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
Simcha Zissel Ziv Bloch the chief rabbi of Bausk and Plunge. Other students of Simcha Zissel entered professions including medicine, law, and engineering. One of his students, Israel Isidor Elyashev, became a well-known literary critic. Many of Simcha Zissel's discourses and letters to his students were published in a two-volume work, "Hokhmah U-Musar", edited by Rabbi Yeruchom Levovitz and Rabbi Simcha Zissel Halevi Levovitz. Additional letters, as well as transcriptions of his words by his disciples, appear in a series of volumes under the title "Kitvei Ha-Sabba Mi-Kelm". An English translation of the opening letters of "Hokhmah U-Musar" by Rabbi Ira Stone appears