The Alter of Slabodka: An Orphaned Child that was Taken in

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman

A chance meeting at a Sheva Brachos.  Another one at a restaurant.  Both led to a bit of thinking.  What remarkable people.  Which led to thinking, once again, about the Alter of Slabodka.

Yes, true.  It is not yet his Yahrtzeit.  But it is important for people to know about this.  In particular it is important to know how taking in one orphan, can impact the world.  I have in mind two remarkable families, and this article is dedicated to them.

Imagine what the world would have been like, chalilah, had this young orphan not have been taken in.  And it doesn’t really matter what ultimately happens – those that take in hashem’s children are true heroes, remarkable ones.  Amd all we can say is, “Mi Ka’Amcha Yisroel.”

The Man Who Created Menschen

The 29th of Shvat, marks the 99th Yahrzeit of the Alter of Slabodka. The topography of today’s Torah world would have been vastly different were it not for the vision and tireless work of one remarkable individual—Rav Nosson Zvi Finkel zt”l (1849–February 1, 1927).

If you are reading this article, and you or your father studied in a Yeshiva, it is likely that you were influenced by the Alter of Slabodka. His students went on to establish yeshivos throughout the world and, in turn, were responsible for bringing Torah to tens of thousands of talmidim across generations.

Indeed, the Chofetz Chaim once said about the Alter, who was eleven years his junior, “I write books—he creates menschen.”

The distinction is profound. Books can be purchased, studied, and placed on a shelf. But a mensch—a refined human being who embodies Torah values—is a living testament, a walking sefer, capable of inspiring others simply by existing in the world.

From the Depths: An Orphan’s Rise

Harav Nosson Tzvi was born in the year 1849 (5609) in the town of Raseiniai, Russia—known in Yiddish as Raseyn. The town had a complex history. Before 1795, it was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but it was annexed by Russian Tsarina Catherine into the Russian Empire and its city rights were annulled. The town became the center of Rossieny County, and from 1843 onward was part of the Kovno Governorate.

Eighteen years before the Alter’s birth, an insurrection against Tsar Nicholas I and his oppressive regime had begun in Raseiniai. On March 26, 1831, rebels took the town and formed a provisional district government. Within days, the insurrection spread throughout the entire country—later known as the 1831 Rebellion. It was a place where the spirit of resistance ran deep.

The town long had a large Jewish presence. It was among the first Jewish communities established in Lithuania, and the city became known as the “Jerusalem of Zamut.” During most of the 19th century, the greater proportion of the town’s population was Jewish, and ironically, it was also a center of the Jewish Haskalah movement—the very movement the Alter would later fight to counter. In 1866, the town had 10,579 inhabitants, of whom 8,290 were Jews.

Into this world, Nosson Tzvi was born to Reb Moshe and Miriam Finkel, a prominent community figure. But tragedy struck early and struck hard. At a young age, he was orphaned of both his parents. A relative from Vilna—an uncle—took him in and raised him.

One can only imagine the formative impact of such early loss. To lose both parents as a child, to be uprooted from one’s home and brought to a new city—these experiences forge a certain depth of character, a sensitivity to the pain of others, and perhaps a burning desire to ensure that no child under one’s care would ever feel abandoned or alone.

A Young Marriage and Early Promise

At the remarkably young age of fifteen, Reb Nosson Tzvi married into an illustrious family. Reb Meir Bashis, the son-in-law of the Rav of Kelm—Harav Eliezer Guterman—recognized in this young orphan something extraordinary. He chose Reb Nosson Tzvi to marry his daughter, Gittel, and supported him for a number of years, enabling him to continue to sit and learn without disturbance.

Even as a young bachur, Reb Nosson Tzvi had gained fame as a lamdan, an iluy, and a master of deep thought. The Torah world was beginning to take notice.

During the first years of his marriage, Reb Nosson Tzvi was known for his original thinking and profound Torah knowledge. From time to time, he visited nearby towns to deliver classes to the public. It was on one such visit to his native town of Rasein that his life would change forever.

