{{Short description|Rabbi (1811–1879)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}} {{Infobox Jewish leader |honorific-prefix =Rabbi |name =Menachem Nachum Kaplan |honorific-suffix = |title = |image = Menachem_Nachum_Kaplan.jpg |caption = |synagogue =''Chevrah HaShas'' |synagogueposition=''shammash'' |yeshiva = |birth_date =1811<ref name=je/> |birth_place =Baisogala, Russian Empire |death_date =October 25, 1879<ref name=je/> (age 68)<ref name=tm134>{{cite book|last=Miller|first=Yisrael David|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=134|language=he|location=Piotrków Trybunalski|page=130|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> |death_place =Grodno, Russian Empire |yahrtzeit =8 Cheshvan, 5640<ref name=tm133>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=133|language=he|page=129|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref><ref name=f138>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|first=Shimon|date=August 1985|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|edition=First|location=Brooklyn|publisher=Mesorah Publications|page=138|isbn=0-89906-782-4}}</ref> A.M. |buried =Grodno |residence =Grodno |parents =Uziel and Meida Kaplan |spouse =Itta }}

'''Reb Menachem Nachum<ref name=f22>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=22}}</ref> ben Uzziel Kaplan''' (1811 – October 25, 1879) was a Lithuanian Talmudist, philanthropist,<ref name=je>{{Jewish Encyclopedia|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11298-nahum-b-uzziel-kaplan-reb-nahum-grodner|title=NAHUM B. UZZIEL KAPLAN|accessdate=July 27, 2015}}<br/>'''Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography:''' *Gurvich, in ''Razsvyct'', 1879, No. 7; *Lipshitz, ''Nekrolog Rabbi Nokhim iz Grodno'' (reprinted from ''Russki Yevrei'', 1879, No. 9), St. Petersburg, 1879; *''Ha-Ẓefirah'', 1879, No. 42; *''Ha-Meliẓ'', 1879, No. 43; *Friedenstein, ''<nowiki>'</nowiki>Ir Gibborim'', pp. [http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=36874&st=&pgnum=92 95]-96, Wilna, 1880.</ref> and ''Talmid Chacham'' who was known throughout Lithuania and Poland as Reb '''Nachum'ke of Horodna'''<ref name=fp>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|at=Preface}}</ref> or Reb '''Nahum Grodner'''.<ref name=je/>

Rabbi Kaplan was well-versed in the Talmud and the poskim<ref name=tm5>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=5|language=he|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> as well as in kabbalah and Acharonim.<ref name=f93>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=93}}</ref> Yet, he refused to render halachic decisions (except for one occasion when it was a matter of life and death)<ref name=tm121>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=121|language=he|page=117|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref><ref name=f96>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=96}}</ref> and held the humble position of ''shammash'' (sexton) in the Synagogue ''Chevra Shas''. His piety, simplicity of life, and dedication to the community earned him recognition among the Russian Jewry.<ref name=je/>

==Biography== Rabbi Nachum was born in Baisogala to Uziel Kaplan, a laborer in a whisky distillery,<ref name=tm5/> and his wife, Meida.<ref name=tm7>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=7|language=he|access-date=July 22, 2015 }}</ref><ref name=f21>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|chapter=From the Depths of Poverty|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=21}}</ref>

In his youth, he studied under Rabbi Karpl Atlas of Baisogala<ref name=f41>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=41}}</ref> (grandfather of Rabbi Meir Atlas) and his sons, Binyamin Beinush and Meir.<ref name=tm5/><ref name=f43>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=43}}</ref> Later he studied at Šiauliai under Rabbi Mordechai Ganker,<ref>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|pages=44–45}}</ref> and afterwards at the yeshiva of Rabbi Chalavna Lapidus, the ''maggid'' of Luokė,<ref name=tm25>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=25|language=he|page=21|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> after which he studied at Vilnius.<ref name=tm29>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=29|language=he|page=25|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|pages=46–47}}</ref> At age 19, he decided to leave Vilnius in order to study at Ashmyany under Rabbi Avraham Kahana of Horodna (known today as Grodno).<ref name=tm29/> After studying for a while at Ashmyany, he went on to study at the Yeshiva of Mir.<ref>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=30|language=he|page=26|access-date=July 22, 2015}}<br/>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|pages=48–49}}</ref>

