Rav Meir Zack (Kislev 20, 5414 / 1653 - 371st Yahrzeit)
Rav Meir was niftar on 20 Kislev and was succeeded by Rav Dovid HaLevi Segal, mechaber of the Taz on Shulchon Aruch as Rav of Lvov.
Rav Meshulem Feivish Heller Yosher Divrei Emes (Kislev 20, 5555 / 1794 - 230th Yahrzeit)
Rav Meshulem Feivish was the son of Rav Aharon Moshe Heller of Sniyatin, a direct male-line descendant of the Tosfos YomTov, and a son-in-law of Rav Mordechai Halperin of Brezhan (his second marriage; details regarding his first marriage remain unknown). Rav Meshulem Feivish received the Chassidic tradition as a talmid of the great Mezritcher Maggid, the Ba’al Shem Tov’s successor, as well as from Rav Menachem Mendel of Premishlan and Rav Yechiel Michel of Zlotchov. He was a close colleague of Rav Chaim of Czernowitz, who mentions him often in his magnum opus, Be’er Mayim Chaim on the Torah. Rav Meshulem Feivish was one of the earliest and greatest Chassidic writers, and authored the seforim Yosher Divrei Emes, Derech Emes, and Darchei Tzedek. His sons were Rav Shimon of Ozhiran, Rav Boruch Yitzchok of Zavnitz, and Rav Moshe Aharon. Among his talmidim were Rav Dovid Shlomo of Soroka, mechaber of Levushei Serod and Arvei Nachal; Rav Chaim of Czernowitz, mechaber of Be’er Mayim Chaim; and Rav Menachem Mendel of Kosov, mechaber of Ahavas Sholom and founder of the Kosov Vizhnitz dynasty.
Rav Dov Berish Divrei Tzaddikim (Kislev 20, 5598 / 1837 - 187th Yahrzeit)
Rav Dov Ber was the son of Rav Moshe Fromer and Hendel of Kishanov and a talmid muvhak of Rav Shlomo of Kishanov. He also studied Chassidus under the Chozeh, testifying that “the light of Torah lishmah shines forth from him.” In Oshpitzin there lived a wealthy gvir named Rav Nota Tyberg, who hired Rav Dov Beirish as a personal melamed for his bright and gifted son, Rav Yudele Tyberg (great-grandfather of Rav Moshe Danziger of Alexander, the brother of the Yismach Yisrael). (MeOran Shel Yisrael Likkutim 356) Eventually, Rav Shlomo of Kishanov discovered him and sent his talmidim to draw near the light hidden in Oshpitzin. It was those talmidim the Kishanover sent who brought him to his Rebbe and mentor in Chassidus. Rav Dov Ber authored the sefer Divrei Tzaddikim.
Rav Boruch Hager Imrei Boruch (Kislev 20, 5653 / 1892 - 132nd Yahrzeit)
Rav Boruch Hager of Seret-Vizhnitz, the Imrei Boruch, was the son of Rav Menachem Mendel Hager, the Tzemach Tzaddik. Rav Boruch was Rebbe for only eight years, and was niftar at a young age. His son, Rav Yisrael Hager (the Ahavas Yisrael), was born when Rav Boruch was only fifteen years old.
