Reb Mendel of Seret flanked to our right by his son Reb Moshe Yosef of Cimpulung and to our left by his son in law Reb Sholom Lamm of Secureni.
I'd like to share some very interesting (and forgotten) history on a Rebbishe family in "di Bukovina":
A little history:
One of the most prominent Rebbes pre WWI Bukovina was R’ Shmuel Schmelke Rubin of Seret (1840-1901), founder of the original Seret Chassidic dynasty and son in law of R’ Yosef Alter Hager of Radovitz (son of R’ Chaim of Kosov).
R’ Schmelke was the eldest grandson of the Sar Sholom of Belz and was raised in the house of his Zeide. From his father’s side he was ben achar ben of R’ Usher of Ropschitz. R’ Schmelke’s younger brother is bakant in Belz as R’ Meliech Yabrover.
As an Eidim by Kosov, R’ Schmelke adopted many of the Minhogei Kosov and davened in the special Kosover Nusach. R’ Schmelke’s influence was profound throughout Bukovina, his Chassidim established many “kloyzen” in cities such as Radovitz (Radauti), Shotz (Suceava) and Gura Homorului. Stories of his mofsim were widespread and it was said that his maternal Zeide the Sar tought him Chochmas HaRefuah. R’ Schmelke passed away in 1901 and is buried in the Sereter Beis Olam where until today the original stands untouched.
R’ Schmelke’s children and grandchildren were very prominent throughout Bukovina and the surrounding areas. R’ Schmelke had many famous sons in law including:
R’ Eleizer Brandwein, the famed Burshteiner Rebbe
R’ Alter Yissacher Ber, the Alshtat-Komarna Rebbe
R’ Chaim Dachner, Av Beis Din in Seret (maternal grandfather of the Muzhai, Sulitz and Sasregener Rebbeim)
R’ Schmelke’s son R’ Mendele Rubin (1871-1941) succeeded him as Rebbe in Seret. His Rebisteve was considerably smaller than his father’s as he was very young when he took over, but he nonetheless maintained a respectable hoif in Seret. Then came WWI, All the Jews of Seret left, and when those who returned found a town utterly destroyed by the war. R’ Mendele was among the returnees and in time rebuilt his hoif. But as you mentioned on your site, Bukovina was a very different place post WWI and the new generation was far less Chassidic than their father’s had been. While some of Buklvina’s more prominent Rebbes dealt with this by leaving Bukovina, R’ Mendel of Seret stayed put. His children however were very aware of the changes around them, but rather than leave Bukovina most of them stayed and tried to strengthen Yidishkeit from within.
R’ Mendel’s sons were:
R’ Moshe Yosef Rubin, Rav of Cimpulung-Moldevenesc (later head of the Vaad Hatzalah in Bucharest)
R’ Chaim Yitzchok Rubin, Rav of S’chilka (Strylki) next to Sambor (renowned in Belzer circles as the Schilker Ruv)
R’ Avrohom Usher Rubin, Rav of Kotzman in Bukovina.
R’ Mendel’s sons in law were:
R’ Meshulam Rath, Rav of Shotz and later of Chernovitz
R’ Sholom Lamm, Rav of Secureni in Bessarabia.
The above-mentioned Rabbonim did much in their respective communities (which rank among the largest in the region) and it was thanks to them that Yiddishkeit did maintain at least some standard in these Kehilos. In 1936, Reb Mendel’s cousin R’ Bourch, son of the Ahavas Yisroel was elected Rav of Seret. He was extremely popular among the town’s inhabitants. R’ Boruch came to Eretz Yisrael after WWII and founded Ramat Vizhnitz in Haifa. In order to differentiate from his older brother the Chassidim refer to him and his sons as the Seret-Vizhnitzer Rebbe.
Today, among the many eineklach of the original Seret dynasty the only DYNASTIES that remainbed are the Muzhai, Sulitz and Sasregen.
Muzhai=a bunch of clean shaven ultra rich hunks whose rebba writes odd books on mincha after skiah being the only mutter zman for mincha(mincha yesahra)
ReplyDeleteSulitz=a dying minyan in far rockaway whose rebba is a goan olam that noone appreciates
Sasregen= a joke
Thanks for the detailed information - until now all I knew about Seret Vizhnitz was their niggunim (R' Chaim Banet), one of which was borrowed by Chabad for the Rebbe's niggun one year.
