Friday, November 14, 2008

belated yet timely


(RBR of Munkacs farhering the Bachurim on Motzoei Shabbos - photo by R Vishniac)

A heartwarming yet chilling story told by Rav Baruch Rabinovitch of Munkacs, son in law of the Minchas Elozor and father of the present Munkacser Rebbe about his late shver, zt"l, and his great Ahavas Yisroel despite his reputation as a "firebrand."

Reb Baruch had a son named Tzvi Nosson Dovid, the Minchas Elozor would call him Tzvi, whereas his father would call him "Dov'che." Tzvi after the Minchas Elozor's father and Nosson Dovid after Reb Baruch's father. For a long period of time Reb Baruch was separated from his wife and lived in Warsaw, the reason being arguments with the shvigger over some matter, and the wife - of course - sided with her mother, so the two split up... The Minchas Elozor finally sent his daughter to go live with her husband in Warsaw, far from the shvigger, but after 3 months fell ill with yenne machla and begged them to come back - which they did. Reb Boruch would say that his shver loved his dear grandchild in an "exaggerated way," being that his daughter waited for along time to have that first child. He would play with and spoil the child, and Hershelle would sit on his zeide's lap at the tish.


Yidden in Munkacs

In the final year of his life the Minchas Elozor took the shofar on Rosh Chodesh Elul and tried the horn to see if it was in OK condition. Hershelle was in the room then and was very visibly excited with the shofar and its sounds; he asked his zeide for "noch ein blooz," one more blast, which his zeide gladly obliged. From then on, for the next month, this became a ritual; the Rov blowing once for little Hershelle. On Erev Rosh Hashonoh Hershelle was there awaiting his daily blast, but he was disappointed. "Haynt iz Erev Rosh Hashoone, Haynt bloozt men nisht, morgen vet men bloozen asach mool in shil," his zeide told him. The child knew no Chochmes. He kicked and screamed, telling his zeide "Nor Ein Blooz! Nor Ein Blooz!" After a while his zeide had rachmones on his favorite eynikel and took the shofar and blew one blooz.


More Yidden in Munkacs...

On Rosh Hashoneh before Tekios the minhag in Munkacs was that the Rov spoke. That year the Rov went up before the aron kodesh, opened the ark and said: "Ribono Shel Olam, Ich darf tshiveh tuhn, ich hub over geven af an halochoh. It's written that on ERH one mustn't blow shofar, yet I did. He began to sob uncontrollably and called out: Ribono shel olam, do you know why I transgressed that halochoh? it was because my young (grand)child lay on the floor and begged me and cried that I should only blow one blooz for him. My heart melted, I couldn't bear to watch him cry like that, so I blew once for him, despite the fact that I shouldn't have. Tatte, how can you stand by and see how millions of your children are down on the floor and cry out to you, Tatte eyn blooz - TeKa BeShofar Godol LeChayruseynu, Even if the time is not right for it yet, the time for Moshiach has yet to arrive, but your children cry out to you, how can you stand idly by?!"


When Reb Baruch told the story he cried, and recounted how at that time the crowd cried along with the Rov, the Tekios were delayed, and for a long time they could not "come to themselves, loud wailing was heard throughout the shul." (Such stories can always be told, and one can always learn from them.)

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

And just where is that Nosson Dovid today.....

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

I believe in Olam HoEmes...

Anonymous said...

And where was he before...

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

in Olam HaZeh...

baalbatish said...

Tzig, you are back on track.

Anonymous said...

"Mein Hershaleh' as the Minchas Eluzor called his oldest grandson died a couple of years ago.There were obituaries in the Yiddish newspapers.He had a very difficult life and bore scars of childhood traumas from the early years of the war and escape.His father as a Polish citizen was deported back to Poland to pretty certain death but was miraculously saved by a chused who tracked the truck down in Poland, though he was cluelss of where he had been taken to.This is a story the hayntigeh Munkatcher relates bebchiyos.The chused met a yid, (though the chused had dressed up as a goy)who showed him where R'Burechls group of deportees was, when he turned around to give him the reward he had promised him he was nowhere to be found, leading them to believe it was Eliyohu Hanuvi.
After they got to Palestine, during the War, the Minchas Eluzors' daughter died, leaving Hershaleh and his brothers young orphans, The father R'Burech remarried and went to live in Brazil, the two youngsters, hayntigeh Munkatcher and Dinover came to America to study in Telz Cleveland.

Anonymous said...

This story makes no sense. First, I don't think that it's assur to blow shofar at home in private on Erev Hashona. Second, if it is assur, I don't believe that the Munkatcher would transgress the halacha. Third, if he did trangress the halacha, it would be assur to proclaim it publicly.

