Welcome to the Ner Israel Archive!

This site is devoted to the teachings of the rabbis who lectured at the Ner Israel Rabbinical College (ישיבת נר ישראל; Baltimore, Maryland) since its inception in 1933.

We plan to add more materials to the site, and everyone who has something to share is invited to participate. (Click the “Contact” link at the end of this page.)


Rabbi Yaakov Yitzḥak ha-Levi Ruderman — הרב יעקב יצחק הלוי רודערמאןRabbi Yaakov Yitzḥak (Yitzchok) ha-Levi Ruderman (הרב יעקב יצחק הלוי רודערמאן [רודרמן] זצוק״ל) was the founder and the first dean (ראש הישיבה) of Ner Israel (1933–1987). He is remembered as one of the greatest scholars of the previous generation. Shortly before immigrating to America, Rabbi Yaakov Yitzḥak (Yitzchok) ha-Levi Ruderman published his magnum opus ספר עבודת לוי (Lithuania, 1930). That volume was so important to him and his students that on his tombstone one line of the inscription states: שלמו עטיו בעבודת לוי קדשי ירושלים.

The Sefer Avodath Levi Project to preserve Rabbi Yaakov Yitzḥak (Yitzchok) ha-Levi Ruderman’s legacy has been in progress. You may download its fruition below.


Download file DOWNLOAD AS PROGRAM (Windows version)
Download file DOWNLOAD AS ARCHIVE (Windows version. The file in compressed for faster downloads. It can be unpacked by most modern archiving programs, for example, by 7-zip [freeware].)

The screenshots of the digital edition (launched on Windows 7):



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Rabbi Naftali H. Neuberger — הרב נפתלי נויברגר זצוק״לRabbi Naftali (Naftoli) H. (Herman) Neuberger (הרב נפתלי [הלוי] נויברגר זצוק״ל) was the first president of Ner Israel (1940–2005), the position now occupied by his son Rabbi Sheftel Neuberger (שליט״א). He was a scholar and visionary leader who sacrificed most of his time to the development and financial stability of the Ner Israel Rabbinical College. Indeed, people who studied at Ner Israel can surely say — paraphrasing the famous Talmudic passages (כתובות דף ס״ג ע״א ונדרים דף נ׳ ע״א) — that they owe their Jewish scholarship to him: שלי ושלכם שלו הוא. The PDF file below contains articles about Rabbi Naftali (Naftoli) H. (Herman) Neuberger that were written and published shortly after his death in 2005. (If there is a problem opening the file, download a small PDF viewer — program or archive [the archive is compressed for faster downloads and can also be unpacked by most modern archiving programs, for example, by 7-zip (freeware)].)


Articles about Rabbi Naftali (Naftoli) H. (Herman) Neuberger




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Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Weinberg — הרב שמואל יעקב וינברג זצוק״לRabbi Shmuel Yaakov Weinberg (הרב שמואל יעקב וינברג זצוק״ל) inherited Rabbi Ruderman’s mantle and leaded Ner Israel after the latter’s death (1987–1999). Rabbi Weinberg was not only a profound scholar but an eloquent public speaker. Two transcripts of his famous lectures, which in turn were provided by his son-in-law Rabbi Beryl (Berl) Weisbord (שליט״א), are offered below. (Both of them were also translated into Russian and successfully used in outreach programs and on the Internet: link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4, link 5, link 6, and link 7, link 8, link 9, link 10, link 11, link 12 respectively.) An additional project that has been forthcoming is the digital work “הקדמת הרמב״ם ז״ל למשנה תורה” with Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Weinberg’s commentary. Presently, it has been reviewed for publication by the leadership of the Ner Israel Rabbinical College. One may contact Ner Israel (410-484-7200) to check when it will become available to the general public. The introduction to the digital project is also given below.


“Can a Rational Person Believe in the Divinity of the Torah?”

