Rabbi Tzvi Yechezkel remained as the Rav of Krasnobrod for nine years. Then in 5653, he was offered the position as Rav of Plonsk. After asking his Rav the Sefat Emet for advice, he accepted.
Not long afterwards a cholera epidemic broke out. Instead of leaving the city as many others did, Rabbi Tzvi Yechezkel devoted himself entirely to saving as many people as he could. He helped to build a makeshift hospital, and he organized and participated with a group of people who took turns in caring for the sick. He also fell ill, but managed to recover from his bout with cholera. After the epidemic ended, the governor of the province, although a well-known anti-Semite, publicly thanked him for his devotion to the residents of the city during the crisis. Everyone then praised the Rav for his deeds.
In 5671 (1911), the Russian government decreed that all Jewish schools, including chederim (elementary schools), must give students a month and a half of vacation time, just as public schools did. Jews viewed this law as resulting in an enormous abandonment of Torah, for at that time Jewish children were accustomed to studying Torah every day throughout the year, and each day lost was considered like a sin.
The leaders of Jewish communities throughout Russia addressed Rabbi Tzvi Yechezkel and asked that he intervene with the Russian Minister of Education in order to annul this evil decree. He then went to the minister and described to him the tremendous fear that had gripped the Jewish community because of the proposed law. The minister listened to the moving request from the Rav of Plonsk, and the decree was annulled. Rabbis and community leaders sent him a letter a thanks and their wishes that he live to see G-d’s salvation of His people Israel.
Rabbi Tzvi Yechezkel’s great deeds made him famous in the Jewish world, and the community leaders of Warsaw invited him to join the Rabbinic Council of Warsaw, which he accepted. He held this position, along with its heavy responsibilities, until the city fell to the Nazis during the Second World War. He was respected and honored by all levels of society, and his personal warmth also attracted many Jews who were far from Torah and Judaism.
Upon coming to Warsaw, he organized a national assembly on the problems concerning Shabbos observance. The assembly’s invitation was signed by such figures as the Chafetz Chaim and Rabbi Menachem Zemba. Rabbi Tzvi Yechezkel also established an organization devoted to the purity of Jewish women, and he worked for the construction of mikvaot and public bathhouses that were modern and hygienic. Even though he was extremely occupied with the needs of the community, he found time to study Torah and publish a number of books. Nevertheless, many of his writings remained in manuscript form and were lost during the Holocaust.
The story of his long and active life ended in great tragedy. He spent his last days in the Warsaw ghetto under Nazi servitude.
When the time came for the Rav to be sent to Auschwitz, he enveloped himself in his Tallis and Tefillin, then went to his room to study Gemara. When a Nazi came into his apartment to check if he was there, he drew back upon seeing the noble face of the Rav, then 80 years old, and exclaimed before leaving, “It’s Moses himself!” The Rav then went outside into the square and joined the ranks of his Jewish brothers. He wanted to be with his fellow Jews at that terrible time, a time in which they were going to sanctify G-d’s Name in holiness and purity. The elderly Rav stood straight and was immersed in thought. He perished in August 1943, along with the glorious Judaism of Warsaw. May G-d avenge his blood. Amen.