A Letter That Changed Everything

The Rav of Rasein, Harav Alexander Moshe Lapidos zt”l (1819–1906), was a close disciple of Harav Yisrael Salanter zt”l, the founder of the Mussar Movement. When the young Rav Nosson Tzvi delivered a drashah in his hometown, Rav Lapidos sat in the audience and listened. What he witnessed that day convinced him that this young man possessed extraordinary potential—potential that, properly guided, could change the Jewish world.

Rav Lapidos wrote a letter to Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, the Alter of Kelm, urging him to take this young man under his wing and help form him. He handed the sealed letter to Rav Nosson Tzvi and asked him to deliver it personally.

Rav Nosson Tzvi, unaware of the contents of this letter, made his way to Kelm and handed it to Rav Simcha Zissel. From that moment forward, the Alter of Kelm began to keep a watchful eye on the young prodigy, guiding him in the ways of Mussar.

It was a fateful introduction. Under Rav Simcha Zissel’s tutelage, Reb Nosson Tzvi became his talmid muvhak, absorbing the depths of Mussar philosophy while also developing his own distinctive approach.

A Meeting with the Founder

Sometime before Rav Yisroel Salanter moved to Germany in 1857, the young Alter had the privilege of meeting with him personally. He asked Reb Yisrael a question that would define his life’s mission: What should his avodah and tafkid in this world be?

Reb Yisrael answered with a pasuk from Yeshayahu (57:15): “L’hachayos ruach shefalim u’lhachayos lev nidkaim—to revive the spirit of the meek and revive the hearts of the depressed.”

These words became the Alter’s mandate. For the rest of his life, he devoted himself to uplifting souls, to seeing the potential in every student, and to reviving hearts that had been crushed by life’s hardships.

The Parting of Ways

In 1871, Rav Simcha Zissel employed him to teach Tanach in his Talmud Torah in Kelm, and shortly afterward, Reb Nosson Tzvi began delivering Mussar shmuessen to students. Very quickly, it became clear that the young teacher possessed rare oratorical skills and had developed a uniquely positive rapport with his young charges.

Yet as much as the Alter revered his teacher, he came to differ from Rav Simcha Zissel in two significant areas.

First, Rav Nosson Tzvi felt that Mussar would thrive best in an environment viewed as an elite Torah institution. To this end, he sought out the most brilliant students in the Torah world. He believed that the highest caliber of minds, drawn to a place of excellence, would become the most effective ambassadors of Mussar to the broader Jewish world.

Second, Rav Simcha Zissel had introduced some secular subjects into the curriculum of his yeshiva—a change that Rav Nosson Tzvi felt would not be accepted in the mainstream Torah world. Although he continued to send students to study with Rav Simcha Zissel, he determined not to incorporate such an innovation in his own future yeshiva.

After the closure of Kelm’s “Beis HaTalmud” in 1876, Rav Nosson Tzvi first settled in the village of Grobin with his master, Rav Simcha Zissel. Together they ran the “Beit HaMussar.” But the two Rabbanim did not share the same outlook on educational methodology, and eventually, Rav Nosson Tzvi left Grobin to forge his own path.

The Birth of Slabodka

He settled in the village of Slabodka, on the outskirts of Kovno. During the years 1876–1877, he founded what would become the Slabodka Yeshiva, initially called “Knesses Yisrael”—named in honor of his Rebbi, Harav Yisrael Salanter. It was initially conceived as a Kollel.

Funding came from an unlikely source. Sometime in the 1860s or 1870s, Reb Nosson Tzvi had developed a relationship with a wealthy Berlin inventor named Reb Ovadiah Lachman. Reb Ovadiah was a supporter of Rav Yisroel Salanter, a good friend of his student Rav Yitzchok Blazer, and one of the founders of the Telz Yeshiva in 1875. He had invented a number of ingenious devices, including wings for ships to prevent capsizing, a new type of alarm, and several other innovations. Reb Ovadiah had become quite wealthy and devoted his resources to supporting the Mussar Movement.

Once, when the newspaper HaMeilitz attempted to sow dissent in the Torah community by falsely claiming that Lachman and Rav Blazer had had a falling out, Reb Ovadiah wrote a scathing letter to the paper, setting the record straight. Reb Ovadiah soon became the financial backbone of the Alter’s projects.

