Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer (1870–1953) was born in Mir. He belonged to the generation of teachers linking the Eastern European yeshivas with the developing centre of Torah study in Jerusalem. At Volozhin he studied under the Netziv, Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, and Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik. Study in Radin under the Chafetz Chaim was another important part of his education.
From Slutsk to Jerusalem
He began teaching in Slabodka in 1894 and became head of the Slutsk yeshiva in 1897. He subsequently also served as the town’s rabbi. After the revolution he continued supporting the community and Torah study despite persecution. In 1923 he moved to Kletsk, where a yeshiva continuing the Slutsk tradition was already operating. In 1925 he settled in Jerusalem and became head of Etz Chaim.
The work associated with his name
His principal work, Even HaEzel, contains detailed studies of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah. Its first volume appeared in Jerusalem in 1935. In examining Maimonides’ formulations, Meltzer compares them with Talmudic discussions and earlier commentaries. This is a work for sustained study rather than a short handbook of everyday rules.
His wife, Rebbetzin Beila Hinda, participated in preparing the manuscripts and publishing the books. In his introduction he acknowledges her work copying the texts and overseeing printing and distribution. This detail reveals the family partnership behind a substantial scholarly undertaking.
A teacher across generations
His legacy includes both his books and students who went on to teach in different countries. His life illuminates the transmission of the yeshiva tradition through war, migration and the rebuilding of Torah institutions. When reading stories about him, documented events should be distinguished from later inspirational retellings.