They say that the Kol Arye was crowned with all three crowns mentioned in Pirkei Avos: Kesser Kehuna, because he was a Kohen, Kesser Torah, the crown of Torah, due to his own toil and greatness in Torah and Kesser Malchus, the crown of royalty, as Chazal say: Who are the true kings if not our Rabbonim? – Man malchi rabbonon? Of course this means that his good name, his Kesser Shem Tov, outshone and superseded them all.
(Most of the stories and sources cited appear in the sefer Toldos Kol Arye, based on the traditions that Rav Dov Ber Spitzer received from his father-in-law, Rav Chaim Tzvi Eherenreich, Av Bais Din of Mad, and mechaber of Ketzei Hamateh on Matei Efraim, Shaarei Chaim on Shaar Efraim, and Shu”t Kav Chaim. Rav Chaim Tzvi was the son of the Kol Arye’s daughter and son-in-law and successor of the Bais Naftoli, the Kol Arye’s son.)
Born in Mad, Hungary, on Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av 5584/1824, the Kol Arye was the grandson of Rav Moshe HaKohen Kenig of Zambor and Hendel Rivka, the daughter of Rav Mordechai Tzvi Schwartz and his wife Zissel.
Initially, he continued his studies in his hometown of Mad. At first, he studied under Rav Avrohom Danziger, one of the Gedolei Talmidei Chachomim of Mad, and he later joined the ranks of Yeshivas Rav Yehoshua Segal of Bonihad, who was a talmid of Rav Hirsch Charif Heller. Rav Yehoshua Segal was one of the greatest melamdim in Mad and all the environs and almost all the Torah scholars of Mad were counted among his talmidim.
Afterward, when these Gedolim saw there was no more they could teach the young illui whose genius surpassed their capacity, the Kol Arye was accepted to the great Yeshiva of Rav Yitzchok Nosson Lipschitz, the Rav and Mora D’Asra of Mad, who was a great lamdan and had many talmidim. He studied there under the Mora D’Asra’s son-in-law as well, Rav Shmuel Ginz, Av Bais Din Abraham. The Kol Arye studied there for three years until his Bar Mitzva, when Rav Lipschitz was appointed to succeed his grandfather, Rav Elozor Loewe of Santov, mechaber of Shemen Rokach. The Yeshiva then closed.
In his Bar Mitzva derosha on the sugya of Chazaka DeRava (Nidda daf 46) he amazed and delighted all the lamdonim and all the Geonim present, who witnessed firsthand his amazing capabilities of depth, insight and sharp-witted understanding. It would be these capabilities and talents that came to his aid when he came knocking on the gates of the great Yeshivas Pressburg the following year. At the age of just thirteen the Kol Arye boldly entered the Chasam Sofer’s room and asked to be accepted as a full-fledged talmid of the Yeshiva. Knowing that he needed to be tested, he had prepared to recite his Bar Mitzva pshetel with which the Chasam Sofer was immensely impressed. His acceptance to Yeshivas Pressburg ushered in a new era in his life. From now on the Kol Arye would forever be remembered as a talmid of the Chasam Sofer. He was the Chasam Sofer’s youngest talmid in Pressburg. He was counted among the greatest students of Yeshivas Pressburg; his seat was located on the Mizrach and he was designated by the Chasam Sofer as one of the elite Shabbos bochurim, who ate at the table of one ba’al habayis all week long, as opposed to the teg bochurim, who ate at a different table each day of the week. The Chasam Sofer allowed his beloved talmid to sit near him during the shiur, as well as to enter his private room and study from his personal library before the shiur. The Kol Arye relates that it was here in the Chasam Sofer’s private study that he first saw the Yeshuos Yaakov of Rav Orenstein of Lemberg when it was first printed. There are even citations from the Chasam Sofer’s teshuvos in the sefer Kol Arye from teshuvos that were not yet in print, lending credence to the fact that he must have had access to his Rebbe’s handwritten manuscripts and responsa. Every Shabbos, as the bochurim lined up to greet the Rosh Yeshiva with a good Shabbos, the Kol Arye received a special smile reserved just for him from his Rebbe’s shining countenance. These were signs of earned respect, achievement and admiration despite his young age of fifteen.
The Toldos Kol Arye tells us that during his time at Pressburg, the Kol Arye studied together with colleagues such as Rav Aharon Greenberg, Av Bais Din of Toltsheva Mihalovitz, mechaber of Daas Sofer, who arrived eight years before the Kol Arye, as well as Rav Dovid Katz Bistritz, Av Bais Din Milchdorf, and mechaber of Bais Dovid.
For two fruitful years the Kol Arye grew and studied under his Rebbe until the passing of the Chasam Sofer on 25 Tishrei 5600/1839, when once again he took up his wandering staff and hit the road to the Yeshiva of Rav Binyomin Wolf Loewe of Verboy, mechaber of Shaarei Torah. In the hesped for his father, the Kol Arye’s son, the Bais Naftoli, remarked that the Shaarei Torah loved and appreciated his father like one of his very own children; such was the relationship that grew between the talmid and his new Rebbe.
