Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, Rosh Yeshiva Mir

Finkel was the son of the celebrated Mussar leader, the Alter of Slabodka. He studied under the famed Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik in Brisk (see Brisk yeshiva), where he developed a friendship with Rabbi Shlomo Polachek whom he later met on a fundraising trip in America in 1926. He also studied in Raduń Yeshiva were he was reputed to have mastered the entire Talmud at the tender age of 17.

In 1903, Finkel married Malka, the daughter of Rabbi Eliyahu Boruch Kamai who was the Rosh Yeshiva of the yeshiva in Mir, Belarus. Three years later he joined the staff of the Mir Yeshiva, and in 1917 became its Rosh Yeshiva upon the death of his father-in-law.

During Interbellum period, the Mir Yeshiva flourished under Finkel's leadership to the point were its enrolment grew close to 500 students from all over the world. It was during this time when Reb Laizer Yudel enlisted the services of Rabbi Yeruchom Levovitz to serve as the Mashgiach. Also during this time, Finkel chose one of his prime students, Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz as a son-in-law and eventually successor.

The Mir yeshiva in Shanghai

With the outbreak of World War II, the Yeshiva was forced into exile and eventually it found refuge in Kobe, Japan and Shanghai, China. While the student body, led by Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz eventually relocated to America (see Mir yeshiva (Brooklyn)), Reb Laizer Yudel established a new branch of the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem with a handful of advanced Talmudic students from Etz Chaim Yeshiva.

Eventually Shmuelevitz came to Jerusalem to serve as Rosh Yeshiva under his father-in-law. Reb Laizer Yudel's son Moshe Finkel was the main fundraiser for the newly established Yeshiva and helped the Yeshiva financial support its great numbers. Another son, Rabbi Chaim Zev Finkel became the Mashgiach of the Yeshiva. Yet another son, Rabbi Beinish Finkel succeeded his brother-in-law Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz as Rosh Yeshiva upon the latter's death in the 1970s.

Sometimes considered the grandfather of the Kiruv movement, it was Reb Laizer Yudel who approved of Rabbi Noach Weinberg's plan to open a Yeshiva like Aish HaTorah. It is related that Reb Laizer Yudel's love of Torah was so great that he is reputed to have offered money for a Chiddush.

Many of his own novel interpretations have been printed under the title "Yad Eliezer" (יד אליעזר).

References

http://media.www.yucommentator.com/media/storage/paper652/news/2004...

http://www.torah.org/learning/hamaayan/5763/vayeishev.html

http://www.dafdigest.org/Yevamos/Yevamos%20030.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliezer_Yehuda_Finkel_(I%29

http://www.breslev.co.il/File...

נולד בשנת התרל"ט 1879, נפטר בשנת התשכ"ה 1965. מחכמי ליטא וארץ ישראל. כיהן כראש ישיבת "מיר" ומגדולי מרביצי התורה שבדור. התחנך אצל אביו "הסבא מסלבודקה" והמשיך את לימודיו בישיבות ליטא. ב-1907 מילא את מקומו של ראש ישיבת "מיר". כל חייו עסק בהפצת התורה בישיבתו ובמקומות אחרים. כישוריו המנהליים ומסירות נפשו לתלמידיו בלטו במיוחד, כאשר כילתה שריפה את הישיבה ב-1911, אותה הקים ר' אליעזר מחדש תוך זמן קצר. תורתו בהלכה, באגדה ובמוסר הגיעה לכל שדרות הציבור. במלחה"ע ה-1 עזב את מיר ונדד ברחבי רוסיה. ב-1922 שב לשמש כראש הישיבה וכמנהלה הרוחני של ישיבת מיר, אשר גדלה באותם הימים והכילה אלפי תלמידים, עד שנחשבה לישיבה הגדולה בעולם. במלחה"ע ה-2 נאלץ לעזוב שוב את העיירה מיר ושב לנדוד עם תלמידיו. כדי להימלט מהמלחמה באירופה נדדו הרב ותלמידיו לשנחאי שבסין. ר' אליעזר עלה לארץ ישראל והתיישב בירושלים, שם הקים את ישיבת מיר. חיבורו "דברי אליעזר" על הש"ס, נפוץ בעולם הישיבות.