R' Yehuda Zerachya Mordechai Leib Chaim Halevi Segal (1924–2001) served for fifty years as the Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Shalom in Tel Aviv. and was renowned as the leader of the lamed-vav (36) hidden tzaddikim.
Born in Yerushalayim to R' Sheftel Segal, a descendant of the Shelah, he was named after R' Sheftel, the Shelah’s son, who first published the Shelah siddur. His maternal grandfather was R' Bechor Chaim Yosef David Azulai, a descendant of the Chida.
At just eight years old, R' Segal delivered a eulogy at the funeral of his grandfather, R' Yaakov Mendelbaum of Yerushalayim. This was an extraordinary event, as eulogies by children were virtually unheard of. The other two eulogists at the funeral were two of the foremost rabbis of Yerushalayim.
As a young man, he studied at Yeshivas Lomza in Petach Tikvah, where he was a student of R' Shach even sharing a room with him at one point. During those years, he also developed a strong bond with the Chazon Ish. Additionally, he maintained a close relationship with Rebbe of Lelov, R' Moshe Mordechai. There are also many letters that were exchanged between R' Segal and R' Ovadiah Hadaya, head of Yerushalayim’s Yeshivas Hamekubalim until his passing in 1969.
R' Segal passed away without children. His Torah teachings were published in Chiddushei R' Yehuda Zerachya. Additional insights appear in his father’s work, Divrei Rabbeinu Sheftel. His life story is chronicled in the biography Hatzaddik Pele (“The Wondrous Tzaddik”).
The Chazon Ish referred to him as “a lion among lions,” while R' Shmuel Halevi Wosner called him, “the wondrous sage, a miracle worker.” The Pnei Menachem of Gur wrote of him: “Once he deeply yearned to see his grandfather and he appeared to him in a dream... From this, we see that through intense longing, one can draw down revelations from the higher realms.”
In one instance, R' Yosef Waltuch confided in R' Segal after being harshly humiliated. R' Segal comforted him, writing, “There is great nachas ruach for Hashem from you,” explaining that the incident was “an atonement for a matter in a previous incarnation.” After offering further insight, he concluded, “...do not worry, because salvation will come quickly, b’ezras Hashem.”
R' Segal maintained extensive correspondence with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. There are over sixty return letters that the Rebbe sent him — most of them lengthy, covering all kinds of subjects relating to various aspects of avodas Hashem.
In one notable letter, R' Segal urged the Rebbe to daven for the IDF soldiers who were risking their lives. He added, “May the smallest of them who is moser nefesh be important in Hashem’s eyes, as without a doubt they are reincarnated sparks who have returned for tikun because in earlier reincarnations they may have belittled Eretz Hakodesh, the Holy Land.”
