Chofetz Chaim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan) and his Mishna Berura

by

Michael J. Broyde, Ariel Liberman

• LAST MODIFIED: 19 February 2025
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199840731-0253

Introduction

Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, known as the Chofetz Chaim, holds a paramount position among 20th-century gedolim. Beyond his image as a devout, humble, and visionary community leader, he is celebrated for his extensive writings, most notably the Mishna Berura. This six-volume opus, published intermittently from 1884 to 1907, continues to wield authority in Orthodox Jewish law, offering a comprehensive guide to daily religious life by synthesizing traditions, laws, and customs. However, despite his profound scholarly impact, Rabbi Kagan’s early life and influences remain mysterious. Few robust contemporary scholarly biographies have been written, and background literature, apart from commentaries on his works, especially the Mishna Berura, tends to be sparse and nearly exclusively written in Hebrew. This article likewise focuses on his scholarly and ethical works rather than delving into his personal life. Within his writings, particularly the Mishna Berura and its commentaries, Rabbi Kagan strikes a balance between traditionalism and iconoclasm, diverging from established halakhic norms. Throughout the Mishna Berura especially, Rabbi Kagan champions an innovatively pragmatic and ethical approach to daily life within the framework of Jewish law. His writings emphasize nuanced understanding, engagement, and flexibility, avoiding rigid adherence to a few principles. He does so with editorial precision, harmonizing multiple propositions and offering resolutions and recommendations while acknowledging diverse individual standards. Although scholars may vary in interpreting Rabbi Kagan’s decision-making methodology, there is no disputing that the Mishna Berura marked a significant halakhic innovation as a major historical transition was taking place for eastern European Jewry in the early twentieth century. Rabbi Kagan’s personal legacy, therefore, can be said to be one of resilience and innovation. And, though a veil of obscurity cloaks his personal life, Rabbi Kagan left a clear literary legacy that serves as a guiding light for many navigating faith amidst societal upheaval.

Biographical Material on the Chofetz Chaim

Rabbi Kagan was born on 6 February 1838 in Zhetl, Belarus, and passed away on 15 September 1933 in Radun, Poland. He received early schooling from his parents until the age of ten. He subsequently pursued a formal education in Vilnius, Lithuania, but sources differ on whether he was ultimately ordained at the Vilnius Yeshiva. Regardless, Rabbi Kagan was outspokenly reluctant to make the rabbinate his profession. He married at seventeen, relocated to the small, rural town of Radun, Poland, and began working primarily as a bookkeeper for his wife’s grocery store. Despite his occupation, Rabbi Kagan gained an early reputation as a teacher and, eventually, a religious leader characterized by piety, humility, integrity, and thoughtfulness. He was centrally preoccupied with the study and teaching of Torah, especially to laypersons. He placed a particular emphasis on teaching Jewish law. Over time, he garnered numerous students, leading to the establishment of Yeshivat Chofetz Chaim in 1869. In 1873, Rabbi Kagan published his first book anonymously, the Hafetz Haim, which focused exclusively on codifying and categorizing the laws of slander and gossip. Importantly, Rabbi Kagan did not publish this work—or any of his later writings—with scholarly intention or for self-promotion. Rather, his projects addressed specific needs and questions he observed within the rural Jewish communities to which he belonged. Many of his ideas were groundbreaking, however, and only enhanced his international reputation and esteem despite his disinterest in acknowledgment. His work culminated in the Mishna Berura, a comprehensive codification of ritual Jewish law accessible to laypersons and scholars. The turbulent contexts in which Rabbi Kagan lived—characterized by mass disruptions, Jewish emigration, and a declining rabbinate—made his contributions, and his supreme dedication to the unlearned masses lacking access to formal education, even more significant. During his career, Rabbi Kagan also became involved in various cross-national Jewish causes, founding the World Agudath Israel Movement in eastern Europe and leading a committee on behalf of yeshivot (Va’ad Yeshivot) to help European yeshivot survive financial crises following World War I. Academic biographies of Rabbi Kagan will discuss these exploits, but none provide comprehensive details about his personal life, including, for example, information about his two wives, or even the date of his first wife’s death. Such biographies might include Brown and Leon 2017, Derovan 2007, and Eckman 1974. Rabbi 1983 offers a bibliographic list of his works. Kagan 1990 offers biographical material written by Rabbi Kagan’s son, Rabbi Aryeh Leib Kagan, which tends toward a more objective reflection as compared to other, more available hagiographic material. For a more hagiographic overview of his life and works, consider Yoshor 1984.

• Brown, Benjamin, and Nissim Leon. The Gedolim: Leaders Who Shaped the Israeli Haredi Jewry. Jerusalem: Magnes, 2017.

  In Hebrew. Brown and Leon dedicated one chapter to a more scholarly approach to the life and works of Rabbi Kagan. A condensed version of this information is found in Brown’s entry in Yivo Encyclopedia entitled “Yisra’el Me’ir ha-Kohen.”

• Derovan, D. “Israel Meir ha-Kohen.” In Encyclopedia Judaica. 2d ed. Vol. 10. Edited by Fred Skolnik and Michael Berenbaum, pp. 756–757. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007.

  This is a thorough, albeit short, introduction to Rabbi Kagan’s life and works.

• Eckman, L. S. Revered by All—The Life and Works of Israel Meir Kagan—Hafets Hayyim, 1838–1933. New York: Shengold, 1974.

  An earlier biography and scholarly monograph endeavoring to situate Rabbi Kagan’s writings in his temporal context.

• Kagan, Rabbi Yisrael Meir. Kol Kitvei he-Hafetz Hayim ha-Shalem. Jerusalem: Yeshivat HeHafetz Hayim MiRadin, 1990.

  Translated as “The complete works of Chofetz Chaim.” The third volume of this series contains the following biographical pieces penned by Rabbi Aryeh Leib Kagan: Kitzur Toldot Hayav [“His abridged biography”], Dugma mi-Darkhei Avi [“A selection of my father’s path”], and Dugma mi-Sihot Avi [“A selection of my father’s talks”]. They are valued on account of the author’s familiarity with the subject (his father), their realistic discussions of Rabbi Kagan, and their broader commentaries.

• Rabbi, Moshe Gelis. Kitvei “he-Hafets Hayim,” ha-Rav Yisrael Meir HaCohen me-Radin—Reshimah Bibliographit. Jerusalem: Nezer Daṿid, 1983.

  See pp. 76–79. The piece catalogues and categorizes Rabbi Kagan’s work in the order of their production. Translated as: “Writings of the Chofetz Chain—A Biographic List.

• Yoshor, Moses M. The Life and Works of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin. Translated by Charles Wengrove. 2 vols. New York: Mesorah, 1984.

  A somewhat more extensive hagiographic biography of Rabbi Kagan.