Zvhill-Mezhibuzher Pics (addendum to 2 previous posts)

Concerning this picture, {where the present Rebbe's father is waiting to go to the chupah, (note the kittel under his coat)} here is what I received via email:

"This Rav (or Rebbe) is R' Moshe Shmiel Halevi Rottenberg z"l. He is the son of R' Chaim Shlomo Halevi Rottenberg Z"l (known as the "Shmua Tova") the 2nd Kosoner Rebbe, son of R' Yehosef Zt"l (aka "B'nei Shileishim") the 1st Koson'er Rebbe. R' Moshe Shmuel lived in Debrecen, Hungary up to 1940, when he saw what's looming ahead. He then wrote to his cousin R' Pinches Sholom Halevi who already was in the States for almost 20 years, who then arranged the papers for him, and he then arrived to the United States. He later moved to Eretz Yisroel, where he settled in Bnei Brak and opened a shtiebel there. he was nifter in Bnei Brak in 1974. He left 4 sons. the oldest was R' Osher who was the Koson'er Rebbe of 9th ave (9th Ave cor 50 St. in BP) He was nifter about 1 year ago at age 95. 2nd son was R' Chaim Shlomo the Kozever Rebbe who lived his last few years in the Forshay area of Monsey (was succeeded by his son in law Reb Chaim Leibish Rottenberg). 3rd son was R' Mordechai the Salker Rov of Williamsburg. He was killed in a car accident in 1990 at the age of 65. his son is R' Yakov the Salka Rov of Monsey (60 Francis Pl.) The youngest son is R' Mechel, shlita of BP. He is not a Rov nor a Rebbe, and his children are Bobover Chasidim. Reb Moshe Shmiel was a nephew and brother in law or the Kosoner Rebbe, the "ohr moleh" z"l hy"d. R' Yisroel Tzvi (the "Ohr Moleh")was the younger brother of his father R' Chaim Shlomo, and he also married (twice) the daughter of this brother. So this made the ohr moleh an uncle and brother in law to this R' Moshe Shmiel.

I Hope that gives you the info you needed. if not please contact me again."

Behind the Kossoner Rebbe one can see R' Avrohom Yehoshua Heschel of Kopycznitz, who was an uncle of the chosson, according to the mazkir.

The Mazkir wrote:

"Lastly, I am also attaching:


"a picture of the late Rebbe’s tisch at the chasunoh of his son R’ Nuchem (the present Rebbe’s father) – there are many Rebbes there who are all cousins – in answer to one comment, it was not the norm back then for cousins who were not father/son/brother to wear shtreimelach at a relative’s simchah like it has become today;"



"Note the picture of the Kallah, the present Rebbe’s late mother, coming to visit and sit with the Rebbes at their table, something that was certainly accepted back then but has been erased today with revisionism)"


At the wedding: Second from right is Reb Menachem Nachum Yosef Twersky of Loyev-Miripol who lived in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Second left is Reb Mendelle Chodorov. He was a BIL of the Vishever Rov, Reb Mendelle Hager, who was a SIL by his father, Reb Mottele Chodorov of Tolne-Vizhnitz. Reb Mottele was a SIL of the Imrei Boruch of Vizhnitz, father of the "Ahavas Yisroel." 3rd left is (IIRC) The Skverrer Rebbe of the Bronx, and later in Tel-Aviv, Reb Itzikel Twersky, a cousin of Reb Yaakov Yosef. Flanking the Chosson are his father, with shtreimel, and Reb Moshe'le Schneerson-Twersky (Kaydanov-Tomashpol) of Crown Heights. Behind The Zhviller Rebbe is his son, Rabbi Boruch Korff, IIRC.


Too many Rebbes and Gutte Yidden to count. Most of them are listed in the above captions already. Imagine a table like that by the one of the big chasunas today. I mean the decorations...


- a picture of the late Rebbe’s Ohel in Boston. (Not sure if this on the Yohrtzeit, or if it's a nesiah to Kivrei Tzadikim on stam a day. Not a bad crowd, either way)

A Letter from the Zvehiller Rebbe of Boston's Mazkir to Hirshel Tzig (Part II)

Part I Here

The Mazkir continues:

Since the question came up we should tell that when The Rebbe married Sumner Redstone’s daughter she was frum, shomer Shabbos, kashrus, etc. and Mr. Redstone, who was not frum, even koshered his home out of respect and even to this day keeps a kosher kitchen for the three grandchildren, who all went to yeshiva and remain frum, a daughter and two sons, one of whom went to Mir and is now in law school and learning at Chaim Berlin. The Rebbe did agree to work with Mr. Redstone at his request in various businesses, and was very successful, and also continued as a rav in congregations at the same time. When the divorce came, partly because Mr. Redstone’s daughter became less frum not because The Rebbe became more frum, the fact is that The Rebbe unfortunately left with much less money than he had going in, in the divorce agreement giving up almost everything he had earned in return for the children to be kept in Yeshiva and a frum environment. Boruch HaShem The Rebbe has been successful at rebuilding since then.

