The Bobover Rav, zt’l was born on Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5768 (1907) to his father Rav Benzion, hy’d and his mother Chaya Fradel, a’h. His grandfather, Reb Shlomo, zt’l, whose name he bore, was orphaned as a young child and was raised by the Divrei Chaim, the holy Sanzer Rav, zt’l as his own child. His home reflected the aristocracy of Torah and Chassidus, an integral part of his life blood.
The first Bobover Rav, Rav Shlomo founded and organized the first yeshiva in Galicia. Up to that time, bochurim studied in shtieblech, as small groups under the tutelage of a maggid shiur. Reb Shlomo, an outstanding gaon, decided that with the advent of the haskala, the formal structure of a yeshiva Gedola was necessary if Torah was to remain vibrant. Indeed, he believed that the traditional role of rebbe had to change, for he saw his charge to be a marbitz Torah, first and foremost. He drew thousands of bochurim to him. Merging with himself the roles of Rebbe and Rosh Yeshiva.
When he passed away in 1905 at the age of 58, the mantle of leadership fell to his son, Rav Benzion, who was then a young man of 31.Though reluctant at first to assume the role of Rebbe, the Chassidim insisted, and he finally acquiesced to their entreaties. After several tranquil years as Rebbe and Rosh Yeshiva, his life was shattered by the outbreak of World War 1. Galicia was invaded by the Russians, virulent anti-semites. The Bobover Yeshiva ceased to exist, and Rav Benzion and his family fled to Austria, where they lived in exile.
The war had wreaked havoc on the entire structure of Torah life in Galicia. Into this world the Bobover Rav, zt’l was born. If the world was in turmoil, his father was not. There was no room in his life for one moment of self indulgence. The Rav witnessed his father’s uncompromising commitment to Klal Yisroel. The lesson was not lost on him. He was his father’s greatest Chossid, and as time would reveal, he was his greatest disciple.
In his youth he studied in his father’s yeshivah and went on to receive semichah from HaRav Shmuel Firer, zt’l, Rav of Krass, who remarked that the young man possessed the wisdom of Shlomo HaMelech. He received semichah again from HaRav Alter Yechiel Nebenzahl, zt’l. The rebbe married Rebbitzen Bluma Rochel, hy’d, daughter of Rav Chaim Yaakov Teitelbaum of Limnov, zt’l. In 1931 he was appointed the official Rav of Bobov and its Rosh Yeshivah. Alongdside his father, he established 40 branches of the yeshivah throughout Galicia.
When World War II began, Rav Shloma fled from city to city, while he worked in many ways to save Jewish lives. His wife and children were murdered by the Nazis, with the exception of his young son, Naftali Tzvi (later his successor as Bobover Rebbe), who survived miraculously. After the war, he went to Italy and from there to London. He worked tirelessly to bring the many Jewish war orphans back to their traditions, and to breathe new life into their weary bones. Here are some of the details of the escapes.
