ר׳ מאיר שמחה הכהן מדווינסק

ר׳ מאיר שמחה הכהן מדווינסק (1843–1926) was a major Lithuanian halakhist, biblical commentator and communal rabbi. Born in Butrimonys, he married young and settled in Białystok, where he devoted himself to study while his wife supported the household. In 1888 he was appointed rabbi of Dvinsk’s non-Hasidic community, serving alongside the Hasidic community’s rabbi, ר׳ יוסף רוזין. His first great work, Ohr Somayach, analyzes ר׳ משה בן מימון’s Mishneh Torah with exceptional command of rabbinic literature. Meshech Chochma, published immediately after his death, combines close biblical interpretation, halakhah, philosophy and historical reflection. He was also an influential communal authority whose practical rulings and relief work earned respect across party lines. The frequently quoted passage warning Jews who imagined “Berlin is Jerusalem” belongs to his cyclical philosophy of exile and assimilation; it should not be misrepresented as a dated prophecy of the Holocaust. He died while receiving medical treatment in Riga and was buried in Dvinsk.