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Rabbi Yaakov Berestovitsky
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Rabbis and Dayans
There is no doubt, that by the 17th century, when there were hundreds of Jews already living in Volkovysk, and the Jewish congregations were beginning to develop, that there were Rabbis in the city, however, sadly, we have been unable to find evidence and support for this assumption in the various writings and diaries we have. We are depending, for our views here, on the material assembled by Dr. M. Einhorn, and published in his book, and on a number of other sources that deal with this subject.
The First Rabbis
Rabbi Avigdor occupied the city pulpit in the mid 18th century. At that time, Rabbi Gaon Eliyahu ben Shlomo-Zalman was Chief Rabbi of Vilna, nicknamed the Gaon of Vilna (HaGer”A), and there is no doubt that he cast his aura over all the Jewish communities of the districts of Grodno, Bialystock, including Volkovysk. It is almost certain, that because of the influence of the Gaon of Vilna, who fought the Hasidic movement, that the Jewish congregations of Volkovysk were almost entirely ‘Mitnagdim.[1]’
After Rabbi Avigdor's death, Rabbi Benjamin Diskin took the rabbinical seat of the city, who was a son-in-law of a distinguished and wealthy man of the city. Two of the sons of Rabbi Benjamin, Rabbi Yehoshua-Leib, and Rabbi Abraham-Shmuel became known as great Torah scholars of their day, and their reputations spread throughout the diaspora. The first, Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib, born in 1817, became famous even as a child as an exceptional intellect, and served as a Rabbi in the cities of Lomza, Mezritch, Kovno and Shklov, and beginning in the year 5633 (1872) became the Rabbi of Brisk in Lithuania. In the summer of 5736 (1875), he made aliyah to the Holy Land and settled in Jerusalem. One of the reasons for his leaving Brisk, was a judgement brought against him by the local authorities who entangled even the Rabbi, for which he served a short time in jail. He was the Chief Rabbi of the Ashkenazic community in Jerusalem, and was enthusiastically received by the old Yishuv. Nevertheless, he lived in a world of Torah, and yet at the same time, he was active in several community institutions. The crowning piece of his community work was – the establishment of an orphanage (in the year 5640/1879), named for him. By establishing this institution, he thought to ‘save’ children from the orphanage of Dr. Hertzberg, where foreign languages were also taught. Rabbi Diskin directed Yeshiva Ohel Moshe, that later was called Tiferet Jerusalem, and even taught there. Among the books that he wrote, it is worth noting: ‘ Torat Ohel Moshe’; Questions & Answers; ‘Pnei Moshe.’
The second son of Rabbi Benjamin, Rabbi Abraham-Shmuel, worked mostly on the dissemination of Torah in Volkovysk. During his time, and thanks to him. The Yeshiva in Volkovysk grew and developed, and many young men were attracted to it from all nearby communities. Different sources testify, that Rabbi Abraham-Shmuel was particularly outstanding as a Torah reader on the Sabbath, and the Alter Mauer Bet HaMedrash was filled from one end to the other with Jews who came expressly to enjoy his reading.
It is worth taking note, that in the same year that [Moshe Yehoshua] Yehuda Leib Diskin was born (5677-1817), Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spektor was born in the nearby town of Ros', who in the fullness
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of time became the dominant figure, and leading personality in the rabbinical world. In his youth, Isaac Elchanan was a pupil of Rabbi Benjamin Diskin, and even received his rabbinical ordination from him, and already at the age of 20, had been designated as the Rabbi of Izavelin, in the Volkovysk vicinity, and many years later, his reputation went out to all of Jewry, as the Chief Rabbi of Kovno. It is told that every time Rabbi Isaac Elchanan would travel to pay his respects at the cemetery where his parents were interred, in his home town of Ros', that he would pass through Volkovysk, and all the Jews would come out to receive him.
