Yisrael Meir Kagan

2025-10-19T18:29:45Z

2001:4CD0:AC46:8350:43DA:D15E:AD0:8148: /* Biography */

{{Short description|Polish rabbi (1838–1933)}}
{{Infobox Jewish leader
|honorific-prefix = Rabbi
|name = Yisrael Meir Kagan
|title = The Chofetz Chaim
|image = Yisrael Meir Kagan.jpg
|caption = Age 91, on his visit to the Polish Prime Minister
|birth_date = {{birth date|1838|2|6}}
|birth_place = [[Dzyatlava]], Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire
|death_date = {{death date and age|1933|9|15|1838|1|26}}<br />(24 Elul 5693)
|death_place = [[Radun, Belarus|Radun]], Second Polish Republic|Poland
| parents =
| father = Reb Aryeh Z'ev Kagan<ref name="Artscroll">{{cite book|author=Rabbi Moses M. Yoshor|title=The Chafetz Chaim Volume One The Life and Works of Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan of Radin|publisher=Mesorah Publications, Ltd.|year=1984}}</ref>
| mother = Dobrusha Kagan
|signature = Israel Meir Poupko, signature.svg
}}
[[File:Chofetz Chaim, 1923.jpg|thumb|Yisrael Meir Kagan arriving at the first ''Knessia Gedolah'' of Agudas Yisroel in Vienna, 1923<ref name="Chofetz Chaim">{{Cite web |title=Chofetz Chaim |url=https://www.yonasan.weebly.com/chofetz-chaim.html |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=yonasan.weebly.com |language=en}}</ref>]]
'''Yisrael Meir ha-Kohen Kagan''' (February 6, 1838 – September 15, 1933) was an influential [[Lithuanian Jews|Lithuanian Jewish]] [[rabbi]], [[Halakha|Halakhist]], [[posek]], and [[ethics|ethicist]] whose works continue to be widely influential in Orthodox Jewish life. He was [[Sobriquet|known popularly]] as '''the Chofetz Chaim''',{{Efn|Hebrew: חפץ חיים, romanized: Chafetz Chaim, lit. 'Desirer of Life'}} after his [[Chofetz Chaim|book]] on [[lashon hara]], and was also well known for the Mishna Berurah,{{Efn|Hebrew: משנה ברורה "Clear Teaching"}} [[Mishnah Berurah|his book]] on [[Orach Chayim|ritual law]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fishman|first=Tzvi|title=Hilchos Aliyah: Kissing The Ground, Shehechiyanu, & More|date=22 August 2019 |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/felafel-on-rye/hilchos-aliyah-kissing-the-ground-shehechiyanu-more/2019/08/22/|access-date=2022-02-03|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-07-19|title=Praying Towards Jerusalem Or Towards The Aron - Practical Halacha|url=https://outorah.org/p/27229/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=OU Torah}}</ref>

==Biography==
Kagan was born on February 6, 1838 in Dzienciol ({{langx|yi|זשעטל|Zhetl}}), [[Grodno Governorate]] in [[Russian Empire]] (today [[Dzyatlava]] in [[Belarus]]), and died on 15 September 1933 in [[Radun, Belarus|Raduń]] ({{langx|yi|ראַדין|Radin}}), [[Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Nowogródek Voivodeship]] in [[Second Polish Republic]] (now in [[Belarus]]). When Kagan was ten years old, his father, Reb Aryeh Z'ev Kagan (Poupko), died during a cholera epidemic at the age of 46.<ref name="Artscroll"/> His mother moved the family to [[Vilnius]] in order to continue her son's Jewish education. While in Vilnius, Kagan became a student of [[Jacob Barit]]. Kagan's mother, Dobrusha, remarried Reb Shimon Epstein, and moved to Radin, taking the original name of her first husband, Poupko, which the young Kagan adopted as well.

