Mashgiach ruchani

For the supervisor of the production of kosher food, seeMashgiach.

Amashgiach ruchani(Hebrew:משגיח רוחני;pl.,mashgichim ruchani'im), sometimesmashgiachfor short, is a spiritual supervisor or guide. They are usually arabbiwho has an official position within ayeshivaand is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.

The position of mashgiach ruchani arose with the establishment of the modern "Lithuanian-style "musar yeshivas.The prototype of this new type of rabbinical leader and educator was RabbiNosson Tzvi Finkel(1849-1927) known as the Alter (elder) of the Slabodka yeshiva,Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael (Slabodka),in Lithuania.

The role of the mashgiach ruchani was strongest in the era beforeWorld War II,when often the mashgichim were responsible for maintaining the yeshiva financially, recruiting and interviewing new students, and hiring staff, something akin to academicdeans.Afterthe Holocaust,the influence and position of the mashgiach decreased, and the roles of therosh yeshivashave grown at the expense of those of the mashgichim. A modern mashgiach/mashgicha is somewhat equivalent to the secularcounselorposition. The need for having mashgichim within the modern yeshivas was tied in with the rise of the modernmusar movement(teaching of Jewish ethics), inspired by the 19th-century rabbiIsrael Salanter..

Some yeshivas may refer to a mashgiach/mashgicha ruchani as amenahel ruchani(the wordmenahelmeans 'principal', as in the principal of a school, or 'supervisor'.)

Chabadyeshivas have a similar position referred to asmashpia,meaning a person who provides (spiritual) influence.

Famous mashgichim

• Nosson Tzvi Finkel(1849-1927) mashgiach ruchani ofYeshivas Knesses Yisrael (Slabodka),Lithuania
• Yehuda Leib Chasman,mashgiach ruchani of the Hebron Yeshiva, Israel
• Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler(1892-1953), mashgiach ruchani of thePonevezh yeshivainBnei Brak,Israel
• Binyamin Finkel,mashgiach ruchani of Yeshivas Mishkan Yisrael, Jerusalem
• Yechezkel Levenstein(1895-1974), mashgiach ruchani ofMir yeshiva,Poland
• Yeruchom Levovitz(1873-1936), mashgiach ruchani of theMir yeshiva,Poland
• Moshe Rosenstein(1880-1941), mashgiach ruchani ofLomza Yeshiva,Poland
• Don Segal
• Beryl Weisbord,mashgiach ruchani ofYeshivas Ner Yisroel,Baltimore
• Elyah Lopian(1876-1970) mashgiach ruchani ofKnesses Chizkiyahu,Israel
• Matisyahu Salomon(1937 - 2024) mashgiach ruchani ofGateshead Yeshivaand later,Beth Medrash Govoha(the Lakewood Yeshiva)
• Nosson Meir Wachtfogel(1910-1998), mashgiach ruchani of Beth Medrash Govoha (the Lakewood Yeshiva), USA, from 1941 to 1998
• Shlomo Wolbe(1914-2005)
• Dov Yaffe(1928-2017), mashgiach ruchani ofKnesses Chizkiyahu,Israel
• Avigdor Miller(1908-2001) mashgiach ruchani ofYeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin,USA, from 1944 to 1964
• Shlomo Carlebach (scholar),(1925-2022) mashgiach ruchani ofYeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin,USA, from 1966 to 1978
• Daniel Rheinmashgiach ruchani ofYeshivat Har Etzion,Israel, from 2001

See also

• Rosh Yeshiva
• Mussar movement
• Mashpia

External links

• The dictionary definition ofמשגיח רוחניat Wiktionary