From 1877 to 1882, Rav Nosson Tzvi was pivotal in building and consolidating a significant number of Yeshivos in Kovna, Slabodka, and Telz. The year 1882 marked the inauguration of the great Yeshiva of Slabodka in its full form. Rav Nosson Tzvi would direct this yeshiva for forty-five years, applying himself body and soul on behalf of this institution, thus forging his reputation as the preeminent educator and thinker of his generation.

Assembling the Giants

At the Slabodka Yeshiva, Rav Nosson Tzvi selected only the most prominent Talmidei Chachamim from Lithuania to teach and serve as moral role models for the students. During the Yeshiva’s first years, these included Rav Yitzchok Blazer (Rav Itzele Peterburger), Rav Avraham Aharon Borstein of Teberig, and Rav Yitzchok Rabinowitz of Ponevezh.

After Rav Yitzchok of Ponevezh left Slabodka, Rav Nosson Tzvi made two appointments that would prove transformative. He brought in Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein and Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer—two towering figures who had studied in Volozhin before its closure—to serve as Roshei Yeshiva. Rav Isser Zalman, author of the Even Ha’Azel, would later become the father-in-law of Rav Aharon Kotler.

In 1897, the Alter opened a new Yeshiva in Slutsk, sending some of his finest Slabodka students to study there under the direction of Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer. Meanwhile, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein continued to lead Slabodka. And when the Radbaz of Slutsk asked the Alter to help launch a Yeshiva in that city, he sent him along with ten top talmidim. The Alter did the same for the Mirrer Yeshiva and for Telz.

Rav Nosson Tzvi himself held the position of Mashgiach—spiritual director—and served as the supreme role model in ethics and pedagogy. He did not simply teach Mussar; he embodied it.

Gadlus HaAdam: The Greatness of Man

What set Slabodka apart from other approaches to Mussar?

At the time, the Mussar movement included two distinct coexisting currents: the Slabodka approach and the Novardok approach. Novardok’s policy was to educate students to defy public opinion entirely, to act only in adherence to Halachic precepts and Mussar principles, regardless of how others might perceive them. This often involved exercises designed to cultivate humility through public embarrassment.

In Slabodka, the focus was fundamentally different. The emphasis was on middos refinement based on personal awareness and love of one’s fellow man. Rather than crushing the ego, the Alter sought to elevate it—to show each student his own inherent greatness as a being created in the image of Hashem.

The Alter’s approach also differed from that of his own teacher in Kelm. The Kelm school followed a program of gradual and continuous progress—step-by-step improvement over time. Rav Nosson Tzvi, however, encouraged all students, even novices, to focus immediately on their highest possible aspirations. In his view, only by aiming toward the loftiest ideals could a student truly grow.

He claimed that rather than emphasizing the minuteness of man vis-à-vis his Creator—which could lead to paralysis and despair—we ought to emphasize the importance and greatness of a person who, amid all creatures and living things, was chosen to serve Hashem and fulfill Divine Will.

This approach became widely known as Gadlus HaAdam—”the Greatness of Man.”

At Slabodka, Rabbis emphasized that man is the crown of creation. He is the only being who merited the privilege of fulfilling Hashem’s Will. Therefore, he must be worthy of this noble mission and behave as a servant of the King.

This philosophy manifested itself in unexpected ways. Great emphasis was placed on neatness and dignified appearance. Slabodka’s students were known to be clean-shaven, dressed in light suits and fashionable ties. They wore straw hats and carried canes, in compliance with the way respectable young men dressed at that time. The Alter believed that external dignity both reflected and reinforced internal dignity.

When the Yeshiva eventually relocated to Kremenchug during World War One, the local Chabad Chassidim came out to greet them—and were shocked. Chabad people generally do not shave their beards. With few exceptions, Slabodka talmidim did. But the townspeople acclimated quickly after meeting and conversing with the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein, and witnessing the depth of Torah and yiras Shamayim that these unusual-looking young men possessed.

