נאך דיין אהבת התורה
נאך דיין הידור במצוות
נאך דיין אמת'ער כיבוד תלמידי חכמים
נאך דיין אמונת צדיקים
נאך דיין התמדה און שקידה
נאך דיין אהבה צו דיינע אייניקלעך
דו פעלסט אונז אויס מער ווי אייביג
My Zeide lost his wife and 4 children in 1944, and started all over again in the DP camps. Upon his arrival in America he worked hard, very hard, and even after being robbed blind by a business partner never complained. Today some of those jobs he worked at might not sound so "respectable", especially for a Talmid Chochom, but that wasn't a problem for my Zeide. He may have worked to provide for his family, but his mind was always in a Sefer. He would arise before dawn to learn and give Shuirim, and was back at the Gemoroh upon returning home. Upon retirement he spent his time in the Bais Medrish.
Zeide was a Talmid of the VaYaged Yaakov of Pupa for a short time, and then, for the most part, a Talmid of Reb Zev Gintzler of Solgotarjan and F'Gyarmat, Hungary. A point about his dedication to his Talmidim, and in turn their love for him, is made by the fact that when RZG was offered the Rabbinic post of F'Gyarmat ALL OF HIS TALMIDIM WENT ALONG WITH HIM TO THE NEW TOWN! The Yeshiva was restarted in his new place of residence.
Unlike other Yidden his age and of his background whose children/grandchildren chose to "join" Lubavitch, he would tell people he would meet wih me that "דאס איז מיין אייניקל, ער איז א ליובאוויטשער חסיד", "די ליובאוויטשער רבי איז געוואלדיג גרויס" , That, in a way gave me the Chizuk I needed during turbulent times.
While bedridden the last few weeks of his life, his lips did not cease to murmur words of Torah and Tefilloh, and he passed on B'Misas Neshikoh on Erev Shabbos Kodesh, 6 Nissan 5754. יהי זכרו ברוך
The Belzer rav Reb Yissocher Ber Rokaech said that when Mashiach comes his Bes din would consist of primarily of Ungarische rabbonim.
ReplyDeleteExcellent description of a frume Ungarische yid.
The Puper rav was a adam gadol who spread Chassiduth to Ashkenazi bachurim.
"even after being robbed blind by a business partner never complained."
ReplyDeletecomon, tell us the truth. Was it by a Litvak?
YW Editor.
I did not realize it was your zaide . I pray he should be a Melitz yosher for all his eyniklech and all who knew him.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I knew few Orthodox Hungarian Jews until I grew into adulthood ,two of them had a profound influence on me. the Satmarer shochet of NH rabbi G. and rabbi GE, a rav in NH and a close friend of my father. Even though my tateh was a Litvishe Yid, he and Rabbi GE and rabbi G were all good friends and my father davened with the Hungarians.
Nicely done, Hersh! A fitting tribute to our Zeide Z"l. May he takeh be a meilitz yosher for us all!
ReplyDeleteNice tribute there.
ReplyDeleteRe "ALL OF HIS TALMIDIM WENT ALONG WITH HIM TO THE NEW TOWN!" - I have heard of that happening in other cases as well. It was obviously then not a totally unique case, but, on the other hand, I guess it didn't happen all the time either. Perhaps to better understand it, the structure of the Yeshiva has to be understood. In the past in some places (and sounds like it was so in that case) the local Rav ran the Yeshiva, and part of his contract was that the town agreed to support a Yeshiva with x number of talmidim headed by him. Maybe Kurenitzer can comment on that.
Re Kurenitzer's comment - "The Belzer rav Reb Yissocher Ber Rokaech said that when Mashiach comes his Bes din would consist of primarily of Ungarische rabbonim." But he didn't address the question of who Moshiach himself will be, never mind his beis din. ;-) Okay, maybe he assumed it as a dovor poshut that Moshiach will be a Litvak, okay. ;-)
Also, I find it interesting that the Belzer Rebbe, a Galicianer, would say something like that. Did he hold Ungarische Rabbonim to be better than his own landsleit, the Rabbonim of Galicia ?
