Yehuda Leib Tsirelson

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Yehuda Leib Tsirelson(1859,Kozelets,Chernigov guberniya-1941,Kishinev,Soviet Union)-Chief Rabbi of Bessarabia, member of Romanian parliament, prominent Jewish leader and posek.

[edit] Biography

Yehuda Leib was born in 1859 to rabbi of Kozelets Moshe Khayim. At very young age he was considered a prodigy and when reaching 19 became rabbi at Priluki. During that time he bagan writing to various periodicals in Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian. His articles dealt mainly with Jewish outgoing issues, mainly political. In 1898 he has participated in the first all-Russian Zionist conference in Warsaw. At the first time he has supported Mizrakhi movement and required from secular Zionist letting to religious delegates decide upon educational programs of the whole Zionist movement, but later he was disappointed in religious and secular Zionism as well and finally left the movement becoming less moderate.

In 1908 he was appointed chief official and religios rabbi of Kishinev. In 1911 he was one of subscribers in the letter of 300 Russian prominent rabbis against antisemitic case of Beilis affair. The same year he received the title of honorable citizen of Russian empire. In 1912 he was among core Jewish leaders and rabbis who laid the foundation to Agudat Israel establishment. In 1920 established Agudat Israeli branch in Kishinev, which later became autonomous. He chaired 2 of Agudat Israel councils in 1923 and 1929. In 1923 strongly supported Meir Shapiro idea of Daf Yomi.