of June 24 1924, which covered the laying of the cornerstone ceremony, Shmuel Rothstein wrote, “No pen is able to describe what we felt at that particular moment.

 

      “The enthusiasm was genuine, for everybody sensed that something of historic significance, an epoch-making event, was taking place. No wonder, then, that all those gathered were deeply moved when the initiator of the future academy, Rabbi Meir Shapiro, started his address:

 

      ‘”Today we pay tribute to Polish Jewry, to their former splendor and glory. While my friends were inviting representatives of the government and various organizations to our ceremony, I went to the old cemetery to invite the immortal Talmudic Sages of old Lublin. Their mortal remains rest in the old cemetery, but their radiant spirit is alive with us’”

 

      Rabbi Shapiro passed away in 1933, just three years after the opening of the yeshiva. As he lay dying he asked to be taken into the study hall to be surrounded by his beloved students. When they started to cry, he insisted that they sing and dance for he was going to his reward. Over 30,000 people attended his funeral accompanying his body to the new cemetery. He was later re-interred in Israel.

 

      The Yeshiva continued under the leadership of Rabbi Shlomo Eiger until the German invasion of Lublin in 1939. The Germans occupied the building, burnt the majority of the library and murdered most of the students and faculty. After the war the building was turned into a medical college.


 


(Next week: The Restoration And Plans For The Yeshiva Building)

tell a friend

About the Author:


You might also be interested in:


If you don't see your comment after publishing it, refresh the page.
no comments

Comments are closed.

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

Current Top Story
Young Kim Jong-Un waving to an adoring crowd.
N.Korea: We Don’t Follow Hitler, We’ll Kill Anyone Who Says Otherwise
Latest Sections Stories
Kodish-061413-Dancing
Sections → Features → Features On The Jewish World

Yet all are part of one neshamah, planted in rich, verdant soil, determined to grow. May our garden continue to produce a glorious assortment of flowers and trees, each attached firmly to its roots. Our diverse southern vegetation flourishes and grows into different trees, flowers, and fruits, and a rainbow of glorious shades and hues appears. Yet each shoot is rooted in the same soil, stretching its branches and blossoms heavenward in an endless pursuit of growth and connection to the One above.

Baim-061413-Long-hair
Sections → Jewess Press → Daily Living

This past Lag B’Omer, we were blessed to make our first upsherin, where we celebrate our son’s first hair cut. It’s a wonderful milestone that mimics the three years that we refrain from plucking a tree’s first fruits and symbolizes the entry of the child into the world of Torah learning. It’s a clear sign to everyone; this boy is no longer a baby.

Littman-061413-Bridge
Sections → Features → Features On The Jewish World

Although there are more direct and faster routes to Beer Sheva and Eilat and all the sites and towns in-between, the Basor River is one of the beauties of the Negev that defiantly justifies a diversion.

Sections → Magazine → Teens and Twenties

The importance of death customs has been ingrained in me since birth. When I served as a shomeret for my grandmother, I was instructed not to eat, drink or perform a mitzvah in the same room. In the shock of death, it seemed rather inane to be told it would be considered mocking the dead. My grandmother was gone; she couldn’t do those things because she didn’t exist anymore, a fact that still makes me tear up.

Sections → Magazine → Potpourri

I would have to say that one of the most annoying things about having a newspaper advice column, aside from all these people writing to me and asking for advice, is that they frequently don’t tell me WHY they’re asking.

Sections → Features → Features On The Jewish World

Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l, who passed away on 28 Tammuz, (July18) this year at age 102, spent all of his days and most of his nights learning Torah. He was the paramount leader of our generation, and inspired tremendous awe and reverence in everyone who knew him. Now, every woman has the stunning opportunity to do something in his memory. A Sefer Torah is being written in his memory and women around the world have the chance to dedicate a letter.

Sections → Family → Marriage and Relationships

Due to her family situation, it is understandable that she will have more responsibilities than other girls her age, but she would benefit from having some free time and receiving more appreciation for her hard work.

Sections → Family → Parenting Our Children

For children, summer means outdoor sports, picnics, and of course, no school! Teachers and students work hard all year long – and everyone deserves a break from education over the summer. However, this two-month break can often have some pretty devastating consequences.