Rav Yitzchok Hutner Rosh Yeshiva of Chaim Berlin, Pachad Yitzchok (Kislev 20, 5741 / 1980 - 44th Yahrzeit)
Rav Yitzchok Hutner was Rosh Yeshiva of Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, and mechaber of Pachad Yitzchok. His uncle, Rav Benzion Ostrover, had been a talmid of Rav Mendel of Kotzk, and was instrumental in providing his young nephew with a direct link to the world of Chassidus. At the age of fifteen, he went to Slobodka and was directed by the Alter, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel. In 1925, he entered the new Slabodka branch in Chevron, where he also met and learned from Rav Avrohom Yitzchok Kook. He remained until 1929, after which he returned to his parents in Warsaw. He became a personal tutor for Rav Moshe Solevetchik’s son, Aharon. In 1932, he published his Toras HaNozir, a commentary on the Rambam’s Hilchos Nozir. In 1933, he married Masha Lipshitz and moved to Eretz Yisrael. Despite his great attachment to the Land, they left for America one year later, not to return for thirty years. He built Yeshiva Chaim Berlin to his specifications with his famous blend of Torah philosophies. One of his talmidim was Rav Yitzchok Shurin, grandson of Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky. Among his colleagues at Slobodka were Rav Yitzchok HaLevi Ruderman, Rav Reuven Grozovsky, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, and Rav Aharon Kotler. In 1949 he began publishing his discourses on morals and ethics which he subtitled Divrei Torah B’inyonei Hilchos Dei’os V’Chovos HaLevovos. As a young man he wrote Toras HaNozir on the Rambam’s Hilchos Nezirus. He wrote a profound commentary (Kovetz He’oros) on Rabbeinu Hillel on the Safra. His discourses on Yomim Tovim and Shabbos (Pachad Yitzchok) are collected in seven volumes.
Rav Yochonon Twersky Rachmastrivka Rebbe (Kislev 20, 5742 / 1981 - 43rd Yahrzeit)
Rav Yochonon was born on 17 Av 5663/1903 in Rachmastrivka, to Rav Dovid of Rachmastrivka. A scion of the Czernobyl dynasty, he later became the son-in-law of Rav Nachman Yosef Willhelm of Yerushalayim. Raised and educated in his father’s home, he continued his Torah studies even under the Communist regime. A band of murderers once captured him and was going to hang him – but he was saved in the nick of time by a miracle. In 5686, the family moved to Eretz Yisrael and reestablished the dynasty in the Holy Land. Rav Yochonon was among the first talmidim to attend Yeshivas Sefas Emes back in those days. After his father’s petira in 5710 he was crowned his father’s successor and he built up the Chassidus into one of the most important dynasties and courts in Yerushalayim. He founded Yeshivas Meor Einayim named after the founder of the Czernobyler’s sefer. He himself cared for the Yeshiva’s students and knew each one by name, personally seeing to their needs and taking care of their problems. He had the custom to daven for lengthy amounts of time at the Kosel. His customs were exemplified by humility and simplicity and warm, strong bonds of friendship and love. At his levaya thousands were in attendance and he was laid to rest on Har HaZeisim. His son Rav Yisrael Mordechai was appointed to succeed him as Rachmastrivka Rebbe in Yerushalayim, and his son Rav Chai Yitzchok as Rachmastrivka Rebbe in New York.
Rav Tzvi Zev Paley Hirsch (Kislev 20, 5756 / 1995 - 29th Yahrzeit)
Rav Hirsch Paley was born in Shklov, Lithuania, to Rav Avrohom Noach Paley, a close talmid of Rav Boruch Ber Leibovitz. The family immigrated to Eretz Yisrael when Rav Hirsch was fourteen. His father became the Mashgiach in Yeshiva Chevron. Rav Hirsch would travel with his lifelong friend, Rav Sholom Schwadron, to hear Rav Elya Lopian in Yerushalayim, whom he considered his Rebbe Muvhok and and Moreh Derech. Rav Hirsch was the last surviving member of the Chevron community following the 1929 riots. In 1965, he married Menucha, the daughter of Rav Shlomo Zalman Pines. She had been one of the first talmidos of Sara Schenirer and served as a mechaneches in Bais Yaakov schools for over six decades, both in Tel Aviv and in Yerushalayim. They moved to Tel Aviv, where Rav Hirsch studied in Kollel Heichal HaTalmud, founded by his father. He later became Mashgiach at Chevron Yeshiva.
Rav Naftali Halberstam Ayala Shelucha (Kislev 21, 5624 / 1863 - 161st Yahrzeit)
Rav Naftoli was the firstborn son of Rav Yechezkel Shraga of Shinova. After his marriage, he moved to Tsherkas, where his maternal grandfather, Rav Yaakov Yisrael, the Tsherkaser Rav, lived. There he became a chavrusa of Rav Mordechai Dov Horensteipler. Rav Naftoli passed away suddenly and unexpectedly during Nefilas Apayim, at Tachanun of Mincha at age twenty-six. His father testified that he was a Godol and a Kodosh, and that he had studied the entire body of Torah for twenty years, like one who had done so for a century. His Chiddushim were published as Ayala Shelucha, along with some Divrei Torah of his grandfather, Rav Arye Leib of Vishnitza.