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

nu, nu. a kashe oyf a maaseh

Anonymous said...

an ailmeshe,

The idea (not the main idea of the story, but as far as the issue of the 'transgression' is concerned) is not that the Munkatcher was really oiver a issur, but that he felt that for HIM not following even this insignificant minhag and performing this untimely blowing of the shofar was tantamount to a transgression. Hence the parallel to the untimely coming of the geula he was beseeching the Aeibershter about...

A beautiful story.

AMSHINOVER said...

isnt there a Roman VISHNIAC picture "Munkatch. Baruch Rabinovitch Examining the Yeshiva Bahurim" , 1937 ?

Anonymous said...

The munkatcher was extremely overly possesed with his daughter and eineklech
His daughter was picking up the wine cup by kidush at the friday nite tish
On the dislike of the chasidim that didn't like it especialy when she was a older girl the holy munkatcher answered Icreated here with SHIEMOS

Anonymous said...

wow what a great story! mein a barditchever...Yasher koach!

Anonymous said...

Please post this, or something about this. This guy got it right on the mark; we are really in ikvisa d'mishicha -


I just watched a video of a Grad missile slamming into a beautiful residential area in Ashkelon.

People, WAKE UP!

Watch the VIDEO

Do you realize how nuts this is? Can you imagine sitting in your house, wanting nothing more than to eat a piece of cake, or vacuum the floor, or read the newspaper, and suddenly BOOM! There are people, haters, terrorists, shooting things at you that can knock your house down, smash the piece of cake, destroy the vacuum cleaner, shatter the TV screen, end your life??!!!

And can you imagine how the U.S. would react if the backyard you see in the video would be a backyard in Austin Texas, or in Scarsdale, New York??!!!

Would there be talk in the U.S. of restraint or would the B-52 bombers be in the air within 5 minutes? Would the U.S. Air Force worry about collateral damage, or would there be civilian blood in the streets of whatever country it was from whence the perpetrators hailed?

And would anyone in the international community have the nerve to say to the U.S. "Well, nobody in Austin or Scarsdale died, it was just some buildings that got hit, why are you overreacting like this?"

Or would the whole world understand that you do not mess with a sovereign country with such might unless you want to suffer the consequences. And that the only way to make sure that no one messes is by making sure that offenders suffer the consequences.

Don't you see what Israel has done? Agreeing to some bizarre set of rules under which she must suffer the blood of her sons and daughters before being allowed to do the natural thing, the right thing?

Watch the video again - From ancient times until today, is there a nation in the world possessing Israel's capabilities for massive retaliation that would allow that incident to go unpunished? Let alone to allow that incident to be repeated again and again day after day and have it go unpunished?

Watch the video again - For what does Israel have an army, an airforce, a navy? For what does she possess tanks, warplanes, submarines? For what does she demand of every young citizen that he or she give up days and weeks and months and years of his or her life serving in the armed forces?

Watch the video again - Think of the resistance fighters in the Warsaw ghetto, fighting with their bare knuckles against Nazi guns, fighting with little home-made bottle bombs against German tanks. Think of the last few resistance fighters in the Warsaw ghetto, huddled in the stinking Polish sewers, thinking "If only we had a few automatic rifles, a couple of tanks - we would show the world that Jewish blood is not cheap".

Watch the video again - Imagine the last of the resistance fighters charging out of the sewers to attack, in a last suicidal attempt to inflict a broken bone, a cut, a bruise, willing to exchange his life for that little bit of vengeance or justice. Think of the smile on his dying lips as he imagined a time when Jews would have big guns, and tanks, and airplanes. "Aahh", he thinks to himself, "That day will come. And then the world will know that Jews will not be stepped upon."

Watch the video again - and shed a tear - for the resistance fighter, for every Jew, for what Israel has become.

Because it does not seem like there is anything else to do. But to watch. And to weep.

Anonymous said...

Great story!

watch this nice video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4554313189985374749

jack said...

HIRSHEL,it was worth for me to read your blog for the last 5 years
for just this one beautiful story,
thanks a million
and keep up the good work

chaim

Anonymous said...

>RBR of Munkacs farhering the Bachurim on Motzoei Shabbos<

Thought for a sec it said 'fathering'!

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

Thanks, browser, for your kind words.

Anonymous said...

you couldn't find any nicer pictures to post from the "Ir V'em B'yisroel" Munkatch???? Or do you davka like to give the the false impression that the zionists dominated the city???

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

dominated? chas vesholom. it's what I found quickly. I can change them, if you like.

Anonymous said...

Anon
The fact is that the non religious were dominating the city, But Hirshel as a frum Jew should not promote it

Anonymous said...

how about giving some credit to the photographer?

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

how about paying attention?