Wikipedia's first sentence called it “famous”. Today it says “jewish rabbi”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Belarusian rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and posek (1870–1953)”. It now reads “Russian rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and posek (1870–1953)”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2015 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2015
Isser Zalman Meltzer Isser Zalman Meltzer (1870 – November 17, 1953), was a famous Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi , rosh yeshiva and posek .1He is also known as the " Even HaEzel " - the title of his commentary on Rambam 's Mishne Torah .2Rabbi Meltzer was born in the city of Mir , in what is today Belarus . His father, Baruch Peretz, was also a rabbi. From the age of 10, he studied with Rabbi Yom-tov Lipman, the rabbi of the city, and at the Mir Yeshiva . At the age of 14, he began studying at the Volozhin yeshiva under the Netziv and Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik , where he remained for seven years. While at the yeshiva, he became involved in the secret [Orthodox] Ness Ziona Society, part of the Hovevei Zion movement. Together with his brother-in-law, Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein , he contributed to the founding of the city of Hadera by buying land for an etrog orchard. In 1894, Rabbi Melzer became a maggid shiur at the Slabodka yeshiva , together with his brother in law, Rabbi Epstein. In 1897, Rabbi Meltzer left Slabodka to lead another yeshiva which had been established by the Ridvaz in Slutsk . In 1903, Rabbi Meltzer was appointed as the Rabbi of Slutsk, a position he held for 20 years. Although he had already been serving as the rosh yeshiva in that city, he had no document of semicha because he had never planned on accepting a position in the rabbinate, but to teach Torah instead. When the communal leaders resolved to appoint him as their rabbi, Rabbi Meltzer wrote to his teacher Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik and to Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein , author of the Arukh HaShulkhan , asking them to send him the necessary affirmation. Rabbi Epstein immediately mailed him a letter of semicha, while Rabbi Soloveitchik made do with a brief telegram that simply bore the words, "Yoreh yoreh, yodin yodin". Rabbi Meltzer was also a disciple of the Chofetz Chaim and Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel . He was the father-in-law of Rabbi Aharon Kotler and maternal grandfather of Rabbi Shneur Kotler . Rabbi Meltzer was a friend and admirer of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook , the chief rabbi of Palestine and a self-avowed supporter of Zionism . In his later years, Rabbi Meltzer served as the rosh yeshiva of the Etz Chaim Yeshiva in Jerusalem . He died on Tuesday, 17 November (10th Kislev ) 1953, and was interred on Har HaMenuchot .3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 660239830.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer Isser Zalman Meltzer , ( 1870 - November 17, 1953), was a famous Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi , rosh yeshiva and posek . He is also known as the " Even HaEzel " - the title of his commentary on Rambam 's Mishne Torah . Rabbi Meltzer was born in the city of Mir , in what is today Belarus . His father, Baruch Peretz, was also a rabbi. From the age of 10 he studied with Rabbi Yom-tov Lipman, the rabbi of the city, and at the Mir Yeshiva . At the age of 14, he began studying at the Volozhin yeshiva under the Netziv and Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik , where he remained for seven years. While at the yeshiva, he became involved in the secret [Orthodox] Ness Ziona Society, part of the Hovevei Zion movement. Together with his brother-in-law, Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein , he contributed to the founding of the city of Hadera by buying land for an etrog orchard. In 1894, Rabbi Melzer became a maggid shiur at the Slabodka yeshiva , together with his brother in law, Rabbi Epstein. In 1897 Rabbi Meltzer left Slabodka to lead another yeshiva which had been established by the Ridvaz in Slutsk . In 1903, Rabbi Meltzer was appointed as the Rabbi of Slutsk, a position he held for 20 years. Although he had already been serving as the rosh yeshiva in that city, he had no document of semicha because he had never planned on accepting a position in the rabbinate, but to teach Torah instead. When the communal leaders resolved to appoint him as their rabbi, Rabbi Meltzer wrote to his teacher Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik and to Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein , author of the Arukh HaShulkhan , asking them to send him the necessary affirmation. Rabbi Epstein immediately mailed him a letter of semicha, while Rabbi Soloveitchik made do with a brief telegram that simply bore the words, "Yoreh yoreh, yodin yodin". Rabbi Meltzer was also a disciple of the Chofetz Chaim and Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel . He was the father-in-law of Rabbi Aharon Kotler and maternal grandfather of Rabbi Shneur Kotler . Rabbi Meltzer was a friend and admirer of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook , the chief rabbi of Palestine and an self-avowed supporter of Zionism . In his later years, Rabbi Meltzer served as the rosh yeshiva of the Etz Chaim Yeshiva in Jerusalem . He died on Tuesday, 17 November (10th Kislev ) 1953.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 355692903.
The opening as it stood in 2020 17 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Isser Zalman Meltzer ( ) (February 6, 1870 – November 17, 1953), was a famous Belarusian Orthodox rabbi , rosh yeshiva and posek . He is also known as the "Even HaEzel"—the title of his commentary on Rambam 's Mishne Torah . Isser Zalman Meltzer "Even HaEzel" (1870 - 1953) "Isser Zalman Meltzer "Even HaEzel" " .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 958036574.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Belarusian rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and posek (1870–1953) Isser Zalman Meltzer ( ) (February 6, 1870 – November 17, 1953), was a Ashkenazi rosh yeshiva and posek . He is also known as the "Even HaEzel"—the title of his commentary on Rambam 's Mishneh Torah . Isser Zalman Meltzer "Even HaEzel" (1870 - 1953) "Isser Zalman Meltzer "Even HaEzel" " .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1172553618.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Belarusian rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and posek (1870–1953) Isser Zalman Meltzer ( Hebrew : איסר זלמן מלצר ; February 6, 1870 – November 17, 1953), was a Jewish rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek .He was known as the "Even HaEzel", after the title of his commentary on Rambam 's Mishneh Torah . Isser Zalman Meltzer "Even HaEzel" (1870 - 1953) "Isser Zalman Meltzer "Even HaEzel" " .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297675596. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “famous”. Today it says “jewish rabbi”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Belarusian rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and posek (1870–1953)”. It now reads “Russian rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and posek (1870–1953)”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
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What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
famous
Now
jewish rabbi
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.