ר׳ משה שפירא

ר׳ משה שפירא (28 May 1935–7 January 2017), commonly rendered Rav Moshe Shapira or Shapiro, was an Israeli rosh yeshiva and one of the most influential contemporary teachers of Jewish thought and aggadah. Born in Petah Tikva to ר׳ יצחק מאיר שפירא and Rachel, he inherited the Kelm mussar tradition through his father’s family. He studied at Ohr Yisrael, Ponevezh, Knesset Yisrael–Hebron and Beit Yehuda, absorbing the approaches of ר׳ יעקב ניימן, ר׳ יוסף רוזובסקי, ר׳ יחיאל מיכל פיינשטיין and ר׳ יצחק הוטנר. He helped establish Yeshivat Tushiya at Tifrach and Yeshivat Beit HaTalmud, later led Beis Binyomin in Stamford, and taught generations of students in Jerusalem, especially at Ohr Somayach and the Wolfson kollelim. His teaching united close Talmudic analysis with Maharal, the Vilna Gaon and his school, Kabbalah, Hasidic thought and mussar. Much of his influence was oral: students recorded and edited extensive lecture series, including רעה אמונה , אפיקי מים , ממעמקים and שיעורי הגר״מ שפירא . He also guided outreach and adult-education organizations and founded institutions for advanced study. His densely structured lectures shaped a broad network of yeshiva educators and ba’alei teshuvah teachers in Israel and abroad.