Baruch HaLevi Epstein, Targum Press, 1998
This book is a translation into English of sections of the ‘Mekor Baruch’, a four volume autobiography of Rabbi Epstein. This particular part deals with the life of the author’s illustrious uncle, Rabbi N.Z.Y. Berlin, known universally as the Netziv. The main autobiography deals with the author’s life and experiences of hardship and relocation during the First World War, as well as his changing religious life. The Netziv, the subject of this book was an interesting thinker, Rosh Yeshivah of Volozhin, and leader, who lived through tumultuous times. While hardly a free-thinker, he was very much in tune with the world around him, read newspapers and even led a Saturday-night group for the Yeshivah boys discussing current affairs. The challenge to the Yeshivah curriculum of the Czarist authorities is a major theme in the book, as is the development of the Netziv’s keen social observational skills. He was an outstanding Talmudist, author and critical thinker. His struggle to maintain the Yeshivah against mounting hostility (it eventually closed) is also addressed in detail. This book was deemed by some to be risqué and was withdrawn by the publisher. I bought one immediately, just before it went out of print.
