Michoel Fisher - Scholarship and Intellect

Scholarship and Intellect

Dayan Fisher was an intellectually brilliant figure, possessing a photographic memory and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Talmud and other Rabbinic texts. He knew the 7000 pages of the Talmud by heart, word for word, and could provide the page, line and exact wording for any Talmudic reference instantly. He was also an inspiring orator, erudite, humorous, thought provoking and possessing great wit.

In later life, Dayan Fisher remarked that in retrospect, he was not 'cut out' for the Rabbinate, but rather as a teacher, scholar and educator. He liked nothing better than teaching and learning Talmud. In a eulogy, Dayan Fisher was described by Dayan Lichtenstein, current head of the Federation Beth Din, as a great Talmudic scholar. "He studied the Torah every time as if he were learning it for the first time... The Torah not only brought him his great status but also gave him his youthfulness". Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks said in tribute, "Dayan Michoel Fisher was one of the great links between Anglo-Jewry and the world of Lithuanian Jewish piety".

Dayan Fisher published Ateres Mordechai, a commentary to Pirkei Avos in London in 1953.

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