Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach – Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh

Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man bar Azriel Shach – Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh

Elazar Menachem Man Shach was born in the village of Vabalninkas (Vabolnik) in northern Lithuania, to Rabbi Azriel and Batsheva Shach. The Shach family had been merchants for generations, but Batsheva's family, the Levitans, were religious members of various Lithuanian communities. Batsheva's brother, Rabbi Asher Nissan Levitan, later became an important figure in the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States.

Elazar Menachem Man was an illui (child prodigy). In 1909, at the age of 11, Shach entered the Ponevezh Yeshiva, which at that time was located in the city of Panevėžys, Lithuania, and was headed by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Rabinowitz, known as Rav Itzele Ponevezher.

In 1913, Shach began studying at the Knesset Yisrael Yeshiva (Slabodka). When the First World War broke out in 1914, many students of the Slabodka Yeshiva were scattered across Europe. Shach first returned to his family, but then began traveling from town to town throughout Lithuania, sleeping and eating wherever he could while continuing to study Torah. In 1915, on the advice of Rabbi Yechezkel Bernstein (author of "Divrei Yechezkel"), Shach went to Slutzk to study at the yeshiva there. It was in Slutzk that he met Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, marking the beginning of a close, lifelong relationship between them. Shach also met Rabbi Yosef Yozel Horowitz (head of the Novardok Yeshiva), who came to visit the yeshiva to introduce its students to the study of Mussar. Around this time he also first met Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, as Feinstein often visited Meltzer at his home in Slutzk. In 1921, as a result of regional political changes, the Slutzk Yeshiva broke apart. Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer remained in Slutzk, while Meltzer's son-in-law, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, took his students and opened a yeshiva in the town of Kletzk. Shach joined Kotler in Kletzk and was subsequently appointed by Kotler as a maggid shiur ("Talmud instructor") at the yeshiva.

In 1923, Shach married Meltzer's niece, Guttel Gilmovsky. After the wedding, Shach and his wife moved to Mir, Belarus, to the residence of his father-in-law. It was in Mir that Shach formed a lifelong relationship with the town's rabbi, Avraham Tzvi Hirsh Kamai. They frequently discussed Torah together, and even after Shach later moved to Israel, he continued to correspond with Kamai. (These letters were later printed in Shach's great work, Avi Ezri.)

After spending some time in Mir, Shach returned to Kletzk to rejoin the yeshiva there. In 1925, his wife's uncle, Rabbi Meltzer, moved to Israel, and it was at this point that Shach became significantly more involved in the day-to-day running of the yeshiva. Around this time, Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein joined the yeshiva to become its mashgiach ruchani ("spiritual mentor"), and thus began a lifelong relationship of mutual respect between Shach and Levenstein. After the passing of Rabbi Meir Shapiro, head of the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva, Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski sent a letter to the yeshiva's administrators recommending Shach for the position. After speaking at the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva, Shach traveled to Vilna to consult with Grodzinski about whether he should take up the new position, and after hearing out the various considerations, Grodzinski advised Shach to decline the offer.

In 1934, Shach was appointed Rosh Yeshiva of Novardok. This came about as a result of a recommendation from the Chazon Ish to one of the yeshiva's founders, Rabbi Bentzion Bruk. At this point in Shach's life, the rest of his family lived in Kletzk, while he stayed at the Novardok Yeshiva for extended periods. About two years later, Shach left the yeshiva because, in his own words, "this place is not for me for many reasons." In 1935, Shach became Rosh Yeshiva of the Hasidic Karlin Yeshiva in Luninets. He also served as the yeshiva's mashgiach ruchani, delivering the customary Mussar talks to the students. Shach remained there until the start of the Second World War.