I've made a little
shtink about
Reb Berel Shvartzman and his pedigree and the fact that the "MSM" really did very little homework when it came to eulogizing him, even in the weekend editions, when they had
some time to do the research. That's beside for the fact that they basically ignored his second wife and kids, as if to say that his only claim to fame was that he was once married to a
Kotler... I also called them out for not mentioning his
Chabad connection. I do that sometimes. So I went digging and found some stuff. Some of it known and some not so much. It's actually quite easy if you just look, which goes to show you that sometimes we could care less. It seems to me that today's tributes don't focus enough on the details of the
niftar's life, which may be why they didn't find out about his ancestors. Or maybe it was enough to them that his kids were
eyniklach of RAK...
In 5704
Reb Berel's
zeide was
niftar,
The Mechaber of משאות בנימין, that isand the periodical "התבונה" had an article about him. It seems like his
elter zeide was
niftar only 5 years prior to that, and was 105 (!) at the time of his passing. Based on what they say here we see that from his father's side
Reb Berel came from a very
choshuve Litvishe family. He was a
talmid of
Volozhin and a
choshuve Rov in Russia.
Der zeide was a
mekurev of the
Aderes, Reb Yitzchok Elchonon and many others. No real mention of
Chassidim. Which goes to show you that they really didn't do their homework; they could have shut up those darn
Lubabs once and for all by showing all these bonafide
Litvaks in his
yichus briv! But when it comes to
Reb Berel's father they have little to say. All they say is that he's a
Rov in
Tel Aviv. They could've said that he was a
Talmid of the
Slabodka Yeshiva, which was the line of the week when it came to all the newspapers...Now, I admit the information is choppy, but I have heard from his (distant, somewhat) relatives that
Reb Berel's father was a
Rov who sat on all the
Agudas Chabad meetings in Tel Aviv, and was considered a
"Chabad Rov." I will not jump the gun here and say that it was an intentional omission by
HaTvunah, even though they were a publication for
Mussarnikes, maybe they were limited in space and could only write about the
niftar.
The letters from the
Rebbe prove what? I'm not quite sure. They prove that the
Rebbe had a place in his life, whatever that means, and that he considered himself enough a
Chabadnik to be in contact with the
Rebbe. That much he learned while living in Nevel, I guess. I'm not assuming that
Reb Berel had a strong connection because of his mother's family, who were out and out
Lubavitcher Chassidim, but I know he did! That doesn't necessarily translate into a
Lubavitcher obituary, I realize that. But we are discussing his
yichus, and it was a part of his life. We've seen here in comments and in e-mails that I've received that he would attend
farbrengens,
daven in
Lubavitch in London when visiting family there, as well as a story that he had with the
Frierdige Rebbe when he asked about whether or not he should do his first
shidduch... Ultimately wee see that
Reb Berel was lost between two worlds - meaning that despite his
gadlus b'torah he never ended up "making it" like some people in the
Olam HaYeshivos who didn't posess half his
kishronos and knowledge. Some of you have told me privately that because of the
kepeydes of either RAK or RYH, both of whom have it in for him... May his neshomoh have an
aliya.
