Rav Yeruchom Levovitz Zatzal (1874-1936)
His Yahrtzeit Is Today, Erev Shabbos, 18 Sivan
Rav Yeruchom Levovitz was the Mashgiach of the illustrious Yeshivas Mir in what is now Belarus.
The Mir Yeshiva was founded in 1815. During WWI the Mir Yeshiva headed by Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, moved to Poltava, in the Ukraine and did not return until 1921. Rav Yeruchom was born around the year 1874 in Luban, Belarus. In his early years, he went to learn in Slabodka, becoming one of the top students of the Alter, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel. In his early 20s, he attended Kelm, under The Alter, Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv. After Rav Yeruchom's marriage, he learned in the Chofetz Chaim’s Kodshim Kolel for eight years, covering the entire Shas. Then he became the mashgiach of the Chofetz Chaim' s yeshiva in Radin. He subsequently became mashgiach at Mir in 1910, a position he kept for the rest of his life.
After World War II, much of Torah Jewry in Europe was wiped out, along with their many yeshivos. The only large yeshiva to miraculously survive as a whole body was the Mir Yeshiva, which managed to escape to Shanghai, China, and then on to America, where they founded Yeshivas Bais Hatalmud in New York.
His impact on his students, and through them on the entire Torah world, remains strong until today. His penetrating and insightful Mussar shmuessen were published posthumously by his students, in Daas Chochma U'mussar, Daas Torah and other sefarim.
Some of Rav Yeruchom’s better known disciples, who became the educators of post WWII Torah Jewry, include Rav Shlomo Wolbe, Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, Rav Aryeh Leib Malin, Rav Dovid Povarsky, Rav Noson Wachtfogel, Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, Rav Abba Berman, Rav Zelik Epstein, Rav Leib Gurwicz, Rav Binyomin Zeilberger, Rav Chaim Pinchos scheinberg, Rav Mendel Kaplan, Rav Mordechai Schwab , Rav Shimon Schwab, Rav Simcha Schepps, Rav Dovid Kronglass, Rav Ahron Kreiser, just to name a few.
He is buried in the town of Mir, Belarus. His grave site (rebuilt by his family in 1990) is a common destination for the many Jewish tourists who visit the decimated cities of pre-war eastern Europe.
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