Sections → Family

It was only after we celebrated the great news that we were expecting twins that we saw the first sign of problems. First of all, my wife was losing, not gaining weight, even as the babies continued to grow normally. Soon after, routine blood work revealed that my wife was suffering from gestational diabetes.

Sections → Community → West Coast Happenings

Rabbi Pinchas Gruman is the new rav of the Minyan at Aish Tamid.

One of the most respected Torah figures in Los Angeles, Rabbi Gruman has been described as “The Los Angeles link in the mesorah of the yeshiva world” by Rabbi Nachum Sauer. As a talmid in Lakewood in the 1950s, Rabbi Gruman received semicha from Rav Aaron Kotler, zt”l, and Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l. Soon after, he moved to Los Angeles.

Sections → Magazine → Teens and Twenties

Another tree is down.

I’m driving down Lakewood Avenue, figuring that maybe, just maybe, the tree that blocked the middle of North Lake Drive has been removed, and I can go through. After all, they had a whole day. I’m sure things have been taken care of.

More Articles from Shmuel Ben Eliezer
Sections → Magazine → Archives

The official beginning of World War II was September 1, 1939. On that day German soldiers invaded Gdansk after bombarding the city with a military warship. As part of the Polish Government’s official series of events marking seven decades since the start of World War II, Poland’s Jewish community and the Jerusalem-based “Shavei Israel” organization held a special ceremony yesterday in the Gdansk synagogue to commemorate the outbreak of the war, which paved the way for the Holocaust.

Sections → Magazine → Archives

The official beginning of World War II was September 1, 1939. On that day German soldiers invaded Gdansk after bombarding the city with a military warship. As part of the Polish Government’s official series of events marking seven decades since the start of World War II, Poland’s Jewish community and the Jerusalem-based “Shavei Israel” organization held a special ceremony yesterday in the Gdansk synagogue to commemorate the outbreak of the war, which paved the way for the Holocaust.

Sections → Magazine → Archives

September 1, 1939 is the date on which Germany invaded Poland, starting WWII. While it should be said that the start of the war was not the start of the Shoah, which actually began with the rise of Nazism in 1933, it was a major milestone in the annals of the Holocaust. Within the first few days of the war, Germany had conquered and/or bombed much of Poland, including the capital, Warsaw.

Sections → Magazine → Archives

September 1, 1939 is the date on which Germany invaded Poland, starting WWII. While it should be said that the start of the war was not the start of the Shoah, which actually began with the rise of Nazism in 1933, it was a major milestone in the annals of the Holocaust. Within the first few days of the war, Germany had conquered and/or bombed much of Poland, including the capital, Warsaw.

Sections → Magazine → Archives

In September 1939 the Germans started establishing ghettos in the occupied territory of Poland. Ghettos played an important role in the Jewish extermination policy. They were filled with Polish and Western European Jewish deportees. The ghettos differed in times of existence, size, internal organization, and living conditions. The Germans called them ” death boxes” (Todeskiste). The city of Lodz belonged to the Wartheland District and the Germans changed its name into Litzmannstadt.

Sections → Magazine → Archives

In September 1939 the Germans started establishing ghettos in the occupied territory of Poland. Ghettos played an important role in the Jewish extermination policy. They were filled with Polish and Western European Jewish deportees. The ghettos differed in times of existence, size, internal organization, and living conditions. The Germans called them ” death boxes” (Todeskiste). The city of Lodz belonged to the Wartheland District and the Germans changed its name into Litzmannstadt.

Sections → Magazine → Archives

Growing up in the U.S. during the second half of the 20th century, I, along with most people, know very little about the First World War. The little that I did know was about the trench warfare in France and Belgium. The Eastern Front was barely, if ever, mentioned and usually stated that it ended with the Russian Revolution and overthrowing the Czar.

Sections → Magazine → Archives

Growing up in the U.S. during the second half of the 20th century, I, along with most people, know very little about the First World War. The little that I did know was about the trench warfare in France and Belgium. The Eastern Front was barely, if ever, mentioned and usually stated that it ended with the Russian Revolution and overthrowing the Czar.

    Latest Poll

    Female, Orthodox, Halachic Deciders and Spiritual Leaders (Maharat)









    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...

Printed from: http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/columns/rededication-of-yeshiva-chachmei-lublin-in-poland-part-ii/2007/02/21/

Scan this QR code to visit this page online:

No related posts.

Close