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Revision as of 18:22, 2 January 2003 by 12.88.120.95 (talk) (Bio of Rav Hutner)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)'Rabbi Yitzchok (Isaac) Hutner (1906 - 1980)was born in Warsaw, Poland, to a partly hasidic family. He received private tuition in Torah and Talmud his parents recognizing his mental acumen.As a young teenager he was enrolled in the famous mussar Slabodka Yeshiva in Lithuania, headed by Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel (1849 - 1927), known as the alter("elder"),who during his lifetime moulded not only the young Yitzchok Hutner,but also many who were eventually to become the heads (Roshei Yeshiva) of most of the so-called Lithuanian-style Yeshivot that were established in America and Israel during the 20th century, such asRabbis Aaron Kotler,Yakov Kamenetzky,Elazar Shach,Yakov Ruderman,Dovid Leibowitz,and Eliezer Finkel.
Having obtained a solid deep grounding in Talmud, the young Rabbi Hutner was sent to join an extension of the Slabodka yeshiva in Hebron studying there until 1929, narrowly escaping the Hebron Massacre of 1929.It was during his stay in then Palestine that he became a disciple of Rabbi Kook who was appointed the first Chief Rabbi of Palestine. The philosophical and mystical mind-set of both men, made them kindred spirits, and like Rabbi Kook, the young Rabbi Hutner developed warm welcoming posture towards Jews who were much less religious, but were seeking to also re-connect with their heritage.
Rabbi Hutner then spent some years as a wandering scholar. Most notably he spent time at the University of Berlin studying the works of Kant who was famous as the greatest mind in Germany.