It was during this time in Verboy that the Kol Arye began to write down his chiddushim, putting down on paper his wealth and breadth of knowledge and insight in an organized manner that would form the backbone to his scholarship for generations to come. Upon reviewing his kuntresim from that period, the Rav of Serdaheli, mechaber of Vayaged Moshe, Rav Moshe Yehuda Katz, was so amazed at the wondrous pilpulim, that he said the eyes of whoever studies them are enlightened by the chiddushim of a sixteen-year-old fit for an aged Godol sitting years in Yeshiva.
Before leaving Verboy to travel back home to Mad, the Shaarei Torah wrote a letter of Semicha and ordained the Kol Arye with Rabbonus that was prophetic, for instead of writing that Rav Arye Leib was from Mad, the Shaarei Torah described him “accidentally” as the Av Bais Din of Mad. Upon seeing this error and pointing it out to his Rebbe, the Shaarei Torah is said to have responded, “If that is what I wrote, let it remain so and I shall not change it.” When one day in the future the Kol Arye in fact earned that title and rose to the position as Mad’s Av Bais Din and Rav, he humbly attributed it to his Rebbe’s berocha rather than his own skill, erudition and worthiness.
He was married to Faige, the daughter of Rav Moshe Yehuda Leib Gintzler and Lea. His father-in-law hailed from Uhjel and it was there that the erusin took place. Around the engagement party tables sat many great Rabbonim and Geonim, including the Yismach Moshe, and all sat spellbound and amazed, listening to the derosha of the young illui of Mad. Afterward, whispers began circulating that the chiddush and pilpul was so great it simply wasn’t possible that the novel insights were his own. “Surely he heard this from his Rebbe, the Rosh Yeshiva of Verboy,” and they nodded their heads in agreement. When the whispers reached the ears of the chosson, the Kol Arye smiled enigmatically and simply remarked, “They must really like what they are hearing to attribute them to my Rebbe. In fact, my chiddushim must be sound, since if they think that they came from the Shaarei Torah they must have not found any mistakes or errors in them – all the more reason to rejoice!” Just before age seventeen in Sivan of 5601/1841, he was married in Uhjel with the Mora D’Asra, the Yismach Moshe, serving as the Mesader Kiddushin. At the chosson tisch the Kol Arye was about to deliver his derosha when the Yismach Moshe made a request that he tell over something he had heard from his Rebbe, the Chasam Sofer. Although not having prepared anything in advance from his Rebbe, the Kol Arye found a way to segue into one of his Rebbe’s profound teachings. The seamless connection and progression from his prepared pilpul to the new addition was so good and fit so well, no one could tell that this was not how he had prepared his derosha beforehand. After he concluded, the Yismach Moshe blessed him, “May your Rebbe’s zechus stand by you all of your days, for your toil and effort to study and refine his teachings.”
In those days in Uhjel he drew close to the two luminaries, the Yetev Lev, Rav Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum, future Rav of Sighet, and the Maaglei Tzedek, Rav Menachem Mendel Panet, future Rav of Deish. It was during this time that at age eighteen, he authored the kuntresim that were published in Kol Arye for Hilchos Shlichus and Hilchos Berochos. He sent the kuntres on Shlichus to his Rebbe, the Shaarei Torah in Verboy, who greatly admired and praised its scholarship. The Kuntres on Berochos was perhaps the favorite of all his kuntresim. The reason for this is cited in the Maftechos to the Kol Arye, which were written by the Rav of Samloya (in newer editions printed as an introduction to this siman):
HIMMEL TORAH – HEAVENLY TORAH
I wish to tell future generations what I heard myself from the mechaber. This kuntres on Birkas HaMitzvos was written in Uhjel when he lived with his father-in-law Rav Moshe Leib Gintzler and ate at his table.
At that time the Rav of Uhjel was Rav Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum of Sighet, mechaber of Avnei Tzedek and Yetev Lev, who succeeded his holy grandfather, the Sabba Kadisha, Rav Moshe Teitelbaum, mechaber of Yismach Moshe.
When my Rebbe completed the kuntres he handed it over to the Yetev Lev so he could study it. The Yetev Lev left it in his private study, the room where the Yismach Moshe used to daven when he was alive.
That night the Yismach Moshe appeared in a dream to Rav Moshe Leib Gintzler, the Kol Arye’s father-in-law, and told him, “I see that my advice to you to take Rav Avrohom Leib of Mad as your son-in-law was a good piece of advice. I have just now looked over and studied his nice new kuntres.” The Yismach Moshe then recited back for Rav Gintzler one of the chiddushim written there.
In the morning, Rav Gintzler went to his son-in-law and told him about the dream and recited back the pilpul that the Yismach Moshe had told him, citing it in the Kol Arye’s name.
The Kol Arye was amazed; his father-in-law was not accustomed to know what he studied and did not learn or read the kuntresim that he wrote. His father-in-law could not have known anything about this kuntres or what was written in it beforehand.