A Revolutionary Change in Style

The Alter was known in his youth for exceptional oratorical skills. His early drashos were fiery, charismatic, capable of moving crowds to tears and action. But later in life, he entirely changed his method of speech.

After his introduction to Mussar and his mastery of it, he delivered his Mussar thoughts to others in a quiet, understated manner. He felt that Mussar and Torah thought had to be transmitted without charismatic appeal, for two reasons: first, to ensure that the Mussar was entirely intellectual, without any danger of influencing others through mere emotional manipulation; and second, to enable students to develop themselves and their own personalities, rather than becoming mere followers of a charismatic leader.

Once, when his student Rav Yeruchem Levovitz came to Slabodka to visit, the Alter strongly lectured him not to be so charismatic in his delivery. He told him that such an approach would ultimately stifle his students’ growth as individuals.

One talmid who witnessed this exchange—Rav Yitzchok Ruderman—later commented, “Had I spoken to my students in such a harsh tone, they would surely have left me. Only the Alter could have done this.”

It is well-known that the Alter of Slobodka arranged shidduchim between his best students, all ba’alei mussar, and the daughters of various Roshei Yeshivos who initially were not too keen on the study of Mussar. The Mirrer Yeshivah was one place where he did not, at first, succeed in planting the Mussar approach. Though his own son, Rav Lazer Yudel, married the daughter of Reb Elya Baruch Kamai, and was the heir apparent to lead the Mir, Rav Kamai himself was firmly against the idea of incorporating Mussar into his yeshiva.

But life has a way of humbling even the most resolute opposition.

Unfortunately, even in the holy Mir Yeshiva, the winds of Haskallah began to penetrate its walls. The Enlightenment movement, with its seductive promises of modernity and secular wisdom, was claiming souls. As Rabbi Chaim Shapiro zt”l of Baltimore tells it, Rav Elya Baruch Kamai, the very man who had resisted Mussar, sent an urgent, desperate message to the Alter, his own mechutan:

“Please! Save our yeshivah!”

The Alter of Slobodka responded immediately. He sent ten of his finest talmidim—giants in both Torah and Mussar, young men whose very presence could shift the spiritual atmosphere of a room. Their arrival at the Mir led to an incident that, in hindsight, borders on the comical, though at the time it must have caused no small measure of alarm.

To deal with the scourge of Haskallah, Rav Kamai had earlier instructed the Mir shammas to burn any “treif” books that he might come across while cleaning. The shammas, a simple and earnest man, asked how he could possibly distinguish a treif sefer from a kosher one. He could not read German or Polish, and the forbidden books looked much like any other.

The solution seemed elegant: the pages of a kosher volume were marked with the letters of the alef-beis, while treif books were numbered with Arabic numerals.

The Alter’s talmidim arrived, armed with the first mussar works to enter the Mir: copies of the newly published Mesilas Yesharim. And yes—the new sefarim were marked with Arabic numerals instead of the usual Hebrew letters.

One day, to their horror, the new arrivals discovered that every single copy of the Mesilas Yesharim had vanished without a trace.

Someone, however, remembered that it was likely the shammas who had removed them. They raced to find him. And there, just in the nick of time—with flames already consuming the edges of some pages—the precious volumes of the Mesilas Yesharim were rescued from the fire.

The story highlights both the struggles and the ultimate triumphs that the Alter experienced in implanting Mussar in the world of Torah. It was never easy. But the Alter possessed something rare: an unshakeable conviction that the human soul, properly cultivated, could reach extraordinary heights.

Some of His Sayings

The Alter’s teachings were not abstract philosophy. They were intensely practical, designed to reshape how a person sees himself and others:

Why do we say “Shalom Aleichem” to others during Kiddush Levanah? Because right beforehand we recited the words, “Tipol aleihem aimasa u’pachad—let terror and fear fall upon them.” The impact of these words could affect our neshamos, potentially turning us into revenge seekers. Thus, we immediately say “Shalom Aleichem” to entrench within us ahavas Yisrael and brotherly love.

