Menachem Mendel Kasher
Menachem Mendel Kasher was a Polish-born Israeli rabbi and prolific author who authored an encyclopedic work on the Torah entitled Torah Sheleimah.
Early life
Kasher was born in 1895 in Warsaw, Poland. His father was Rabbi Yitzhak Peretz. At the age of 19, he edited the periodical Degel Ha'Torah, the mouthpiece of the Polish branch of Agudath Israel.In 1924, in response to a call from the Ger Rebbe, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter, Kasher moved to Jerusalem, in Mandate Palestine, to establish the Sfas Emes Yeshiva in honour of the Rebbe's father, Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter. He subsequently served as the rosh yeshiva of the yeshiva for its first two years. He later helped bring the Rebbe to Palestine about six months after the outbreak of World War II.
''Torah Sheleimah''
Kasher's major work, Torah Sheleimah, is divided into two parts. The first part is the encyclopedia, the first work to publish all of the Written Law and the Oral Teachings side by side. Kasher published from manuscript form several previously unknown midrashic works such as the Midrash Teiman. The latter part consists of the extensive annotations and addendum in which he used his awareness of variant texts as well as his almost encyclopedic knowledge in all Jewish works to clarify many obscure points in the Talmud.The first volume of Torah Sheleimah was published in Jerusalem in 1927 and included 352 entries to the first chapter of Bereishit.
The 38th volume was published in his lifetime and included Parshat Beha'alotcha.
The 39th volume was published posthumously by his son-in-law Dr. Rabbi Aaron Greenbaum and includes a short biography. The 40th volume includes an expanded biography and full list of his works.
To date, 45 volumes have been printed covering the first four .
Other activities
He was the driving force behind the 25-volume Torah journal "Noam" and wrote many of the articles. His son Moshe Shlomo edited its 25 volumes which appeared between 1958 and 1984.Another work, Gemara Shelemah, which was to have discussed and compared variant texts of the Talmud, was never completed save for the beginning of Tractate Pesachim. He was also the editor-in-chief for the Tzafnas Paneach Institute, publishing several volumes of Rabbi Joseph Rosen's commentary on Talmud.
Rabbi Kasher was the grandfather of philosopher and linguist Asa Kasher.
Halachic rulings
- He permitted an eruv in Manhattan
- He formulated a halakhic stance on the International date [line in Judaism|international dateline in Jewish law]
- He argued against the "Lieberman clause" as a solution to the problem of – see Get (conflict)
- In response to the establishment of the State of Israel, he advocated the drinking of a 5th cup at the Passover Seder. His request to the Chief Rabbinate that it be officially instituted was dismissed.
Awards and honours
- In 1963, Rabbi Kasher was awarded the Israel Prize in Rabbinic literature.
- He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University.