Yonah Karpilov

Yonah Karpilov (1909 – June 26, 1941), known among his peers as Rav Yonah Minsker, was an Orthodox yeshiva student in what is now Belarus. He was considered a genius and was said to be the "greatest of all yeshiva bachurim (yeshiva students) in pre-war Europe."^[1]

Rabbi Yonah Karpilov (sitting) with his younger brother, Zeev Vilensky (1912–2000)

Biography

Yonah Karpilov was born in Minsk in 1909 to Yechezkel and Basya Karpilov; he had ten siblings, older and younger than himself.^[2] He was one of the most accomplished students in the Yeshivas Brisk under Yitzchok Zev Soloveichik and in the Mir Yeshiva, in what is now Belarus. Despite being a student, it is said that Karpilov was worthy of being a rosh yeshiva.^[3] He was among the "lions of the Mir", the term given to that yeshiva's elite students, and his chavrusah was Yechiel Michel Feinstein, who would later become a rosh yeshiva in Israel. Among his other friends and acquaintances in Mir were the rabbis Simcha Sheps, Binyamin Zeilberger, Reuven Grozovsky, Leib Malin, and Chaim Shmuelevitz, many of whom felt humbled by him.^[4][5][3]

Karpilov authored the sefer Yonas Ilem, and composed the song Yetzaveh Tzur Chasdo.^[6] He first studied in the Mir Yeshiva before being chosen to study in Brisk; he later returned to the Mir Yeshiva. At the outbreak of World War II, the Mir Yeshiva personnel escaped their Soviet-occupied hometown of Mir to Kaunas, Lithuania. With the help of the Japanese consul to Kaunas, Chiune Sugihara, the yeshiva escaped Europe for Japan and Japanese-occupied Shanghai. Karpilov remained in Kaunas and was subsequently murdered on June 26 in the Kaunas pogrom of 1941 while standing outside the Slabodka Yeshiva. When his rebbi, Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, heard of Karpilov's murder, he wept, saying "Woe to the land, for a great man is gone. We have lost a piece of the Torah!"^[7]

References

1. Golberger, Rabbi Kalman (2020). The Thirteen Principles of Faith. Kiryat Sefer, Modiin Illit: Nachlas Moshe Publishing. p. 98. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
2. "Yonah Karpilov". Geni.com. Geni.com. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
3. "Noted in Sorrow" (PDF). The Jewish Observer. XXXVIII (9): 6. November 2005. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
4. "In-Depth Focus on Greatness/Moreinu Horav Simcha Avrohom HaKohen Sheps zt'l" (PDF). Torahvodaath.org. Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
5. "Moreinu Horav Raphael Reuvain Grozovsky zt"l" (PDF). Torahvodaath.org. Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
6. ""Yetsaveh Tsur Chasdo" from R' Yonah Minsker Hy"d as ..." Youtube.com. Ner Yisrael Community, Hendon. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
7. Yaakovson, Tzvi (27 July 2016). "The Final Moments of the Life of Rav Elchonon Wasserman Hy"d: Eyewitness Accounts". yated.com. Yated Neeman. Retrieved July 12, 2020.