“Rashi says about Yaakov Avinu (Bereishis 28:16), ‘Had he known about the kedusha of the place, he would not have slept there.’ Even though Yaakov achieved such spiritual heights that night—receiving prophecy!—it is a chisaron of derech eretz to sleep in a holy place. Why? Because derech eretz kadma laTorah.”

Someone once noticed that the Alter used to fast frequently, and discovered that he would fast whenever he saw a student not succeeding in his learning and growth. When asked why he did so, the Alter responded, “If one truly understood that each student is a ben melech—a prince, a son of the King—there is no other choice.”

The Alter famously said, “I cannot guarantee that my students will never sin. But I can guarantee that if they do sin, they will not enjoy it.”

“Why do we pour drops of wine at the Seder at the mention of each of the Makos? Perhaps it is to develop our sensitivity toward suffering—even though the Egyptians caused so much pain to Klal Yisroel, we diminish our joy at their downfall.”

The Schedule of a Torah Empire

The daily schedule in the Slabodka Yeshiva was rigorous:

In the summer, Shacharis took place at 7:00 AM; in winter, at 8:00 AM. Morning Seder began at 9:00 AM (9:30 in winter) and lasted until 2:30 PM. Second Seder ran from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM (4:15 to 9:00 PM in winter). Mussar Seder was always between 9:00 PM and 9:30 PM. Night Seder extended from after Maariv until 11:00 PM.

On Shabbos, during Bein HaShmashos, there was a dedicated period for Cheshbon HaNefesh—a spiritual accounting of the entire week that had passed.

The Raging Debate

In 5657 (1897), a raging debate about the methodology of Mussar divided the yeshiva. The controversy was fierce, and it caused most of the talmidim to leave.

When the embers of controversy finally cooled, Harav Nosson Tzvi remained with only seventy talmidim. He named his reconstituted institution Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael, in honor of his Rebbi, Harav Yisrael Salanter. The other camp named theirs Yeshivas Knesses Beis Yitzchok.

But the Alter was not deterred. Within a short time, Knesses Yisrael began growing rapidly once more, and Harav Nosson Tzvi again led hundreds of talmidim.

The Closure of Volozhin

On February 2nd, 1892, the famed Volozhin Yeshiva—founded by Rav Chaim of Volozhin, the foremost student of the Vilna Gaon—closed its doors by order of the Russian government. This seismic event had profound repercussions throughout the Yeshiva world. Other Yeshivos began to rise in enrollment, including the Mirrer Yeshiva in Mir, Poland; Telz; the Kovno Kollel; and the Alter’s own institution in Slabodka.

There were 170 members in that early Kovno Kollel, and the majority of its support came from Reb Ovadiah Lachman. It was as if Hashem had cleared the stage for a new era, and the Alter was ready to lead it.

World War One: Exile and Survival

In the summer of 1914, war erupted across Europe. On July 28th, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand one month earlier. Russia came to Serbia’s defense, and by August 4th, Germany, France, and Britain—along with their colonial empires—had entered the conflict.

As bizarre as it may sound, Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas II, who were battling each other fiercely, were both grandsons of Queen Victoria of England. They had exchanged letters, each claiming a desire to avert war. But it was not to be. A war that would ultimately kill eleven million people began.

The Russian military authorities decided that the Jews were untrustworthy and could not reside near the Kovno fortress. They were forced into exile. Worse, many of the Yeshiva’s students and Rebbeim were drafted into the Tsarist Russian army.

When World War One broke out, the Alter was seeking medical treatment in Germany. He was captured and jailed as an enemy alien—a citizen of Russia trapped in hostile territory. Meanwhile, back home, his Yeshiva and its students scattered.

A young fifteen-year-old Rav Shach was the last one out of the Yeshiva building, not knowing where to go.

Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein, the Rosh Yeshiva, managed to relocate to the city of Rezekne in Eastern Latvia, some 194 miles northeast of Kovno. He sent letters and telegrams desperately trying to raise funds to get the students and Rebbeim released—especially the Alter.

The Yeshiva eventually relocated to Minsk, about 170 miles from Kovno. Many students either lived there or had found shelter there, and the city had an established Torah community that would welcome them.

