HaRav Yosef Buchsbaum zt"l, founder and head of Machon
Yerushalayim, was laid to rest in Jerusalem. The levaya set
out from his regular place of tefilloh at Beis Knesses
HaGra in Jerusalem's Shaarei Chessed neighborhood.
The first of the hespeidim was given by HaRav Shmuel
Auerbach shlita, who lamented the Torah world's loss
of one of the great disseminators of Torah who published so
many works by the Rishonim and Acharonim. He also noted the
close ties the deceased had with his father, Maran HaRav
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l.
He was followed by HaRav Yehoshua Meir Rosenthal, the rov of
Shaarei Chessed, who parted from the niftar in the
name of the kehilloh, saying he had been one of the
lights of the neighborhood.
Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau spoke of him as a
conveyor of the words of the past generation, noting there is
not a single beis medrash in the world without Machon
Yerushalayim books gracing its shelves.
The deceased's eldest son, R' Mordechai Osher, offered words
of parting, saying the tremendous endeavor his father built
up would serve as a living monument for eternity.
Yosef Buchsbaum was born in Jerusalem in 5703 (1943) to R'
Mordechai and Rivka Buchsbaum. His father served as deputy
mayor of Jerusalem for Agudas Yisroel. As a young man Yosef
studied at Yeshivas Kol Torah and Yeshivas Hevron. During
this period his creative abilities as well as his talent in
writing and editing began to come to light as he developed a
penchant for Torah literature, studying and investigating the
history of various works.
In 5727 (1967) he married Malkoh Pines of Switzerland.
As a young man he published dozens of articles on gedolei
Yisroel and their works. He edited dozens of books, such
as the responsa of the Maharit Tzahalon and Rav N. Treibitch,
Otzar Meforshei HaTalmud, Yad Dovid, a dozen
memorial volumes and various editions of Moriyoh. His
editing was considered extremely professional, both in terms
of his ability to precisely decipher handwritten manuscripts
and his expertise in text editing, including citations and
notes. He also wrote some 150 introductions for various
books, some of which are significant works in their own
right. Over a thousand other books were edited under his
guidance.
In 5728 (1968) he compiled all of the Talmudic commentary
from thousands of different books in a single work, a
monumental project called Otzar Meforshei HaTalmud.
One project led to another until his life's work, Machon
Yerushalayim, took root.
Today Machon Yerushalayim is considered the world's largest
Torah research institute, with a network of branches at
locations around the country and a total of approximately 150
staff researchers and rabbonim.
The institute has published some 800 books, including top-
notch works that have become standard texts in Torah
libraries. The institute's major works include Otzar
Meforshei HaTalmud (16 volumes), Shulchan Oruch
Hasholem (11 volumes), HaTur Hasholem (22
volumes), Teshuvos Rishonim (13 volumes), Yalkut
Shimoni Hasholem (six volumes), Sifrei HaMaharal
MiPrague (24 volumes), Minchas Chinuch Hasholem
(three volumes) and Noda BeYehuda Hasholem (four
volumes).
During the course of his work at the institute, HaRav
Buchsbaum learned of the enormous number of books and other
writings by gedolei hadoros that are still available
only in handwritten manuscripts. To address this issue he set
up the Manuscripts Department, whose task is to locate these
manuscripts. Manuscripts published for the first time include
Teshuvos HaRashbo Mikisvei Yad (400 new responsa),
Pnei Shlomo (five volumes) by HaRav Shlomo Ganzfried,
author of the Kitzur Shulchan Oruch, Maharam
Shick (nine volumes), R' Mordechai Bennett (three
volumes), Maharal MiPrague Bovo Metzia, Mekor
Chaim by the Chavos Yo'ir (three volumes) and hundreds of
other books from the teachings of the gedolim of
Germany, Lithuania, Hungary, Turkey, Morocco and
elsewhere.
In addition to the deceased's vast activity in the fields of
Torah research and book production, he served as a member of
numerous boards and councils for educational institutions,
tzedokoh and chessed organizations and research
projects. A few years ago he spent a year heading the
Jerusalem Religious Council's Committee.
He maintained close ties with gedolei Yisroel,
especially HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l.
