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Draft:Meir Simcha Feldblum

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Meir Simcha Feldblum (1929–2002) (also spelled Mayer Simkha or Mayer Simcha) was a professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and Bar Ilan University. A noted Talmudic scholar, both traditionally and academically, he also put forth suggestions to solve the agunah problem.

Biography

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Meir Simcha Feldblum was born in Vilkomir (Ukemerge), Lithuania and studied at the Yeshiva of Ukmergė under Rabbi Joseph Zusmanovitch.[1][2] During WWII, Feldblum's family was murdered by the Lithuanians and he survived the war in the forests around Vilna as a partisan.[1][2][3][4] Following the war, Feldblum moved to the U.S. and studied in the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland and eventually received rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.[1][2][3][4][5] A student of Abraham Weiss, Feldblum also received his Ph.D. in Talmud from Yeshiva University and continued his mentor's work in the academic study of Talmud.[1][2][4][6][7] Between 1952-1968, Feldblum taught in Yeshiva University as both a Rosh Yeshiva teaching traditional Talmud study, as well as professor teaching academic Talmud, an incredibly rare and, in some circles, controversial, combination.[1][2][8] In 1968, Feldblum made Aliyah to Israel and taught at Bar Ilan University for over 18 years.[2][3] Feldblum was the author of two books on Talmudic research, as well as numerous articles and presentations.[1] Approximately 250 master's theses and twenty-six doctoral dissertations were written under Feldblum's guidance.[2]

Feldblum married Esther Feldblum (née Yoles), the daughter of Rabbi Ephraim Eliezer Yolles, a Hasidic Rebbe (the Samborer Rebbe) of Philadelphia.[4]Esther Feldblum received her Ph.D. in Jewish history from Columbia University and taught for one year at Brooklyn College before dying in a car accident at the age of 41.[3][9] Feldblum then married Ayala Levy. His daughter Chai Feldblum is a noted legal scholar and activist for disability and LGBT rights.[4] Feldblum died on August 8, 2002, in Petach Tikvah, Israel, of pancreatic cancer.[5]

Works

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Known for his work on Tractate Gittin, Feldblum wrote a critical commentary on the tractate and, continuing Raphael Nathan Nota Rabinovicz's incomplete project of Dikdukei Soferim, wrote the volume for the tractate.[1] Feldblum also attempted to solve the Agunah problem by suggesting couples enter into Derekh Kiddushin, or quasi-marriage.[10]

Dikdukei Soferim: Mesekhet Gittin (via Otzar HaHochma)

Perushim u-Mekhkarim be-Talmud: Mesekhet Gittin (via Otzar HaHochma)

מאיר שמחה פלדבלום,״ בעיית עגונות וממזרים - הצעת פתרון מקיפה וכוללת,״ דיני ישראל כרך יט תשנז-תשנח עמ' רג-רטז

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Cohen, Avinoam (2006). "Meir Simcha Feldblum: The Man and his Talmudic Research Methodology". Bar Ilan University: From Concept to Enterprise, Vol. 2, ed. Dov Schwartz (Jerusalem: Graphrit Press): 49-65 [Hebrew].
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Levi-Feldblum, Ayala (2006). Steinfeld, Zvi Arie (ed.). "Professor Meyer Simcha Feldblum—a Biographical Sketch". Annual of Bar Ilan University. 30–31: V–VII.
  3. ^ a b c d Feldblum, Meir Simkha. "Testimonial with Yad Vashem".
  4. ^ a b c d e ""Chai Feldblum: Family and Education"". Jewish Women's Archive. 2023-12-21. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
  5. ^ a b "Death Notice: FELDBLUM, PROFESSOR RABBI MAYER SIMCHA". The New York Times. 11 August 2002.
  6. ^ Feldblum, M.S. (1964). "Feldblum, M.S. "Prof. Abraham Weiss: His Approach and Contributions to Talmudic Scholarship"". The Abraham Weiss Jubilee Volume (New York: Jubilee Committee): 1–36.
  7. ^ "An Enlightenment of Scholars". Yeshiva University. 2024-10-21. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  8. ^ David J. Landes, "Traditional struggles: Studying, deciding, and performing the law at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary," (PhD Diss., Princeton University, 2010), 87-88; 119-124.
  9. ^ "Out in front". 2018-06-13. Archived from the original on 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  10. ^ Adler, Rachel (2014-05-18). "Critiquing and Rethinking Kiddushin". AJS Perspectives. Retrieved 2024-10-15.