Spektor, Yitsḥaq Elḥanan

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SPEKTOR, YITSḤAQ ELḤANAN

SPEKTOR, YITSḤAQ ELḤANAN (1817–1896) was an Orthodox rabbi and foremost traditional Jewish legal authority during the last half of the nineteenth century. Born in Rosh, in the Grodno district of Russia, Spektor was raised in a highly traditional milieu and as a young boy mastered the study of Talmud under the tutelage of his father, Yisraʾel Isser. After his arranged marriage at the age of thirteen, Spektor went to live with his in-laws in Volkovysk, where Binyamin Diskin instructed him in rabbinics and ordained him as a rabbi. Spektor occupied his first rabbinical post at the age of twenty and served as rabbi in several Russian towns, including Nishvez and Novogrudok, centers of traditional Talmudic scholarship. In 1864 Spektor became rabbi of Kovno, where he also headed the kolel (advanced rabbinic academy) until his death.

Spektor's piety, his absolute command of traditional rabbinic sources and methods, and his virtually unparalleled genius in rendering Jewish legal decisions made him the communal leader of Orthodox Jewry in Russia during his day. He participated in a host of charitable and civic affairs on behalf of Russian and world Jewry, arbitrated Jewish communal disputes throughout the world, and was a staunch supporter of Jewish colonization in Palestine. In addition, Spektor attempted to defend traditional Judaism against many of the onslaughts of modernity. He himself was unable to speak Russian and was an opponent of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment); he forbade the translation of the Talmud into Russian and opposed the creation of modern rabbinical seminaries where secular subjects would be taught.

Spektor's first volume of responsa (Jewish legal decisions), Beʾer Yitshaq (1858), was published when he was thirty-one years old, a relatively young age for such a work. Two other collections of responsa—Nahal Yitshaq (1872, 1884) and ʿEin Yitsḥaq (1889, 1895)—further enhanced his stature. His decisions, marked by an astonishing ability to cite the whole range of rabbinic literature in arriving at a judgment, display a tendency toward leniency. They remain a valuable and authoritative source for contemporary Orthodox rabbis in dealing with Jewish legal issues. The largest Orthodox rabbinical school in the United States, the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University in New York, is named after him.

Bibliography

The most comprehensive work yet written on Spektor's life is Ephraim Shimoff's "Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spektor: His Life and Works" (Ph.D. diss., Yeshiva University, 1959). Samuel K. Mirsky has also written an article, "Isaac Elchanan Spektor," in Guardians of Our Heritage (New York, 1958), edited by Leo Jung. While both these pieces provide valuable information for an understanding of Spektor's life, a definitive critical study remains to be completed.