Rav Yochonon Perlow Karlin-Stoliner Rebbe (Kislev 21, 5716 / 1955 - 69th Yahrzeit)
Rav Yochonon Perlow, the seventh Rebbe (sixth, according to Yated 2006) of the Stolin-Karlin dynasty, was born in Stolin, a suburb of Pinsk, White Russia, to Rav Yisrael, the “Yanuka” of Stolin. After his father was niftar in 1921, his six sons split the succession: Rav Moshe became Rebbe in Stolin; Rav Avrohom Elimelech took over in Karlin; Rav Yaakov moved to the U.S. in 1923 to lead the Karlin community that already had four shuls in New York and one shtiebel in Detroit. He became known as the Detroiter Rebbe. Rav Yochonon moved to Poland where he became a Rebbe in Lutsk, capital of the Volhynia district. Among the 41,000 people in Lutsk were eighteen thousand Jews. After the Nazis entered Lutsk on June 25, 1941, they herded the Jews into a ghetto in December, and the following August, they dragged 17,500 of them outside the town and murderously gunned them down. The last survivors, Jewish workers in the local labor camp, mounted a heroic but hopeless revolt on December 11, after learning that they, too, were about to be liquidated. Only about 150 Lutsk Jews survived the war. Rav Yochonon, his wife, and two daughters fled into the surrounding forests and made their way deep into Russia with groups of partisans. After being deported to Siberia and personally burying his wife and elder daughter there on the same day, Rav Yochonon somehow survived the war. He lost almost his entire family; only one daughter, Faige, survived. He moved to Haifa in 1946, then to America two years later. While in New York, he founded the Karlin-Stolin Torah Institutions and published the new Siddur Bais Aharon v’Yisrael, comprising Karlin-Stolin minhagim. Rav Yochonon’s grandson, Rav Boruch Yaakov Meir Shochet, became the next Stolin-Karlin Rebbe. He composed the poem “Kah Echsof Noam Shabbos” that is printed in most editions of Shabbos Zemiros.
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Rav Yochonon was born in the month of Av 5660/1900 to Rav Yisrael Perlow, the Yanuka of Stolin. He was named after his grandfather, Rav Yochonon of Rachmastrivka. After his father was niftar, he was crowned Rebbe in Lutsk although just a newly married yungerman. He gathered around himself many Karlin Stoliner Chassidim from Volhyn. When the Germans invaded Lutsk during WWII he fled to the woods together with his wife and two daughters. There he fled deep into Russia with the partisans. He lost his wife and daughter in Russia on the same bitter day and he himself had to bury them. Along with his hardships and travails he remained weak and sickly for the rest of his life. When the war ended, he arrived in Germany through Serbia and did not reveal his identity to anyone, living a life of want, privation and hunger. Somehow someone recognized him and the Chassidim did their utmost to make efforts to bring him to Eretz Yisrael to become Rebbe for all the Karlin-Stoliner Chassidim whose numbers in Yerushalayim were significant. In Iyar of 5706 he arrived in Eretz Yisrael and established himself in Chaifa. Under his guidance and leadership, Karlin-Stolin was reinvigorated; new botei medrash opened and mosdos – institutions – opened and grew. In 5708 he left for the USA and lived with his brother Rav Yaakov. While in New York he published the Bais Aharon VeYisrael Siddur with the customs of davening in the nusach of Karlin-Stolin, along with important correspondence and letters from the Rebbes of the dynasty. In 5714 he moved back to Eretz Yisrael and began building Yeshivas Karlin in Yerushalayim. He returned to the USA to help fund the project and complete the building, hoping to return, but he was niftar shortly after he arrived in the US. He was brought back to Eretz Yisrael and laid to rest in Teverya on 18 Adar 5717. His petira created a split in Karlin. Some of the Chassidim crowned the Pinsker as the next leader. However, most of the Chassidim crowned Rav Boruch Yaakov HaLevi Shochet, the son of Rav Yochonon’s daughter, as the next Karlin-Stoliner Rebbe. After Rav Yochonon’s petira, the Chassidim reprinted the Bais Aharon, by the second Rav Aharon of Karlin, in his name and memory.
Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank Chief Rav of Yerushalayim, Har Tzvi (Kislev 21, 5722 / 1961 - 63rd Yahrzeit)
Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank, Rav of Yerushalayim, was born in Lithuania, and became a student of Rav Eliezer Gordon and Rav Shmuel Salant. His main work is a set of responsa known as Har Tzvi. He also authored Mikro’ei Kodesh. He was the father-in-law of Rav Menachem Ben-Tzion Sacks, the Menachem Tzion.
Rav Eliezer Ashkenazi Maaseh Hashem, Yosif Lekach (Kislev 22, 5346 / 1585 - 439th Yahrzeit)
Rav Eliezer Ashkenazi, mechaber of Ma’asei Hashem, was born in Turkey, he studied with Rav Yosef Taitatzak (1465–1546) in Salonica. He served as a Rav in Egypt from 1538 to 1561. For unknown reasons, he was compelled to leave, served in Famagusta, Cyprus, then in Venice, Italy. Due to a disagreement with Rav Shmuel Yehuda Katzenellenbogen, he moved to Prague, where he helped develop the chevra kadisha, on which others are based. After a year, he moved back to Italy and lived in Cremona. In 1578, he moved to Posen, Poland, and took his final post. He retired to Cracow, where he lived out his last few years.
Rav Moshe Roke'ach (Kislev 22, 5514 / 1753 - 271st Yahrzeit)
The Apta Rav said that Rav Elozor Roke’ach of Brody and Amsterdam did hisbodedus for seven years, davening and beseeching Hashem in meditative seclusion while studying the entire corpus of the Chochmas HaEmes and Kabbola while standing on his feet and enduring terrific pains and suffering, just to merit a son. He performed mystical unifications of the Divine Names known as yichudim and then Eliyohu HaNovi appeared and revealed to him, “You have drawn down a lofty soul to this world that none can compare to; cease your seclusion – the world needs you.” Afterward, his son Rav Moshe was born. His first marriage was to the daughter of Rav Naftoli Katz, Av Bais Din of Posen. His second marriage was to the daughter of the Chacham Tzvi. On 12 Tammuz 5504/1744, he was appointed Rav of Brody. He had two sons from his first wife, one of whom was Rav Shmuel Shmelka Roke’ach, Rav of the Tailors of Brody (grandfather of the Sar Sholom of Belz).
Rav Pinchas Ostrog (Kislev 22, 5566 / 1805 - 219th Yahrzeit)
(Some say the Yahrzeit is on the 25th of Kislev) He was well known for his Chassidus and perishus – piety and sanctity. He would hide in the loft of the Great Synagogue, doing hisbodedus – attaching himself to Hashem in meditative seclusion. The townsfolk of Ostrog told many miraculous tales about him and said that even in his youth he was regularly visited by Eliyahu HaNovi. His sons were Rav Yaakov Yosef II of Ostrog and Rav Moshe, founder of the Orzhitshev dynasty. His son-in-law was Rav Pinchas, grandfather of Rav Pinchas of Ostila.