At 17, he married Frieda Kagan (Epstein), the daughter of his stepfather, and settled in Radin. Later in life, he would revert his name back to Kagan. This is why there are a number of letters of his extant that he signed as Poupko and others as Kagan. When Kagan arrived in Vilnius, Rav Chaim Nachman Parnas, who had known Kagan's father well, was friendly to him. Reb Yisrael Gordon, a friend of Parnas, took the young Kagan into his home and paid him to learn with Gordon's son, Mordechai.<ref name="Artscroll"/>
He served as the town rabbi of Radin for a short period. He then resigned from this position to establish a [[yeshiva]] in the city, which eventually became world-famous first being led by the notable [[Naftoli Trop]], followed by the esteemed son-in-law of his rabbi, [[Mendel Zaks]]. By all accounts, he was a modest and humble man, faithfully devoted to his Jewish faith. For a while, he had a shop selling household provisions, which he and his wife managed.<ref>[https://www.judaica.com/books.html# Chofetz Chaim]</ref> From 1864 to 1869 he taught [[Talmud]] in [[Minsk]] and [[Vasilishki|Vashilishok]].<ref>Moses M. Yoshor, ''Israel Meir haKohen'' in ''Jewish Leaders'', ed. [[Leo Jung]]. p. 462.</ref>

In 1869, Kagan formed a yeshiva in Radin. The yeshiva was a success and grew to prominence, later becoming known as "[[Radin Yeshiva|Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim of Radin]]". In addition to spreading Torah through his yeshiva, Kagan, who became known as "the Chofetz Chaim", was very active in Jewish causes. He traveled extensively to encourage the observance of [[Mitzvot]] and Shabbat amongst Jews. He became one of the most influential rabbis within [[Orthodox Judaism]] during the late 19th and early 20th century, taking a central leadership role in the [[World Agudath Israel]] movement in [[Eastern Europe]]. An author of many works of [[musar literature]], he was sometimes associated with the [[Musar movement]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Rabbi Dov Katz|title=Musar movement: Its history, leading personalities and doctrines|publisher=Feldheim Publishers|year=1996|edition=new}}</ref> although he did not support all aspects of that movement.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kamenetsky|first=Nathan|title=Making of a Godol|publisher=Hamesorah Publishers|year=2002|isbn=965-90379-0-2|pages=573–575}} Nathan Kamenetsky quotes that "Rabbi Zelig Epstein revealed that the Chafetz-Chaim himself, like most of the other Torah greats, was against Musar, 'not that he was among the vehement mithnagdim, but he did not approve its entire approach'".</ref>

