Israel Ben Zeev Wolf Lipkin Salanter

Israel Ben Zeev Wolf Lipkin Salanter (1810-1883), rabbi, born in Žagarė, Lithuania (then part of the Russian Empire), where his father was rabbi. He studied in a yeshiva in Salant, hence his name. Salanter was a child prodigy who delivered casuistic homilies before scholars when he was only ten. However, he became critical of casuistry and concentrated on the study of ethical literature (Musar). He headed a yeshiva in Vilna, 1840-47, and in Kovno,1849-57. In both centers he found a wide following for his Musar teachings. In 1857 Salanter moved to Germany and lived in Koenigsberg. In 1860 he settled in Memel. While there he acquired German citizenship, adopted German dress and preached in German. His most successful achievement was the Musar yeshivot in which, apart from Talmud studies, time was set apart for the study of ethics. His own homilies drew large audiences. One of the most famous episodes in his life was during a cholera epidemic, when from the pulpit he ordered the congregation to eat on Yom Kippur and set himself as an example. In 1880 he moved to Paris to give spiritual leadership to the eastern European Jewish community there. In 1883 he returned to Koenigsberg where he died. Salanter left no writings but his teachings were published by his disciples.