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Rabbi Meir Shapiro | |
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| Personal life | |
| Born | Yehuda Meir Shapiro 3 March 1887 |
| Died | 27 October 1933(1933-10-27) (aged 46) |
| Buried | Lublin, Poland; later reinterred inJerusalem,Israel |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Spouse | Malka Toba Shapiro |
| Parent(s) | Yaakov Shimshon of Shatz Rebbetzin Margulya |
| Occupation | Rabbi,rosh yeshiva |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Denomination | Orthodox |
| Position | Rosh yeshiva |
| Yeshiva | Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva |
| Began | 1930 |
| Ended | 1933 |
| Other | Rabbi of Galina,Sanok, and Pietrokov |
Yehuda Meir Shapiro (Polish:Majer Jehuda Szapira; 3 March 1887 – 27 October 1933) was a prominentPolishHasidicrabbi androsh yeshiva, also known as theLublinerRav. He is noted for his promotion of theDaf Yomi study program in 1923, and establishing theChachmei Lublin Yeshiva in 1930.[2]
During the years 1922 to 1927 Shapiro was the firstOrthodox Jew to become a member in theSejm (Parliament) of theSecond Polish Republic representing the Jewish minority of the country.
Rabbi Yehuda Meir Shapiro was born on the 7th day ofAdar (in Jewish tradition, also the birth date ofMoses[1]) in the city ofShatz,Bucovina, then in theAustrian-Hungarian Empire, now inRomania, in 1887.[1] He was a descendant of RabbiPinchas Shapiro ofKorets, one of the students of theBaal Shem Tov, and from his maternal side, of RabbiJoseph ben Isaac Bekhor Shor, a Frenchtosafist.[3] Aftercheder, Shapiro began to study with his grandfather, the Baal Minchas Shai (RabbiShmuel Yitzhak Schor [he]. Another of his early teachers was RabbiShulem Moshkovitz (popularly known as the Shotzer Rebbe. He was also a well known kabbalist).
In 1906 he "married the daughter of Reb Ya'akov Breitman, a wealthy landowner of Tarnopol, Galicia."[4] Shapiro began to get a reputation, and became known as theIllui of Shatz. From an early age, he was known as an outstanding leader and gifted speaker. He was soon ordained by many great scholars, including theMaharsham. His grandfather introduced him to theChortkoverRebbe, and thus began his passion forHasidism, and the beginning of his relationship with the Chortkover Rebbe.
His first rabbinical posting came in 1911[3] when he was appointed Rav ofGalina. He spent ten years in the city, during which time he established ayeshiva called Bnei Torah. Construction commenced in 1920. The yeshiva held aTalmud Torah, a place to train rabbis, and a kitchen to feed orphaned children. It ran at a budget of over half a million marks. This yeshiva served as a prototype for what was later to becomeChachmei Lublin.
After leaving Galina, Shapiro began serving as Rav ofSanok in 1920.
In 1924, Shapiro accepted his third rabbinical position in Petrakov/Piotrkow.
On 14 June 1931, he was appointed rabbi of Lublin in the oldsynagogue of theMaharshal.
Shapiro introduced the revolutionary idea ofDaf Yomi (Hebrew:דף יומי, "page [of the] day" or "dailyfolio"), a daily regimen undertaken to study the Babylonian Talmud one folio (a daf consists of both sides of the page) each day. Under this regimen, the entire Talmud is completed, one day at a time, in a cycle of seven and a half years. Rabbi Shapiro introduced his idea at the First World Congress of theWorld Agudath Israel inVienna on 16 August 1923.[5] The first cycle of Daf Yomi commenced on the first day ofRosh Hashanah 5684 (11 September 1923).[5] Now in its 14th cycle,[6] Daf Yomi has been taken up by tens of thousands of Jews worldwide. Incidentally, there are 2,711 pages in the Babylonian Talmud.
Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin was, along with Daf Yomi, Shapiro's greatest achievement. He conceived of a yeshiva for Hasidic Poland, modeled on Lithuanian yeshivas such asVolozhin,Slabodka andNovardok, but which would train Hasidic rabbis as the next generation to lead Polish Jewry. The Yeshiva was housed in a massive building, housed hundreds of students, and had a vast library of over 100,000 books.
On 22–28 May 1924, the cornerstone laying ceremony took place for the construction of the yeshiva building. Approximately 20,000 people participated in the event. The opening ceremony took place on 24–25 June 1930. Apart from thousands of local Jews, around 10,000 people arrived from all over Poland and abroad.Shapiro served asrosh yeshiva until his death.
In 1932 Shapiro was approached by leaders of the Jewish Community ofŁódź, who wanted to offer him the position ofChief Rabbi of Łódź. Many people wanted to appoint Rabbi Mendel Alter of Kalish, (b. 1877,Ger) the brother to theGerrer Rebbe (and youngest son of theSfas Emes) to this position. Rabbi Shapiro negotiated that a large part of his wage would go to pay off the debts thatChachmei Lublin was still struggling to pay off. Eventually it was decided to give it to Rabbi Shapiro. After all the protracted negotiation that went on to get Rabbi Shapiro into this position, he died three days after being appointed Chief Rabbi.
Whilst serving in Galina, Rabbi Shapiro began his involvement withAgudat Israel. He was present at its founding conference in 1912. In 1914 he was appointed head of the Education Department of Agudas Yisrael in EastGalicia, becoming president in 1922 of Agudas Yisrael inPoland. He played a role in the conference in the city of Lvov, which had the purpose of launching the Aguda in Galicia, some two years after its founding in Katovitz in 5672 (c. 1911).
At the time, he was also added as a member to theMoetzes Gedolei HaTorah. Rabbi Shapiro was initially very doubtful as to whether he should become an MP for the party, but was encouraged to do so by hisrebbe, theChortkover.
Rabbi Shapiro, together with Aron Levine and Zalman Sorotzkin, chaired the committee which as a part of the Polish Ministry for Religious Affairs, held responsibility for delegating Rabbinical positions throughout Poland. He was also part of the Vaad HaChinuch.
Beginning in 1922, Rabbi Shapiro served as a parliamentarian to the PolishSejm. In 1928 he stepped down as a politician so that he could devote all his energies to Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva.
Shapiro became ill withtyphus in 1933 and died within the month, on 27 October 1933 (7Cheshvan 5694)[3] at the age of 46. His death was mourned in both Jewish and non-Jewish Poland. Countless newspapers across the entire political spectrum, from Orthodox toYiddishist tosocialist, featured front-page biographies of Rabbi Shapiro.
Shapiro's remains were reinterred in Israel in 1958, under the auspices of his brother. He was reburied inHar HaMenuchot with a full ceremony. Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Levin delivered a eulogy, as did those students of his who had survived theHolocaust.
Shapiro is widely revered throughout the Jewish world as the founder of Daf Yomi. The neighborhood of Zikhron Meir inBnei Brak was established in his memory by Yaakov Halperin; this is the neighborhood that hosts many of the major yeshivas in Bnei Brak.
Shlomo Artzi, a famous Israeli musical artist, is Shapiro's grand-nephew.[7]Famous students of Rav Shapiro who continued his legacy, include RabbiPinchas Hirschprung and Rabbi Shmuel Wosner.
Shapiro was considered agaon (Torah genius) in his lifetime. He studied Torah extensively and was a great scholar even by the high standards of the era he lived in. His two major works areOhr HaMeir andImrei Da'as.
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