Biographies

The Bnei Yissoschar and the Spread of the Chassidic Movement is indispensable for anyone interested in the timeless wisdom and history of Chassidus. Against the backdrop to the Bnei Yissoschar’s life, we behold a magnificent kaleidoscope of chassidic greats who were his teachers and peers. This..

From our matriarch Sarah through Sarah Schenirer, our history is replete with Jewish women who have left a stimulating legacy for our generation. Some of these women are well known. Others are all but forgotten. The details of their lives have been brought together in a single volume - a wealth of i..

Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz..

Reb Yitzchak throws away a jewel to prevent a sin and is rewarded with the greatest jewel of all. Acclaimed as a perfect 2nd grade reader. An ArtScroll Junior Classic...

The closing years of the fifteenth century marked the beginning of a new era. The epoch of the Rishonim, the ""Early Commentators"" was over. Just as the era of the Mishnah had given way to that of the Talmud, and that of the Talmud had given way to that of the Geonim and Rishonim, so too a new era ..

Based on LiKedoshim Asher Ba'aretz by Hacham David Laniado; Edited and expanded by Rabbi David Sutton; Translated by Isaac Kirzner Known since Biblical times as Aram Soba, the city of Aleppo, Syria was a scholarly and spiritual center for thousands of years. Hated, persecuted, and finally driven out..

""No, no, no!"" he told the caller. "" How can you say you have no friends? I'm your friend."" The caller was sad and lonely. The speaker was Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov HaKohen Pam, Rosh Yeshivah of Torah Vodaath, where he taught Torah to thousands of talmidim for sixty-three years. After speaking to his ..

With typical modesty, the saintly tzaddik Grand Rabbi Aharon of Belz said, ""Every survivor must have been accompanied by malachim (angels) on every side."" If every survivor was saved by angels, the Rebbe was surely escorted by entire companies of angels. Even in an era of holy people, he was reve..

Boston chassidus is a wellspring of the baal teshuvah movement, a source of compassion and medical assistance, and a model of vibrant Torah Judaism. This is the Bostoner Rebbetzin's own story, from European roots, to the United States, to new chapters in Har Nof, Israel...

The young Slovakian businessman planned to join his wife in London, but the Nazis marched into Austria and life would never be the same. Mandated by his illustrious father to remain in Europe to help his people, R' Shmuel Binyomin (Wolf) Frey embarked on a saga of rescue and relief that had reverber..

A most unlikely hero. A most unconventional memoir. Shepsel was a little Jewish boy cared for in a nurturing German home - until his Nazi ""father"" was killed fighting for the Third Reich and his foster mother handed him over to a death camp. (She gave him a stuffed bunny rabbit in parting.) After..

A biography written especially for young people, packed with history and inspiration...

The definitive biography of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, Poland...

The inspiring life-story of Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz...

When little Leibish was eight years old, his world came to an end.It had been a wonderful world, the secure and peaceful world of Chassidic Budapest. And now, in an instant, it was gone. The Nazis had arrived, and Leibish and his family were brutally thrust into a world where life hung in the b..

The courageous story of Dr. Jacob Griffel. Though his family had been wiped out, he never stopped fighting to save Jews...

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Israel Cohen was a prisoner in a slave-labor hell during the Holocaust. More than once the thought that he was a footstep away from the end, but he was destined to survive - to start a new life, raise a proud family, and share his experiences with us. And his experiences are truly a gift, because Co..

""Reb Moshe"" - for the nine decades of his life, these two words were synonymous with Torah greatness, encyclopedic knowledge, compassion, generosity, piety, humility, faith, and countless other precious, sacred concepts. During his five decades in the United States, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein was Ros..

Like its popular predecessor Five Great Lives depicts the character and achievements of five towering Torah personalities, Rabbi Shimon Finkelman, the best-selling, perceptive biographer of Torah greats, continues to enlighten and inspire in this new book. You will be moved by the kindness and stren..

Sara Yoheved Rigler's best-selling book is now available in French, the language of thousands of jews around the world! Visitors streamed to them for guidance and blessings; leading Rabbonim treated them with reverence. Living in a humble shack, poverty clung to them like the dust of the surrounding..

