Rav Alexander Sender of Zholkov (~1660-1737). He was the son of Rav Ephraim Zalman Shor, Magid of Lvov, and was orphaned as an infant. In 1704, Rav Alexander Sender went to live in Zholkov (Zolkiew) where he remained for the rest of his life, devoting himself to study and writing and earning his living working in a distillery. He was the author of Tevuos Shor, first published in 1733, on shechita and kashrus. He was a great-grandnephew of Rav Ephraim Zalman Shor, the author of a sefer by the same name, Tevuos Shor, a condensation of the Beis Yosef.[27 Shvat, according Hamodia 2006]
Rav Emanuel of Preshedvorz (1802-1865). Successor to his father, the Rebbe Reb Yeshayale (d. 1831).

Rav Dovid Halevi Segal, author of Turei Zahav (the Taz) (1586-1667), son-in-law of the Bach. Born in Cracow. Unofficial Rabbi of Posen 1619-~1640. Headed famous yeshiva at Ostro from 1643, escaped Cossacks 1648-49 to Lublin, then Moravia. Settled in Lemberg (Lvov). Lost 2 sons to violent deaths in Spring of 1664. Sent his son Yeshaya and son-in-law Aryeh Leib (later to be the Shaagas Aryeh) to investigate Shabsai Tzvi. He also wrote Divrei Dovid on Rashi al HaTorah.
Rav Mordechai Yosef Elazar Leiner (1929), Rebbe of Radzin, son of the Baal Hatecheiles and great-grandson of Mordechai Yosef of Izhbitz. He was the author of Tiferes Yosef. He was succeeded by his son, Rav Shmuel Shlomo, and then by his son-in-law, Rav Avraham Yissachar Englard.

Rav Yisrael Lipkin Salanter (1810-1883), founder and spiritual father of the Mussar movement. Born in Zager (near Kovno), Lithuania, to Rav Ze’ev Wolf Lipkin, Rav Yisrael became a close talmid Rav Zundel of Salant, who introduced him to the classic works of mussar. In 1840, he became rosh yeshiva of the Rameillas Yeshiva in Vilna, and later opened a yeshiva in Kovno. A compilation of his thoughts were recorded in a sefer, Or Yisrael, written by one of his closest talmidim, Rav Yitzchak Blazer of Petersburg. Among his other close disciples are Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv of Kelm, Rav Yosef Yozel Hurwitz of Novardok
Rav Mordechai Pogramansky, the Iluy from Telz (1950) [or 1946].

Rav Shaul Halevi Mortorah, Av Beis Din of Amsterdam, author of Givat Shaul (1660)
Rav Avraham Yechiel of Halberstadt, author of Nezer Hakodesh (1730)
Rav Shlomo Margulies, Rav of Zelitschek, a close talmid of the Baal Shem Tov (1733-1805).
Rav Shabtai Shaltiel, Rav in Yerushalayim (1846).
Today in History – 24 Shvat
· Ritual murder libel of the daughter of the Rav of Speyer, 1195. Although there was no proof of any wrongdoing, she was dismembered and her body was hanged in the market place for a few days. The Rav, along with many others, were killed and their houses burned.

Rav Aharon ben Chaim Avraham HaKohen Perachia (1627-1697). He was a wealthy man and was appointed chief rabbi of Salonika in 1688. He authored a responsa called Parach Mateh Aharon.

Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (1787-1859). Born in Goray, near Lublin, Poland, Rav Menachem Mendel received a thorough Torah education from his father, Leibush Morgenstern, a zealous opponent of Chasidus. After his marriage at 14, his father introduced him to the world of Chasidus. Thereafter, he became an ardent follower of the Chozeh of Lublinand Rav Simcha Bunam of Pshis’cha, whom he eventually succeeded. R’ Menachem Mendel was a new type of chassid. If the Baal Shem Tov embodied chessed, Reb Mendel represented din. While the Baal Shem sought to reach all the people, Reb Mendel knew that what he sought could only be attained by the elite. The Baal Shem lifted the people up, Reb Mendel rebuked them for their inadequacies and always demanded more.

Rav Moshe Galante II of Yerushalayim (1620-1689), son of Rav Yehonasan, who was the son of Rav Moshe Galante the elder (1540-1614) who studied with Rav Yosef Karo. He wrote two halachic works, Elef HaMagen, which includes 1,000 responsa on various topics, Zevach Shelamim on the Talmud and Korban Chagigah on Tractate Chagigah. He strongly argued against the popularity of Shabsai Tzvi. His grandson was Rav Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter of Ger, the Sfas Emes. Among his students were Rav Chizkiyah De Silva, author of Pri Chadash (which is printed in the standard edition of the Shulchan Aruch), and Rav Yaakov Chagiz and his son Rav Moshe Chagiz. Refusing to accept the title of “Chief Rabbi” that was offered to him, he coined a new title-“Rishon Le’tzion.”

Yahrtzeits – 19 Shevat          
-Rav Binyamin Zev Shapiro of Prague (1718)
-Rav Yitzchak Baruch Sofer, father of the Kaf Hachaim (1905)
-Rav Shmuel Weinberg of Slonim, the Divrei Shmuel (1916 or 1936). Grandson of Rav Avraham of Slonim, the Yesod HaAvodah. He was succeeded by his sons Rav Yissochor Leib and Rav Avraham, the Beis Avraham.
-Rav Shimon Greenfeld of Somihali (Szemihaly), the Maharshag (1930), a student of the Maharam Shick. His nephew and talmid, Rav Shmaya, was 1st Rav of the Satmar Kehilla in Montreal.

Rav Yaakov Margulies, Av Beis Din Nuremberg (1492) Author of Seder Haget V’hachalitza, which is quoted extensively by the Rema. His son, Rav Isaac, was a rav in Prague and was the one who compiled his father’s sefer.
Rav Binyamin Beinish Finkel, Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva (1911-1990). Born in Mir on Yom Kippur. In 1931, he studied under the Chafetz Chaim, and in 1934-35 under Rav Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik of Brisk. Rav Beinish married the daughter of Rav Shmuel Greineman, the Chazon Ish’s brother-in-law. He took over as rosh yeshiva for his father, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel after the latter’s petira in 1965.
Today in History – 18 Shevat
· King Alfonzo V ordered Sicily’s Jews to attend conversion sermons, 1428.