Chaim of Volozhin

Chaim of Volozhin (Hebrew: חיים מוולוז'ין‎, Yiddish: חיים וואלאזשינער‎; also known as Chaim ben Yitzchok of Volozhin or Chaim Ickovits; 21 January 1749 – 14 June 1821)^[1][2] was a rabbi, Talmudist, and ethicist. Popularly known as "Reb Chaim Volozhiner" or simply as "Reb Chaim", he was the founder of the Volozhin Yeshiva and the primary disciple of the Vilna Gaon. The title of his major work is Nefesh Ha-Chaim.

Rabbi Chaim was the son of Yitzchak ben Chaim, who served as the parnas of the community in Volozhin, and Rivka, daughter of Rabbi Yosef Rapoport, son of Rabbi Simcha HaKohen Rapoport. In his youth, he first studied for two years under Rabbi Raphael Ziskind, the rabbi of Minsk (and later of Hamburg and the AHU communities).^[3] Afterward, he studied under Aryeh Leib Ginzburg, known as the "Shaagat Aryeh," who was the town's rabbi at that time. At the age of 19, he began to study under the Vilna Gaon (Gra). With the approval and blessing of his teacher, the Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Chaim returned from Vilna to Volozhin and served as the rabbi of the town. He regarded the Gra as a unique sage, unparalleled in generations, to the point where he saw the public's reference to himself as a continuation of his teacher as a disrespect to the Gaon.^[4][1] Nevertheless, in his response to Hasidism, he was more moderate than his teacher (see below).^[1]

He began his tenure as the rabbi of Volozhin around the year 5534 (1774). After about fifteen years of serving as rabbi, he moved to serve as the rabbi of Vilkomir, but returned to Volozhin after just one year due to opposition within the community, continuing to serve as rabbi until his passing.^[5] In the early 19th century, after the passing of his teacher, Rabbi Chaim founded the Etz Chaim Yeshiva in Volozhin, thus becoming the father of the large Litvak yeshivot.^[6] Towards the founding of the yeshiva, during the Ten Days of Repentance in 5563 (1802), he issued an open letter to the "lovers of Torah" in Lithuania, calling to elevate the stature of Torah study and yeshivot. In the "call to establish the yeshiva," he humbly stated that he was unworthy to be considered a student of the Vilna Gaon:

And I heard it said of me that I am called our great Rabbi, etc., and I merited to be called by his good name as if to say I am his disciple, and I saw it as my duty to inform Israel truthfully, etc., that anyone who says this is entirely mistaken, etc. And in the few days I merited to serve him, I only managed to understand the form of the Talmudic debate after much toil.

In the introduction to the Vilna Gaon's Commentary on Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim section, the Gaon’s sons, Rabbi Yehuda Leib and Rabbi Avraham, name Rabbi Chaim as the foremost of the Gaon's disciples.^[7]

Rabbi Chaim’s most well-known work is Nefesh HaChaim, which serves as a theosophical manifesto of the ideology opposing Hasidism, emphasizing Torah study as a religious-theurgic ritual and the sole means to achieve attachment to God.^[8]

He played a key role in the aliyah of the Gaon of Vilna's disciples, which began in 1808.^[9] According to testimony by Rabbi Aryeh Neeman, Rabbi Chaim even conceived and initiated the aliyah led by Rabbis Yisroel and Menachem Mendel of Shklov. Although Rabbi Chaim did not personally immigrate to Eretz Yisrael, he greatly assisted the emigrants, and several of his students made the journey themselves. He served as the rabbinic authority for the Vilna Council, which financially supported the Perushim—the Litvak-Ashkenazi Jews in Eretz Yisrael—through the chalukah funds and the establishment of "Kolel Perushim." He was also the primary authority for managing their affairs, thus exerting significant influence on the policies of the Old Yishuv in Jerusalem.^[6][10][11]

He died on 14 Sivan 5581 (June 14, 1821), and was buried in Volozhin. His tombstone reads:

…A banner lifted and raised, crown of our heads, spirit of our breath, our master, father, chariot of Israel and its horsemen, the great Gaon, a true pious one, and humble as required by our master, Rabbi Chaim of blessed memory, Av Beit Din and Rosh Yeshiva of the holy community of Volozhin, who poured living waters from the hand of the holy one in the heavens, the true Gaon, the light of the world, the master of all the Diaspora, as required by our master and teacher, the renowned pious sage Rabbi Elijah of Vilna, and brother to the esteemed scholar of Israel, the Gaon and righteous one like no other, to whom the title "holy" is fitting, our master… He left us life on the day corresponding to "And it was when the Ark set forth," the 14th of Sivan, "all those written for life" (to the shortened count).

