eliyahu eliezer dessler (1892 &ndash; 30 december 1953) was an orthodox rabbi, talmudic scholar, and jewish philosopher of the 20th century. he is known as mashgiach ruchani ("spiritual counselor") of the ponevezh yeshiva in israel and through collections of his writings published posthumously by his pupils. ==lithuania== eliyahu dessler (who was known throughout his life as eliyahu leizer or elya lazer) was born in 1892 in libau, courland (latvia). his father, reuven dov dessler, was a disciple of one of the main leaders of the mussar movement, rabbi simcha zissel ziv, best known as the alter (elder) of kelm. eliyahu was orphaned of his mother at a young age. his father remarried, and would become a successful timber merchant in the city of homel over the ensuing years, although he would lose virtually his whole fortune after the russian revolution, which would prompt his son to relocate to england. the young elya was taught by private tutors. at the age of 14 (in 1906), he was to be one of the youngest students at the yeshiva of kelm, which was then being led by rabbi zvi hirsch braude, the son of the founder. rabbi dessler would later speak in fond terms on the study and self-perfection in the kelm yeshiva. it was unusual in the sense that it provided its pupils with a secular education parallel to their religious studies, enabling them to earn a livelihood rather than having to take up rabbinic positions. in kelm, eliyahu was a diligent student, and would receive semicha (rabbinic ordination) from his uncle, rabbi chaim ozer grodzinski, who would be the spiritual leader of orthodox lithuanian jewry until his death in 1939 and rarely granted ordinations. in 1920 rabbi dessler married bluma, a granddaughter of the "alter" of kelm. he entered business with his father, and declined a position as a rabbinical judge in vilna. after the death of his stepmother in 1928, rabbi dessler was forced to accompany his father to london for medical treatment, and decided to remain in the united kingdom. his wife and children stayed behind for the time being. ==london== in london rabbi dessler served in the rabbinate, initially in the east end and later in dalston, northeast london. his family joined him in 1931, and his father was to spend his final years in the uk. in dalston rabbi dessler started tutoring a number of young people, and for a while he was the private tutor of the children of the wealthy sassoon family. a pupil from this time, aryeh carmell, would be one of the main disseminators of rabbi dessler's ideas after the latter's death. his son left london in the early 1930s to study in the yeshiva of kelm. he would not rejoin his family; during the war they would escape to the far east, and eventually settled in the united states. several months before th
1892_births 1953_deaths 20th-century_rabbis British_Orthodox_rabbis Haredi_rabbis_in_Europe Haredi_rabbis_in_Israel Latvian_Orthodox_rabbis Mashgiach_ruchani People_from_Courland_Governorate People_from_LiepAja Philosophers_of_Judaism Ponevezh_Yeshiva