מקור השם בלזר

Yitshak Blaser (1837-1907), rabbi, born in Vilna, Lithuania (then part of the Russian Empire). He moved to Kovno when in his teens and fell under the influence of Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin (Salanter), founder of the ethical Musar movement. In 1864 he was appointed rabbi of St. Petersburg and was known as Reb Itselle Petersburger. In 1878 he returned to Kovno where he headed a kolel (advanced yeshiva) and helped to found Musar educational institutions including the famed Slobodka yeshiva. He was now the leader of the Musar movement but growing opposition led to his transferring the yeshiva from Slobodka to Kelme in 1898. A supporter of Jewish settlement in Erets Yisrael, he spent his last years (from 1904) in Jerusalem. His ethical teachings, published in Or Yisrael were widely studied in Musar circles. Blaser also wrote works on halakhah.