Rabbi Chaim emphasized the importance of independent thinking, even if it meant disputing the views of earlier sages, as he had learned from his teacher, the Vilna Gaon.

This has been my way since my youth, with which God has blessed me, to sustain what I understand from my own reasoning, even if I find a differing view in a book, and even if I find in a book a way contrary to mine, I do not bring his words to contradict them. The true scholar will choose the way of truth, for in the Torah, which is written with truth, our eyes are only towards the truth. Blessed is God, the God of truth, who keeps His promise of truth, that the Torah of truth shall not be forgotten from the mouth of the seed of truth.

— Chut HaMeshulash, end of Siman 11.

Rabbi Chaim valued the study of Bekiyut, emphasizing straightforward learning and opposing overly complex interpretations. He placed great importance on review, teaching that through frequent repetition, many questions would resolve themselves. For someone struggling in their studies, he recommended studying slowly and joyfully, writing that such an approach could lead to greater achievements in a short time than one could accomplish over many hours without such care and joy.^[12]

Rabbi Chaim encouraged the study of the book Mesillat Yesharim.^[1] He greatly valued Torah study, asserting that it is the secret to Jewish survival; to some extent, he even held that Torah study takes precedence over all else, including prayer and acts of kindness, and sometimes even saving lives. His approach to Torah study is presented in the fourth section of Nefesh HaChaim, which ascribes a profound mystical and Kabbalistic significance to this practice, which he believed sustains all worlds. He wrote:

And the truth, without any doubt, is that if the entire world from one end to the other were empty, Heaven forbid, even for a single moment of our engagement and reflection in Torah, then instantly, all worlds would be destroyed.

— Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, Nefesh HaChaim, Vilna, 1874, p. 81.

In the introduction to Nefesh HaChaim, his son, Rabbi Yitzchak of Volozhin, writes of his father’s commitment to sharing in the suffering of every individual Jew.

Unlike the Vilna Gaon (the Gra), Rabbi Chaim took a more moderate stance towards the Hasidic movement. He expressed his opposition to Hasidism in his book Nefesh HaChaim, where he emphasized Torah study as an alternative to the Hasidic concept of Devekut.^[13]

To a relative who leaned toward Hasidism, contrary to his wishes, he advised three things:^[14]

• To prioritize the study of Gemara.
• To strictly observe the laws outlined in the Gemara.
• To refrain from disrespecting Torah scholars, especially the Gra.

Among the followers of Chabad Hasidism, some believe that he studied Tanya and other Hasidic teachings,^[15] and that he partially accepted the Hasidic principle of "Tzimtzum is not literal," unlike his teacher, the Gra. According to Rabbi Yosef Leib Zussman, Rabbi Zvi Infield, and Rabbi Yosef Avivi, his kabbalistic approach was rooted in the teachings of the Gra. While he read Hasidic texts and agreed with some aspects, his view opposed the Hasidic doctrine that divine existence is the sole reality, maintaining instead that only the forces are nullified before God, but not the reality itself.^[16]

