ר׳ איסר זלמן מלצר

ר׳ איסר זלמן מלצר (1870–1953) was a leading Lithuanian rosh yeshiva and halakhic scholar. Born in Mir, he studied in Mir, Volozhin—where ר׳ חיים סולובייצ׳יק profoundly shaped his analytical method—and Radin under ר׳ ישראל מאיר הכהן. After marrying Beila Hinda, daughter of ר׳ שרגא פייבל פרנק, he helped lead the Slabodka yeshiva and in 1897 founded a major yeshiva in Slutsk. He became Slutsk’s rabbi in 1903. Soviet repression forced the institution across the Polish border to Kletsk; after arrest and mounting danger he joined it there in 1923. In 1925 he immigrated to Jerusalem and became rosh yeshiva of Etz Chaim, while serving prominently in the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. His monumental אבן האזל analyzes the Mishneh Torah of ר׳ משה בן מימון and became a foundational work of twentieth-century Brisker-style lomdus. His Jerusalem home and lectures influenced generations of scholars, notably his son-in-law ר׳ אהרן קוטלר. He died in Jerusalem and was buried on Har HaMenuchot.