Religionמאיר יוסט

Meir Just

Meir Just was a rabbi who served as Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands, based in Amsterdam, from 1963 until his death in 2010.

1908 to 2010Chief Rabbi of the NetherlandsLeading Dutch Jewry from AmsterdamThe book Imrei Meir

Born: 7 July 1908, Vyzhnytsia
Died: 9 April 2010, Amsterdam
Occupation: rabbi
Party: Union of Israel

Meir Just was born in 1908 in Vyzhnytsia

Meir Just was born on 7 July 1908 in Vizhnitz, Bukovina, now Vyzhnytsia in Ukraine. His father, Nisan Just, was a Hasidic composer and an attendant of the Vizhnitser Rebbe. During World War I the family fled to Grosswardein.

As a youth he studied for several years with Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz. He later moved to Germany and studied with Rabbi Joseph Breuer.

When the Nazis took power in Germany, he returned to his parents in Grosswardein. There he headed the local branch of Agudat Yisrael. In World War II he hid with his family in Budapest and survived with the help of friends.

After the war he moved to Switzerland and taught at the Montreux yeshiva. In 1963 he was invited to become Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands and settled in Amsterdam. He was a senior member of the Conference of European Rabbis and wrote the book Imrei Meir on the Torah.

He died at his home in Amsterdam on 9 April 2010. A memorial service was held at the Raw Aron Schuster Synagogue, and he was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.