The Jewish Press joins Klal Yisrael in mourning the passing of Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Mir Yerushalayim since 1990. A great-grandson of the legendary Alter of Slobodan, he continued in the Altar’s tradition of serious study of Talmud combined with an emphasis on the teachings of the Mussar movement. Rav Nosson Tzvi presided over the growth of the Mirrer Yeshiva into the largest yeshiva in Israel, with an enrollment of approximately 6,000 students, many of them American and Canadian.
A gifted Talmudist and scholar of Jewish tradition, he was also revered for his selfless and profound commitment to the personal development of the thousands of students who studied at Mir over the past two decades. He famously served as a unique role model given his early background and his rise to the top leadership in the Torah world. He grew up in Chicago as the proverbial all-American boy, was a prominent participant in his high school’s extra-curricular programs, and became one of the most venerated roshei yeshiva of our generation. A long-time sufferer from Parkinson’s disease, he was reputed to have refused medication when advised that his memory might suffer. “I’d rather be ill my whole life,” he said, “than forget even one word of the holy Torah.”
May his memory be a blessing.
