Rav Avrohom Yosef was the son of Rav Aryeh Yehuda Leibush of Turbin and grandson of Rav Meshulem Igra of Pressburg. He was the son-in-law of Yitzchok Koton of Tismanitz, and in a second marriage, the son-in-law of Rav Mordechai of Nadworna. He studied Torah under his uncle, Rav Duvid Meshulem Yissacher Horowitz, Av Beis Din Stanislaw, author Shu”t Bar Livayi.
In chassidus, Rav Avrohom Yosef was a disciple of Rav Elazar of Kozhnitz. After his marriage to the daughter of Rav Mordechai of Nadworna, he moved to Galicia where he became a chassid of Rav Chaim of Sanz and Rav Dovid Moshe of Tshortshkov. Rav Duvid Moshe appointed him as a rebbe in תרנ"ה. The Sadigura rebbe directed him to regularly study the Beis Yosef.
All his life, he traveled from place to place. He made his way from Bishtin to Kolomaya to Tarinow to Zhelin, each time, leaving a spiritual legacy in his wake. Later, he spent time in Keshanov, Tshebin and, in his later years, Cracow.
He was greatly influenced by his father-in-law and followed in Rav Mordechai’s ways. For example, he davened Shacharis very late in the morning and sometimes not until nightfall; his seudos Shabbos went into Motzaei Shabbos; and the shouts that accompanied his davening were deafening.
He conducted himself with sanctity in all that he did. His davening was characteristic of Nadworna which means he would, at various times, jump, or lie prostrate on the floor and cry. The masses nicknamed him “The Shouting Rebbe.”
He was known as a miracle worker. Many people arrived bearing sums of money as gifts in appreciation of being helped by the wonders he brought about, yet he readily gave away all his money to tzedakah and lived a life of privation. He was constantly involved with hachnasas kallah, hachnasas orchim, and feeding and clothing impoverished talmidei chachamim and the poor. Tzedakas Eretz Yisroel as well as many other institutions were supported, thanks to his efforts.
Every Shabbos, his household was filled with hundreds of guests. When he recited “Brich Shmay,” it took over an hour and a quarter, and it wasn’t uncommon for the congregation to burst into tears of fright as a result of his loud devotions.
During wartime, when he lived in Cracow, he generously hosted Jewish soldiers as his guests, never refusing a soldier a meal.
He plunged the depths in all realms of Torah, especially Kabbalah.
Together with his father, he published his grandfather, Reb Meshulem Igra’s sefer, Igra Rama in תרל"ג. Rav Avrohom Yosef added elucidations, and marginal notes (all which testified to his greatness in learning).
In תרע"ד, he printed the siddur, Ora V’Simcha in Keshanov. In it, he included additions from many siddurim of various mekubalim and sefardim.
Rav Yekusiel Aryeh Kamheler writes: “In my youth in Tarinow, I often studied in his beis medrish which was full of seforim. There, I merited to be perfumed by his Torah and to bask in the warmth, light, and glow of his fire! He left behind no physical offspring; instead, his toldos are the toldos tzadikim of good deeds. He passed away in Cracow between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur 1919 (תרע"ט).” Others says he passed away on the 24th of Elul, 1918 (תרע"ח).
(Sources: Dor Deah Geonim pp. 109-110)
