Rabbi

Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin רבי חיים וואלאזשינער זצ"ל

The Vilna Gaon's student who built the first great Lithuanian yeshiva

Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin (1749–1821) was the foremost student of the Vilna Gaon and founder of the Etz Chaim yeshiva in Volozhin, mother of the entire yeshiva world. He wrote "Nefesh HaChaim".

Contents (3)

From Volozhin
The first yeshiva
Nefesh HaChaim

From Volozhin

Rabbi Chaim was born in 1749 in the town of Volozhin, where he later served as rabbi ^[1]. A student of the Vilna Gaon, he carried the Gaon's approach to the generations after him.

The first yeshiva

In 1803 he founded the Etz Chaim yeshiva in Volozhin ^[1]. Until then boys learned in their own towns' study halls; in Volozhin they came from far away, sat in one beis medrash and learned on a fixed schedule. This became the model for almost every Lithuanian yeshiva to this day, Lakewood, Mir and Ponevezh included.

Nefesh HaChaim

His book "Nefesh HaChaim" speaks of the greatness of learning Torah for its own sake and how every act of a Jew affects the higher worlds ^[1]. It is still learned in yeshivas. Rabbi Chaim passed away in 1821 ^[1], and the yeshiva flourished after him.