Tchernowitz, Chaim, 1870-

Chaim Tchernowitz (1871-1949), also known as Rav Tsaʻir, obtained Semikhah from Isaac Elchanan Spektor of Kovno in 1896. Moving to Odessa the following year, he founded his own yeshivah, eventually transforming it into a rabbinical seminary in 1907. It attracted many students from the Russian-Jewish intelligentsia, including Hayim Nachman Bialik and Joseph Klausner. Tchernowitz's ambition was to combine traditional study with modern research in scientific Jewish studies and secular studies in order to rejuvenate Jewish learning. In that way, as explained in the MS, there would not be a "dual-rabbinate," meaning a "crown rabbi" in addition to the traditional rabbi, a situation which he felt was responsible for the then-current problems of the rabbinate.