Although the anti-religious attitudes which pervaded [[Zionism]] greatly distressed him, Kagan initially refused to become personally involved in the matter and refrained from publicly denouncing the movement. When his views became known, he cautioned his students about joining the Zionists<ref name="Eckman1975-2">{{cite book|author=Lester Samuel Eckman|title=The history of the Musar movement, 1840–1945|year=1975|publisher=Shengold Publishers|page=100|quote=Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan received protests from many rabbis concerning his silence and lack of objection against the leaders of the Zionist movement as well as against the mocking of religion. By nature, Kagan was a man who avoided quarrels, and in the dispute over the Zionist movement he tried to avert further altercation. Nevertheless, "his heart was broken upon hearing that the leaders of Zionism [were] leading Jews astray in the colonies in Palestine and at home from the ways of the Torah; [...] Kagan's stand was this: He denied "young scholarly-religious students under his jurisdiction [permission] to follow in the footsteps of the irreligious Zionist leaders, especially when one of the enlightened Zionists, reputed for always telling the truth, after his visiting all the schools in Palestine, testified that in the schools the critical method [was] used to study the Holy Books."}}</ref> and declared its political aims as being contrary to the Torah.<ref name="Sacks1992">{{cite book|author=Sacks, Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Sacks|title=Crisis and Covenant: Jewish Thought After the Holocaust|year=1992|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-4203-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/crisiscovenantje00sack/page/66 66]|quote=The saintly Rabbi Israel Meir ha-Cohen invoked the talmudic passage of the [[three oaths]] to remind his followers that the Jewish fate was to remain in exile until redeemed by God.|url=https://archive.org/details/crisiscovenantje00sack/page/66}}</ref><ref name="Ravitzky1996">{{cite book|author=Ravitzky, Aviezer|title=Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious Radicalism|year=1996|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-70578-1|page=176|quote=To be sure, this fierce opposition has not yet abated. There is little to distinguish the approach of Rabbi Hayyim Soloveichik of Brisk at the birth of Zionism from that of Rabbi Velvel Soloveichik after the establishment of the state. Just as the criticism levelled against the Zionists by the Hafetz Hayim and Rabbi Elhanan Wasserman is once more extensively cited today, buttressing the attacks made by Rabbi Schach and his circle. As Schach quipped, "When I am asked by the heavenly court why I did not identify with the Zionist idea, I will unhesitatingly place the blame for this on the Hafetz Hayim and the other leading scholars who preceded me, and they will already know what answer to give."}}</ref><ref name="ČejkaKořan2015">{{cite book|author1=Marek Čejka|author2=Roman Kořan|title=Rabbis of Our Time: Authorities of Judaism in the Religious and Political Ferment of Modern Times|date=16 October 2015|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-317-60544-7|page=83|chapter=The rabbi for everyday: Israel Meir Ha-Kohen/Kagan|quote=The book is also a vital component of the Judaic critique of Zionism, In this context the Chaftez Chaim was also very critical not only towards the state building attempts of Zionists, but also towards their efforts to create a modern Hebrew language. He sarcastically condemned the activities of Zionist philologist [[Eliezer Ben-Yehuda]]. [...] Even through the Chaftez Chaim died 15 years before the establishment of the State of Israel, he influenced later rabbinical anti-Zionism in Israel very significantly.}}</ref><ref name="Heilman1992">{{cite book|author=Heilman, Samuel C.|author-link=Samuel Heilman|title=Defenders of the Faith: Inside Ultra-Orthodox Jewry|year=1992|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22112-3|page=29|chapter=Who are the Haredim?|quote=Second was the objection to the religiously unacceptable notion of a Zionism that suggest the Jews could become a "People like all other people." […] The Orthodox did not want a "normal Jewish state," but one that was altogether different. "It was not worthwhile," the Hafetz Hayim was quoted as saying, "to become another Albania or even another Belgium after nineteen centuries of suffering. A state must be established on Torah foundations.”}}</ref> Kagan famously said that it would be preferable to lose a third of the amount of Torah we have throughout the world rather than join the WZO (World Zionist Organization).<ref name=":0" /> [[Elchonon Wasserman]] (killed in the Holocaust 6 July 1941) said that this means even if the majority of yeshivos would have to close, we would not be allowed to join the WZO.<ref name=":0">Wasserman, R. Elchonon. Kovetz Maamarim, vol. 1 "Eretz Yisrael", p. 155.</ref> In 1903, his wife Frieda died, and two years later he remarried Miriam Frieda Kagan (Schneider), who was 37 years younger than him. She was the daughter of Reb Hillel Schneider of Lapis, the author of the book Beis Hillel. It was from this marriage that his son Aharon Kagan and his daughter Feigl Chaya Sacks were born. His son-in-law was [[Mendel Zaks]].