Rabbi Shimon Finkelman knows how to present the many facets of their lives as geonim, teachers, humane guides, and devout servants of Hashem. His full-length anecdotal biographies have won the admiration and gratitude of thousands. Here he presents the biographies of five venerable and beloved leade..

The living heritage of the Mussar movement...

Stories and insights on the study and the students of Israel's greatest treasure...

A Monumental Work of Holocaust Scholarship -- and a Masterpiece of Torah Thought Under the direction of world-renowned Holocaust researcher Esther Farbstein, a team of scholars examined the preface of virtually every religious book published since the 1940s, looking for autobiographical material re..

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The story of Reb Chaim Gelb, the Willamsburg baker who became a legend...

The inspiring life-stories of seven Torah leaders from the chassidic world...

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The inspiring life-story of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld...

This New York Times bestseller is finally available in Hebrew! Yaffa Eliach's unforgettable collection of chassidic tales is a classic of both Holocaust literature and chassidic thought. These eighty-nine unforgettable stories are based on interviews with survivors. Forged in the fires of the Holoca..

From Switzerland Mrs. Recha Sternbuch and her husband operated a network that saved thousands of lives...

Sara Yoheved Rigler's best-selling book is now available in Hebrew! Visitors streamed to them for guidance and blessings; leading Rabbonim treated them with reverence. Living in a humble shack, poverty clung to them like the dust of the surrounding Jezre'el Valley. Childless themselves, they cared f..

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The story of Dr. Selma Wehl, heroine of medical practice and Torah living...

Her grandfather, youngest son of the revered Sanzer Rebbe, the Divrei Chaim, had promised her she would survive. Was it possible? Sima Halberstam Preiser grew up in a majestic chassidic household, related to many of the great Rebbes. ""Tell me a story of the Sanzer Zeideh"" she would beg, and then, ..

Visitors streamed to them for guidance and blessings; leading Rabbonim treated them with reverence. Living in a humble shack, poverty clung to them like the dust of the surrounding Jezre'el Valley. Childless themselves, they cared for cast-off children with profound handicaps. By life's end, Rebbitz..

From the middos of the Partiarchs and Matriarchs to the mussar thinkers of our time...

In 1930, a historic visit took place - one that few people thought would ever be possible. Two Torah giants from two continents and two worlds met in an astounding and inspiring display of respect and affection. The gaon and tzaddik Harav Chaim Eluzar Shapira, the Munkacser Rebbe and author of the c..

Half a century ago, Dr. Gershon Kranzler painted word portraits of a string of fascinating people, great and little known, from the pioneer ""Shatnez Man"" to the Stoliner Rebbe.These were the turbulent, traumatic post-Holocaust years, when the land was being plowed and the seeds planted for today's..

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Join Meyer Birnbaum as he enlists in the U.S. Army, helps liberate Buchenwald, trains youngsters for Israel's War of Independence, and drives the Mirrer Rosh Yeshivah and countless others daily to the sunrise minyan at the Kosel...

As the leader and National Director of Torah Umesorah, the National Association for Hebrew Day Schools, Dr. Joseph Kaminetsky was instrumental in creating the Day School movement. Here, he looks back on an excitement-studded life, and his ""memorable encounters'' with Torah leaders and influential p..

From the Appalachian backwoods comes a family so amazing, a true story so incredible, and a light so bright — it will illuminate our own lives as well. When Sheryl Youngs married John Massey, she looked forward to a life based on the Biblical principles her parents, members of a small but fervently ..

Reb Elemelech Tress his era, Hatzalah, and the building of an American orthodoxy...

Some people study Mussar. Some people teach Mussar. Few people are Mussar. Such a person was Rabbi Meir Chodosh. Few were as great as he. Few were as successful in concealing their greatness. Few so embodied what they studied, learned, and taught. Rabbi Chodosh was a quintessential talmid of Rabbi N..

A first-person account of life with Rabbi Naftali Tvi Yehudah Berlin, Rosh Yeshivah of Volozhin...

Unlike tales of heroic feats, this rare collection of anecdotes recounts the seemingly "simple" acts of extraordinary individuals.  We learn how the truly great lived their lives with a sense of inner nobility that carried them through challenges both great and small. Why did Rav Yisroel Zev Gus..