Rav Yechezkel Panet Kenesses Yechezkel (Kislev 22, 5690 / 1929 - 95th Yahrzeit)
Rav Yechezkel was the son of Rav Moshe Paneth of Desh and the son-in-law of Rav Shmuel Yehuda Pollack of Ober Vishiva. Born on Zos Chanuka 5630/1870, he was recognized as a gifted youth and a child prodigy. At a young age he was already writing chiddushim in Torah and his grandfather ordered him to even begin wearing tefillin! He continued his studies in Munkascz with Rav Chaim Elozor, later famed as the Minchas Elozor, as his chavrusa. He also acquired a deep and intimately familiar knowledge of Kabbola and the hidden wisdom of Torah. In 5655/1895 he was elected Rav of Ahirshar and in 5658/1898 he moved to Morush-Oyvahr. In 5646/1886, at age sixteen, he was already a participant in the Asifas HoRabbonim in Budapest and was the youngest Rav in attendance. In 5663/1903, he was elected Rav and Rebbe of Deish, the third generation of Paneths. In his days, the Yeshiva there flourished. He was the Rosh Kollel of Zibenburgen and worked to see its advance and growth. After his petira, his writings in Chassidus were discovered on Shas and Teshuvos, halachic responsa. They were printed and published under the title Knesses Yechezkel on the Torah. A kuntres named Kol Bochim was published, mourning him and detailing his biography. His sons were: Rav Yaakov Elimelech of Deish, Rav Yosef of Deish, Rav Moshe Paneth of Deish-Shatz. His daughters were: Masha, the wife of Rav Yehoshua Greenwald and Chava Tila, wife of Rav Dovid Yehuda Freund of Sasregen.
Rav Sholom Mordechai Schwadron Maggid of Yerushalayim (Kislev 22, 5758 / 1997 - 27th Yahrzeit)
Rav Sholom Mordechai Schwadron, Yerushalmi Maggid, was the brother-in-law of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. He was named for his grandfather, the Maharsham, the leading posek in Galicia before World War I. He lost his father at the age of seven, and for a time lived in an orphanage. After his bar mitzva he studied in the Lomza Yeshiva in Petach Tikva, and later in the Chevron Yeshiva in Yerushalayim under Rav Yehuda Leib Chasman. After his marriage, he continued his studies in Kollel Ohel Torah. The kollel’s members included Rav Yosef Sholom Elyashiv and Rav Shmuel Wosner. In addition to his renown as a Maggid, he published approximately twenty-five of his grandfather’s works, as well as Lev Eliyohu (of Rav Elya Lopian), and the writings of Rav Chasman, Ohr Yahal.
Rav Yosef Chaim Klein (Kislev 22, 5765 / 2004 - 20th Yahrzeit)
Rav Yosef Chaim Klein was born in New York and learned at Torah VoDa’as. His Rebbe Muvhok was Rav Shlomo Heiman. He subsequently learned under Rav Reuven Grozovsky at Bais Medrash Elyon in Monsey. His last forty years were spent as menahel of the Mesivta of the Mirrer Yeshiva in Brooklyn.
Rav Dovid Tevele Schiff Av Beis Din of London, Lashon Zahav (Kislev 23, 5552 / 1791 - 233rd Yahrzeit)
Rav Dovid was born in Frankfurt, the son of Rav Shlomo Zalman HaKohen. Rav Schiff was a talmid of Rav Yaakov Popresh and Rav Yaakov Yehoshua Falk, mechaber of the Pnei Yehoshua. He later served as the chief Rav of Great Britain and the Rav of the Great Synagogue of London from 5525/1765 until his petira. One of his most famous talmidim was Rav Nosson Adler Katz of Frankfurt Am Mein (the Rebbe of the Chasam Sofer). He authored the sefer Loshon Hazohov, chiddushim on Shas, Shu”t, Halochos and Deroshos in 2 volumes. Many of Rav Nosson Adler’s glosses to the Mishna in his sefer Mishnas Rav Nosson were heard from his Rebbe Rav Dovid Teveli Schiff.
