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Tomorrow, 27 Nisan is 4 years since the passing of Rabbi Avigdor Miller, zt"l.

HaGaon HaRav Eliyahu (HaGRA) ben Shlomo Zalman, Gaon mi Vilna ZT"L

Born April 23, 1720, Vilna (now Vilnius), Lithuania; there he died on October 9, 1797, was probably the most influential leader in modern history, Talmud scholar, and Kabbalist.

Posted by Vito

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The Chazon Ish, Rabbi Avraham Yishayahu Karelitz

Avraham Yishayahu Karelitz (Abraham Isaiah Karelitz) (1878-1953) known by his pen name as the Chazon Ish (in Hebrew: "Vision [of] Man"), was a Lithuanian born Orthodox Rabbi who became leader of Haredi Judaism in Israel. He lived in Vilna for some years.

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Rabbi Chaim Brisker

Rabbi Chaim (Halevi) Soloveitchik, also known as Reb Chaim Brisker, (1853-July 30, 1918) was a rabbi and Talmudic scholar credited as the founder of the "Brisk yeshivas" approach to Talmudic study and one of the greatest Rabbis in Lithuania.

Photograph posted by Vito

The Chofetz Chaim - Reb Yisroel Meir Kagan

Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaKohen Kagan also known as the Chofetz Chaim (the name of his first book), was a Halakhist and ethicist, born, 1838, and died in Radin, 1933. He was one of the most influential rabbis during the late 19th and early 20th century

Posted by Vito

New photographs of Rav Shach and Rabbi Kaplan posted by sam-

Baal Shem Tov
Founder of Hasidism (1700-1760)

Baal Shem Tov
When the Baal Shem Tov's disciples tried to write down his sayings, he gently chided them, "There is nothing of me in your pages; you thought you heard what I didn't say." His ecstatic joy would not sit still on a page or be contained in a doctrine.

“I came into the world to show another way, to cultivate the love of God, of Israel, and of the Torah, and there is no need for fasting and mortification.”

The Baal Shem Tov -- "Master of the Good Name" -- was the title given to Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer of Mezbizk, the founder of Hasidic Judaism. Rather than providing a set of teachings the Baal Shem Tov -- or the Besht, as his name was commonly abbreviated -- communicated his lessons through a certain attitude, a spirit of joy, an instinct for the holiness of existence, that would ultimately inspire a following far beyond the Hasidim, or "pious ones," as his followers came to be called.

He was born in a small town in the Ukraine in 1700. For Jews of that time and place the memory of savage persecution was still fresh. A series of pogroms in the latter half of the seventeenth century cost the lives of more than a hundred thousand Jews. In such an atmosphere of catastrophe there arose a number of messianic and mystical movements, of which Hasidism was ultimately the most successful. Nevertheless, the first part of the Besht's life was spent in quiet obscurity. Only midway through his life did he suddenly take to wandering from village to village, performing wonders and imparting his vision and wisdom. The besht proclaimed a mysticism of the everyday. Within each task and each moment there was a spark of the divine. The responsibility of each person was to discover and to fulfill the potential holiness imbedded within ordinary existence. This responsibility, furthermore, should be discharged in a spirit of joy. He opposed obsessive asceticism and self-mortification, just as he opposed a preoccupation with the law. Much more important was the spirit in which one lived. The religious life, according to the Besht, was not a matter of performing religious duties; the essential thing was the piety that one brought to daily life. He spoke of prayer as a window to heaven and called the entire world a prayer house. Thus, "A man needs no fixed place to say his prayers, no synagogues; among the trees of the forest, everywhere one can pray."

The large Hasidic community in Eastern Europe was largely extinguished by the Nazis. But vibrant communities, especially in the United States and Israel, continue to live out the joyful and compassionate vision of the Baal Shem Tov. As he lay dying, surrounded by his family and followers, the Besht said, "I am not worried at all for I know that I am leaving through one door and entering through another door."

He died on May 22, 1760.
http://www.gratefulness.org/giftpeople/BaalShemTov.htm

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quote:

"ecstatic joy would not sit still on a page or be contained in a doctrine."

"The besht proclaimed a mysticism of the everyday. Within each task and each moment there was a spark of the divine. The responsibility of each person was to discover and to fulfill the potential holiness imbedded within ordinary existence. This responsibility, furthermore, should be discharged in a spirit of joy. He opposed obsessive asceticism and self-mortification, just as he opposed a preoccupation with the law. Much more important was the spirit in which one lived. The religious life, according to the Besht, was not a matter of performing religious duties; the essential thing was the piety that one brought to daily life. He spoke of prayer as a window to heaven and called the entire world a prayer house. Thus, "A man needs no fixed place to say his prayers, no synagogues; among the trees of the forest, everywhere one can pray."

quote:

Thanks for this post; an excelllent counterbalance to the discussions of halachah, where it's all too easy to loose sight of the "forest" as it were.

B"H
PHOTO: Rabbi Yoseph Hayim of Baghdad
Also known as the "Ben-Ish Chai"
Author of many works of a Qabbalistic nature, written in a beautiful and succinct language.
I have heard that he believed that he was the natural re-incarnation of Benayahu ben Yehoiyada, one of the valiant men of King David and of King Solomon. Therefore, almost all of his books evolve around this name.
-Sincerely, David

quote:

Originally posted by Gila:
The Chofetz Chaim - Reb Yisroel Meir Kagan

Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaKohen Kagan also known as the Chofetz Chaim (the name of his first book), was a Halakhist and ethicist, born, 1838, and died in Radin, 1933. He was one of the most influential rabbis during the late 19th and early 20th century

Posted by Vito

I have recently come across a great many sources saying that the very famous picture of hte chofetz chaim is probably, in fact, not the chafetz chaim...

A google search for "Chofetz chaim picture" leads to this link.
http://www.kehillastorah.org/chofetz-chaim.html

and

http://www.kehillastorah.org/chofetz-chaim2.html

quote:

Originally posted by Shimon Senders:
I have recently come across a great many sources saying that the very famous picture of hte chofetz chaim is probably, in fact, not the chafetz chaim...

I find this very strange, seeing that the late Chefetz Chaim had a daughter that lived in Jerusalem not very long ago, and she would have obviously recognised her father's picture. Has she ever made a statement about this very famous picture?

David

Quote "I find this very strange, seeing that the late Chefetz Chaim had a daughter that lived in Jerusalem not very long ago, and she would have obviously recognised her father's picture. Has she ever made a statement about this very famous picture?"
I heard, that when she saw the picture, she didn't know who it was.

The following photos have been added to the Photo Album:

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
Reb Moshe Feinstein
Painting of Rav Yosef Karo
Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam ZT"L - Bobove Rebbe
HaRav Yisrael Dan Shlita the Present Modzitzer Rebbe
Bostoner Rebbe
Kaliver Rebbe
Bluzhever Rebbe
Novominsker Rebbe