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The newest volume in this popular series by Rabbi Dovid Silber continues to bring us touching anecdotes about dozens of great Rabbinic figures, each one accompanied by a biographic profile. Why would the seemingly affluent young Leizer Yudel Finkel walk the muddy streets of Radin in worn-though sho..

Reflections on the world of the Jewish woman. A collection of thoughtful articles from the Jewish Observer. An ArtScroll Judaiscope Series book...

The inspiring life-story of Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski...

Reb Chatzkel -- the name still inspires all who remember his depth, his intensity, his wisdom, his selflessness, his example, his piety, his insistence on excellence, his utter devotion to Hashem, Torah, Mussar, and talmidim. Reb Chatzkel was Mashgiach in the Mirrer Yeshivah and elsewhere before Wo..

The inspiring life-story of Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman. Adapted from Aaron Sorasky's ""Ohr Elchonon."" New edition including two chapters on his son, Reb Simcha...

For three generations, Reb Elyah Lopian was a synonym for piety, wisdom, courage, mussar, and harbatzas haTorah a man who was an inspiring teacher and role model for countless thousands. When he was in his eighties, after a long life of unremitting achievement, he longed to retire to a back bench in..

The undisputed posek hador. The gadol who carried the Torah world on his shoulders. For close to a century, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv was a fixture in the Meah Shearim neighborhood of Yerushalayim, studying Torah day and night. Even during the decades that he served as a dayan (Rabbinic Judge) and p..

The inspiring life-story of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein...

Born in Portsmouth, Virginia. Attended public school in Baltimore. Knew only one blatt Gemara at his bar mitzvah. Was this a Jewishly deprived American youngster? Not at all. It was the world renowned gaon and rosh yeshiva Harav Mordechai Gifter, Rosh Yeshivah of Telz and one of the worl..

Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky a""h, daughter of an extraordinary and illustrious Torah family, was one of the most remarkable, selfless, and beloved women of our time. Thousands of people — Sephardim and Ashkenazim, Torah-observant, traditional, and even non-religious Jews — came to ask for her bless..

The Holy Rizhiner - that is how chassidim referred to Rabbi Yisroel of Rizhin for over 150 years. He was a grandson of the Great Maggid of Mezritch, the successor of the Baal Shem Tov and the man who taught, inspired and guided the founders of the earliest chassidic dynasties. Rizhin, a sma..

Biographical sketches of 300 prominent 10th-15th-century Rabbinic sages and leaders such as Rashi, Rambam, R' Gershom Meor HaGolah. Traces the beginnings of Jewish communities in each part of the continents...

Rabbi Mendel Kaplan showed students how to master the complexities of Talmud and commentaries. And by commenting on everything from current events to the foibles of human nature, he provided a ""Torah's-eye perspective"" on life and people. Yisroel Greenwald presents his life and much of the wisdom ..

The first part of this biography is written from a unique vantage point - the gadol's mother. Rebbetzin Sara Finkel, herself a noted and beloved personality as well as a gifted writer, shares with us her memories of a beloved son whom she nurtured and watched grow into a gadol ha'dor. In the second ..

“Our generation sees in him that rare blend, that light of Torah, righteousness, kindness and truth that few people merit.” This is how one of our generation’s leaders described Rabbi Avraham Pam. For sixty-three years, he taught Gemara and Halachah, but he taught more. He taught — and demonstrat..

An heir to the Chortkov dynasty, Rabbi Yisroel Friedman is the Rav of the Chortkover Kloiz in Manchester, England. In this comprehensive book, he traces Chortkover Chassidus from its origins with Reb Dovid Moshe, son of Rabbi Yisroel of Rizhin; to its vast dissemination to thousands of Chassidim ..

Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg zt'l is a legend in the Torah world. The founder and Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshivas Torah Ore, he was renowned for his brilliance and hasmadah and beloved for his stellar middos. Tens of thousands of Jews made their way to his quiet Jerusalem apartment to meet with him, lear..

When a critic derisively exclaimed that Reb Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz was not living in the 20th century, he replied mildly, “You are right. I am a man of the 21st century.” How true! At a time when hardly a soul believed that Orthodoxy had a future in America or that a great yeshivah..

The inspiring life-story of Rabbi Yehudah Zev Segal...

