Meir Arik


Meir Arik was a famous Galician Torah scholar.
Arik was a talmid of the kochav miyaakov. He was so highly respected by the leading Rabbis of his generation, that following the death of Rabbi Schwadron, the Belzer Rav directed all halakhic questions to Rabbi Arik in his place. He was the posek of the Galician town of Buchach. However, during World War I, Arik fled to the Austrian city of Vienna. Upon his return to Galicia after the war, Arik assumed the post of Chief Rabbi of Tarnów. In addition to his insights on various tractates of both the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmud and his halakhic responsa, he also arranged and published a volume with the title of 'Chidushei HaraMaL'.

Legacy

Arik's students include Rabbi Reuvein Margolies and Rabbi Meir Shapiro who were acknowledged leaders of their generation, as well as Rabbi Zev Wolf Leiter Dayan of Trembovla and later Av"dkok Pittsburgh, PA, a great Ubergoan, as well as his nephews, the late Klausenberger Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Wilner and Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Arik.
Arik's opinions are cited extensively by his contemporaries, as well as later halachic authorities including the Chelkas Yaakov, Kinyan Torah beHalacha, and Mar'eh Yechezkel. Some consider the reluctance of other great halachic decisors to rule against his opinions a sign of unique reverence.

Written works

Arik wrote the following works: