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TOWN IN SOUTHERN MOLODECHNO OBLAST, BELORUSSIA.
IN POLAND BEFORE 1793 AND BETWEEN 1921 AND 1939. JEWS WERE LIVING IN VOLOZHIN IN THE 16TH CENTURY. THEY NUMBERED 383 IN 1766, 2,452 IN 1892, AND 1,434 IN 1921; OUT OF 5,600 INHABITANTS IN 1931, THE LARGE MAJORITY WERE JEWS. THEY WERE LARGELY OCCUPIED IN SMALL-SCALE COMMERCE, FOREST INDUSTRIES, FLOUR MILLING, TANNING, BRICKMAKING, AND CRAFTS FOR THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL LOCALITY. IN WORLD WAR II, ON THE EVE OF THE HOLOCAUST, ACCORDING TO ESTIMATES BY SURVIVORS, THERE WERE APPROXIMATELY 3,000 JEWS IN VOLOZHIN. THEY WERE "LIQUIDATED" IN THREE AKTIONEN, THE FIRST FOLLOWING THE GERMAN OCCUPATION OF THE TOWN,
THE SECOND ON MAY 10, 1942, AND THE THIRD IN SEPTEMBER 1942.
VOLOZHIN ACQUIRED IMPORTANCE IN JEWISH LIFE IN LITHUANIA AND RUSSIA IN THE 19TH CENTURY FROM ITS YESHIVAH FOUNDED BY CHAYYIM VOLOZHINER, CALLED ETZ CHAYYIM. IT WAS MAINLY ESTABLISHED TO SERVE AS A BARRIER TO THE SPREAD OF CHASIDISM, ESPECIALLY AMONG THE YOUTH WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR THAT THE STRONG OPPOSITION TO CHASIDISM HAD BEEN UNABLE TO HALT ITS ADVANCE. R. CHAYYIM CONSIDERED THAT IT WAS THE PILPUL METHOD OF YESHIVAH TEACHING, DIVORCING STUDY OF THE TALMUD FROM ITS HALAKHIC FOUNDATIONS, THAT WAS THE REASON FOR THE DISSATISFACTION AMONG THE YOUTH AND THAT PUSHED MANY OF THEM INTO THE ARMS OF CHASIDISM BECAUSE OF THE RELIGIOUS STIMULUS AND INSPIRATION IT OFFERED. TWO YESHIVOT ALREADY EXISTED IN VILNA WHEN R. CHAYYIM DECIDED TO ESTABLISH THE YESHIVAH IN VOLOZHIN. R. CHAYYIM'S ENDEAVORS PREVENTED THE YESHIVAH FROM BECOMING A MERELY LOCAL INSTITUTION, AND MADE IT INTO A FOUNDATION SUPPORTED BY THE WHOLE OF JEWRY; IT THUS BECAME A PROTOTYPE FOR THE LITHUANIAN YESHIVOT FOUNDED SUBSEQUENTLY. TEACHING IN THE YESHIVAH BEGAN WITH ONLY TEN STUDENTS, BUT IT RAPIDLY ACQUIRED A NAME AMONG THE JEWISH PUBLIC. IT BECAME SO HIGHLY ESTEEMED THAT THE MILITARY GOVERNOR OF LITHUANIA IN 1813, DURING THE NAPOLEONIC WARS, ISSUED A DOCUMENT OF PROTECTION TO R. CHAYYIM INSTRUCTING ALL MILITARY UNITS "TO SAFEGUARD THE CHIEF RABBI OF VOLOZHIN, CHAYYIM BEN ISAAC, HIS SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS... AND TO EXTEND TO THE ABOVE-MENTIONED CHIEF RABBI EVERY ASSISTANCE AND PROTECTION". THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS HAD ALREADY RISEN TO 100. AFTER R. CHAYYIM'S DEATH IN 1821 HIS SON R. ISAAC SERVED AS PRINCIPAL OF THE YESHIVAH. AROUND THIS TIME (1824) THE RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES DECIDED TO CLOSE THE YESHIVAH FOR REASONS THAT ARE NOT CLEAR. DESPITE THE OFFICIAL ORDER PROHIBITING ITS EXISTENCE, THE YESHIVAH CONTINUED TO FUNCTION AND EXPAND. THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS ROSE TO 200 AND ITS BUILDINGS WERE ENLARGED. THE HEAD OF VOLOZHIN YESHIVAH WAS CONSIDERED AT THE TIME TO BE AMONG THE LEADERS OF RUSSIAN JEWRY, EVEN BY THE AUTHORITIES, AND WHEN IN 1843 THE GOVERNMENT DECIDED, IN LINE WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF ITS "JEWISH COMMITTEE", TO CONVENE A CONFERENCE OF RABBIS TO DISCUSS PROBLEMS OF JEWISH EDUCATION, R. ISAAC WAS INVITED TO ATTEND. A CONTROVERSY HAD ALREADY BEGUN IN THE YESHIVAH, BECAUSE, IN CONTRADICTION TO THE TRADITION LAID DOWN BY ITS FOUNDER, R. ELIEZER ISAAC INCLINED TO FAVOR PILPUL, AND HAD A FOLLOWING AMONG THE STUDENTS. AFTER THE DEATH OF RABBI ISAAC IN 1849, R. ELIEZER FRIED WAS APPOINTED PRINCIPAL OF THE YESHIVAH AND R. NAPHTALI TZEVI JUDAH BERLIN THE VICE-PRINCIPAL. R. ELIEZER ISAAC DID NOT LIVE MUCH LONGER, AND AFTER HIS DEATH IN 1854, WHEN BOTH R. BERLIN AND R. CHAYYIM'S GRANDSON, R. JOSEPH BAER SOLOVEICHIK, WERE BOTH APPOINTED PRINCIPALS, A SEVERE DISAGREEMENT BROKE OUT OVER THE METHOD OF INSTRUCTION, IN WHICH R. JOSEPH BAER FAVORED THE PILPUL METHOD, AND HAD MANY SUPPORTERS AMONG THE YESHIVAH STUDENTS. WHEN THE CONTROVERSY THREATENED TO ENDANGER THE EXISTENCE OF THE YESHIVAH, A DELEGATION OF PROMINENT LITHUANIAN RABBIS WENT TO VOLOZHIN IN ORDER TO SETTLE THE CONTROVERSY. THE COMMITTEE RULED THAT R. BERLIN SHOULD BE THE PRINCIPAL OF THE YESHIVAH WHILE R. JOSEPH BAER SHOULD SERVE AS HIS DEPUTY. IN 1865 R. JOSEPH BAER LEFT THE YESHIVAH TO SERVE AS RABBI OF BREST-LITOVSK (BRISK). R. RAPHAEL SHAPIRA, SON-IN-LAW OF R. BERLIN, WAS APPOINTED IN HIS PLACE, SERVING IN THIS POSITION UNTIL 1881. HIS SUCCESSOR WAS R. CHAYYIM SOLOVEICHIK, SON OF JOSEPH BAER AND GRANDSON OF R. BERLIN. AT THE END OF THE 1850S THE GOVERNMENT RENEWED THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE CHADARIM AND YESHIVOT. IT WAS HELPED BY A NUMBER OF THE MASKILIM WHO SENT MEMORANDA TO THE STATE- APPOINTED "JEWISH COMMITTEE" REQUESTING THAT THE YESHIVOT SHOULD BE CLOSED DOWN AS "NURSERIES OF FANATICAL RABBIS". IN APRIL 1858 THE YESHIVAH WAS CLOSED DOWN BY ORDER OF THE AUTHORITIES ON THE GROUND THAT THE SYLLABUS HAD NOT BEEN SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL TO THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION.PROMINENT JEWS IN VILNA AND MINSK SENT A REQUEST TO THE AUTHORITIES TO PERMIT THE YESHIVAH TO REMAIN OPEN. DESPITE ALL THE EFFORTS ON THE PART OF THE JEWS, THE AUTHORITIES DID NOT RESCIND THEIR DECISION. HOWEVER, LIKE THE ORDER OF CLOSURE OF 1824, IT DID NOT HAVE NOTICEABLE PRACTICAL EFFECTS. THE NUMBER OF PUPILS CONTINUED TO GROW, REACHING 300 AT THE END OF THE 1870S AND 400 AT THE END OF THE 1880S, BY THEN ALSO ATTRACTING STUDENTS FROM OUTSIDE RUSSIA, FROM ENGLAND, GERMANY, AUSTRIA, AND EVEN AMERICA. A DAILY PROGRAM WAS ESTABLISHED FOR THE STUDENTS. PRAYERS WERE HELD AT 8 A.M., AND THEY THEN TOOK BREAKFAST. AFTERWARD THE WEEKLY PORTION WAS READ AND EXPLAINED BY THE PRINCIPAL OF THE YESHIVAH. STUDY PROCEEDED FROM 10 A.M. TO 1 P.M., DURING WHICH THE SUPERVISOR ENSURED THAT NONE OF THE STUDENTS MISSED STUDY. THERE FOLLOWED THE LECTURE (DELIVERED IN THE 1880S BY R. CHAYYIM SOLOVEICHIK, SON OF R. JOSEPH BAER, IN THE FIRST PART OF THE WEEK, AND BY R. BERLIN IN THE SECOND). THE MIDDAY MEAL FOLLOWED. THE STUDENTS RETURNED TO THE YESHIVAH AT 4 P.M., HELD MINCHAH, AND STUDIED UNTIL 10 P.M. EVENING PRAYERS WERE THEN HELD, PRECEDING SUPPER. MANY WOULD RETURN TO THE YESHIVAH AND STUDY UNTIL MIDNIGHT. THEY WOULD SLEEP UNTIL 3 A.M. AND RETURN TO STUDY UNTIL THE MORNING.
