Rabbi Finkel, 85, was a member of Degel Hatorah party’s Council of Torah Sages and sat in the executive of the Mifal Hashas, a program to stimulate proficiency in Talmud study. He was among the greatest disseminators of Torah in our generation. It was reputed that he knew all the names of his thousands of students.
Rabbi Finkel was a scion of the legendary Finkel family of Mirrer Yeshivah fame. He was born in Eretz Yisrael on July 28, 1931, the son of Rabbi Chaim Zev Finkel who served as dean of the Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem; and a grandson of Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, the head of the Mirrer Yeshiva who escaped the Nazi invasion of Poland and transplanted the yeshiva to Jerusalem. He is a great-grandson of the founder of the Finkel dynasty, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the Alter of Slabodka, who founded the Knesset Israel Yeshiva in Slabodka, Lithuania and moved it to Hebron in the 1920’s, where it became known as the Chevron yeshiva (currently located in Jerusalem).
Rabbi Finkel inherited his position as spiritual dean of the Mir from his father. He gave lectures in Gemara in the Mir Yeshiva, first in Jerusalem and later on in its Mir-Brachfeld branch in Modi’in Illit, which he headed since its founding in 2000. He was known for his sterling character and warm, vibrant personality.
He was the long-time prayer leader for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur prayers at the Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He composed two books, Har Yirah, a collection of ethical talks, and Yavoh Shiloh, a collection of ethical talks about Shabbat.
His funeral will begin at 11:00 on Wednesday from the yeshiva in Modi’in Ilit, will continue on to the Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem at 2:30pm and burial will be in the Har Menuchos cemetery in Jerusalem.
