Information About

Mashgiach Ruchani




Mashgiach ruchani (or '''Mashgiach''', (Hebrew: "Spiritual supervisor/guide") is a title that usually refers to a Rabbi who has an official position within a Yeshiva responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives. The most famous ''mashgiach ruchani'' was Nosson Zvi Finkel (1849-1927) founder of the Slabodka Yeshiva .

The position of ''mashgiach ruchani'' arose with the establishement of the modern " Lithuanian -style" Mussar-yeshivas .

The role of the ''mashgiach ruchani'' was strongest in the era prior to World War II , when often the ''mashgiach'' was responsible for maintaning yeshiva financially, recruiting and interviewing new students, hiring staff, something akin to an academic " Dean ". After The Holocaust , the influence and position of the ''mashgiach'' decreased, and the roles of the Rosh Yeshiva s have outgrown those of the mashgiachs'.

The need for having a ''mashgiach'' within the modern yeshivas was tied in with the rise of the modern Mussar Movement (teaching of Jewish ethics), inspired by Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin Salanter (1810-1883), and was seen as necessary because yeshiva students faced greater pressures and problems from the world outside of their yeshiva studies.


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