But the relative calm did not last. Minsk became the frontline of battle between Russia and Germany. Germany was using poison gas. It was in Minsk that the Alter finally returned to his precious Slabodka Yeshiva, now in exile.

The administration decided to split the Yeshiva in two. One part, including the Alter, Rav Moshe Mordechai, and Rav Avrohom Grodinsky, went to Kremenchug in the Poltava Province, about 418 miles south from Minsk. The other part, numbering over 150 students under Rav Yitzchok Isaac Sher (the Alter’s son-in-law) and Rav Dov Tzvi Heller, remained in Minsk. Soon, however, they too had to evacuate and joined the others in Kremenchug.

Rav Yaakov Ruderman zt”l, the future Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, recalled this most dangerous period of his life in the introduction to his sefer Avodas HaLevi. In Kremenchug, Rav Ruderman was kidnapped by a band of ruffians at gunpoint. They demanded 10,000 rubles or they would take his life. He was brought to the home of the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein, who had no money to give them. As they were taking the young man out to kill him, Rav Epstein ran out and began yelling and screaming to draw a crowd. The ruffians turned to shoot but saw that their situation was hopeless as a significant crowd had gathered. Rav Ruderman was released unharmed.

In a remarkable twist, the German soldier who had looked after the imprisoned Alter later revealed his Jewish identity—and eventually enrolled in the Slabodka Yeshiva himself.

The Move to Hebron

The Alter did not return to Slabodka until 1920. By that time, enormous changes had occurred. The town of Kovno had transformed from old-style Lita to German Orthodoxy—Torah im Derech Eretz. Slabodka and Kovno were no longer under Russia but under the new Republic of Lithuania.

Originally, the Slabodka Yeshiva was considered a school of higher learning, and its students were exempt from the draft, thanks to an arrangement made by Rav Avrohom Grozinsky. But this arrangement did not last.

In 1924, a crisis emerged. As soon as the new Poland began pressing upon its borders, Lithuania needed to institute a draft. The government gave the Yeshiva an ultimatum: Either allow the older students to be drafted into the Lithuanian Armed Forces, or introduce secular studies into the program.

While some Yeshivos agreed to submit to the new law, the Alter opposed it categorically.

The hanhallah thought hard and decided to split the Yeshiva in two. The younger students—below draft age—would remain in Slabodka. The older ones would relocate to Eretz Yisroel.

The Alter sent Rav Avrohom Grodzinsky and Rav Yechezkel Sarna to scout the situation in Eretz Yisroel. Initially, before the crisis, the plan had been to send just ten students to Yerushalayim, where they would adopt Yerushalmi garb and blend in. Now, after the Lithuanian Draft Crisis, they needed to find a different location and move en masse.

They chose Hebron.

Money was raised. The Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein, traveled to America and engaged in enormous fundraising work. Exit visas were obtained, and entrance visas to Eretz Yisroel were secured through herculean efforts.

In the summer of 5685 (1925), Harav Nosson Tzvi ascended to Eretz Yisrael with many talmidim, and the yeshivah was reestablished in Hebron. He was seventy-six years old, in frail health, but his spirit remained indomitable. Despite his advanced age and weakness, he invested himself with all his strength and energy into leading the Yeshiva of Hebron.

The Final Trials

Shortly after immigrating to Eretz Yisroel, tragedy struck the aging Alter once again. His son, Reb Moshe Finkel, suddenly passed away. For a man who had been orphaned young and had dedicated his life to nurturing the spiritual growth of others, the loss of his own child must have been devastating beyond words.

By the end of 1926, Rav Nosson Tzvi was compelled to leave Hebron. He suffered terribly from the city’s cold climate and low temperatures. He moved first to Tel Aviv, but his health continued to deteriorate.

He had fallen ill during the last week of September 1926, during Chol HaMoed. He moved from his home above the building next to the Yeshiva in Hebron to the Warshawsky Hotel in Yerushalayim on Shivtei Yisroel Street. The hotel, owned by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Herling, had previously been known as the British Hotel or Beit Olivat.

His son, Reb Laizer Yudel—the Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir in Poland—arrived in Eretz Yisroel two weeks before his father’s passing to be at his bedside.