Rabbi Boruch-Mordechai Lifschitz, a pupil of Rabbi Benjamin Diskin, ascended to the Rabbinate of Volkovysk after the death of Rabbi Abraham-Shmuel. He established the Volkovysk Yeshiva in 5747 (1887), published the book, ‘Brit Yaakov,’ and achieve a reputation as a great Torah scholar.
With the passing of Rabbi Boruch-Mordechai, two rabbis served as spiritual leaders in Volkovysk: Rabbi Yitzhak-Isaac Khaver, who left after a time to go to Tictin, and he is also the author of ‘Questions & Answers Regarding World Development,’ lectures on the Shas, and ‘Bet Yitzhak,’ and Rabbi Yekhiel Heller, a scion form the family tree of the well-known Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipman Heller, the author of ‘Tosafot Yom-Tov.’ He was born in 1814, and in addition to Volkovysk, also served in Glusk, Suwalk, and Plungian. Apart from his book, ‘Amudei HaOr,’ he wrote an essay in German on the ‘Eight Chapters’ of the Rambam.
Rabbi Jonathan Eliasberg who took the Rabbinical seat of Volkovysk afterwards, became famous as one of the great Gaonim of Torah in his day. He was a scholar and a man of ideas, and was in correspondence with the leading minds of Torah scholarship of his day, who gave him both respect and recognition. He smoothed the way for the concept of ‘Hibat Tzion’ among the Jews of Volkovysk (see Rabbi Kossowsky's memoir in this book). Among his books : ‘Kesset Yonatan,’ and ‘Sefer HaMidot.’ There are those who say, that because of his influence, the Jews of Volkovysk began to manifest an interest in the Holy Land, and in settling there, and a few of them made aliyah to the Holy Land.
Rabbi Abba-Yaakov Borukhov
With the death of Rabbi Eliasberg, at too early an age, the pulpit in Volkovysk remained vacant for four years, and there was no Rabbi in the city, until the position was filled by Rabbi Abba-Yaakov Borukhov, who received his rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spektor.
He began his tenure as Rabbi of Volkovysk in 5663 (1903), and during his entire tenure, and earned the affection and enthusiasm of the entire Jewish population. Even the members of the Bund would come to hear his sermons in synagogue. Thanks to his work and great influence, quantitatively and qualitatively, the local Yeshiva and the number of its students reached three hundred. In the well-known book by Shmuel Noah Gottleib, ‘Tents of Peace,’ it is told that the students of the Yeshiva were divided into five classes, and in the final class they studied Gemara and the Tosafot, several pages a week with great interest. The costs of running the Yeshiva on an annual basis came to only four thousand rubles, excluding the costs of food and clothing for needy students. The sons of the Rabbi: the oldest, Rabbi Yekhiel-Mikhl, was a great Torah scholar, with advanced ordination, and the second, Rabbi Dov-Ber, was the Head Rabbi of the city of Malden (near Boston) in the United States.
In this connection, three of his sons are described in Dr. Einhorn's book: one is a well-known Jewish writer, the second is the director of a Hygiene Unit in the Hadassah Hospital (both in Jerusalem) – and the third – a Rabbi in Malden.
It is especially worth emphasizing the great amount of work done by Rabbi Borukhov to instill the Zionist ideal, and to strengthen Zionist activity among the Jews of Volkovysk. He was one of the first donors to the various national funds, and he would solicit a great deal from those who came to his home on behalf of these funds. He also set aside some of his
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time for special community institutions, helping the poor and the sick to the best of his abilities. His name attracted praise even in the non-Jewish community, and he was frequently asked by Christians to adjudicate their disputes with Jews, and his ruling would be accepted by them.
Rabbi Borukhov's book, ‘Questions & Answers, Hevel Yaakov,’ was published in two volumes. This book also includes an exchange of correspondence with Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spektor.
