Autobiographical Essay by Simon J. Finkelstein

This autobiographical essay, by Simon J. Finkelstein, was printed as a preface to his book עין שמעון , a collection of comments on Rabbinic literature (described below). A English translation was also printed, which does not exactly correspond to the Hebrew; it has substantial omissions but also includes some information and elaborations not in the Hebrew. I do not know who did the translation (certainly not Simon J. Finkelstein, who had only very limited English). The translation below corresponds to the Hebrew; additional material from the English has been added in brackets. My own comments are in small font.
-- Ernie Davis

An Autobiographical Preface

I was born on the 34th day of the Omer in the year 5621 [19th Iyyar, Monday, April 29, 1861] in the city of Slobodka, near Kovno [now Kaunas Lithuania]. My father was Rav Judah Tzi haLevi of blessed memory; he was expert in the six orders of the Mishnah, which he knew by heart. My mother, peace be upon her, was Pina Rivkah. My parents were pious Jews whose fondest hope was to have sons that were scholars. When I was four years old, they brought me to cheder. When I was five years old, I started to study chumash and Bible. When I was seven years old, I studied gemara with a well-known teacher. When I was twelve, I celebrated the completion of the tractate Baba Metzia by giving a oral discussion on פריקא וטיענא [In this "lecture", I undertook to solve certain exegetical difficulties arising out of the talmudic law of Perikah u'T'inah i.e. the requirement to help unload an overloaded beast and to re-load a beast whose burden has fallen off (Baba Metzia 32a).] Several great scholars heard the lecture and praised [CHECK] it. Afterward, I studied at the Yeshiva in Kovno until I was about 16. Then, with the permission of my father, I left to study by myself, and I studied assiduously until I was 19. At that point I was expert in the three orders of the Talmud, Mo'ed, Nashim, and N'zikin and also with the first part of Hoshen Mishpat. I learned these books practically by heart, remembering each passage not only by page but even by the line where it occurs [ The Hebrew phrase here is על הדף והשורה -- ED] and I became known as ``The prodigy (ilui) from Slobodka''.

When I was twenty, in 5622 [1882], I married a fine, very modest young woman Hannah Bitya [Hannah B. Breger, the daughter of a prosperous merchant]. She took care of me like the apple of her eye, and we lived blessed lives together for 41 years and 4 months until her death in the 11th of Adar, 5683 [Tuesday, February 27, 1923.]

In the same year, I was ordained by Rabbi Judah Meshil Ha-Kohen, the rabbi of Aleksot. a small town near Kovno, and the following year this ordination was confirmed by R. Isaac Elhanan Spektor, the famous Rabbi of Kovno.

Then I pursued my studies in the Society of P'rushim [a group of young married students who, under the guidance of R. Isaac Blazer, the disciple of the even more famous R. Israel Salant, were spending their lives in the study of the Talmud and Jewish ethical literature] until the year 5627 (1887).

In that year I received letters from friends from America, saying that there there was need [CHECK] of rabbis who know how to preach in the spirit of the times, and urging me to come to America. I came to New York, and I preached in the large synagogues, and my sermons were well received. Rabbi Abraham Joseph Asch told me that the people of Baltimore had asked him to send them a rabbi and teacher, and he gave me a letter of recommendation, so I went to Baltimore. The congreation of Adat Hevrah Bikkur Holim welcomed me, and I preached to them, and they were satisfied, so they accepted me as a rabbi and teacher. They sent for my wife, and they found for us a pleasant apartment with all necessary household items. I stayed there three years.

At Musaf on my first Passover in that synagogue, I sat that the Kohanim did not go up to duchen. When I asked why, they told me that there was a man, whose name was Cohen, but whom they knew was not a kohen who insisted on going up with them to duchen. Therefore the other kohanim decided among themselves not to duchen in that synagogue. I wrote about the matter to R. Isaac Elhanan of Kovno. He stated that it was not obligatory on them to refrain from giving their blessing because someone who was hot authorized insisted on accompanying them. The Hebrew says also: אל הדף והשורה