Going back to the Chassidus; none of the late Rebbe’s sons felt worthy to be memalei mekomo, but all three wanted R’ Yitzchok Aaron to accept that, and there is a chumash from the late Rebbe that was later discovered and names R’ Yitzchok Aaron as being mamshich. One uncle, R’ Shmuel Yitzchok, was not successful at convincing him to move from Rav to Rebbe, but The Rebbe took over his position as Chaplain of the City of Boston when he passed away in 1974. But the other uncle, R’ Boruch Korff, was diagnosed with cancer shortly after the divorce from Redstone’s daughter and was successful, with the help of many other Rebbes in the family who called to get R’ Yitzchok Aaron to accept being Rebbe. The shidduch with the Shomrei Emunim’s daughter was made by the Skolier Rebbe. The Shomrei Emunim Rebbe did not go to the chasunah because it was in America and he doesn’t go to America, but the Shomrei Emunim Rebbetzin (who was the daughter of R’ Mordechai, the Zvhiler Rebbe of Yerushalayim, and a great granddaughter of R’ Shlomke Zvhiller, and a third cousin to R’ Yitzchok Aaron) did come to Boston for the chasunoh. And by the way, more on the question of how The Rebbe grew up and the frumkeit, after learning at Chaim Berlin he learned in Eretz Yisroel and received smicha at the age of 21 from the Zvhiler Rebbe, R’ Mordechai, and as it turned out twenty years later ended up marrying R’ Mordechai’s granddaughter, who is his present Rebbetzin. The Shomrei Emunim Rebbe accepts them and the grandchildren, but there is a lot of politics there and they aren’t following Shomrei Emunim hanhogos and chumros so people make a big deal out it. Some chasidim like to make stories and make splits, but the children are also close to the Shomrei Emunim Rav (the Shomrei Emunim Rebbe’s oldest son) who visits them and they visit him, and when the Shomrei Emunim Rebbetzin was niftar last year the children walked with the family and chassidim behind the Aron and The Zvhil-Mezbuz Rebbetzin sat in her home in Yerushalayim and many of the chasidim and cousins came.

The Shomrei Emunim Rebbe is not happy that his daughter wears a sheitel and doesn’t shave her head and wear a tichel, but the daughter is following our Rebbe’s shitah and in Zvhil/Mezbuz of prior generations they did not shave. (In fact, if you look at the picture of the late Rebbe’s wife on your website blog that was taken in Zvhil yet you can see that she doesn’t cover her hair – the times were different and times change, and we can’t judge by today’s standards. For example, many Rebbes, including the late Zvhil-Mezbuz Rebbe, R’ Yaakov Yisroel, used to wear ties, but today people say it’s ossur or too modern?)

By the way, the comment was correct about a daughter of the Shomrei Emunim Rebbe going to the Lubavitcher Rebbe and refusing to take the dollar. It wasn’t The Rebbetzin (who also went) but one of her sisters, and the reason wasn’t disrespect, but because they were raised that men and women don’t hand things to each other.

Lastly, I am also attaching:

- a picture of the late Rebbe’s tisch at the chasunoh of his son R’ Nuchem (the present Rebbe’s father) – there are many Rebbes there who are all cousins. In answer to one comment, it was not the norm back then for cousins who were not father/son/brother to wear shtreimelach at a relative’s simchah like it has become today;

- a picture of the present Rebbe with his cousins the late Talner Rebbe of Boston and the Zvhil-Klausenberg Rebbe of Union City;

- a picture of the late Rebbe’s ohel in Boston;

- and a picture of the late Rebbe that is almost identical to how the present Rebbe looks.

The bottom line though going back to your original posting is that we all mourn the assimilation and problems that are found in every Chassidic dynasty in every generation since the Baal Shem Tov. But as The Rebbe explains there is a strength and reassurance in the yichus that always brings einiklach back, and we pray that any yeridah is for the sake of aliyah and we know that whatever agmas nefesh the late Rebbe suffered he is having much nachas now from his grandson and great grandchildren.

I hope you find this useful and clearing up all of the confusion. If there is something we haven’t answered let me know and I will try to help.

Lazar Silbert

(The first four pictures attached – each labeled starting “47”, are pictures of R’ Nuchem’s chasunah in 1947. Note the picture of the Kallah, the present Rebbe’s late mother, coming to visit and sit with the Rebbes at their table, something that was certainly accepted back then but has been erased today with revisionism)

(PICTURES TO APPEAR TOMORROW, IY"H. THAT WAY YOU'LL COME BACK TOMORROW...)