When he reached the fiftieth anniversary of being a Rabbi, in the year 5683(1923), he decided to make aliyah to the Holy Land, and settle in Jerusalem. Even in Jerusalem, he worked a great deal toward the elevation of Torah and strengthening it, and he was greatly beloved by all members of the community. He passed away in 1936, and his death elicited great sorrow from the Jewish community. An extensive article by K. G. Harkavy appeared in the May 8, 1936 edition of Volkovysker Leben on the personality and outlook of Rabbi Borukhov, and among everything else, it said:
“We have lost one of the spiritual giants of our generation, the clearest expositor of Jewish lore, a formidable Torah scholar, and a unique figure in the annals of the Rabbinate, a great man and leader in Jewry – he was the icon of a patriarchal leader to the city, and a matriarchal figure to all Israel – his book, Hevel Yaakov, is one of the best books on Halakha, in which both thoroughness and analysis are blended, depth and casuistry – he was an inspiration, and everyone who came in contact with him enjoyed his fatherly touch, the light of his face, and his readiness to help anyone in need of any form of assistance.”
Rabbi Yitzhak Kossowsky
After Rabbi Borukhov made aliyah to the Holy Land, Rabbi Yitzhak Kossowsky assumed the pulpit in Volkovysk. His tenure lasted from the beginning of 5685 (1925) until the end of 5693 (1933), when he left for South Africa, and served as the Chief Rabbi of Johannesburg and the territories of the Transvaal. Rabbi Kossowsky was not only the Rabbi of Volkovysk, but also a leader of Orthodox Jewry in all of Poland, who attended all Rabbinical congresses, and had obtained a respected place among the religious Jewish leadership of Poland's Jews. In Vilna, he married the daughter[2] of the famous scholar Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzhensky After the death of his father-in-law, in 5664 (1902), he took his place as the Rabbi of the town of Ivie[3], and in 1916 was forced to leave Ivie for political reasons, and then served in the city of Mariupol until 1922, when he then left the Soviet Union. Rabbi Kossowsky received his Rabbinical ordination from many leading Rabbis and Scholars of the day, among them Rabbi David Friedman (Kaoline) from Pinsk, Rabbi Chaim [Soloveitchik] from Brisk. In 1946, he published his book, ‘Sabbath and the Festivals’ that was received with acclaim. This book contains a majority of the Rabbi's sermons (see the remarks by Rabbi Kossowsky regarding Volkovysk and its Rabbis, in a chapter of this book). Two of the Rabbi's sons settled in Israel, and one of them is the lawyer, David-Shlomo Shakhor-Kossowsky. The second son, Mikhl, served as the Rabbi of Zelva, and went to South Africa afterwards, returning to Israel, and he too, is a lawyer.
After Rabbi Kossowsky went to South Africa, Rabbi Yitzhak Rabinovich, born in Moteleh (near Pinsk), served as Rabbi of Volkovysk..With the entry of the Germans into the city, he and his family went to Szczucin, where his parents lived, and he was killed together with the Jews of that city.[4]
Translator's footnotes:
From the Diary of Eliyahu Shykevich
When I found out that the Rebbetzin had died, the wife of Rabbi Borukhov, I felt a need to pay him a visit, since he was one of my most loyal friends. I also wanted to discharge the mitzvah of comforting the bereaved, and at the same time, I thought I would engage the Rabbi's advice regarding the area of public life to which I had best devote my time and energy. It gnawed on me, that the difficult economic circumstances in the Rabbi's home, during the war years, hastened the premature death of the Rebbetzin. Despite this, the Rabbi did not pass over many Jewish houses in those years, and only those that dealt in smuggling and speculation, especially with foodstuffs, came out intact. Many Jews wrote letters asking for help from relatives in America and faraway places, but there were also those who saw a loss of dignity in doing so, and among these was also Rabbi Borukhov. He did not reveal his economic distress to anyone, and there is no doubt that the economic circumstances affected the Rebbetzin's health.
The Rabbi said as much tome openly, during my visit in his home, when I asked him: where were those who represented the Jewish community in the city and other institutions? Is it possible that they should not look after the welfare of the Rabbi's residence? – the Rabbi voiced some acerbic comments about a number of businessmen who primarily looked out for themselves, but absented themselves from considering the distress of the many.
