Rashi - R’ Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105), Troyes, France. "Rabban Shel Yisrael" - The great Rishon who wrote commentary on all areas of Torah.
Abarbanel - R’ Don Yitzchak ben Judah Abarbanel (1437-1508), Portugal, Venice; Bible commentator, philosopher, financier and statesman, with a great mastery of both Jewish and secular learning. Used his wealth and position to help free Jews sold into slavery in Morocco. His works argued for the Jewish idea of Mashiach, and were unique in that they took social and political issues into consideration.
Ba’al HaTurim - Rabbi Jacob ben Asher (1269-1343), Spain; Composer of Arba’ah Turim, tracing Halacha from the Torah through Talmud and early Poskim. Many commentaries were written on the Tur, including R’ Yosef Karo’s “Beit Yosef” which formed the basis of the Shulchan Arukh.
Rabbeinu Ephraim - R” Ephraim ben Yitzchak of Regensburg (1110-1175), Germany; Student of Rabbeinu Tam.
Rabbeinu Bachya - (Rabbeinu Behaye) R’ Bahya ben Asher (1255-1340), Spain. Torah commentary incorporating the literal meaning along with allegorical, Midrashic, and Kabbalistic interpretations.
Rav Chaim Volozhin - Rav Chaim (Ickovits) of Volozhin (1749-1821), Volozhin; foremost disciple of Vilna Gaon and founder of Volozhin Yeshiva.
Bnei Yissaschar - R’ Tzvi Elimelech Spira of Dinov (1783-1841), Poland; nephew of Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk. The Chozeh of Lublin told him that he was a reincarnation of the great early Torah sages of the tribe of Yissaschar. Best known for his work Bnei Yissas’char, discourses on the Torah and Festivals as viewed from a kabbalistic prospective;
Ramban - Nachmanides – R’ Moshe ben Nachman (1194-1270), Girona, Spain, Akko; A leading Torah scholar of the middle-ages who authored commentaries on Torah and the Talmud. He was a posek who wrote responsa and stand-alone works on Halachic topics, as well as works on mysticism, science and philosophy. Immigrated to Israel at age 72 and settled in Akko.
Lev Avraham - Rav Avraham Weinfeld (1930-1987), Monsey NY; Born in Kashau he studied under Rav Moshe Neuschloss of Serdhali and Vadmir, he was also a talmid of the Klausenberg Rav. Authored the seforim Lev Avraham.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov - (1772-1810); One of the most creative Chasidic masters, whose thought and teachings continue to resonate far beyond his immediate followers. Great-grandson of the founder of Chasidut, Rabbi Yisrael Ba'al Shem Tov. Among his many works are a profound presentation of his Chasidic and mystical teaching, Likkutei Moharan, and a compilation of his intricate and powerfully evocative stories, Sippurei Ma'asiyot.
Sifrei - Halachic midrash of the school of Rabbi Akiva, on Bamidbar and Devarim.
Rokeach - Rabbi Elazar (ben Yehuda ben Kalonymus) MiGermaiza (1176-1238) Mainz, Worms, Germany; Underwent great sufferings during the Crusades. The last major member of the Hasidei Ashkenaz, a group of German Jewish pietists. Sefer Ha-Roḳeaḥ (The Perfumer) is a halachic guide to ethics and Jewish Law for the common reader. Authored many piyyutim protesting Israel’s suffering and hoping for redemption and revenge against her tormentors.
Netziv - Rav Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin (1816-1893), Lithuania. Born into a family of Jewish scholars, a descendant on his mother’s side of R’ Meir Eisenstadt. His first wife was the granddaughter of R. Chaim Volozhin, and his second the daughter of R. Yechiel Michel Epstein. In 1854 he was appointed head of the Volozhin yeshiva, where he introduced a style of Talmud study based on broad knowledge of Tannaitic and Geonic literature as well as the Rishonim.
