Rabbi Joseph Arnest, a professor of Talmud since 1937 at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University, died last Sunday at the age of 76. He was buried in Har Menuchot Cemetery in Israel.
A widely-regarded Torah scholar, Arnest came to the seminary at the recommendation of the Kovno Rav, Rabbi Avraham Dober Shapiro. He remained in his position for more than four decades, during which he taught hundreds of Tolmudim. In 1964, Arnest was honored for his years of dedicated work at the university by the Rabbinic Alumni of Yeshiva University.
A native of Lithuania, Arnest studied in Europe under Rabbi Joseph Leib Bloch and Rabbi Isaac Bloch. He was ordained at the Yeshiva of Telshe Poland. He also studied at Yeshiva Navardok, Knesset Bais Yitzchok in Kremenzuck, and Knesset Yeshiva in Slobodka.
Arnest was an acknowledged scholar on the Rambam. He completed the third volume of “D’var Avraham,” a manuscript of the Kovno Rav. His other writings included “Novelai and Illuminations on the Responsa of Maimon-ides,” “Lev Yosef,” and “Torah Eretz Tzvi.” He was a contributor to HaPardes, HaMessiah, Talpioth, Bais Yitzchok, and Pri Etz Chaim.
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