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The Lost Legacy of the Leshem

JL;DR SUMMARY Rav Shlomo Elyashiv, also known as the Leshem, was a prominent kabbalist of the Lithuanian world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

JerusalemKabbalahJewish MysticismLithuaniaRav KookRamchalDerech HashemLeshemRav Shlomo ElyashivOvadiah Lachman

Places mentioned

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
"Chief among those was the 1896 Amsterdam edition of Derech Hashem, which until then had existed only in manuscript form."
Homel, Minsk, Belarus
"Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Emor 1922, Homel, In honor of the great rabbi and gaon, glory of the generation, my dear friend, Moreinu Harav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohein Kook, the chief rabbi shlita, his light should shine forever."
Lithuania
"Having lived his long and fruitful life quietly and modestly in the Zhamut region of Lithuania, Rav Shlomo Elyashiv (18411926) yearned to spend his last years in the Holy City of Yerushalayim."
Jerusalem, Israel
"Rav Shlomo Elyashiv (18411926) yearned to spend his last years in the Holy City of Yerushalayim."
Riga, Latvia
"and Rav Aryeh Levin later confirmed that Nurick (then living in Riga) not only funded the printing, but also had previously helped rescue the Leshems manuscripts."
Šiauliai, Šiauliai County, Lithuania
"The Leshem resided in the city of Shavel for most of his adult life."
Berlin, Germany
"For years, it was believed that the funding for the publication of Leshem Shvo Veachlamah came from the great patron of Torah and mussar from Berlin, Ovadiah (Emil) Lachman."
Warsaw, Mazovia, Poland
"Rav Shmuel Luria began publishing a series of the Ramchals works in Warsaw, and in the introduction to Adir BaMarom (1886), he offers a double and triple blessing to the Baal HaLeshem, stating that it was through him that the printing was made possible."
Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, Israel
"The Leshem passed away just two years later and is buried on Har Hazeisim, leaving his holy writings and his holy grandson as an eternal inheritance for Klal Yisrael."

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Retrieved 2025-07-02 05:30:24 UTC
Curated 2025-07-02 08:32:26 UTC