Moshe Posner (Brother of The Alter Rebbe)
Rabbi Moshe Posner (after Elul 1758 – between 1809 and 1813) was a Torah scholar of exceptional stature, a younger brother of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, and one of the senior educational figures in the early Chabad community of Liozna. He later served as rabbi in the towns of Buyov, Lyepyel, and Rudnya.
Life[edit | edit source]
Early years[edit | edit source]
Moshe was born after Elul 1758 (5518),[1] the son of Rabbi Yisrael Baruch and Rebbetzin Rivka. He was named in honor of his maternal grandfather, R' Moshe of Pozna.
In 1764 (5524), at only six years old, he began studying together with his brother Rabbi Mordechai Posner under the Vilna Gaon (Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna).[2]
Scholarship[edit | edit source]
Rabbi Moshe became a formidable gaon — a towering Torah genius — in Choshen Mishpat, the section of the Shulchan Aruch (the standard code of Jewish law) that governs civil and monetary matters.[3] He was equally expert in the Jerusalem Talmud and the Rambam (Maimonides).[4]
The Maharil would transcribe the legal responsa of the Alter Rebbe, and Rabbi Moshe would then review them. Despite having studied under the Vilna Gaon — who stood at the forefront of the mitnagdic opposition to Chassidus — Rabbi Moshe devoted himself extensively to the study of Chassidic teachings.[5]
In Liozna[edit | edit source]
Between 1769 and 1774 (5529–5534), Rabbi Moshe participated in the shiurim (Torah classes) of the Alter Rebbe.[6]
In 1776 (5536), he was appointed chief mashgiach — educational supervisor — of the chadarim in Liozna. The chadarim were the Chabad network of Torah schools that the Alter Rebbe had established, forming the backbone of Chassidic education in the community.[7]
In 1777 (5537), he joined the Alter Rebbe's journey to Mogilev, which had been undertaken with the hope of traveling onward to the Holy Land. In the end, he returned together with the Alter Rebbe.[8]
Following Shavuos 1778 (5538), he began delivering a daily shiur in Gemara, Poskim, and Tosafos to the students of the chadarim.[9]
Later life[edit | edit source]
In 1809 (5569), Rabbi Moshe traveled together with the Alter Rebbe to Vitebsk to resolve a dispute that had arisen there.[10]
He passed away sometime between 1809 and 1813 (5569–5573). The Alter Rebbe did not learn of his passing for a considerable period of time.[11]
Further reading[edit | edit source]
- Article by Shmuel Krauss in Kovetz He'oros U'Biuros — Ohalei Torah, 20 Cheshvan 1989 (5750).
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ See Sefer HaSichos (Frierdiker Rebbe), summer 1940, p. 59, which notes that his grandfather, R' Moshe of Pozna, was present at the bar mitzvah of the Alter Rebbe in 1758 (5518).
- ↑ Sefer HaSichos (Frierdiker Rebbe), 1945, p. 87. See also ibid., 1941, p. 122.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid., 1942, p. 137.
- ↑ Reshimas Avos HaChassidus.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Likkutei Diburim, vol. 2, p. 492.
- ↑ HaTomim (Warsaw), booklet 2.
- ↑ Sefer HaToldos — Alter Rebbe, vol. 2, p. 382.
- ↑ Detailed treatment of the episode in Sefer HaSichos, 1941, p. 121 ff.
- ↑ Beis Rebbe.