IN THE 1860S OPPOSITION BEGAN TO BE VOICED IN THE JEWISH PRESS TO THE YESHIVOT. THE EXTREME MASKILIM DEMANDED THAT THEY SHOULD BE CLOSED DOWN; OTHERS CRITICIZED THEIR SYSTEM OF STUDY AND ITS CONTENTS AND WISHED TO INTRODUCE GENERAL SUBJECTS, AS HAD BEEN INSTITUTED IN THE RABBINICAL SEMINARIES IN GERMANY AND IN WESTERN COUNTRIES. R. BERLIN ADAMANTLY OPPOSED ANY CHANGES OF THIS NATURE. A NUMBER OF JEWISH COMMUNAL LEADERS REGARDED IT NECESSARY TO DEMONSTRATE TO THE AUTHORITIES THAT THE JEWS WERE READY TO MAKE CHANGES. ON PRESSURE FROM THEM IN 1887 A NUMBER OF PROMINENT RABBIS, INCLUDING ISAAC ELCHANAN SPEKTOR, JOSEPH BAER SOLOVEICHIK, AND R. BERLIN, CONVENED IN ST. PETERSBURG, AND AT THIS MEETING IT WAS DECIDED ON THE APPOINTMENT OF A SPECIAL TEACHER TO INSTRUCT THE YESHIVAH STUDENTS IN RUSSIAN AND ARITHMETIC, PROVIDED THAT THESE STUDIES WOULD NOT BE CONDUCTED WITHIN THE YESHIVAH, BUT OUTSIDE IT. VOLOZHIN YESHIVAH REFRAINED FROM TRANSLATING THIS DECISION INTO PRACTICE.
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES BEGAN TO INFILTRATE THE YESHIVAH. AT FIRST THE INFLUENCE OF THE MUSAR MOVEMENT HAD BEGUN TO BE FELT. THE IDEAS OF HASKALAH ALSO SPREAD IN THE YESHIVAH. IN THE 1880S THE CHOVEVEI ZION ALSO ATTRACTED MANY STUDENTS, AND R. BERLIN'S SYMPATHY WITH THE MOVEMENT HELPED ITS SPREAD IN THE YESHIVAH. A GROWING NUMBER OF STUDENTS READ HASKALAH LITERATURE IN HEBREW AND OTHER LANGUAGES. MASKILIM BEGAN TO DEMAND CHANGES IN THE YESHIVAH'S REGIME, WHICH FINALLY BROUGHT INTERVENTION BY THE RUSSIAN EDUCATIONAL AUTHORITIES. ON DEC. 22, 1891, THE RUSSIAN MINISTER OF EDUCATION PUBLISHED THE "REGULATIONS CONCERNING VOLOZHIN YESHIVAH", WHICH DEFINED THE YESHIVAH AS A PRIVATE OPEN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION, AND ITS PUPILS WERE REQUIRED TO STUDY GENERAL SUBJECTS TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STANDARD. R. BERLIN DID NOT AGREE TO THE REGULATIONS, AND ON JAN. 22, 1892, THE AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCED THE CLOSURE OF THE YESHIVAH. R. BERLIN AND THE STUDENTS WERE EXPELLED FROM VOLOZHIN.
A FEW YEARS LATER THE YESHIVAH WAS REOPENED. IN 1895 THE GOVERNMENT PERMITTED USE OF THE YESHIVAH BUILDING AS A PLACE OF PRAYER. THE STUDENTS REASSEMBLED AND LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR REVIVING THE YESHIVAH. IT CONTINUED TO EXPAND AND DEVELOP UNTIL WORLD WAR I. WHEN THE BATTLE ZONE REACHED THE VICINITY OF VILNA, THE HEADS OF THE YESHIVAH LEFT VOLOZHIN WITH THE REST OF THE JEWISH REFUGEES FOR THE RUSSIAN INTERIOR (MINSK). THE YESHIVAH DID NOT RESUME ACTIVITY UNTIL 1921. IT EXISTED, THOUGH WITH REDUCED NUMBERS AND INFLUENCE, UNTIL THE LIQUIDATION OF THE LAST 64 STUDENTS IN THE HOLOCAUST. THE LAST TO HEAD THE YESHIVAH WERE R. JACOB SHAPIRA (D. 1936) AND HIS SON-IN-LAW CHAYYIM WULKIN, WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST. MANY OF THE STUDENTS OF VOLOZHIN YESHIVAH DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES IN HEBREW LTERATURE AND PUBLIC LEADERSHIP, INCLUDING CH. N. BIALIK, WHO LEFT AN ENDURING MONUMENT TO THE YESHIVAH IN HIS POEM "HA-MATMID", AND M. J. BERDYCZEWSKI.
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