The Rabbi's daughter, Sarah Freedman, who did not leave her parents during this entire period, Listened to this conversation I was having with the Rabbi from the sideline, and without uttering a syllable, but just from the look on her face, I could see that the Rabbi had revealed only a drop of what a variety of these businessmen had done. During the time that I spent at the Rabbi's house, various people came in, which interrupted our conversation. I asked Sarah to arrange a spot in a second room, where I could speak with the Rabbi without interruption. She acceded to my request, gave me a glass of tea, and even accompanied me to the room where I was with the Rabbi alone. I told him a great deal of what had happened to me during the time from when I left Volkovysk in 1915 and all the tribulations that dogged me from the time of the outbreak of the revolution in 1917, and how all the money that I had earned in Kharkov and other places had turned into worthless paper. I briefed him also on the condition of the Jewish in the cities of Russia, where all the warring factions saw the Jews as their principal enemy, and applied their bruising force against them.
The Rabbi listened to my tales with intense attention, took an interest in my plans for the future, and advised me to dedicate my public work to the care of the many orphans, so that they should have a home in place of the father and mother that the accursed war had robbed from them. At this time, he told me that the émigrés from Volkovysk that had gone to the United States in his time, and who had visited the city, and after seeing so many orphans whose parents had been killed in the war, without any care or supervision, left a sum of 4,000 marks in his hands, and promised that if a committee were formed to establish an orphanage, they would send additional sums of money.
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Rabbi Yaakov Berestovitsky |
Dayans
One of the important Dayans, going back to the days of Rabbi Boruch-Mordechai Lifschitz, was Rabbi Yaakov-Abraham Stein. He continued his tenure as Dayan and Judge, into the days of Rabbi Jonathan Eliasberg. It was told in Volkovysk, that when the Gaon Rabbi Jonathan sat with the leading thinker of the times, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spektor, to discuss details relating to his new post [as Rabbi]. Rabbi Isaac Elchanan told him the following: “Be aware of whom you have at your disposal as a Dayan in this
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city – the Gaon Rabbi Yaakov Abraham!”
In his younger years, Rabbi Yaakov Abraham did not want to take a pulpit position as a Rabbi, and therefore, he became a merchant. Later, when he finally agreed to assume the position of Dayan in Volkovysk, he was already famous throughout the area as an outstanding Gaon and Torah scholar.
Another Dayan, Rabbi Joseph Volk, was beloved by all the citizens of the city, and was known by his nickname, ‘Reb Mendele.’ In 1907, his book, ‘Ner Mitzvah’ was published. The Dayan, Rabbi Tuvia Ravitzky was known in the city by the name ‘Reb Teveleh’ who served as the head of the Volkovysk Yeshiva before he was appointed as Dayan. One of his sons, Herschel was a man in public life in our city, and did much work for the city.
The last Dayan of Volkovysk was Rabbi Yaakov Berestovitsky, and it is appropriate to expand our description of him.
He was born in Lisokovo to poor parents, excelled in his studies as a superior intellect, and was given Rabbinical ordination while still quite young. After he married, he opened a linen store. On the table which served as a place for measuring out fabric, he always had the [Rambam tractates] Yoreh Deyah and Hoshen Mishpat opened, along with other books of Holy Writ, in order that he fulfil the commandment ‘thou shalt study in them day and night.’
Rabbi Yaakov was a prodigious scholar, thoroughly grounded in Shas, commentaries, and the rabbinic literature, and was at one with the people, listening to their conversations and repartee, giving them good advice at every hour of their need. And everyone knew that Rabbi Yaakov was not unmindful of law. More than once, he could be found in Lisokovo, sitting at the bench of the local government courthouse, following the course of a proceeding in which he took a particular interest. He would also lead the congregation in prayer during the High Holy Days with sincerity and a great outpouring of the soul.
