Alexander Moses Lapidot: A Lithuanian Rabbi of the Second Half of the Nineteenth-Century (The Evolution of a Haredi Orthodox Ideology)

The article discusses the life and activities of Lithuanian rabbi Aleksander Moses Lapidot in the second half of the 19th century. It is noted that from few remaining data it is possible to find out that A.M. Lapidot was born in Vilnius in a wealthy family, he was a rabbi in Janow and then in Grodno. His way of life, characteristics of the character are revealed, emphasizing that the way he lived his life earned him respect. A.M. Lapidot involvement in the Jewish religious history of the Enlightenment period is discussed, defining his position on the issues of the Haskalah program points - education, integration into Europe, traditional Jewish clothes, language and religious cleaning traditions. It is revealed that A.M. Lapidot revealed being one of few, who believes in the importance of Torah, and argued that secularism was dangerous to moral laws, especially to the relations of a man and a woman. The article describes the negative provisions of A.M. Lapidot, assessing the intellectual and cultural fashions as the forms of hedonism and debauchery. His conservative attitude towards the movement of reforms, which, according to A.M. Lapidot, is intended to sow injustice among Jews, is revealed. It is noteworthy that, despite the strict A.M. Lapidot's orthodox position, his writings have a milder position regarding Jewish education issues. It is revealed that A.M. Lapidot was the first to call on the Sanhedrin to be restored. Summarizing, A.M. Lapidot was one of the most important figures of the Lithuanian Jewish world in the 19th century, whose ideological base is the unity of the Jews based on Torah, and the substance of the Jewish life, is the Golden mean - moderation and balance on all matters of life.