Dudaei Yaakov - Rabbi Adam (ben Yaakov) Ribiat shlit"a; Oak Park, Michigan.
Otiot D'Rabbi Akiva - A midrashic, attributed to Rabbi Akiva, that explores the mystical and ethical significance of each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. One of the Midrashim found in Otzar Midrashim (“Anthology of Midrashim”), a 20th-century encyclopedic work that lists and describes 200 minor midrashim.
Rav Shmuel Shmelka Taubenfeld - (1922–2004), Monsey, NY; A humble yet towering Torah figure who quietly shaped the Monsey community in its formative years. After escaping Russia during the war, learned in the Belzer Rebbe's Yeshiva in 1948 before the family moved to the US. Talmid of Rav Reuven Grozovsky at Beis Medrash Elyon - where he was known as the Roiter Iluy - he lived with intense devotion to Torah and Avodah, avoiding public recognition, and leaving a lasting impact on American Torah life. Also served as rav of Kehal Chreidim in Monsey.
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.
Rashi - R’ Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105), Troyes, France. "Rabban Shel Yisrael" - The great Rishon who wrote commentary on all areas of Torah.
Be'er Moshe of Ozharov - R' Moshe Yechiel Epstein - Ozharover Rebbe (1889-1971), Poland, New York, Israel; In 1925, went to New York where he set up his Chassidic court on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and then in the Bronx. His entire family in Europe was murdered in the Holocaust. After WWII the remnants of the chasidim of Chentshin were left leaderless, their rebbe having been killed, and they adopted the Ozherover Rebbe, a grandson of the first Chentshiner Rebbe, as their leader. Excited by the new state of Israel, Rabbi Moshe Yechiel moved to Tel Aviv in 1952, where he spent the rest of his life. He was awarded the Israel Prize in the category of Rabbinical literature in 1968.
Yismach Moshe - R’ Moshe Teitelbaum of Ujhel (1759-1841), Hungary. An adherent of the Polish Hasidic rebbe R’ Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin as well as of R’ Sholom Rokeach of Belz. Instrumental in bringing Hasidic Judaism to Hungary.
Kotzker Rebbe - Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (1787-1859), Poland; After his marriage at 14, his father introduced him to the world of Chasidut, and before long he became an ardent follower of the Chozeh of Lublin and Rabbi Simcha Bunam of Pshis’cha, whom he eventually succeeded. When he became the Rebbe of Kotzk, thousands of chasidim flocked to that city and a great number of outstanding young Torah scholars were attracted by his saintly personality and wide range knowledge. Most prominent among his students were the Chidushei Harym of Ger and Rabbi Chanoch of Alexander.
Maharzu - R’ Zev Wolf Einhorn (Late 1700’s-1862), Grodno and Vilna; A scholar who wrote one of the most important commentaries on Midrash Rabbah, as well as on other midrashic works.
Rambam - Maimonides - Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (1137-1204), Spain, Morocco, Egypt.
Nachalat David - Commentary on the Shas by Rabbi David Tabil of Minsk, student of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin.
Zohar - Central work of mystical tradition of Kabbalah. Traditionally attributed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. First appeared in 13th-century Spain.
Vilna Gaon - (The Gra) R’ Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman (1720-1797), Vilnius, Poland, Lithuania. Foremost leader of misnagdic Jewry of the past few centuries. Considered the father of the stream of Lithuanian Kabbalah, and remembered as a leader of the opposition to the Hasidic movement.
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 Chachamim - R’ Shabbetai ben Yoseph Bass (1641-1718), Poland, Prague, Germany, Amsterdam; A commentary on Rashi’s commentary on Chumash. Mostly a collection of other commentaries, in addition to the author’s own insight meant to give a basic understanding of Rashi.
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.
Mishulchan Rabbi Eliyahu Baruch Finkel - R' Eliyahu Baruch Finkel (1947-2008); Yerushalayim; Son of Rabbi Moshe Finkel, grandson of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the Alter of Slabodka. Half a year after his bar mitzvah, he moved to the Mir yeshiva and learned in chavrusa with Rabbi Chaim Kamil. While at the Mir, became close with Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz and Rabbi Nochum Partzovitz. Appointed to be a maggid shiur at a young age. In the summer of 1967 went to learn in the Ponevezh Yeshiva, where he learned in chavrusa with roshei yeshiva R' Mordechai Shlomo Berman and R' Shmuel Rozovsky. Before his death, was delivering the second-largest shiur in the Mir, teaching hundreds of students.
Rashbam - R’ Shmuel ben Meir (c.1085–c.1174), France. Grandson of Rashi and older brother of the Rivam and Rabbeinu Tam. His Torah commentary is concise and strictly to the concept of the "peshat". He does not hesitate to argue with Rashi when he feels that his commentary strayed from the plain meaning of the verse.
Maharsha - R’ Shmuel Eidels (1555-1631), Poland. Wrote commentary on the Talmud, named Chiddushei Halachot, and commentary on the aggadot of the Talmud, named Chiddushei Aggadot. Married the daughter of Edel Lifschitz of Posen and the late Brisker Rav. His mother-in-law supported his Yeshiva for over 2 decades, and in appreciation he adopted her name. Also served as rav in Chelm, Lublin, Tiktin and Ostroh.
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.
Mesilat Yesharim - Ramchal - R’ Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-1746), Venice. Italy; An ethical - musar - text, arranged as a dialogue between a wise man and a pious person. Widely learned in virtually every yeshiva since formal study of musar texts was introduced by the Mussar Movement of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter. The aim is the perfection of character.
Chizkuni - R’ Chizkiah ben Manoach (1040-1560), France. The details of his biography are unknown. Author of popular commentary on the Torah, which is a compilation of insights culled from the Midrashim, and the writings of twenty Rishonim, including Rashi, Rashbam and Ibn Ezra.
Ma'ayan HaShavua - Rav Shalom Meir Wallach shlit"a; Born in Israel, in 1948, to a family with roots in the Vizhnitz Chassidic dynasty and grew up in southern Tel Aviv. He studied at the Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. In 1985, joined the founding team of the Yated Ne’eman newspaper and served as editor of its Torah supplement. His sefoaim encompass all three major streams within the Chareidi world - Litvish, Chassidic, and Sephardic.
Chatam Sofer - R’ Moshe Sofer of Pressburg (1785–1835), Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine. Studied under R’ Nathan Adler and R’ Pinchas Horowitz (Hafla’ah). In 1807 was appointed as Rabbi of Pressburg (Bratislava), where he also founded a large Yeshiva that produced many noted rabbis. Had 10 children with his second wife, who was the daughter of R’ Akiva Eiger. The eldest, Avraham Shmuel Binyamin (Ketav Sofer), inherited his father’s position as rabbi of Pressburg. His second son, Shimon (Michtav Sofer), was the rabbi of Krakow.
