Chaim Ozer Grodzinski
| Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski | |
|---|---|
Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (right) conversing with Rabbi Shimon Shkop
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| Other | Leader of Lithuanian and European Jewry |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 24, 1863 9 Elul 5623 AM (Hebrew calendar) Iwye, Russian Empire (present-day Iwye, Belarus) |
| Died | August 9, 1940 (aged 76) 5 Av 5700 AM (Hebrew calendar) Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Denomination | Orthodox |
| Parents | Rabbi David Shlomo Grodzinski |
| Occupation | Rav of Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Alma mater | Volozhin yeshiva |
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (Hebrew: חיים עוזר גרודזנסקי; August 24, 1863 – August 9, 1940) was a pre-eminent Av beis din (rabbinical chief justice), posek (halakhic authority), and Talmudic scholar in Vilnius, Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During his 55 years of community service, he was recognized as the leading posek and spiritual guide of his generation, fielding halakhic queries from all parts of the world and being consulted on every Jewish communal issue. He played an instrumental role in preserving Lithuanian yeshivas during the Communist era, and saved the yeshivas of Poland and Russia during the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, when he arranged for these yeshivas to relocate to Lithuanian cities.
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski was born on 9 Elul 5623 (24 August 1863) in Iwye, Belarus, a small town near Vilnius. His father, Rabbi David Shlomo Grodzinski, was Rav of Iwye for over 40 years, and his grandfather was also Rav of the town for 40 years before that.
From infancy, Chaim Ozer was weak and sickly. However, he was gifted with a tremendous memory, never forgetting anything he had ever read or heard. He was also a deep thinker who developed clear explanations for every Torah topic he studied. At the age of 9, he was tested by Rabbi Yisroel Salanter, who asked the boy a question in halakha along with his own answer. Chaim Ozer refuted the Rav's thesis and cited a different one from the sources, astounding the Rav.
When he was 12 years old, his father sent him to learn with the peirushim, a group of the finest Lithuanian Torah scholars assembled in Eishyshok. Chaim Ozer celebrated his bar mitzvah there. He declined to deliver the usual bar mitzvah pilpul, but demonstrated his fluency in the Ketzos Hachoshen and the Nesivos Hamishpat by asking his guests to recite a few words from these seforim and he continued for them, quoting entire pages word for word and clearly explaining each topic.
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