Introduction to the translation of the Volozhin Yizkor book

As one of several translators who contributed to the English translation of the Volozhin Yizkor Book, it is an honor to have been asked by the current coordinator, Anita Gabbay, to write a few words of introduction.

Volozhin – for those familiar with the world of Eastern European Torah learning, the name implies far more than a remote city somewhere in Belarus. The term 'Volozhin' is sanctified in the Torah world as the location and namesake of the flagship Yeshiva of the Lithuanian style, Misnagdic houses of Torah learning that used to dot the landscape of Eastern Europe, and continue on to this day in Israel and North America. The rabbinic dynasty of Volozhin, known as 'Beit Harav' [The household of the rabbi], with names such as Berlin, Bar-Ilan, Soloveitchik, continues to be prominent in the Yeshiva world of today. Many of the leaders of what is today known as religious Zionism, as exemplified by the Mizrachi movement, went through the Volozhin Yeshiva, including Rav Kook, Rabbi Mohilever, and Rabbi Reines. Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, whose son-in-law Rabbi Aaron Kotler, founded the prominent Lakewood Yeshiva of New Jersey, is a product of Volozhin. The Soloveitchik family of Yeshiva University fame, are direct descendants of the Volozhin dynasty. It is no understatement to say that Volozhin, its Yeshiva, and the students who were educated there have shaped the landscape of Jewish Orthodoxy, and guaranteed the continuation of serious Torah study in the world today and into the future. The famous Yiddish writer Chaim Nachman Bialik, the renowned businessman and tea-magnate Wissotzky, as well as many other influential people in the general Jewish world were also alumnae of the Volozhin Yeshiva.

This book has two sections. The first section deals with the Yeshiva and rabbinic personalities. The second section deals with Volozhin as any other city in Eastern Europe, with its culture, factions, education. Like any other Eastern European city, the Shoah did not skip over Volozhin. Everything that once was, the Jewish community and the communal infrastructure, was destroyed during the Holocaust period. Whatever small remnants might have remained were then subject to the brutal rule of the former U.S.S.R.

Several translators have been involved in this translation and each had their own style. Therefore, the reader will find that some names and terms are spelled differently in different chapters. Out of deference to the late coordinator and translator of large parts of this book, Moshe Porat of blessed memory his stylistic form and modes of spelling have often been preserved. Most of Mr. Porat's translations were written in summary form. I personally edited and enhanced many of his translations, ensuring that all quoted sources and original detailed footnotes were included. On the other hand, Mr. Porat, himself a scion of Beit Harav, often enhanced his translations with his own original material and personal photos. In order to remain true to the integrity of the original text, while simultaneously showing respect for Mr. Porat's legacy, I moved such enhancements to the footnotes, unusually in an unedited fashion.

The translation effort, and subsequent editing and reorganization of prior translations, was a momentous task that took far longer than originally anticipated. The translation coordinator for this project, Anita Frishman Gabbay, deserves a hearty Yasher Koach for persevering, dealing with unanticipated delays, and ultimately seeing this project to conclusion. We owe a debt of gratitude to Lance Ackerfeld and his team of volunteers from JewishGen tireless work and sage advice in order to bring this project to completion.

It has truly been an honor to participate in the task of translating the Volozhin Yizkor Book. I hope that my translations, and those of my colleagues, do justice to the city and its significant legacy within the Jewish world. May the Yizkor Book and its translation serve as a memorial to the victims of the Shoah, and as a testament to the ongoing vitality of the Jewish people and its Torah.

Jerrold Landau
Toronto Canada
July 15, 2024, 9 Tammuz, 5754

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