HT,finally you proved that you are "fin insere".Do you know if Rav Zev Gintzler was related to Rav Shmuel Gintzler of Oiber Visheve? He had no male descendants as far as i know.He authored a very interesting Sefer "Meshiv Nefesh",which was recently republished in a limited edition.There I found a droshe in honour of Kaiser Franz Joseph's birthday!Anyway I'll have a sip of that incredible Hungarian slivovitz le'ilui nishmas your zeideh a.h.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that warm tribute to your zeide. May his neshoma have an aliya!
ReplyDeleteMany Hungarian rabbonim travelled to Belz and became Belzer followers. The Belz ruv was very impressed by their pursuit of lasukei shmaytesa aliva de hilchasa, and their yikov hadin attitude.His statement was not meant to put down his own Galicianer rabbonim who produced great poskim like the Shoel UMeshiv, Brezaner rav, Eshel Avrohom, R. Schmelkes, R. Drimmer, and others.
ReplyDeleteIn his letters (published by Marc Shapiro), the gaon Reb Yankev Weinberg of Berlin also praises the Ungarische rabbonim for their greatness in psak. This of course from a Litvishe rav in the time of the Chafetz Chaim, Achiezer, Reb Itzchak Elchonon and Aruch hashulchan. But perhaps these 2 rabbonim understood something I do not.
In Hungary almost every rav continued the old tradition of being a tofes Yeshiva (see Yeven Mezulah for a good detailed account of this custom in 1648). The yeshiva was the rav's and kohol agreed to support a certain number of bachurim with food etc (Ashel). The rav was the rosh and usually spent more time as rosh than as rav. Thus when Reb Yoelish Teitelbaum left Krole for Satmar in the early 1930's he took his yeshiva with him (that means bachurim). When the Poper rav left Satmar in 1943 to assume his father's postion in Popa he took his yeshiva with him too.
ReplyDeleteExcept for Pressburg these schools had little govt recogntion or property. Even in Pressburg the bachurim studied in their stanches(dorm rooms) and went to the shiur shtub (Beth Medrash) only to hear the rav deliver his shiur weekly,All these schools had no staff besides th rav and sometimes his son or son in law who was the rav tzair. The best bachur usually held a title called rosh yeshiva.
After 1648 this tradition ceased in Poland and bachurim studied in the kloiz or shtibel. Factually the Holy Divre Chaim opposed yeshivos and wrote they wer good for Ungaren , but in POlin they could be a michshol.In Lithuania Reb Chaim of Volozhin not only recreated the tradition of a yeshiva but gave it a new structure veyn kaan hamakom...
YW
ReplyDeleteI don't know, he never spoke of it to me, I heard it from my mother ZZG.
ah, The Slivovitz, I can smell it now. L'chaim, Yoshe.
ReplyDeleteI'll need to find out about the Vishiver connection, if there was any. He did have an eidem in Boro Park, Yungreis, who my Zeide was close to.
These days, do we point to a Jew like your zaide as a dugmoh to emulate? Let me answer that - laider laider NO (nit a klei keidesh [oder a sheliach in Chabad vernacular])! And we are no better than the snags in this... :(
ReplyDeleteKurenitzer - a grayser yasher kayach aych for your illuminating comments in response to my words.
ReplyDeleteImagine if Moshiach arrives tomorrow and he needs to put to gether a Sanhedrin.
ReplyDeleteBesides a couple of Litvaks like R' Elyashiv and RM Sternbuch, who are gonna be the bulk of the 71??
Seems to me it will be the Hungarians - which indeedmainly means chassidishe Hungarians - the well known poskim and rabbonim from Willie, Boro Park and from the 60-70 morei horo'eh of the Edah Charedis in Jm.
Imagine if Moshiach arrives tomorrow and he needs to put to gether a Sanhedrin.
ReplyDeleteBesides a couple of Litvaks like R' Elyashiv and RM Sternbuch, who are gonna be the bulk of the 71??
Seems to me it will be the Hungarians - which indeedmainly means chassidishe Hungarians - the well known poskim and rabbonim from Willie, Boro Park and from the 60-70 morei horo'eh of the Edah Charedis in Jm.