Elchonon Wasserman
| Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1874 Biržai, Lithuania |
| Died | 1941 Seventh Fort, Kaunas, Lithuania |
| Education | Telshe yeshiva |
| Spouse(s) | Michla (nee Atlas) Wasserman |
| Children | Simcha, Naftoli, Dovid |
Elchonon Bunem Wasserman (Hebrew: אלחנן בונים וסרמן; 1874 – 6 July 1941) was a prominent rabbi and rosh yeshiva in pre-World War II Europe. He was one of the Chofetz Chaim's closest disciples and a noted Torah scholar.
Rabbi Wasserman was born in Biržai (Birz) in present-day Lithuania to Rabbi Naftali Beinish, a shopkeeper and Rakhel Sheina. In 1890, the family moved to Bauska (Boisk) in present-day Latvia, and Wasserman, then 15 years old, studied in the Telshe Yeshiva in Telšiai (Telz) under Rabbi Eliezer Gordon and Rabbi Shimon Shkop. In the summer of 1897, Wasserman met Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik at a health resort and "became deeply attached to him and his way of learning." He left Telz and traveled to Brest-Litovsk (Brisk) in present-day Belarus, where he learned under Soloveitchik for two years, thereafter considering him his primary rebbe (teacher and mentor).
Wasserman was married in 1899 to Michla, the daughter of Rabbi Meir Atlas, rabbi of Salantai (Salant). Wasserman lived in his father-in-law's house for many years and rejected offers of rabbinical posts (including a prestigious rabbinate in Moscow) being afforded the opportunity to learn Torah at home. He did however decide to teach, and together with Rabbi Yoel Baranchik, he started a mesivta in Amtshilov, Russia in 1903 and earned himself a reputation as an outstanding teacher. Prior to 1907, Wasserman heard that another local rabbi wanted to head the mesivta in Amtshilov and he left to avoid an argument, returning to learn in his father-in-law's house. From 1907 to 1910, he studied in the Kollel Kodshim in the Raduń Yeshiva in Radun' (Radin), headed by The Chofetz Chaim. While at the kollel, Wasserman studied with Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, who would later become the rosh yeshiva of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, for eighteen hours a day.
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