Chaim ben Yitzchok of Volozhin (1749, Volozhin – 1821, Volozhin) – rabbi, teacher.
Already recognised as a prominent scholar, Chaim ben Yitzchok became a disciple of a Gaon from Vilnus – Elijah ben Solomon Zalman. In 1803, he founded a yeshiva in Volozhin, which gained significant acclaim. Regarded the greatest religious authority of the Misnagdim in the early 19th century, Chaim of Volozhin appreciated the Hasidic teaching about the importance of love in the service of God, but he believed that Jewish religious life should manifest itself in unconditionally following of all recommendations, laws, and rituals of Judaism. His speeches criticising the Hasidim were balanced and had conciliatory overtones. His greatest work is Nefesh Ha-Chaim (Hebrew: “Living Soul”), published posthumously in 1824. Most of his manuscripts were destroyed during a fire in 1815.
