Aharon Moshe Kiselev
Aharon Moshe Kiselev (1866–1949) was a Russian-born Manchurian rabbi.
Aharon Moshe Kiselev | |
|---|---|
| Title | Chief Rabbi of Harbin |
| Personal | |
| Born | 18 September 1866 |
| Died | 9 September 1949 (aged 82) |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Alma mater | Volozhin Yeshiva |
| Began | 1913 |
| Ended | 1949 |
| Other | Chief Rabbi of the Far East 1937-1949 |
| Semikhah | Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski |
Early life
Kiselev was born in Surazh, Chernigov district. In his youth, he excelled in his studies, and was known as the “Vietker Illui”. He later studied in Minsk, and in Volozhin under the tutelage of Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik. He was the rabbi of Barysaw from 1900 to 1913.
Harbin
In 1913, he was appointed chief rabbi of Harbin, and tasked with overseeing Jewish cultural, educational, and social activities.[1]
In 1915, detractors of Kiselev reported his efforts to aid German refugees in Harbin as collaboration with the enemy. He was detained for 2 months.[2]
Following the death of the notorious bandit kingpin Ataman Woliewski, it was discovered that he had been planning to abduct Kiselev, with the hope of exacting a large ransom from the Jewish community.[3]
In December 1937, at the first annual Far Eastern Jewish Conference, he was declared ‘Chief Rabbi of the Far East’.[4]
As leader of the Harbin chapter of Agudas Chasidei Chabad, Kiselev assisted many wartime Jewish refugees who had fled German-occupied Europe.[5]
Works
- Mishberei Yam [The waves of the sea] (1926) - a collection of responsa.
- Natsionalizm i evreistvo: Sbornik statei i lektsii [Nationalism and the Jewry: Collection of articles and lectures] (1941) - a Russian-language compendium on Jewish nationalism.
- Imrei Shefer [Sayings by an author] (1951) - a compilation of sermons posthumously published by his widow.
References
- Chernolutskaya, Elena (Winter 2000). "Religious Communities in Harbin and Ethnic Identity of Russian Emigrés". South Atlantic Quarterly. 99 (1): 82. doi:10.1215/00382876-99-1-79. S2CID 145084700.
- "The arrest of a Rabbi: Agents provocateurs in Harbin". Peking Gazette. 24 February 1916.
- "Leader of Band Responsible for Kidnappings in Harbin Killed". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 8 March 1933. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
- Shilloni, Ben-Ami (2012). The Jews and the Japanese: The Successful Outsiders. p. 183.
- Schneerson, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok (1982). Igros Kodesh Rayatz Vol. 2 (in Hebrew). p. 329.
External links