“Why Israel Belongs to the Jews”

Introduction to the digital project “הקדמת הרמב״ם ז״ל למשנה תורה”

The lectures and introduction are presented as PDF files. (If there is a problem opening them, download a small PDF viewer — program or archive [the archive is compressed for faster downloads and can also be unpacked by most modern archiving programs, for example, by 7-zip (freeware)].)




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Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Kulefsky — הרב יעקב משה קולפסקי זצוק״לRabbi Yaakov Moshe Kulefsky (הרב יעקב משה קולפסקי [קולעפסקי] זצוק״ל) was the head of Ner Israel (1999–2000) after the death of Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Weinberg. He is renowned for the in-depth analysis of the Talmud, and his classes attracted hundreds of students. In recent years, many of those lectures (preserved on audiotapes) have been summarized and published under his name. One volume (on כתובות) is currently available on the Internet (HebrewBooks.org/41296) in the form of scanned pages with textual layers. The quality of those layers is inferior (for instance, try searching for the word זמן of the first chapter’s subtitle [ביאור החיוב בהגיע זמן ולא נישאו] on page 9 — it cannot be found because the textual layer has the word “pr” [sic] in its place). One can compare it (link 1) with the original text carefully retyped and presented here (link 2).

It is less known, however, that Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Kulefsky did write expositions himself, and some of them were printed in his lifetime. Below are two of his articles published in תשל״ב and תשמ״א. For the first time, they are faithfully reproduced here as PDF files. (Again, if there is a problem opening this type of file, download a small PDF viewer — program or archive [the archive is compressed for faster downloads and can also be unpacked by most modern archiving programs, for example, by 7-zip (freeware)].) One is also encouraged to use the experimental search engine specially written for Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Kulefsky’s articles.


בענין אין עד נעשה דיין ועדים קרובים לדיינים

בעניני פרוזבול

Search / חיפוש (in these two articles)




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Rabbi Aharon Feldman — הרב אהרן פלדמן שליט״אRabbi Aharon (Aaron) Feldman (הרב אהרן פלדמן שליט״א) has been the dean (ראש הישיבה) of Ner Israel since 2001. He is a native of Baltimore who spent four decades in Israel prior to accepting his current position. Besides being a recognized thinker and lecturer, Rabbi Aharon Feldman is also a prolific author who wrote and edited many important books in Hebrew and English. One of them is “Yad LePeah” (יד לפאה) published nearly fifty years ago in Israel. It consists of the mediæval commentary written by Rabbeinu Asher [Osher] (רא״ש) on the Mishnaic treatise Peah (פאה) and the contemporary commentary on the same treatise by Rabbi Aharon Feldman. The entire book was recently turned into a digital edition that has been presently reviewed for publication by the leadership of Ner Israel. In addition to the original text, the new version has a powerful search engine and the fully vowelized Mishnaic treatise Peah linked to the commentaries. Many errors found in the first edition are also corrected. One is invited to contact Ner Israel (410-484-7200) to check when the new edition will become available to the general public. Below are the introduction to the digital project and the first chapter of the book. Both documents are presented here as PDF files. (If there is a problem opening them, download a small PDF viewer — program or archive [the archive is compressed for faster downloads and can also be unpacked by most modern archiving programs, for example, by 7-zip (freeware)].)

Artwork for the covers of the “Yad LePeah” CD.


Introduction to the digital project “Yad LePeah”

ספר יד לפאה סימן א׳




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Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt — רבי פנחס גולדשמידט



Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt is an alumnus of Ner Israel. Although he has never lectured there, he is the spiritual leader of the Moscow Choral Synagogue, the head of the rabbinical court of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the president of the Conference of European Rabbis. Read how his attempt to translate the Talmud into Russian turned into an extremely unbecoming venture.

Of rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt’s treatment of the Talmud
Об отношении раввина Пинхаса Гольдшмидта к Талмуду

Contact


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