|
|
Reines, Isaac Jacob (1839-1915)
 Lithuanian
rabbi and one of the founders of the Mizrachi movement.
I . His Life
Born in Karolin, Belorussia, he studied at yeshivot in Eishistok and Volozhin
before becoming a rabbi in Lithuania. His last post was in Lida, where he
was the rabbi from 1885 until his death.
II. His Accomplishments
A member of the Hibbat Zion movement from its inception, Rabbi Yitzhak
Reines joined Rabbi Samuel Mohilever in proposing settlement that combined
Torah study with physical labor. Theodor Herzl recognized the need for
rabbis to support the new Zionist movement and Reines was one of the first
rabbis to answer Herzl's call to become part of the movement; as such,
he attended the Third Zionist Congress (1899).
While most of his eastern and western European rabbinical colleagues
remained opposed to political Zionism, in 1902 Reines published a book,
"Or Hadash al Tzion" (A New Light on Zion) which countered the
claims of the anti-Zionist rabbis. The same year, he organized a conference
of the religious Zionist movement in Vilna, where the Mizrachi movement
was founded. He was recognized as the movement's leader at its founding
convention in Pressburg, Bratislava in 1904.
In 1905, Reines accomplished his own personal dream, with the establishment
of a yeshiva in Lida where both secular and religious subjects were taught.
In sharp contrast to the "pilpul" method which characterized
eastern European Jewish scholarship, Reines offered a different approach
to learning.
[Top] [People]
[ Zionist Century] [Homepage]
|
|