After the First World War, he went from Lisokovo to Volkovysk together with his family, and responded to the offer to serve as Dayan. The partnership between him and Rabbi Borukhov was a remarkable one, since the Rabbi treasured and valued the integrity of the Dayan greatly, as well as his good deeds, and extensive knowledge, to the point that on many occasions, he would invite him to participate with him in testing the young men studying at the Yeshiva in the city.
Rabbi Yaakov served as Dayan even during the time of Rabbi Kossowsky's tenure, and Rabbi Kossowsky's relationship to the Dayan can best be judged from his words about Rabbi Yaakov that are reproduced in this book. His relationship to the Zionist movement was distinctly positive, and it is no coincidence that his two sons, Azriel Broshi, and Moshe Berestovitsky made aliyah to Israel.
He died in 1939, a few days before the outbreak of the Second World War.
The Synagogues
At our request, M. Novick has created a list of the synagogues and Batei Medrashim that existed in Volkovysk, and they are:
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by Rabbi Yitzhak Kossowsky
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Rabbi Kossowsky occupied the pulpit in Volkovysk for nine years: from the beginning of 5685 (1925) to the end of 5693(1933), at which time he left to serve as the Rabbi of South Africa. His words printed below are taken from the folios of Hurban Volkovysk, published in Israel in 1946.
The community of Volkovysk was renown and distinguished in glory, because of the great Rabbis who were Gaonim of great repute throughout Jewry, and from the mouths of the city elders, who were still alive when I came to live there, more than twenty years ago, I heard much about the great Rabbis from the generations that came before me. One who excelled especially in the telling of many stories was my good friends and close confidants, the venerable elder, Reb Yitzhak Novogrudsky, ז”ל, who was called Reb Itcheh Shmuel Jonah's. He was a highly respected many, “Of pleasing appearance, with a long beard, sweetened by his knowledge of the world,”[34] and being a neighborly man, quick to be stimulated, with a strong sense of community, he always took a major part in all community endeavors, and with a playful smile on his lips, he loved to tell about all that he had seen or knew from his life. He was a close neighbor to me at the Bet HaMedrash, and at frequent intervals, spoke at great length about the great Rabbis of the past, and I learned many details about them from him. I do not remember all of them right now, but this I do know from him, that before Rabbi Borukhov זצ”ל, the Gaon Rabbi Jonathan Eliasberg זצ”ל, who died prematurely young, was the Rabbi of the city, and his seat remained vacant for seven years, until Rabbi Borukhov זצ”ל came to take his place, and to serve in his stead with honor.
Apart from being a formidable Torah scholar, Rabbi Jonathan זצ”ל was one of the Gaonim of the past generation, wise, a scholar and a man of reason, and all of the wise people of that generation, the exponents of Torah scholarship and the Enlightenment, corresponded with him, and his word was heeded by all of them. Between the pages of one of his books, that came to me from the landlord of the house in which he lived, I found a letter written to him by the Rashi Fin of Vilna, one of the very few of the members of the past generation who followed the Enlightenment, and one of the Zionist leaders of that time, who were known by the name, Hovevei Tzion, and in that letter, there were some very interesting things in regard to one important meeting that was called prior to the first Zionist Congress in Katowice, nearly sixty years before. When I received a visit from my colleague and friend, Rabbi Moshe Berlin, שליט”א, the head of the Mizrachi in Israel, I gave him this letter, to be turned over to the care of the international library in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Jonathan Eliasberg זצ”ל, inspired the people in his city, through his spirit, to cherish the noble idea of a love for Zion among themselves, and Rabbi Borukhov זצ”ל maintained this perspective,
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and thanks to the influence of the two of them, the Volkovysk community was among the ones who stood from the remaining cities in the area for its dedication to this nationalist ideal. This caused a large proportion of the people to make aliyah to our Holy Land, and they settled there many years before the great calamity in Europe, and in this manner, were saved from death and destruction.