Meshech Chochma - Rav Meir Simcha HaKohen of Dvinsk (1843-1926), Lithuania; Prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. Known for his writings on Rambam’ Mishneh Torah, which he titled Ohr Somayach, as well as his novellae on the Torah, titled Meshech Chochma. He reputedly turned down offers for the rabbinate in various large cities, including Jerusalem, New York City and Kovno.
Oznaim LaTorah - R’ Zalman Sorotzkin (1881-1966), Ukraine, Belarus, Yerushalayim; Leader of Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.
Malbim - Rabbi Meir Leibush ben Yehiel Michel Weisser (1809-1879), Poland, Romania, France, Ukraine; Hebrew grammarian, halachic scholar, and author of a uniquely creative and comprehensive Torah commentary. Malbim’s staunch adherence to tradition put him in direct confrontation with Reformers of the Jewish Enlightenment, although he was nonetheless accused by some chasidic leaders of introducing Enlightenment thought in his Torah commentary.
Maharal - The Maharal of Prague - R’ Yehuda Loew ben Bezalel (1520 - 1609), Prague; Mystically inclined philosopher whose writings left an indelible impression on generations of Ashkenazic Jewry. His numerous philosophical works became cornerstones of Jewish thought and had a profound influence on Chassidic teaching. He also wrote halachic works, including a commentary on the Arba’ah Turim.
Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh - Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar (1696-1743), Salé, Morocco. Considered to be one of the most prominent Rabbis of Morocco, and in Hassidic Judaism.
Mahar"i of Belz - Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach (1825-1894), youngest son of Rabbi SHalom Rokeach, the Sar Shalom of Belz. Known as the Mitteler Ruv, the second Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. Combined Torah scholarship with practical common sense to guide thousands of Hasidim and to fight the Haskalah (Enlightenment) movement that was making inroads in Jewish communities in Poland during the nineteenth century. His pioneering activities included founding the Machzikei Hadas organization.
Mahar"a of Belz - Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, also known as the Belzer Rav (1880-1957); Son of Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, and the fourth Rebbe of the Belz Chassidus. Re-established Belz Chassidus in Eretz Yisrael after the Holocaust. During his time, the chassidim grew to thousands and tens of thousands, and his influence reached far and wide. Served as Rebbe in Belz, Galicia for thirteen years, until World War II. After losing his entire family in the Holocaust, he was forced to flee, on the night of Simchas Torah 1940, he fled, and for four years wandered on his way to Eretz Yisrael, passing through Skohl, Premishlan, Vizhnitz, Buchnia Ghetto, Budapest, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon, until 9 Shevat 1944, when he arrived in Israel. Rebuilt Belz Chassidus while simultaneously working to strengthen Yiddishkeit in the land.
Shemen Rosh - Rav Asher Anshel Katz shlit”a, Boro Park, NY; Assumed the position of Viener Rebbe in 1992 after the previous rebbe, Rav Ezriel Yehuda Lebovics, was niftar. Since then, the Rebbe has transformed the kehilla into a large chassidus with multiple Viener shuls in Boro Park, and has pubilshed numerous volumes of shiurim delivered on Torah, Pirkei Avot, and Yom Tovim.
Siftei Kohen - R’ Mordechai HaKohen of Safed (1523-1598), Tzefat, Aleppo; Known as "Ba’al HaShach al Ha’Torah". Talmid of the famous kabbalist Israel di Curiel, and a contemporary of Joseph di Trani. Wrote an allegoric-kabalistic commentary on the Torah, entitled Siftei Kohen.
Drashot Beit Yishai - Rav Shlomo Fisher (1932-2021), Yerushalayim; Served as Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivat Itri. Studied in Mir under Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel and served as a member and then as the head of the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court. Rav Fisher was equally at home in the religious Zionist Torah community, giving shiurim in Merkaz Harav, Shaalvim and other yeshivot and celebrating Yom Yerushalayim in his own inimitable way – teaching Torah ideas about Jerusalem.
