Rav Eliezer of Vizhnitz was born in Bedevilla, the town where his father served as Rav, on Shabbos (Parshas Yisro), 22 Shevat, in the year 5651/תרנ״א. He was named after his maternal grandfather, Rav Eliezer of Dzhikov. At the age of 16, on Thursday, 15 Sivan 5667/תרס״ז, Rav Eliezer married Chava, the daughter of Rav Yitzchok Meir Heschel of Kopischnitz and the great-granddaughter of the Rizhiner. He received smicha from the Maharsham of Berzhan, Maharsh Engel of Radomishla, and the Gram Shteinberg of Brody, author of Machzeh Avrohom.
When World War I broke out, Rav Eliezer and his father-in-law fled from Galicia to Bukowina. After stopping in Vizhnitz for a few days, they learned that the Russian army was approaching, so they continued on to Vienna, Austria. In Vienna, Rav Eliezer met and learned with the tzaddikim of the Rizhiner dynasty who had also taken up shelter there. He also learned with the gedolim Rav Meir Arik, Rav Yosef Engel and Rav Shteinberg, and he gained greatly from their Torah.
During this period, he worked hard to help the thousands of Jewish refugees who had flocked to Vienna, doing his utmost to ease their pain and attend to their physical and spiritual needs. He raised money to provide refugees with food and clothing; he sent anonymous care packages to those who were too proud to ask for handouts; and he worked tirelessly to obtain deferment and release for those who had been conscripted to serve in the Austrian army at the front. He also founded the kloiz of Chassidei Vizhnitz, which remained a center for Torah and Chassidus until it was destroyed by the Nazis.
At the end of World War I, his father, the Ahavas Yisroel, took up residence in Grossvardayn and the center of Chassidus moved with him. On Lag Ba’Omer, 5682/תרפ״ב, with his father’s blessings, he was crowned as Chief Rabbi of Vizhnitz. He returned to Bukowina and established a Chassidic yeshiva for the Jewry of Bukowina and Bessarabia, which saved thousands of youngsters from the spiritual dangers of assimilation. His talmidim included the Yeshuos Moshe of Vizhnitz. In addition to being the Chief Rabbi of Vizhnitz, he also served as the head of Agudas Yisroel in Bukowina.
He was crowned as Rebbe after his father’s passing in 5696/תרצ״ו. At the beginning of World War II, in 5700/ת״ש, the Russians took over Vizhnitz, so he fled to Temishvar, where the local Jewish population became his Chassidim and followers. He did his utmost during the war to aid the Jews living in Transnistriya. He made aliya in 5704/תש״ד and lived in Tel Aviv, where he re-established the Vizhnitzer Yeshiva and was among the foremost Chassidic leaders in the Holy Land. After a serious illness (an inflammation of the lining of his lungs, which he suffered in silence), he passed away on 2 Elul 5706/תש״ו and was laid to rest on Har HaZeisim.
