BROIDA, SIMḤAH ZISSEL BEN ISRAEL

BROIDA, SIMḤAH ZISSEL BEN ISRAEL (1824–1898), rabbi and moralist. He came from a distinguished family which traced its descent to abraham broda , rabbi of Frankfurt. Broida was the outstanding disciple and follower of Israel Lipkin (Salanter), the founder of the musar movement . Broida was usually referred to as the "sabba (an affectionate term, roughly equivalent to "grand old man") of Kelme." Broida taught the principles of musar in Zagare (Lithuania) and St. Petersburg, subsequently founding the talmud torah in kelme which became the chief center for the spread of the movement. Compelled to leave Kelme as the result of a false accusation, he went to Grobin and founded a talmud torah which eventually numbered hundreds of disciples, including noted rabbis of the succeeding generation: Nathan Ẓevi Finkel , isser zalman melzer , Aaron Bakst, moses mordecai epstein , Naphtali Trop, joseph leib bloch , and Joseph of Nowogródek. His ethical teachings emphasized the need for self-improvement, humility, and making allowance for others. He himself was regarded as a living example of his teaching. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: D. Katz, Tenu'at ha-Musar, 2 (19583), 26–219, 475; N. Waxmann, in: Hadorom, 10 (1959), 55–65; D. Zaritsky, Torat ha-Musar (1959), 19–29. (Itzhak Alfassi)