The inspiring life-story of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch...

The inspiring life-story of Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky...

How does one of the best ball players on the Lower East Side become one of America's most distinguished mechanchim, a man who taught, inspired and elevated thousands of talmidim and their families? It begins by dedicating himself to Torah study and to serving Hashem with joy, love and consistency - ..

Rabbi Moshe Sherer not only changed history, he made history. In the 1940s, a secular Jewish spokesman referred to Orthodox Judaism as ""a sickly weed."" After a half-century of Rabbi Sherer's wise, visionary, charismatic, and indefatigable advocacy and leadership, the Torah community was luxuriant,..

Shlomie Gross evoked joy and excitement wherever he went. He was a successful businessman and an activist for more worthy causes than anyone knew about. He was warm, humorous, charismatic. But that was not the secret of his popularity. Above all, Shlomie's heart was -- as a friend put it -- ""as hu..

Rabbanit Batya Karelitz, the sister of the Chazon Ish...

Eliyahu Essas was the new Russia's first ordained Rabbi and leader of a baal teshuvah movement...

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Anthologies of biographical sketches from over a quarter-century of The Jewish Observer. Klausenberger Rebbe, R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, R' Shimon Schwab, R' Yehoshua Silbermintz, The ""Noda B'Yehuda,"" et al. Edited by Rabbi Nisson Wolpin...

Anthologies of biographical sketches from over a quarter-century of The Jewish Observer. R' Binyamin Beinush Finkel, Gerrer Rebbe, R' Yehuda Zev Segal, R' Dovid Lifshitz et al. Edited by Rabbi Nisson Wolpin...

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Anthologies of biographical sketches from over a quarter-century of The Jewish Observer. Reb Yisrael Salanter, Steipler Gaon, Ribi Yaakov Abu-Hasira, Skulener Rebbe, et al. Edited by Rabbi Nisson Wolpin...

An important work of history. A vital book of hashkafah. Our gedolim have made it clear that we owe it to ourselves, to the generation that suffered under Nazi brutality and, perhaps most of all, to future generations, to study the Holocaust through the prism of Torah and emunah. Written by a reno..

This is a panorama of a book, the story of worlds within worlds. It combines many slices of fascinating human interest and the history of Torah worlds. It invites us into the life of a family that will make us smile with admiration, marvel at its courage and accomplishment, and recognize the roots o..

From the pen of a celebrated rabbi, lecturer, and renowned historian flows a refreshingly honest look at the person, challenges, and rewards a congregational rabbi. This behind-the-scenes look into the rabbinate is an enlightening read for everyone - and a ""must-have"" resource for any interested ..

The inspiring life-story of the Vilna Gaon. Adapted by Yonason Rosenblum from Betzalel Landau's Hebrew, HaGaon HaChassid MiVilna...

The inspiring life-story of Reb Chaim of Volozhin. Adapted from Rabbi Dov Eliach's Hebrew Avi HaYeshivos by Yonason Rosenblum...

For years, Jews all over the world have been inspired and enlightened by the beautiful stories and profound ideas of Rabbi Shalom Schwadron, the Maggid of Yerushalaim. Even after his unfortunate passing, we have enjoyed his exciting stories, as they continue to live on through the voice of his famou..

This book depicts the personalities of our great Torah sages of the last generation in a unique new way! Warmed by Their Fire brings you into the inner circle of more than a score of inspiring leaders. You'll come to know the personality and warmth of these Torah leaders through the lens of first ha..

From the authors of the bestselling book, Rebbetzin Kanievsky: A Legendary Mother to All, comes an unforgettable biography for children. Now you can share the inspiration with your kids! The fascinating story of an authentic ""Torah Princess"" who grew up to help tens of thousands of Jews — and be..

Six Chassidic dynasties, going back to the Baal Shem Tov, converged in the late 19th century Rebbe of Hornosteipel. This legacy, the foundation of his development as a tzaddik, was expressed in numerous facets of his highly refined personality as well as his spiritual achievements. Over a forty-y..

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Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), the Lubavitcher Rebbe, took an insular Chasidic group that was almost decimated by the Holocaust and transformed it into one of the most influential and controversial forces in world Jewry. This superbly crafted biography draws on recently uncovered docu..