Rabbeinu Yona Merzbach was born in Berlin in 1900. He learned in Bais Medrash L’Rabbonim in Berlin under Rav Dovid Tzvi Hoffmann, Rav Eliyahu Kaplan, and Rav Moshe Auerbach (who later became his uncle through marriage). At age 25 he became the Rav of Darmstadt, which included many smaller villages in the Hessen region in its jurisdiction. In 1939, he fled Germany and settled in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood in Yerushalayim. He was among the founding Roshei Yeshiva of Yeshiva Kol Torah and also served on the editorial team of Encyclopedia Talmudit. Rav Merzbach passed away in 1980.