ReplyDeleteSasregen is a joke? I thought it was a respectable shul in Flatbush, albeit one where there are no Chassidim as we think of them, but rather a Rebbe who runs a kehilla of people of all different backgrounds (sort of like R' Michel Twersky in Milwaukee).
The Sulizer Rov used to be known and respected and appreciated for his brochos; is he still active or is he aged and infirm now?
Amshinover
ReplyDeleteI had no idea about the Sulitzer being a Gaon Olam, it's a shame then that he's unknown.
I too was a bit surprised by the term Dynasty MIB used when referring to Sasregen, Sulitze, and Muzhai. It's not exactly what comes to mind when you think of those three.
Hirschel,
ReplyDeleteI used to the term dynasty because from all the eineklech they are the closest thing to dynasty. The other eineklach are ehrilche yidden bust mostly professionals in their respective fields.
Hirshel,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this interesting post. I love the info you give us here. Keep em coming my man!!
I was under the impression that the Sasregener (at least) was a real Galicianer, a Sanzer Eynikel, no? so where does the Bukovina come in to the eqquation?
ReplyDeleteas far as i know the sasregener is not a tzanzer einekel. he is more romanian than galician, as he was born in Reghin (sasregen) Romania.
ReplyDeleteBukovina comes into the equation because the sasregener's mother was the daughter of the R' chaim dachner who was called the mesifer rav and served as av beis din is seret after his shver R' schmelke sereter passed away.
Hold just a minute!
ReplyDeleteThe Sasregener, whose sons include Shia Rubin from Bobov (Unger) and the Brizdovitzer, was a cousin to the old Tomashover and Cheshinover, Shvoggers of Reb Shlomo of Bobov. Reb Shlomo was married to their sister. The Tomashover was a Sanzer Eynikel, right? And the Sasregener isn't? I also know his Son-in-law Reb Meir Weisz of Spinka 18th Avenue and I never heard anything from his sons abot the Sereter dynasty.
Yes, as far as I know the Tomashover was a Sanzer einekel. Bu the Sasregeners etc... are not.
ReplyDelete"I never heard anything from his sons abot the Sereter dynasty."
Tell them to ask their shver he'll tell them about it.
also look up all the info i posted in sifrei yichus and chassidus it's all there, u just have to fish it out.
as i mentioned i was posting about an interesting yet long forgotten dynasty... but in terms of yichus, lomdus and maase bepoel they ranked among the first in the bukovina.
you live and u learn.
from what i can recall,
ReplyDeletethe sasregener was cousins to the cheshinover through the sasregeners FATHER r' yaakov yisroel yeshurun rubin of sasregen/sulitz.
i think that r'yyy's fatherand the cheshivovers father were brothers.
they were ropschitzer ben achar ben from r' mendele glogover (ben r' usher'l). whereas the sereters we speak of were ben achar ben from r' meilech sokolover (ben r' usher'l).
the cheshinover was a sanzer einekel, but i think this was through either a maternal line and grandmother of his. i dont think the sasregeners are sanzers, though i may be wrong.
My grandmother, born Edith Holdengraber in Gurahumora, Bukovina, once told me that her great-grandfather was the Rabbi of Seret. I don't the lineage -- her mother was born a Fischler, but that leaves two great-grandfathers who might have been Rubins -- but she wasn't a historian, and I doubt she'd have had anyway of hearing the Rabbi's name except through her own family.
ReplyDeleteIs there anyone I can trouble to help me with that intriguing connection?
R' Shmelke Rubin aka Reb Shmelke Sereter was not the official town rabbi of seret. neither was his son Reb Mendele. They were Rebbe's with a Chassidic court.
ReplyDeleteThe official rabbi of seret in the times of r' schmelke was r' pinchos moshe burshtein. later there was a rabbi dr. shmuel freifeld. the last rabbi was r' boruch hager who later was the seret-vizhnitzer in haifa.
there were also several other prominent dayanim who served in seret. one was named ashkezani. another was r' chaim dachner son in law of r' shmelke.
hope this helps.