Before Rabbi Jonathan זצ”ל, the Rabbinate of the city was held by the Rabbis and Gaonim, Rabbi Abraham Shmuel Diskin, זצ”ל , Rabbi Boruch Mordechai Lifschitz זצ”ל, Rabbi Yekhiel Heller, זצ”ל, and Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Hubar, זצ”ל, the author of Bet Yitzhak, which was published in Siedliska in the year 5596 (1836). I do not remember the order in which they served, or the length of their service, and it is possible that I have them out of order, and for this, I beg a thousand pardons from their sanctified remains. It is possible that there were several other Rabbis among them, whose names have escaped me over time, and I ask for those who are familiar with these details to come after me, and fill in what I have omitted, and I will recognize them with my thanks and blessing.
Synagogues, Personalities and Institutions
There always was a distinguished Yeshiva in Volkovysk, headed by leading Torah scholars, and many students were drawn there from the cities in the area. The many Batei Medrashim in the city were filled with boys and young married men, who concentrated on their Torah study, and the townsfolk supported them in a respectable fashion, since the love of Torah was deeply rooted in their hearts. Many great exponents of Torah scholarship came from the Batei Medrashim of Volkovysk, that became beacons of Jewry, and it is especially worth mentioning the name of the Gaon of Israel and its leader, the Gaon, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spektor, זצ”ל, who went from a bench in a Bet HaMedrash in Volkovysk to rule Jewry, and from Izavelin, the little town near it, to Kovno, to be the Leader of the entire Diaspora and the Leader of his generation, and his glory reflects on Volkovysk!
Many great people in Jewry came from there. Great in Torah scholarship and wisdom, and great in deeds, whose names remain forever in the annals of the Jewish people. It is especially worth recalling the two distinguished families from Volkovysk, the Einhorn family and the Heller family. The first produced among Jewry, great Torah scholars, and great scientists, and on his mother's side, the last Gaon of Vilna, Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzhensky זצ”ל, was related to them, whose great name lives with us even to this day, and his memory will remain forever in the chronicles of our people, as a leader of the Jewish people, and an outstanding Torah scholar. And the second [family] that produced the Gaon Rabbi Yekhiel Heller, זצ”ל, produced tens of distinguished people, who pursued the giving of charity and goodwill, who gave generously from their wealth to the various charitable institutions of the city, and even after they left her because of their large scale businesses, and went to live the great capitol cities, Warsaw and Berlin, they did not forget her, and continued to support the institutions of their birthplace city with a spirit of charity, venerable institutions in which they took great pride to their glory, until they were destroyed in our suffering at the hands of the Amalek of our generation, may their name be forever erased.
in these few words, I want to present a permanent memorial to a few of those of my friends and relatives there, whom I found there on my arrival to take up residence there, and the memory of them is permanently etched into my heart, despite the distance in both time and place. From them, there are two from the world of Torah, and two from the practical world, and they are the Dayan, Rabbi Yaakov Berestovitsky, and the Rabbi, Reb Yerakhmiel Daniel, the Headmaster of the Yeshiva; Rabbi Israel Efrat the Lawyer and Reb Eli Abraham Markus, the owner of the leather factory. May all their memories be for a blessing!
The first was a man whose Torah was his faith. A man who occupied himself with Torah with great diligence, and didn't vary from it in the slightest. Being full and brimming with what he learned and saw in different books, and having a prodigious memory as well, literally a container that doesn't
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lose a drop, he became an accomplished facilitator. He was appointed as Dayan of the city by my predecessor, The Gaon Rabbi Abba Yaakov HaKohen Borukhov זצ”ל; and when I came to occupy the pulpit there, to my great elation, I found in the Dayan Rabbi Yaakov זצ”ל, a loyal, dedicated friend, who was literally my right hand for all the days that I lived there. Together, we did all the religious work of our community, and we were bound to one another with bonds of loyal friendship. When I left the city towards the end of 5793 (1933), he remained in residence, to handle the affairs of the city, until his passing a few years later. May his memory be blessed!