In 1925, it was announced that he would be leaving Warsaw with his daughter and son-in-law to permanently settle in [[Petach Tikvah]] (the Gate of Hope, in Hebrew), in [[mandatory yisrael]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Chofetz Chaim Will Leave for Palestine Nov. 1|work=The [[Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle]]|location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin|date=30 October 1925|page=6}}</ref> Upon discovering his plans, prominent rabbis and ''yeshiva'' deans persuaded him to remain in Radin<ref name="Eckman1975">{{cite book|author=Lester Samuel Eckman|title=The history of the Musar movement, 1840–1945|year=1975|publisher=Shengold Publishers|pages=101–2|quote=When his plans became public, a committee of leading rabbis and deans of theological seminaries requested him to postpone his journey, because the seminaries needed his guidance in the critical time of their existence. Kagan complied...}}</ref> and he died there on September 15, 1933, aged 95.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chofetz Chaim Ill|work=The Kingston Daily Freeman|location=Kingston, New York|date=7 May 1932|page=5}}</ref> He was interred in the nearby cemetery.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Gershon Hellman|date=Feb 14, 2018|title=Returning to Radin|magazine=[[Ami Magazine]]|issue=355|page=50}}</ref> Miriam Freida arrived in Montreal with her son Aharon via Siberia and Japan in 1942, and died in New York in 1946.

Many other Jewish religious institutions throughout the world also bear his name. One American [[yeshiva]] named in his honor is the [[Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen]] centered in [[Queens, New York]] founded by his great nephew, [[Dovid Leibowitz]], with several branches in the United States, Canada, and Israel. Kagan's teachings have inspired some English-speaking [[American Jew]]s to establish the [[Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation]], dedicated to the dissemination of his teachings to Jewish communities around the world. An Orthodox [[kibbutz]] in Israel, [[Hafetz Haim]], was named in his honor.

During his lifetime, Kagan was venerated by Jews and non-Jews alike. Orthodox Jews across the world viewed him as one of the [[Tzadikim Nistarim|36 righteous people]],<ref>{{cite news |date=16 September 1933 |title=Chofetz Chaim, 105 Is Dead in Poland |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/09/16/archives/chofetzchaim105-is-dead-in-poland-venerated-by-orthodox-jews-as-one.html }}</ref> and Polish farmers were said to have lured him into their fields believing his feet would bring blessing to their crops.<ref>{{cite book|author= William G. Braude|title=The Journal of Reform Judaism|volume=35|year=1988|publisher=Central Conference of American Rabbis.|page=49|chapter=Longevity's Secret|quote=He was sage, saint, and legend. Polish peasants used sundry ploys to get him to walk across their fields, believing that the touch of his feet would improve the soil.}}</ref>

According to some reports, despite his rabbinic leadership he did not hold ''[[semikhah]]'' until late in life, when he had to apply for a [[passport]] and needed formal ''semichah'' in order to honestly enter "rabbi" as his [[profession|occupation]]. He then received his ''semikhah'' by [[telegraph]] from [[Chaim Ozer Grodzinski]] of [[Wilna]].<ref>Yissocher Frand, ''Listen To Your Messages'', p.89</ref> According to another report, though, he received ''semikhah'' much earlier, at age 17.<ref>[https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3966859,00.html בן 14 עתר: תנו לי להיות רב]</ref>