When he was about twenty years old, he married Itta, the daughter of Yosef Eliezer<ref name=tm33>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=33|language=he|page=29|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> (a chimney sweep by trade) of Nesvizh, and moved into the latter's home in Nesvizh. Throughout the day, he studied Gemara, halacha, and works of ''hashkafah'' such as ''Chovot HaLevavot'' and ''Menoras HaMaor''<ref name=tm34>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=34|language=he|page=30|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> until he committed them to memory.<ref>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|pages=52–53}}</ref>

When he was in his early twenties, he decided to leave Nesvizh and traveled to Valozhyn, where he studied at the Volozhin Yeshiva under Rabbi Eliezer Yitzchak Freid.<ref name=f65>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=65}}</ref> Afterwards, he headed for Kaunas<ref name=tm43>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=43|language=he|page=39|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> where he studied Gemara and halacha under the ''rav'' of the city, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Rabinowitz. He also studied Midrash and Aggadah under Rabbi Eliyahu Ragoler of Slabodka.<ref name=tm44>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=44|language=he|page=40|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> During this time, he traveled to Torez where he studied the teachings of the Vilna Gaon under a student of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin.<ref>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=46|language=he|page=42|access-date=July 22, 2015}}<br/>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=67}}</ref>

Afterwards, he returned to Nesvizh<ref name=tm47>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=47|language=he|page=43|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> and a short while later he moved to Horodna.<ref>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=48|language=he|page=44|access-date=July 22, 2015}}<br/>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=70}}</ref> During the almost fifty years that he lived there, he was offered many prominent positions.<ref name=f113>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=113}}</ref> Yet, he refused opportunities for leadership in public life,<ref name=fp/> choosing instead the position of ''shammash'' in the Synagogue ''Chevra Shas''<ref name=je/> in Horodna,<ref name=fp/><ref>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=50|language=he|page=46|access-date=July 22, 2015}}<br/>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|pages=72–74}}</ref> a position he retained for the rest of his life.<ref name=f113/><ref name=f75>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=75}}</ref>

In the last years of his life, he suffered from a serious spinal disorder, a severe intestinal ailment, swelling of the feet, and other discomforts. Yet, on Simchat Torah, he led the congregation in spirited singing and dancing, clutching a ''Sefer Torah'' in one arm while his free hand held his stomach to ease the pain.<ref>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=132|language=he|page=128|access-date=July 22, 2015}}<br/>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=97}}</ref>

A Hebrew language biography of Rabbi Nachum was written by Rabbi Yisrael David Miller who knew Rabbi Nachum personally.<ref name=fp/> Rabbi Miller was stricken by the cholera pandemic<ref name=tm74>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=74|language=he|page=70|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> that struck Horodna in 1872 and firmly believed that Rabbi Nachum's prayers saved his life.<ref name=tm75>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=75|language=he|page=71|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref><ref name=f104>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=104}}</ref>

Rabbi Nachum died at Grodno on October 25, 1879.<ref name=je/><ref name=f138/><ref name=tm135>{{cite book|last=Miller|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=135|language=he|page=131|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> Twenty thousand people attended his funeral<ref name="f104"/><ref name=tm135/> which took place the next day.<ref name=tm135/>

His son-in-law was Rabbi Gavriel Zev Margolis.<ref>{{cite book|script-title=he:תולדות מנחם|trans-title=Toldos Menachem|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46882&st=&pgnum=144|language=he|page=138|access-date=July 22, 2015}}<br/>{{cite book|last=Finkelman|title=The Story of Reb Nachum'ke|page=100}}</ref>

==References== <references/>

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Nachum}} Category:1811 births Category:1879 deaths Category:People from Grodno Category:Lithuanian Orthodox rabbis Category:Orthodox rabbis from Russia Category:20th-century Lithuanian rabbis Category:Date of birth missing Category:Mir Yeshiva alumni Category:Volozhin Yeshiva alumni Category:Rabbis from Grodno