The second, Reb Yerakhmiel, the Headmaster of the Yeshiva, was a prodigious scholar, possessed of a sharp mind, alert and diligent, and apart from being very busy with his Yeshiva, in which he inculcated Torah into many students, he was almost always occupied in matters of dispute between people, that is to say, in matters requiring mediation and in Torah rulings, because he was the one selected by protagonists to adjudicate and mediate their disputes. Apart from this, he was by nature a very community-minded person as well, a person who took part in community affairs; his manner was pleasant, and his words were heeded, because everyone saw in him a man of established and seasoned knowledge, and related to him with the proper respect. These two, Rabbi Yaakov and Rabbi Yerakhmiel, the Headmaster, were those left from the prior generation, educated in the great Yeshivas who were raised with Torah, and their work was in Torah, and passed away leaving behind a good name, without leaving anyone behind to take their places, and even before the destruction of the entire Jewish community in Poland and L:ithuania, the centers of Torah learning in Jewry, their loss was irretrievable. It is of them that it is said, “Woe, woe is our loss, and we will not forget them!”
The Lawyer, Reb Israel Efrat ז”ל, was an excellent example of an enlightened Jew of the prior generation, the type of person who has practically vanished from the ranks of the enlightened in our generation. He also was full of and brimming with Torah and wisdom, a man, who although he had never studied at a university, and not even a gymnasium, he nevertheless surpassed all those of his age in his knowledge of the law. He acquired his common sense and comprehensive knowledge through his own energies, working tirelessly and diligently, and thanks to his outstanding intellectual capabilities, attained the position of ‘Certified deputy lawyer,’ and secured a very important position among the ranks of lawyers and judges of that time. Were it not for the restricting decrees of the malevolent regime of the Czar in Russia, before the First World War, he would have achieve the rank of Certified Lawyer, and could have even obtained an important government post, but he was handicapped by being a Jew. Despite all this, he was a Jew who was loyal to his faith and his people, and would take part in all community affairs, not only in his city, but for Jews throughout Russia in general. He was an ardent and dedicated Zionist, and stood at the head of the Zionist work in his city and that area, and at all major gatherings in which he participated, his words were always accorded the proper respect. Together with this, he took part in all municipal matters, and after the Rabbinate of the city was vacated, with the departure of the Rabbi Gaon Borukhov, זצ”ל, when he made aliyah to our Holy Land in his old age, and the people of the city appointed a Selection Committee, Reb Israel Efrat was selected to be the head of this committee, and thanks to his influence, and extra patience, the committee carried out its work smoothly, and to the satisfaction of most of the members, most all who saw in him the right man, suitable to head this community endeavor in their important community!
For all the time I resided in Volkovysk, Mr. Efrat, ז”ל, was a frequent visitor in my home, and I always took great pleasure in his pleasant company, to discuss matters of Torah and wisdom with him. And when it came time for me to leave the city, my parting from him was very difficult, and when I found out two years later, that Mr. Efrat k”z had passed away, (I do not remember the exact day he died, and that is a shame), I was saddened deeply in my heart, and I mourned for him a great deal, because he was truly a man that stood above the
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common folk, and he was as his name proclaims, Efrat – ‘An Efrati, Adorned with good manner,’ (Yalkut).
I knew Reb Abraham Eli Markus ז”ל, well even before I set foot on the threshold of that city, because he was one of the two distinguished delegates who came to the city in which I was then living (Yagustov), at the beginning of the year 5785 (1924), to offer me the invitation in the name of the committee to come and serve as the Rabbi in their honored community, and I immediately recognized the attribute of this man, imbued with the spirit of Torah, that is not found in ordinary balebatim. And after I came to settle in the city, and became familiar with its distinguished residents from up close, I found Reb Abraham Eli Markus ז”ל, to be a man of outstanding good among the distinguished people of that community. His place was not among the wealthy, and he was constantly busy to earn a living for his household, and despite these many busy things, he always set aside time for Torah study, and he had a regular lesson in which he studied seven pages of the Gemara each week, in order to complete the entire Shas in seven years, and he would have a large holiday feast on the occasion of finishing the cycle of the Shas. And whatever was missing due to his business during the middle of the week, he made up for on the seventh day. The Holy Sabbath for him was set aside for Torah, and he would sequester himself at home, and study through the night, and then all day with enormous diligence, without going outside, and without involving himself during that day, in community matters, which he attended to faithfully during the remaining days of the week, being one of the important community leaders, whose word was listened to with the appropriate respect at all public gatherings.