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==Works==
[[File:חפץ חיים - תמונה נדירה.jpg|thumb|Yisrael Meir Kagan towards the end of his life.]]
* ''[[Chofetz Chaim]]'' ({{lang|he|חָפֵץ חַיִּים}} "Seeker/Desirer [of] Life"), his first book, (published in 1873), deals with the Biblical [[Halakha|laws]] of [[gossip]] and [[slander]] (known in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] as ''[[Lashon Hara]]'', meaning "Evil tongue"). [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=47570&pgnum=1 View the online edition in Hebrew here]
* ''Shemirat HaLashon'' ("Guarding of the Tongue"), is a comprehensive discussion of the philosophy behind the Jewish concepts of power of speech and guarding one's speech. It also serves as an inspirational work designed to motivate the reader to be vigilant in the ethical usage of his speech and avoidance of others' unethical speech. Published in 1876. [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14234 View the online edition in Hebrew here]
* ''[[Mishnah Berurah]]'' ("Clarified teachings") is an important and widely used commentary, consisting of six volumes, on the [[Orach Chayim]] section of [[Yosef Karo]]'s digested compilation of practical [[Halakha|Jewish Law]], the [[Shulchan Aruch]]. It combines his own elucidations and differing opinions with those of other [[Aharonim]] (post-medieval authorities.) [As found in the book by Moses M. Yoshor "The Chafetz Chaim" on page 603 the [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14170 1st volume] was published in 1884; [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14164 2nd volume] in 1886; [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14171 3rd volume] in 1891; [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14169 4th volume] in 1898; [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14165 5th volume] in 1902; [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14166 6th volume] in 1907.]
* ''Biur Halacha'' ("Explanation of the Law") is a commentary tangential to the ''Mishna Berurah''. It usually provides complex analysis of the legal rulings of earlier Jewish [[halachic]] authorities.
* ''Sha'ar HaTziyyun'' ("Gate of Distinction") serves primarily to document sources for laws and customs quoted in the ''Mishnah Berurah'', but sometimes serves also to clarify ambiguous legal statements. The name ''Sha'ar HaTziyyun'' derives from the phrase ''sh'arim m'tzuyanim ba'halacha'', translated as "gateways distinguished in (or marked in) Jewish Law," referring to the Torah study and scholarship that would distinguish Jewish homes. Kagan chose the title as a [[pun]], hinting at the distinction of the scholarship referenced in his work, but primarily referring to (as he writes on his title page) the function of ''Sha'ar HaTziyyun'' to document (mark) sources.
* [http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=40295&pgnum=1 ''Ahavat Chesed''] – one volume, published in 1888. On the commandment of lending money to the needy, the value of being kind to one another and various ways to do so.
* ''Machaneh Yisrael'' – one volume, on the minimum requirements of [[Torah observance]] for soldiers in the army.
* ''Tiferes Odom'' – one volume, on the importance of a Jew having a beard and peyos (sidelocks).
* ''Geder Olam'' – one volume, published in 1890. On the importance of a married Jewish woman covering her hair.
* ''Nidchei Yisrael'' – two volumes, published in 1893.
* ''Shem Olam'' – one volume, published in 1893.
[[File:Portrait of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan.jpg|thumb|Artistic portrait of Yisrael Meir Kagan<ref name="Chofetz Chaim"/>]]
* ''Chomas Hadas'' – one volume, published in 1905. On the importance of a man to study Torah, and encourage others to learn, as well as the need to create groups in every city wherein a man could acquire Torah.
* ''[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14730 Likutei Halachos]'', a [[halacha|halakhic]] digest of all [[sugya|''sugyot'']] on which there was no [[Isaac Alfasi|"Rif"]] or [[Asher ben Jehiel|"Rosh"]]; originally intended to encourage the study of the laws of the Temple service.<ref>[https://seforimblog.com/2020/05/the-hafetz-hayyims-statement-on-teaching-torah-to-girls-in-likutei-halakhot-literary-and-historical-context/ seforimblog.com]</ref> Five volumes: the first volume was published in 1900; 2nd volume in 1903; 3rd volume in 1913; 4th volume in 1922. There is a fifth volume called "Hashlamah" or "Completion" which was published in 1925.
* ''Gibores Ari'' – two volumes, published in 1907.