Rav Elimelech Lowy Tosher Rebbe (Kislev 23, 5703 / 1942 - 82nd Yahrzeit)
Rav Elimelech was the son of Rav Meshulem Feish Levi of Tosh and the son-in-law of Rav Yitzchok Isaac Weiss, Av Bais Din of Solyeve and Rosh Av Bais Din of Munkacsz. He was born toward the end of his father’s life and named after Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk because his father often traveled especially to Lizhensk to the tziun and davened there to merit a son. His father nicknamed him the Rebbe Reb Melech even during his childhood years. When his brother-in-law Rav Yehosef Rottenberg moved from Tosh to Kosoni, he was appointed Rav and Rebbe of Tosh. He traveled to his own mentor and Rebbe, Rav Tzvi Elimelech Shapira of Bluzhov, even during his own tenure as Rebbe. Just like his father before him, stories of his many supernatural powers, blessings and miracles abounded among the Chassidim. His practices included continuous immersion in the mikveh, and drawn-out dancing with the Chassidim. His avodas hakodesh during Purim was especially renowned and Chassidim would relate how many wonders and miracles he performed. In the sefer Purim Hameshulosh BeTosh by Rav Yosef Friedlander of Yerushalayim, he tells of three such days of Purim miracles. His son Rav Chaim Shlomo served as Chuster Rebbe in America, his grandson Rav Meshulem Feish, son of Rav Mordechai hy”d, who perished in the Holocaust, served as Tosher Rebbe in Canada. He was niftar in Tosh.
Rav Zecharia Mendel (Kislev 24, 5552 / 1791 - 233rd Yahrzeit)
Rav Zecharia was born in Podheitz, the son of Rav Arye Leib of Buczacz, and a descendant of the Maharshal and the Rema. He studied under Rav Yaakov Yehoshua, mechaber of Pnei Yehoshua. He served as the Rav and Dayan of Frankfurt der Oder for decades. His seforim include: Menoras Zecharia, chiddushim on Shabbos and deroshos for Shabbos and Moadim; Zecharia Meshulam, chiddushim on Shas; and Zecharia HaMeivin, on philosophy and Kabbola. He was niftar in Frankfurt der Oder.
Rav Moshe Panet (Kislev 24, 5663 / 1902 - 122nd Yahrzeit)
(Some say the Yahrzeit is in the year 5664 / 1903 - 121st Yahrzeit) A scion of the Karlsberg dynasty. A Godol BaTorah, he served as Rav of Orishar-Nimuza, and in 5645, he was appointed as his father’s successor as Rav and Rebbe in Deish, where thousands flocked to hear his Divrei Torah. His sons were: Rav Yitzchok Yechiel Michel of Deish, Rav Yechezkel of Deish and Rav Chaim Menachem of Deish. His sons-in-law were: Rav Yehuda Freidlander, Av Bais Din of Burga-Froint; Rav Boruch Avrohom Bindiger; and Rav Naftoli Tzvi Horowitz.
Rav Chaim Chizkiyohu Medini Sdei Chemed, Av Beis Din of Chevron (Kislev 24, 5665 / 1904 - 120th Yahrzeit)
Rav Chaim Chizkiyohu Medini, the Sdei Chemed, was born in Yerushalayim and was married at eighteen. After his father was niftar two years later, Rav Chaim’s cousins in Constantinople offered to support his learning if he moved there. After thirteen years in Turkey, he took the position of Rav in the small city of Karasubazar in Crimea. He served there for thirty-three years, fighting the forces of the Karaites, before moving back to Yerushalayim. He lived there for two years, then moved to Chevron, where he was appointed Rav of the city in 1880. His Sdei Chemed is a monumental, universally acclaimed, eighteen-volume Talmudic and halachic encyclopedia.
Rav Dovid Tzvi Chein Radatz, Rabbi of Chernigov (Kislev 24, 5687 / 1926 - 98th Yahrzeit)
Rabbi Dovid-Tzvi Chein, the chief rabbi of Chernigov, known as the Radatz [1846-24 Kislev (Erev Chanuka) 1926], a major Lubavitcher chasid, renowned for his scholarship and piety. He is one of the only three people to receive rabbinical ordination directly from the Rebbe Maharash. In early 1926 he left Russia and settled in Jerusalem, together with his son-in-law, Rabbi Shalom-Shlomo Schneersohn, Rabbi of Nikolaev and brother of Rabbi Levi-Yitzchak Schneersohn, father of the 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe. Until this day, many of his descendants are important Lubavitcher-Chabad chasidim.
