ייחוס שוורצמאן

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.