• His son, Rabbi Yitzchak, known as Reb Itzele, succeeded him as the Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin and published his father's work, Nefesh HaChaim, in 1824. In the book's preface, he expressed his regret for the delayed publication, attributing the loss of his own son to divine punishment.
• His son, Yosef, authored brief writings that appear at the beginning of Nefesh HaChaim, following the lengthy introduction by Reb Itzele.
• His daughter, Esther, married Rabbi Hillel Fried from Grodno, who taught at Volozhin alongside his father-in-law.
• His daughter, Ralke, married Rabbi Yosef Soloveitchik, Av Beit Din of Vilijampolė and Kaunas. Their grandson, Rabbi Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik, was the patriarch of the Beit Brisk dynasty. In her second marriage, she wed Rabbi Moshe Kahana Shapira, whose grandson was Rabbi Zalman Sender Kahana Shapira, father of Rabbi Avraham Dov Kahana Shapira, the chief rabbi of Kaunas and author of Devar Avraham. Rabbi Moshe’s daughter from his first marriage married her stepbrother Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, Ralke’s son from her first marriage.
• His elder brother, Rabbi Simcha, is mentioned in Ruach Chaim 2:12, where Rabbi Chaim writes, "…and prepare yourself... which is not an inheritance for you," citing his elder brother "the righteous and holy Rabbi Zlaman, holy is his name."
• His brother, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman of Volozhin, was renowned as a prodigy. His life and Torah teachings were published in the book Toldot Adam.
• His brother, Rabbi Yosef from Shershev, married the daughter of the wealthy Rabbi David of Shershev.^[17]

• Nefesh HaChaim - A book in four sections on matters of faith. The first section discusses the responsibility placed on a person due to the immense creative power they possess and their ability to influence the higher realms. The second section addresses the effects of prayer on the upper worlds, the third section discusses Kabbalah and the ten sefirot, and the famous fourth section (often published separately) emphasizes the significance of Torah study and its students.^[18] Rabbi Norman Lamm described its structure:

The Nefesh ha-Hayyim consists of five parts, four of which are numbered and are called 'gates.' The fifth part, which appears between the third and fourth gates, is unnumbered. The first three gates, which are primarily metaphysical-mystical, number, respectively, twenty-two, eighteen, and fourteen chapters. The fourth gate, or final part, which is more popular and exoteric and extols the study of Torah, contains thirty-four chapters. The unnumbered part, containing eight chapters, is in the nature of a preface to gate 4 (and henceforth will be termed 'pre-4') and deals primarily with ethical material, such as the suppression of pride and other undesirable character traits, especially as it relates to the study of Torah and the performance of the commandments. ... The fact that it is unnumbered indicates that it was written after the rest of the book had been composed and was already in completed manuscript form. Evidence for this may also be found from the glosses and cross-references that are found throughout the book.^[19]

• Ruach Chaim - A commentary on Pirkei Avot, in which he also cites teachings from his brother, Rabbi Zalman.^[20]
• Chut HaMeshulash - A collection of responsa on various topics, including writings by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, his son-in-law Rabbi Hillel Fried, and his grandson Rabbi Eliezer Yitzchak Fried.

Dov Eliach published a compilation of his teachings under the title Kol HaKatuv LeChaim, Jerusalem, 1988.

• Dov Eliach, Avi HaYeshivot - (2013) Biography and Torah teachings of Rabbi Chaim
• Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, Torah Lishma - An analysis of Rabbi Chaim's philosophy
• Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Pirkei Avot - According to the Commentary Ruach Chaim of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, Agam Publishing, 2012
• Bulletins of 'Etz Chaim' for his biography, teachings, and family

• Keter Rosh - His guidelines, written by his student Rabbi Asher Cohen of Shershev
• Moshe Shmuel Shmukler, Toldot Rabbeinu Chaim mi-Volzhin, Vilna, 1909
• 'R. Chaim b. Yitzchak of Volozhin,' in Dov Lipetz (editor-in-chief), Nathan Goren [et al.] (editors), Yahadut Lita, Vol. 3, Book 1: "Individuals," Tel Aviv: Am HaSefer, 1967, p. 51
• Lights of R. Chaim of Volozhin, Otzar HaBeracha Institute, Avraham Eliezer Sofer, New York, Jerusalem
• R. Chaim of Volozhin, in the R' Avraham Kook Weekly Bulletin for Parashat Haazinu, Tishrei 5769, on the Yeshiva website
• National Library of Israel, 987007262565405171, Chaim ben Yitzchak (1749-1821), of Volozhin
• Benjamin Brown, '“But Me No Buts”: The Theological Debate Between the Hasidim and the Mitnagdim in Light of the Discourse-Markers Theory'
• JewishGen
• Raphael Shuchat, https://www.academia.edu/68949584/R_Hayyim_of_Volozhin_and_Hasidism