🗓️✨ Luach Hayom – Today in Halacha & Jewish History
📅 Today’s Yahrzeits[1]
🕯️Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulaiy, The Chida
🕯️Rabbi Shmuel Shtrashon, The Rashash on the Talmud
🕯️Rabbi Avraham Borenshtein, Author of Avnei Nezer and Iglei Tal
🕯️Rabbi Mordechai Pozner (d. 1823), Brother of the Alter Rebbe
🕯️Rabbi Yosef Rozhin, The Rogatchaver
Their Background[2]
🕯️ Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai — The Chida (1724–1806)
📍 Jerusalem → Livorno
📚 Birkei Yosef, Machzik Berachah, Shem HaGedolim
The Chida was one of the most prolific Sephardic sages of all time—halachist, kabbalist, historian, and the father of modern Hebrew bibliography. His Shem HaGedolim cataloged roughly 1,300 scholars and over 2,000 books, preserving vast amounts of Torah history. He served as a shaliach of Eretz Yisrael across Europe and North Africa and studied under giants such as the Ohr HaChaim and R. Shalom Sharabi (the Rashash of Kabbalah).
🕯️ Rabbi Shmuel Strashun — The Rashash (of the Talmud) (1794–1872)
📍 Vilna
📚 Hagahot ha‑Rashash on Shas
Distinct from the kabbalist Rashash, R. Shmuel Strashun was the Rashash whose glosses appear on nearly every page of the Vilna Shas. A master of textual precision, he followed the path of the Vilna Gaon—correcting girsaot, resolving contradictions, and restoring the Talmud’s exact wording. Though never a communal rabbi, his influence on how the Gemara is learned today is enormous.
🕯️ Rabbi Avraham Borenshtein — The Avnei Nezer (1838–1910)
📍 Poland (Sochatchov)
📚 Avnei Nezer, Eglei Tal
One of the greatest Ashkenazic poskim of the 19th century and founder of the Sochatchover dynasty, the Avnei Nezer bridged Brisker-style lomdus with deep Chassidic insight. His Eglei Tal on the 39 melachot of Shabbat is considered foundational, and his responsa in Avnei Nezer remain central to halachic discourse.
🕯️ Rabbi Yosef Rosen — The Rogatchover Gaon (1858–1936)
📍 Rogatchov → Dvinsk
📚 Tzofnat Paneach
Regarded by many as the greatest Talmudic genius of the 20th century, the Rogatchover was famed for his photographic memory and radical conceptual connections across Rambam, Yerushalmi, Bavli, and Sifrei. He avoided later Acharonim, focusing almost exclusively on Rishonim and classical sources. His style is famously terse, cryptic—and brilliant.
🕯️Rabbi Mordechai Pozner[3]
(Brother of the Alter Rebbe)
📍 Orsha, White Russia
📚 Rav of Orsha | Chabad lineage
The saintly brother of the Alter Rebbe, passed away on the 11th of Adar 5583 (1823). The Tzemach Tzedek once described him to his son, the Rebbe Maharash, as a scholar of extraordinary sharpness, endowed with clear and penetrating reasoning and profound depth. When Rabbi Mordechai studied a Talmudic passage, he would review the foundational text six times, each review yielding new and incisive insights. His method advanced gradually, step by step, and his analytical discourse was both refined and engaging. Tradition relates that his facial appearance closely resembled that of his illustrious brother, the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe entrusted him with responsibility over matters of Nigleh and appointed him among those overseeing the chadarim. Every prospective student was required to undergo examination by Rabbi Mordechai prior to admission. He also played a role in assisting with the editing and proofreading of the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch. The family’s original surname was Pozner—a name the Alter Rebbe later changed, while Rabbi Mordechai retained it. In his later years, Rabbi Mordechai served as rabbi in Orsha, and thereafter in Kapust, where he continued his leadership and teaching.
[1] Taken from Luach Itim Labina
[2] Please not that these historical notes were prepared with the assistance of Copilot Pro, an AI Research Agent, and have not been independently verified.
[3] Yimei Chabad Kaminetzky p. 133
