Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan רבי מאיר בר־אילן
head of Mizrachi; conceived the Encyclopedia Talmudit
Son of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, the Netziv, head of the Volozhin yeshiva.
Mizrachi. He joined the movement in 5665 and from 5671 was secretary of the world organisation. In 5674 he chaired the first American Mizrachi convention in Cincinnati and from 5675 to 5688 was its president. He held the side on which the return to the Land of Israel and faithfulness to the Torah do not quarrel.
The Encyclopedia Talmudit. The plan of gathering the whole of halakhah by concept was his; the first volume appeared in 5707. Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin became its chief editor, and together they brought the work to the form in which it continues to this day.
Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, opened in 5715, was named for him by American Mizrachi—after his death.
He died on 18 Nisan 5709.
On the timeline
Places
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- Encyclopedia Talmudit, vol. 1, 5707 — the work he conceived, published together with Rabbi Zevin
Scholarship
- Encyclopaedia Judaica, “Bar-Ilan, Meir” — the years, his father, Mizrachi, and the university named for him
Basis: documents and evidence.