From then on, this kuntres became very precious and beloved to the Kol Arye. (Maftechos Kol Arye)
of motza shtar chov (Bova Metzia 12b) but he knew it was one of these two. This is the story behind that Himmel Torah:
It was during the days of the machlokes between the mechaber of Pnei Yehoshua and Rav Yehonoson Eibschitz. Many Gedolim were on Rav Yehonoson’s side. The Pnei Yehoshua had a son who was a great Gaon and served as a Rav in Poland. Even though he was the son of the Pnei Yehoshua, he himself tended to side with his Rebbe, Rav Yehonoson. Whenever he heard a chiddush from Rav Yehonoson he agreed to it and his thoughts tended to agree with his opinions and derech halimud to the extent that whereas he could recite back many pilpulim and chiddushim of his Rebbe, Rav Yehonoson, he did not know any of his own father’s at all.
The Kol Arye’s first stop on the path of Chassidus was in the court of Rav Osher Yeshaya Rubin of Ropshitz, son-in-law and successor of the founder of the dynasty, Rav Naftoli Tzvi Horowitz of Ropshitz. A great many Tzaddikim and Geonim gathered there and the Kol Arye was soon known among them as the young genius who knew the entire Pri Megodim on Orach Chaim by heart!
It was in Ropshitz that the Kol Arye made fast friendships as a colleague and talmid – a talmid chover of his elders, Rav Sholom Kaminker and the Sanzer Rav, the Divrei Chaim. The extreme age gaps of twenty-four to twenty-seven years respectively did not matter when it came to the mutual appreciation of Torah study and Avodas Hashem that cemented these great Tzaddikim.
It was not his first encounter with the Divrei Chaim, who had perhaps even led him to Ropshitz. The Divrei Chaim he had first met in Uhjel where the Sanzer Rav delivered an eloquent derosha concluding with the statement that “know that we have answered the difficulties in the Rambam, and we have also discovered that there is only one true G-d, Hashem, in the Heavens and the Earth.” An approach combining scholarly erudition and lomdus with Avodas Hashem, to refine Torah-seeking truth and discover simultaneously Hashem’s unity – that was just what the Kol Arye was looking for.
Many years later he would travel together with the Divrei Chaim to Rav Sholom of Belz, whom the Divrei Chaim considered a colleague and talmid chover. The Kol Arye even named one of his sons Sholom after the Sar Sholom’s passing.
Approximately six years after he married, in 5607, the Kol Arye, just twenty-two years old, moved back to his hometown of Mad and opened a Yeshiva, and the first of his talmidim began to flock to study under the young Gaon. Besides the harbotzas Torah, the Kol Arye also found in Mad a Gaon, a scholar and colleague with whom he could study and grow in Torah, Rav Nosson Feitel Reinitz. In Kol Arye there are two teshuvos addressed to him, 56 and 59. Many of the Kol Arye’s Yeshiva students received semicha as Rabbonim from Rav Nosson Feitel, who was considered one of the greatest Morei Horo’a and Poskim in Hungary at that time.
Rav Yehoshua Boruch Reinitz, Rav Nosson Feitel’s son, and a talmid muvhok of the Kol Arye, fondly recalled how in his youth he heard the Kol Arye once remark how he knew by heart most of the Tosfos in all of Shas, and on another occasion, “If you tell me any chiddush that appears in one of the seforim in my possession I can tell which sefer it is and where it appears.”
Most of his life, the Kol Arye served as the Rav of Bergsaz, where he was appointed in 5621. Later, in 5641, he was appointed as Rav in his birthplace and he moved to Mad. He was well received and beloved.
After meeting Rav Chaim of Sanz, he became a devoted follower and Chassid. He travelled to Sanz some twenty-six times for Shavuos. He was also very close with Rav Yitzchok Meir of Ger and named his grandson after him. He used to say about himself that he studied in the same manner as the Chiddushei HaRim.
He was considered one of the greatest Rabbonim in Hungary. Rav Shimon Sofer of Cracow called him “The Rav and Gaon, sharp and well versed in the hidden and revealed Torah.”
He was the mechaber of Kol Arye, one of the most important seforim to come out of Hungary.
His biography was published as Toldos Kol Arye.
His sons were: Rav Naftoli HaKohen Schwartz, who succeeded him in Mad and authored the sefer Bais Naftoli on Torah and Shulchon Aruch, Rav Aharon HaKohen Schwartz of Cracow, Rav Sholom HaKohen Schwartz of Bergsaz and Rav Mordechai Zev of Podgorza, Cracow.
His sons-in-law were: Rav Yehoshua Koren of Cracow, married to his third daughter, Zissel, Rav Yaakov Eherenreich, married to his eldest daughter, Hendel Raizel and Rav Eliezer Tzuker of Bergsaz, married to his second daughter, Rivka.
He passed away the 24th of Tishrei, 5644 (1883) and was laid to rest in Mad.