The Minsker Gadol

Rav Yerucham Yehuda Leib Perlman zt”l, commonly known as the Minsker Gadol, was recognized as a giant in Torah scholarship in an age of Torah luminaries such as Rav Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, and Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin (Netziv).

Already in his youth, Rav Leib stood out as an iluy, a genius. Within a relatively short time, he was acknowledged in the Jewish world as a great leader and posek. After he served as Rav of Seltz and then Pruzhin, in 1873 he was appointed to serve as Rav in Minsk, capital of White Russia. Many of his responsa were published in the sefer Ohr Gadol. His commentary on the Mishnah was included in the comprehensive Vilna edition.

This biography, written by his close associate Rav Meir Halperin before World War I, never appeared in print until the Hebrew version in 1993; the present edition — translated by Rabbi Shlomo Slonim, the Minsker Gadol’s great-grandson — is the first to appear in English. It traces the Gadol’s career and his development from early childhood, and includes fascinating insights on Chassidus, the Mussar movement, and haskalah.

By: Rabbi Shlomo Slonim