He was gifted with a pleasant voice, and when he would lead the congregation before the Ark (not as a cantor, who makes his living this way, but rather as one of the balebatim who volunteer), he would literally capture hearts with his pleasant mode of praying, that would come out of his mouth in a manner that caused wonder. During the Musaf service of the High Holy Days, he would lower his prayer shawl over his face, and would pray with enormous conviction, closed eyes streaming tears, when he would read all the prayers and poetry by heart, and it was a source of wonderment to everyone who watched him, and listened to him, and they were greatly moved by his prayer. As I recollect the man and his conversation after these many years – and his praying, his great conviction in leading prayer at the Ark, I quickly sense the great loss sustained by our people, after they did away with having lay people lead prayer, and replaced them with professional cantors and their choirs! He was privileged to make aliyah to the Holy Land in his old age, before the war broke out, and he died there at a ripe old age. May his memory be for a blessing!
These are but a few lines from this distinguished congregation, the congregation of Volkovysk, which was a wonderment for all Jewry in its distinguished people and institutions. What an enormous calamity has befallen our people with the loss of these sacred communities, for which there are no replacements.
Yeshivas and their Headmasters
The Yeshiva of Volkovysk was known in a praiseworthy fashion not only within the narrow confines of Volkovysk, but in many cities and towns in its vicinity. Witness to this fact is that among its students, were many who came from the outside. Before the war, the number of students reached nearly 800.
One of the Headmasters of the Yeshiva was Rabbi Yehoshua Epstein, who made aliyah to the Holy Land and settled in the Old City of Jerusalem. Members of his family live there to this day in Jerusalem. After he left Volkovysk, Rabbi Shlomo Bereshkovsky served as the headmaster. During his tenure, young men studied there, who went on in time to become famous as intellectual greats and Gaonim. Rabbi Shlomo himself was an outstanding Torah scholar, both thorough in breadth of knowledge and of a sharp analytical mind, and his teaching style was unique of its kind. His grandson, Yitzhak Bereshkovsky, told an interesting episode connected
[Page 73]
with the death of Rabbi Shlomo, and this is the story in summary:
One of his students, who came from a small town and was himself intellectually superior, once put a question to Rabbi Shlomo which he could not answer. This was during Hanukkah, at the height of a particularly severe winter, and Rabbi Shlomo sat for hours upon hours, searching for the answer to this difficult question. He was so immersed in his own mental gymnastics, that he didn't feel that he was getting frozen from the cold. He was brought to the hospital in Warsaw, in extremely serious condition. On his last night, before he died, he asked his son, Yehuda to spend the night with him in his hospital room. That very night he related the question, posed to him by the bright student at the Yeshiva, to his son, and along with it, he communicated the correct response that he had finally been able to find. Rabbi Shlomo died the next morning.
This was in the year 1895. Before the Second World War, Rabbi Yerakhmiel [Daniel] served as the Headmaster of the Talmud Torah. According to the account of Yitzhak Bereshkovsky, the Talmud Torah took on a different face during the time of Rabbi Borukhov. At that time, secular subjects were also taught in the Talmud Torah, and the Zionist ideal that stood out in the full heart of the Rabbi, was instilled in the hearts of the students. The Dayan Rabbi Joseph Berestovitsky[1] also contributed to this, who was also a staunch Zionist.
Origianl footnote:
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