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Сила Теилим

15 Adar · Yahrzeit

Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Kaidanover - "Kav HaYashar"

Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh bar Aharon-Shmuel Kaidanover - "Kav HaYashar" (1648 - 1712) Yahrzeit - 15 Adar Burial place - Tzvi Hirsh was born in Vilna and grew up in Kurow until 1658, after which he moved with his father to Nikolsburg, and then to Fürth and Frankfurt. He studied under Yosef Yoske ben Yitzchak, rabbi of Minsk and Dubno. Tzvi Hirsh lived in Vilna, where he was engaged in trade, but eventually left the city and moved to Frankfurt. In the introductions to his father's "Birkat Shmuel" and to his own "Kav HaYashar," he describes the suffering of his family during the Chmielnicki uprising and the Swedish war. He also describes how he and his son were persecuted in Slutsk, where both were imprisoned and tortured on false charges. "Kav HaYashar" "Kav HaYashar" (The Just Measure) is one of the most famous works of Mussar of the last 300 years. It teaches "fear of Heaven, piety, and the preservation of the norms of society." The title of the work "Kav HaYashar" alludes both to the number of chapters it contains (קב = 102), and to the author's name (הישר = הירש). Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk studied it 102 times. Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh said that everyone should acquire his sefer "Kav HaYashar," and promised success in all areas to anyone who studies his book. "Kav HaYashar" is known for having lifted the spirits of Jewish communities in Europe after the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648-1649. First published in 1705 in Frankfurt am Main, it has gone through more than 80 editions in nearly every country with a Jewish community. Kaidanover also prepared a Yiddish version, which went through at least 10 editions. The work is based on "Yesod Yosef," a Mussar book filled with the kabbalistic teachings of the Arizal, written by Kaidanover's teacher, Rabbi Yosef Yoske of Dubno. A more extensive mystical explanation was given by Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Kaidanover in his famous kabbalistic book "Kav HaYashar" (chapter 47): "For iron ("barzel") protected the water from blood, and therefore it protects the water from impurity, because the merit of the four Matriarchs (Bilhah, Zilpah, Rachel, and Leah) protects us from the evil forces of the Sitra Achra, whose symbol is blood." (https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Koidanover_Aharon_Shemuel_and_Tsevi_Hirsh; based on an article by Arye Olman in "Le-Chaim")