Menachem Mendel Kasher (March 7, 1895 – November 3, 1983) was a Polish-born Israeli rabbi and prolific author who authored an encyclopedic work on the Torah entitled Torah Sheleimah.

Early life

Kasher was born in 1895 in Warsaw, Poland (then part of the Russian Empire). His father was Rabbi Yitzhak Peretz. At the age of 19, he edited the periodical Degel Ha'Torah, the mouthpiece of the Polish branch of Agudath Israel. In 1924 (or 1925 ), in response to a call from the Ger Rebbe, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter, Kasher moved to Jerusalem, in Mandate Palestine, to establish the Sfas Emes Yeshiva in honour of the Rebbe's father, Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter. He subsequently served as the rosh yeshiva of the yeshiva for its first two years. He later helped bring the Rebbe to Palestine about six months after the outbreak of World War II.

Torah Sheleimah

Kasher's major work, Torah Sheleimah ("The Complete Torah"), is divided into two parts. The first part is the encyclopedia, the first work to publish all of the Written Law (the Pentateuch) and the Oral Teachings (Talmud and Midrashim) side by side. Kasher published from manuscript form several previously unknown midrashic works such as the Midrash Teiman. The latter part consists of the extensive annotations and addendum in which he used his awareness of variant texts as well as his almost encyclopedic knowledge in all Jewish works to clarify many obscure points in the Talmud. The first volume of Torah Sheleimah was published in Jerusalem in 1927 and included 352 entries to the first chapter of Bereishit. The 38th volume was published in his lifetime (1983) and included Parshat Beha'alotcha. The 39th volume was published posthumously by his son-in-law Dr. Rabbi Aaron Greenbaum and includes a short biography. The 40th volume includes an expanded biography and full list of his works. To date, 45 volumes have been printed covering the first four chumashim (books of the Pentateuch).

Other activities

He was the driving force behind the 25-volume Torah journal "Noam" and wrote many of the articles. His son Moshe Shlomo edited its 25 volumes which appeared between 1958 and 1984. Another work, Gemara Shelemah, which was to have discussed and compared variant texts of the Talmud, was never completed save for the beginning of Tractate Pesachim. He was also the editor-in-chief for the Tzafnas Paneach Institute, publishing several volumes of Rabbi Joseph Rosen's commentary on Talmud.

Halachic rulings

Awards and honours

Published works