Insights from Krakow

By Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
From the Targumim Series – Subscribe to the Series

Chidushei Rabbenu Yosef Nechemiah

Rav Yosef Nechemiah Kornitzer (1880-1923) was one of the last pre-Shoah chief rabbonim of Krakow. His method of Torah commentary is creative and original, and very much in the style of the Chasam Sofer and his son, R. Shimon Sofer, from whom he descended, and whom he frequently references. He often produces quick, sharp insights, rather than lengthy constructions. It is no surprise that so many of his pieces are crowd-pleasers. (In his day, R. Isaac Bernstein z”l is said to have given the largest regular shiur in Europe. It is my recollection that it was rare for his parsha shiur not to include some offering from R. Kornitzer.)

The manuscript is said to have miraculously survived the Shoah, and was published afterwards.

As in previous years, what I present is an adaptation, rather than a translation. It is offered in the hope that readers will find their way back to the original.