Place
Dvinsk דווינסק
A town on the Dvina where two communities at once held the two greatest masters of the Rambam of their generation.
Dvinsk had two communities—Hasidic and mitnagdic—and each its own rabbi. From 5649 the Rogatchover led the Hasidim and the Ohr Sameach the mitnagdim. Both spent their lives on the Rambam, both left works still studied, and both lived less than a mile apart. How closely they dealt with one another the sources tell differently.
The city stood on the front line in the First World War and most of its Jews left. The Ohr Sameach stayed with his community. Both men are buried here.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- “Tzafnat Pane'ach” — the work of the rabbi of the town's Hasidic community
- “Meshech Chochma” — the work of the rabbi of the same town's mitnagdic community
Basis: tradition.