Abba Berman

Abba Berman
אבא ברמן
Personal life
BornAbba Mordechai Berman
Tu BiShvat 1919
DiedMay 12, 2005(2005-05-12) (aged 85–86)
SpouseItka Greenberg
Parent
  • Shaul Yosef Berman (father)
Religious life
ReligionJudaism
DenominationHaredi Judaism
PositionRosh yeshiva
YeshivaYeshivas Iyun HaTalmud, Yeshivas Knesses Yitzchok of Chadera-Kiryat Sefer
Yahrtzeit3 Iyar, 5765

Abba Mordechai Berman (Hebrew: אבא מרדכי ברמן; 1919–2005) was a Talmudist and rosh yeshiva (dean of studies) of Yeshivas Iyun HaTalmud.

Early life

Berman was born on Tu BiShvat 5679 (January 14/15, 1919)[1] in Łódź, Poland, to Shaul Yosef Berman, rosh yeshiva of Toras Chesed in Lodz.[2]

Following his bar mitzvah at age thirteen, Berman studied in Yeshivas Mir where he became close to the mashgiach ruchani (dean of students), Yerucham Levovitz.[3] He was a study partner of Nachum Partzovitz.[4]

World War II

Along with most of the student body of the Yeshivas Mir, Berman fled to Shanghai during World War II to escape being murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust.

New York City

Berman eventually migrated to the United States where he became one of the founding members of the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where he married Itka Greenberg.[5] Berman established Yeshivas Iyun HaTalmud on Beach 17th Street in Far Rockaway, Queens.[6]

Land of Israel

After several years, Berman emigrated to Israel and re-established Yeshivas Iyun HaTalmud in Bnai Brak. The yeshiva relocated to Jerusalem, then finally to the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Sefer in the West Bank. In his final years he served as rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Knesses Yitzchok of Chadera-Kiryat Sefer.[2]

Death

He died on May 12, 2005, corresponding to the 3rd of Iyar, 5765. His Talmudic lectures were published posthumously under the title "Iyun HaTalmud" (עיון התלמוד).

Berman and his wife had six daughters.[7]

Notable students

Publications

  • Shiurei Iyun HaTalmud, on Seder Kodshim
  • Shiurei Iyun HaTalmud, on Seder Nashim
  • Shiurei Iyun HaTalmud, on Seder Nezikin
  • Shiurei Gittin

References

  1. ^ Fred Reiss, The Standard Guide to the Jewish and Civil Calendars, 1986; Berman House, West Orange, NJ; page: "Civil year 1919"
  2. ^ a b Berelson, Refael (3 May 2006). "We Moved During Bava Kama - HaRav Abba Berman zt"l His First Yahrtzeit - 3 Iyar". www.chareidi.org. Dei'ah veDibur. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  3. ^ The Legacy of Mir Archived October 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Staff. (25 April 2012) "Rav Abba Berman zt”l, On His Seventh Yahrtzeit, Today, 3 Iyar", Matzav.com. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Gedolim Yahrtzeits", Chinuch.org
  6. ^ "The Leiman Library". www.leimanlibrary.com. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Rabbi Moshe Twersky, Dean At Torat Moshe Yeshiva, Murdered In Har Nof". Jewish Business News. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  8. ^ "BD'E – Harav Chaim Zev Malinowitz, Zt"l". Hamodia. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.