Rabbi Meyer Juzint zt”l

  Rabbi Meyer Juzint was born in Shadeve, Lithuania, in 1923. For his Bar Mitzvah, he recited the talmudic tractate Kesubos from memory. Later he was a student in the famous Slabodka Yeshiva, which was known for its emphasis on Mussar, improving one’s moral character.

With the outbreak of World War II, Rabbi Juzint was enslaved by the Nazis. Through many Divine miracles, Rabbi Juzint was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust; he was liberated by British troops from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on April 15, 1945.

Soon thereafter, Rabbi Juzint was appointed to the faculty of the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, IL, and was principal of their Rogers Park campus. Later he was the Spiritual Advisor and faculty member at the Ida Crown Jewish Academy. Thousands of Chicagoans were directly influenced by Rabbi Juzint.

In 1994, Rabbi Juzint endowed a Bait Hamussar, an institute for the study of Mussar, at Kesser Maariv, in memory of his parents and siblings.

Rabbi Juzint passed away on the second day of Sukkot, 5762 (2001). He left a collection of written materials – some in Hebrew, some in Yiddish; memoirs and Torah thoughts. Kesser Maariv translated and published his memoir “Chain of Miracles,” documenting the many times he was saved from certain death during the Holocaust, as well as his “Nechamas Meyer,”  Mussar thoughts on the Parsha – Breishis and Shemos, in a Hebrew-English edition. We hope these will not only be a tribute to Rabbi Juzint’s memory, but an everlasting legacy so that Rabbi Juzint will continue to influence and teach new generations in his inimitable style and with his unique perspective.