Rabbi Baruch Epstein or Baruch ha-Levi Epstein (1860-1941) (Hebrew: ברוך הלוי אפשטיין) was a Lithuanian rabbi, best known for his Torah Temimah commentary on the Torah. He was the son of Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, rabbi of Novarodok and author of the work Arukh HaShulkhan.
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Biography
Epstein grew up in Novarodok, where his father was the communal rabbi, but moved to the city of Pinsk after his marriage and lived there until his death, apart from a period from 1923 to 1926, which he spent in the United States of America looking (unsuccessfully) for a rabbinic position. Although Epstein was a bookkeeper by profession, he had been a student at the Volozhin Yeshiva (under his uncle Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin) and authored a number of popular and scholarly works.
Works
- Torah Temimah ("The Perfect Torah") - a commentary on the Torah citing all quotes of a particular verse in the Oral Torah (Talmud or Midrash), and giving textual explanations.
- Baruch she-Amar ("Praised He Who Spoke") - a commentary on the siddur (Jewish prayerbook).
- Mekor Baruch ("Source of Blessing") - autobiographical work with notes on life in the Volozhin yeshiva and his uncle. Selections were translated as "My Uncle the Netziv" (see below).
- Tosefet Beracha ("Added Blessing") - novellae on the Torah
References
- Great Leaders of our People: Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein
- My Uncle the Netziv, Mesorah Publications Ltd, Brooklyn, New York, 1988. ISBN 0-89906-492-2.