A Letter from the Zvehiller Rebbe of Boston's Mazkir to Hirshel Tzig (Part I)

הרב יעקב ישראל קארף זצ"ל, אדמו"ר מזוועהיל-מעזיבוז' באסטאן, יע"א (click to enlarge)

Dear Mr. Tzig,

Your blog was recently brought to our attention by someone who told our Rebbe about it and The Rebbe gave me permission to look at it and get in touch to correct some errors in two entries (Saga of an American Rebbe Part I and Part II). We ordinarily are told to just ignore these sorts of things, but The Rebbe was impressed with your blog as being very honest at trying to avoid loshon hora and present only the emes, so I thought I should fill in some blanks and that you would like some clarifications and answers to some of the questions that were raised in the comments. We can see that the mistakes come from Mr. Gass’ website – unfortunately, as you saw clearly and commented in your blog at the beginning, Mr. Gass knows absolutely nothing at all about the chasidishe/rebbeishe side of the family and even gets many of the basic facts wrong. I know that his own mother would be very upset at the inaccuracies and other mistakes he has on the website which are simply wrong and very misleading.

Turning to the facts; the late Rebbe, consistent with his yerushah from the Baal Shem Tov, was at the same time traditional, carefully following the family minhogim and hanhogos at home (he didn’t even allow ‘goyish’, meaning English, to be spoken in his home on Shabbos) but also accepting and welcoming of every Jew even though he did not always approve of their lifestyle or conduct. You are right that he must have had much agmas nefesh from some in his own family, but he focused more on his three sons who were all Rabbonim with Orthodox congregations – Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchok Korff (Cong. Kehillath Jacob and also head of Boston’s Beis Din, Vaad HaRabbonim and Kashrus Commission), Rabbi Boruch Korff (Adath Jacob and known as Nixon’s Rabbi), and Rabbi Menachem Nuchem Korff (Cong. Bnai Jacob, the present Rebbe’s father). He accepted, probably reluctantly but realistically, that in America to relate to the community his sons would be clean-shaven and speak English.

The late Rebbe was born in the Baal Shem Tov’s home in Mezhibuz to his father R’ Mordechai, who was the last Mezhibuzer Rebbe, and then married the daughter of the Zvhiller Rebbe, R’ Michel, who was R’ Shlomke’s older brother. R’ Michel moved to Koritz and turned over the Rebistive to his new son-in-law, who was both Rav and Rebbe. He and R’ Shlomke were very close, and stayed in close contact after The Rebbe moved to Boston and R’ Shlomke went to Yerushalayem. The late Zvil-Mezbuz Rebbe (R’ Yaakov Yisroel) was a big talmid chochum, an ilui who received smicha when he was just a Bar Mitzvah from the Ba’al Oruch Hashulchan. He was one of the first Rebbes in America, and then brought over his cousins the Skverer, the Chernobler, and others, and started the Agudas Admurim. He was respected in both chassidish and in Litvish circles - R’ Aaron Kotler used to ask him shailos.

The comment on your blog about Russian chassideshe rebbes valuing education was correct. He sent two of his sons to YU, not because of YU but to learn with R’ Moshe Soloveitchik in New York. The third son, R’ Nuchem (present Rebbe’s father) he kept in Boston until his Bar Mitzvah and then sent him to live with his uncle, R’ Shlomke Zvhiller, in Yerushalayem, and after that to learn at Torah Voda’ath in New York, where he alternated staying Shabbosim between two uncles, the Boyaner and the Kapishnitzer Rebbes, then returning to Boston to be the Rav of Orthodox Shuls - first in Lawrence, and then in Milton, just outside of Boston.

R’ Nochum raised the present Rebbe (R’ Yitzchok Aaron Korff) consistent with his father’s philosophy that a Rebbe should try to have parnossoh from other things and not from the Rebisteve or keser Torah. (The late Rebbe was supported in Russia by Czar Nicholas II who appointed him Chief Rabbi, although that also made the family a target of the Bolsheviks.) So The Rebbe was given a double education at the same time, starting at Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Boston (Rabbi Ciment, Rabbi Kastel, etc. – the Korffs are eineklach of the Mittler Rebbe – the Lubavitcher Rebbes in America were close to the late Rebbe, and Rabbi Yudel Krinsky, originally from Boston, knew the late Rebbe very well) and then learning privately, and then at Chaim Berlin, while at the same time going to Columbia University and law school and Harvard and diplomacy school. In the early years The Rebbe earned his parnossoh in law and business, while at the same time spent the years as the Rav in various shuls, including a shul that was “Conservative” but which he was able to change to Orthodox. Of course being associated with freier yidden and even a “Conservative” place, and being clean-shaven at the time also led to misunderstandings about The Rebbe being frum or not, but The Rebbe never compromised his frumkeit and everyone who had anything to do with him whether in shuls or in business or in law knew it very well.

TBC.

(nice pictures in Part II, compliments of the Mazkir.)