Meir Simcha of Dvinsk branches were established in Toronto and Montreal in Canada, and in Detroit, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Worldwide, branches, all bearing the name "Ohr Somayach", are Ohr Somayach, South Africa, London in the United Kingdom, Kiev in the Ukraine, and Sydney in Australia. Meir Simcha of Dvinsk Meir Simcha of Dvinsk (1843–1926) was a rabbi and prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. He was a kohen, and is therefore often referred to as "Meir Simcha ha-Kohen" ("Meir Simcha the Kohen"). He is known for his writings on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, which he titled "Ohr
Is Theosophy a Religion? and objects of the universe. This "knowledge, therefore, becomes essentially Religion, and must be called in its integrity and universality by the distinctive name of Wisdom-Religion." Blavatsky writes that "the parent trunk" of all religions and philosophical systems contains the "great Truth" that to date was hidden, distorted or simply ignored. She believes that "The Secret Doctrine" is book, in which is set out everything that can be transmitted to humanity in "this century", and it is an attempt to clear a part of the "common foundation" of all—great and small religious and philosophical systems. Kalnitsky has cited: "It was