Rav Chaim Friedlander—Sifsei Chaim רב חיים פרידלנדר — «שפתי חיים»
mashgiach of the Ponevezh yeshiva; disciple and editor of Rav Dessler
He was a close disciple of Rav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler and one of those by whose hands Michtav MeEliyahu—the chief musar book of the twentieth century—was assembled. It is thankless and almost invisible work: to sort a teacher's notes, letters and talks so that a book comes out, and not a heap of fragments.
He himself was mashgiach of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak. His talks appeared as Sifsei Chaim—on the festivals, on character and service, on faith and choice, on faith and providence—and became, in the yeshivot, books that are read not out of duty.
He wrote also on the teaching of children: Mesilos Chaim B'Chinuch. Of his childhood and early studies we have no reliable information, and we do not invent it. He died in 1986.
On the timeline
Places
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- Sifsei Chaim by Rav Chaim Friedlander — his musar talks
- Michtav MeEliyahu of Rav Dessler in his edition — the edition of his teacher's legacy
Scholarship
- The standard reference works and encyclopedias — the years 1923–1986; on his birthplace and early studies there is no reliable information, and we keep silent about them
Basis: documents and evidence.