Yitzchok Shlomo Zilberman

Yitzchok Shlomo Zilberman (; 30 April 1929 – 13 March 2001) was an Israeli Haredi rabbi and educator, pioneer of the Zilberman Method of Torah study. He founded Yeshivat Aderet Eliyahu, part of a community that follows the path of the Vilna Gaon.

Early life Yitzchok Shlomo Zilberman was born in Berlin, Germany to Rabbi Dr. Avraham Moshe Zilberman, translator of the Tanakh into German, and Rivka, née Levy. His mother died when he was 3 years old, and he was raised by his father. In 1934, in response to the coming to power of Adolf Hitler, Zilberman escaped with his father, brother, and sister to England. He encouraged his students to get married young, based upon a teaching in Pirkei Avot Chapter 5.

Family

Zilberman married Sheindel, the daughter of Yom Tov Zlotnick of Jerusalem, who bore him 9 sons and 9 daughters. All of his sons and sons-in-law are involved in Torah education.

Zilberman's daughter Rachel Weiss and her three sons were killed in the Jericho bus firebombing.

In 1991, Zilberman moved to the Jewish Quarter, to be in close proximity to his institutions. One year later, his wife died. He remarried in 1998.

Zilberman died in 2001 after contracting an illness. He was buried in the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery.

Legacy

There are approximately 20 Torah institutions throughout Israel that adhere to Zilberman's teaching principles, and 3 internationally.

Zilberman was the rabbi who influenced Israeli comedian Uri Zohar to become a baal teshuva (returnee to Judaism). Zohar would go on to have an enormous impact on a generation of spiritually ambivalent Israeli Jews. Another student, Yitzhak Pindrus, is a politician affiliated with the United Torah Judaism party.

In March 2010, students from Zilberman's yeshiva in the Jewish Quarter were tasked with running the day-to-day operations of the newly reconstructed Hurva Synagogue. In June 2010, some of those students, known as Zilbermanim, were accused of causing difficulties for tourists wishing to gain access to the synagogue.