* ''Tohoras Yisroel'' – one volume, published in 1910. On the importance of women to purify themselves in the waters of a ''mikvah'' (ritual bath) in accordance with accepted ''halachic'' practice.
* ''Toras Kohanim'' – one volume, published in 1911. A commentary on [[Sifra]] (halachic midrash on the book of Leviticus).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kagan |first1=Yisroel Meir |title=תורת כהנים עם פירוש חדש |url=https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=38232 |website=HebrewBooks.org |location=Piotrokov}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chafetz Chaim on Sifra |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Chafetz_Chaim_on_Sifra |website=Sefaria |access-date=14 October 2024}}</ref>
* ''Asefas Zekenim'' – three volumes, published in 1913.
* ''[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14235 Chovas Hashemiro]'' – one volume, published in 1915.
* ''Toras Habayis'' – one volume, published in 1923.
* ''[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14237 Zechor Lemiryom]'' – one volume, published in 1925.
* ''[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14240 Beis Yisroel]'' – one volume, published in 1925.
* ''Sefer Hamitzvos Hakotzor'' – two volumes on those Biblical commandments that are applicable during the Exile, outside the land of Israel, and when the Temple is not in existence. Published in 1931.
* ''Tzipita Lishuah'' ("Have you yearned for the redemption") is based on a passage from tractate Shabbat, which states that after one passes away, he is asked by the heavenly court: "Have you yearned for the redemption?" This work describes the importance of actively awaiting [[Moshiach]] every day and doing everything in one's power (learning Torah and doing mitzvot) to bring the redemption. The Chofetz Chaim's expectation of the immediate redemption was so strong that he would always carry special garments to change into once the redemption began. Rabbi Daniel Glatstein posits (in his expanded edition published by [[Artscroll]] in 2025) that it was first published as a supplement to the Hamodia magazine (published by Eliyahu Akiva Rabinowitz, and forerunner to the [[Hamodia]]) circa 1913, and subsequently published with a Yiddish translation and commentary by his student Rabbi Yosef Meir Jacobson in Boston in 1921, and then published in 1929 by his son-in-law, in Tel Aviv. <ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with Rabbi Daniel Glatstein July 2025 |url=https://www.artscroll.com/Books/tziph.html?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_campaign=7%2F26%2F25%20-%20TZIPH%20IA%20%28clone%29&_kx=eNPjwMpEPPimsh3edjBjbPMG-kPvOyUjk-UoWB9deug.XU23fi#ctl00_mPageContent_ctl05_vidPanel|access-date=26 July 2025}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Notelist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book|author=Yoshor, Moses Meir|others=rendered into English by Charles Wengrov|title=Chafetz Chaim, the life and works of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin|orig-year=1937|edition=1st Revised|date=June 1986|publisher=Mesorah publications|location=New York, NY|isbn=0-89906-462-0}}
* {{cite news|title=Chofetz Chaim, 105, is Dead in Poland|work=The New York Times|date=16 September 1933|page=13}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.chofetzchaimusa.org/ Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825205050/http://www.chofetzchaimusa.org/ |date=2007-08-25 }}
* [http://jewishhistorylectures.org/2014/05/01/rabbi-israel-meir-kahan-the-chofetz-chaim-jewish-biography-as-history/ Video lecture] on the Chofetz Chaim by Dr. [[Henry Abramson]]
* Many of the Chafetz Chaim's works are available online in English http://chafetzchayim.org/
* [http://www.ohr-olam.org/ The Ohr Olam Edition 'Mishnah Berurah'] (new English translation)
* {{Cite news|author=Fox, Joseph|title=Chofetz Chaim – The Jewish {{sic|Gh|andi|hide=y}}|work=[[Canadian Jewish Chronicle]]|date=October 16, 1931|pages=5, 16}}

{{Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah}}{{Acharonim}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kagan, Israel Meir}}
[[Category:1838 births]]
[[Category:1933 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Dzyatlava]]
[[Category:People from Slonimsky Uyezd]]
[[Category:Belarusian Haredi rabbis]]
[[Category:Haredi rabbis in Europe]]
[[Category:Haredi rosh yeshivas]]
[[Category:Polish Haredi rabbis]]
[[Category:Kohanim writers of Rabbinic literature]]
[[Category:Exponents of Jewish law]]
[[Category:Authors of books on Jewish law]]
[[Category:Anti-Zionist Haredi rabbis]]
[[Category:Agudat Yisrael]]

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Yisrael Meir Kagan