The Alter had round-the-clock care from his talmidim, who watched over him in shifts. There was no question that this would be provided. It was the Alter’s own philosophy: any bochur in the Yeshiva who was sick had shifts of other bochurim watching over him. Now his students returned that devotion to their beloved Rebbi.

On the Friday before his passing, the Alter told Ephraim Sokolover to go back to his wife, Fannie, in Hebron for Shabbos. Even while in such dire medical condition, he inquired about the welfare of a young American talmid—whether he was growing in ruchniyus. The Alter remained a master pedagogue until the very end.

The Final Departure

Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt”l, the Alter of Slabodka, passed away on Monday evening, January 31st, 1927—the 29th of Shvat.

The levaya began in front of the Warshawsky Hotel at 11:00 AM and proceeded on foot to Har HaZeisim. The area between Meah Shearim and the walls of the Old City was filled with mourners. At the hotel itself, people stood on the roof, on the ledges, and in front of the entranceway, straining for a last glimpse of the man who had shaped a generation.

The maspidim included Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (head of the Eidah HaChareidis), Rav Avraham Yitzchok Kook, Rav Eliyahu Klatzkin (author of the Dvar Eliyahu), Rav Shlomo Aronson (Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv), Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer (Rosh Yeshiva of Etz Chaim), Rav Leib Chasman (author of Ohr Yahel), and others.

When the Alter passed away, the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein, was in the United States raising funds for the Yeshiva. He sent the following telegram:

“To Rav Sarna and the Yeshiva: We are shocked by the tragedy that has befallen us and Klal Yisroel, when our teacher, our father, the Chariot of Israel, has been taken from us. Slackening in Torah study, however, will destroy the yeshiva. Be strong.

With hope, the Father of orphans will comfort us.

One who is beaten, yet hopeful,

Moshe Mordechai”

Hashem, in His mercy, took the Alter away before the horrific Hebron massacre of 1929, when Arab rioters murdered sixty-seven Jews—including twenty-four students and staff of the Hebron Yeshiva. The Alter was spared that grief.

His Eternal Legacy

The Alter’s students went on to establish Yeshivos throughout the world, becoming responsible for bringing Torah to tens of thousands of talmidim:

Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel (Rav Lazer Yudel), his son, headed the Mirrer Yeshiva in Poland and later in Eretz Yisroel.

Rav Naftali Trop became Rosh Yeshiva at the Chofetz Chaim’s yeshiva in Radin.

Rav Yeruchem Levovitz became the legendary Mashgiach of the Mirrer Yeshiva.

Rav Reuvain Grozofsky led Beis Medrash Elyon in Monsey.

Rav Yitzchok Hutner founded and led Yeshiva Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn.

Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky became Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Vodaas.

Rav Aharon Kotler headed the Yeshiva in Kletzk and later established Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey—now the largest yeshiva in the world. The Alter once said about him that the entire Yeshiva of Slabodka would have been worth it just to have influenced Rav Aharon.

Rav Dovid Leibowitz founded Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim, first in Williamsburg and now in Queens, with branches across the United States.

Rav Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman established Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore.

Rav Yechezkel Sarna headed the Hebron Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Rav Yitzchok Isaac Sher, his son-in-law, headed the Slabodka Yeshiva of Bnei Brak.

Rav Eliezer Menachem Shach of Ponevezh was a talmid of both Slabodka and Kletzk.

Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg headed the Rav Azriel Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin.

Rav Avigdor Miller studied under the Alter’s son-in-law.

Rav Meir Chodosh became Mashgiach of the Hebron Yeshiva.

And many, many more.

A Living Monument

The Alter of Slabodka built no physical monuments. He wrote no books. His legacy is entirely human—the thousands upon thousands of talmidim, across generations, who carry within them the spark he ignited.

As the Chofetz Chaim said: “I write books. He creates menschen.”

Today, almost ninety-nine years after his passing, the topography of the Torah world still bears the unmistakable imprint of one orphan from Raseiniai who believed, with every fiber of his being, in the greatness of man.  And so, it is remarkable what taking in an orphaned child can do.

Zechuso yagein aleinu.

The author can be reached at [email protected]