ב"ה
Mission
The Tzafnat Pane’ach Institute is committed and has set as its primary goal to recover and publish the commentaries of the Rogatchover Gaon (revered as the Einstein of the Torah community in the pre-Hitler period) which were destroyed by the Nazi’s in 1941. The loss to the Torah world has been tremendous, however we are working tirelessly in order to research and publish these precious commentaries.
History
When the Rogatchover Gaon passed away in 1936, his daughter Rachel Citron left the safety of her home in Petach Tikva (Israel) to return to Dvinsk, Latvia for the purpose of assembling the Rogatchover's many unpublished manuscripts and make them available to future generations of Talmud students. She worked with Rabbi Yisroel Alter Safern-Fuchs (her father's devoted student and successor). They published two volumes before the Nazi onslaught prevented further publication in Europe. With utter destruction approaching, they hurriedly photographed (into microphotos ) thousands of pages of the Rogatchover's Talmud and Rambam (containing the Rogatchover’s notes and comments on the sides of pages) and his correspondence files, and mailed them weekly in manila envelopes to Rav Alter's granduncle, R. Zvi Hirsch Safern, in New York from 1940-1941. They begged him to be sure to deliver everything to the rabbinic authorities for publication.
Shortly after the last envelope was mailed, the Nazis deported the Jews from Dvinsk to Breslau where they were all murdered on June 3rd 1942 and lie together in a mass grave. Rebbetzin Rachel Citron was a childless widow, and Rabbi Yisroel Alter Safern-Fuchs was only thirty years old and unmarried at the time they were murdered. They spent the last five years of their lives (1936-1941) working feverishly to publish the invaluable writings of the Rogatchover and his correspondences from rabbis in all continents. We cannot share their Kiddush Hashem but we can surely share in their Hafotsas HaTorah (disseminating the Rogatchover’s Torah).
The holy task of rescuing this Torah scholarship began in 1956. All of the microphotos and material were delivered to Rabbi Menachem Kasher in 1956 for the sole purpose of publication. In order to edit and publish this material he founded, together with Yeshiva University in New York, the Zafenat Pa'ne'ah Institute. Four valuable volumes were published from 1981 to 1984. Rabbi Kasher passed away in 1983. Since then the project of deciphering and printing the Rogatchover’s work has been held up and the substantial balance of the invaluable documents has been deteriorating over the past seventy years. Over 6000 Talmud pages filled with precious commentaries have yet to see the light of day. These commentaries need to be deciphered and published before it is too late.
Shortly after the last envelope was mailed, the Nazis deported the Jews from Dvinsk to Breslau where they were all murdered on June 3rd 1942 and lie together in a mass grave. Rebbetzin Rachel Citron was a childless widow, and Rabbi Yisroel Alter Safern-Fuchs was only thirty years old and unmarried at the time they were murdered. They spent the last five years of their lives (1936-1941) working feverishly to publish the invaluable writings of the Rogatchover and his correspondences from rabbis in all continents. We cannot share their Kiddush Hashem but we can surely share in their Hafotsas HaTorah (disseminating the Rogatchover’s Torah).
The holy task of rescuing this Torah scholarship began in 1956. All of the microphotos and material were delivered to Rabbi Menachem Kasher in 1956 for the sole purpose of publication. In order to edit and publish this material he founded, together with Yeshiva University in New York, the Zafenat Pa'ne'ah Institute. Four valuable volumes were published from 1981 to 1984. Rabbi Kasher passed away in 1983. Since then the project of deciphering and printing the Rogatchover’s work has been held up and the substantial balance of the invaluable documents has been deteriorating over the past seventy years. Over 6000 Talmud pages filled with precious commentaries have yet to see the light of day. These commentaries need to be deciphered and published before it is too late.
