Religionשמואל רוזובסקי

Shmuel Rozovsky

Shmuel Rozovsky was a rabbi who served as rosh yeshiva of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak from 1944 until his death in 1979.

1913 to 1979Heading the Ponevezh YeshivaHis Talmud lecturesTeaching future yeshiva heads

Born: 1 January 1913, Hrodna
Died: 17 July 1979
Occupation: rabbi, rosh yeshiva

Shmuel Rozovsky was born in 1913 in Hrodna

Shmuel Rozovsky was born in Grodno in 1913. His father, Michel Dovid Rozovsky, was a rabbi in the city. His mother, Sara Pearl, was the daughter of Avraham Gelburd, an earlier rabbi of Grodno.

He studied at the Sha'ar Hatorah Yeshiva under Rabbi Shimon Shkop, who shaped his method of study. To avoid service in the Polish army, he moved to the Land of Israel and studied at the Lomzha Yeshiva in Petah Tikva. For years he also studied weekly with Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik.

In 1944 Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman called him to head the new Ponevezh Yeshiva, a post he held until his death. His teaching stressed Talmudic skills, Mussar and the study of Chumash with commentaries. In 1956 he was elected a judge of the Great Rabbinical Court but was not appointed in the end.

In 1942 he married Esther Liba, daughter of Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank, and they had 4 children. Many of his students later headed yeshivas, among them Rabbi Gershon Edelstein. He died of cancer in 1979.