One of the great Chasidic Rebbes that I was privileged to know was the Kopycznitzer Rebbe, Rav Avrohom Yehoshua Heschel, zy’a. He embodied the royalty for which the House of Ruzhin is known. His presence was princely and regal, and he dedicated himself to illuminating the darkness of America’s spiritual desert, carrying American Jewry on his shoulders until his last days.
The Rebbe was born in the town of Husyatin (pronounced ‘Shatin’), where his maternal grandfather was the Husyatiner Rebbe. His father was Rav Yitzchok Meir Heschel, who would later become the Kopycznitzer Rebbe. He was named for the Oheiv Yisroel of Apta, of whom he was a direct descendent. Like his illustrious namesake, the Rebbe’s very essence was composed of love for his fellow Jews. His kind-heartedness was seen from an early age.
When WWI broke out, like many Jews of that region, the family fled to Vienna. At that time, the Austrian capital was teeming with refugees, and Rav Avrohom Yehoshua worked tirelessly to provide them aid and comfort. Every day he would go to the train station to greet the tired refugees who were arriving. He would personally help them with their baggage and in getting settled. From the moment they arrived, the Rebbe shouldered their burden, secretly leaving money under their doors.
In 1936, when his father passed away, Rav Avrohom Yehoshua was crowned as his successor. For three years, he served as the Rebbe in Vienna. Like his father before him, Rav Avraham Yoshua was venerated by Chasidic and non-religious Jews alike, his home was a center for constant charitable activities, and as he personally attested some years later, he never slept a night with money in his possession, having always distributed every last Groschen to the destitute.
Rav Shlomo Lorincz relates: “Rav Yoel Pollack and Rav Eliezer Breuer were present when an S.S. officer approached the Rebbe with the intention of cutting off his beard. The Rebbe held his beard with one hand, extended the other toward the S.S. hooligan, and said, “You can cut off these two fingers, but not my beard.” The S.S. man was so frightened that he left the Rebbe alone. At one point, the Nazis threw the Rebbe in jail. His Chassidim did everything they could to secure his release, and eventually, their efforts bore fruit. After the Rebbe was freed, he said that he prayed throughout his entire incarceration that he not be released on Shabbos in order to avoid desecrating the Shabbos by signing his name. And indeed, he was freed on Motzei Shabbos.
As the winds of war began blowing, and the authorities put a ban on Tefillah B’Tzibbur he listened to the directive of his uncle, the Husyatiner Rebbe, and made plans for passage to America. The Rebbe had a sum of money that was just enough to cover the travel costs to America. The night before his departure, an urgent matter of relief came to his attention, and in his tremendous faith in Hashem, he donated the entire sum to tzedakah, leaving himself without a penny to his name. The next day, the local Chassidim heard about what he had done, and a couple came before the Rebbe, and the wife set her jewelry down on the Rebbe’s table so that the Rebbe could pawn it.
Upon arrival in New York in 1939, he settled on the Lower East Side. Almost immediately, the Rebbe’s home began to serve as a place where every Jew could turn for help. The constant stream of young and old, the children, the teens, the newlyweds, and the senior citizens came to visit the Rebbe for Chizuk and advice.
Yisroel Safrin author. As featured in the Monsey Mevaser, 'Klal Personalities' series
