[pp. 197-198]

Chasidism and Rabbis

[pp. 199-200]

Bursztyn was a main type of Chasidic town, from which [Chasidism] streamed outwardly with light to the surrounding towns. “The Rabbi's courtyard” was not merely a physical concept but was also a Jew's path to carrying out the work of the Creator. A Jew should serve the Almighty out of love. More breadth of space also means more light. By doing good, one uproots that which is bad. The more good one does, the more full one will be of joy, with the exaltation of life's beauty.

Rav R' Zeidele Eichenstein Grandson of the Bursztyn Rabbi, R' Nachumtshe ZT”L

The Rabbi's courtyard was the center of our town. All the happy occasions that took place there were also a happy occasion for the entire town. The hundreds of Chasidim who would come together here for the Jewish holidays, created an exalted mood in the town. They would also bring in nice business for the shops; and furthermore, they were invested and beloved guests.

In general, the Rabbi's courtyard was the honor of our town of Bursztyn. And in this manner, the Rabbi ZT”L remained in Bursztyn for 44 years. Until 5674 – 1914, when the courtyard was burnt down in the great conflagration, in which three-fourths of the town was burnt down, the Rabbi was compelled to relocate to Stanislawow, since there was no large house in the city, so that the Rabbi and his large family might move back

[pp. 201-202]

to Bursztyn. Were it not for the First World War, which broke out right away that same year, the Rabbi ZT”L would certainly have erected his courtyard in Bursztyn.

The Rabbi was a big Tzaddik [i.e., righteous man] and a big Kabbalist. He left behind 4 compositions. 1) Imrei Tov; 2) Imrei Chaim;

[Title page of the rabbinic tome: Sefer Imre Hayim al Taryag Mitsvot ha-Torah ve-Mitsvot d'Rabanan Lemberg, [5]653 Imrei Chaim Publishing House N. Brandwein Printed by U.W. Salat Lemberg, 1893]

[pp. 203-204]

Galicianer Jewry, he and his 3 sons and Rebbetzin were murdered, may God avenge their blood, may their memories be blessed.

Rabbi R' Moyshele ZT”L was beloved throughout the city. [His] was a house where everyone found consolation according to one's wishes/desires. Thanks to the rabbis of Bursztyn, our city of Bursztyn was known throughout the world, and it should remain that way as an eternal memory, among all the people of Bursztyn at all times, wherever they should find themselves.

Unfortunately, from the large holy family there only remained a small remnant. By [sheer] miracle, the Podhajcer Rabbi's R' Aizikl's son, Rabbi The Tzaddik R' Zeidele Shlit”a was rescued and brought to America. He is called the Bursztyner Rabbi in New York. He was born in Bursztyn. And he was raised in the spirit of his great holy father, Rabbi R' Aizikl ZT”L. He carries on the holy chain of the Bursztyn rabbis and of his great father. The Bursztyner Rabbi in New York has a great following. He is famous for being a great activist, wise man, and sage, and in general, a man of Chasidism [or piety].

Kinsmen from Bursztyn and Podhajce are his strong supporters.

The Yahrtzeit of the first Bursztyner Rabbi, R' Nachumtshe ZT”L is the 15th of Elul – he died in 5675; the Yahrtzeit of the Podhajcer Rabbi. R' Aizikl ZT”L died on the 13th of Adar I – in Podhajce, in 1943.

Even prior to the First World War, Bursztyn was already a Jewish town. Most of the

R' Leizerl, the Rabbi of Stanislawow, son of the Rabbi of Bursztyn, Rabbi Nachumtshe

In the town were three or four Jewish lawyers, at one time, two Jewish doctors,

[pp. 205-206]

a pharmacist, and individual officials with government positions.

There was a small Zionist group to which Dr. David Maltz, a lawyer who once ran as a candidate on the list for the Austrian Parliament in Vienna, also belonged.

Aside from the school and the small synagogue, there was also a small religious study house, a Czortkower synagogue, a Stratyner, Haliczer, and a Chevra Tehillim. There were also individual Minyanim at the city rabbi's home, at Neiberger's, where one prayed only on the Sabbaths and on Jewish holidays. There was also a prayer house at the Rabbi's home in the town.

In general, it was a Chasidic town. 95 percent of the populace led a Chasidic [lifestyle], prayed and dressed in the Chasidic [mode] both on the Sabbath,

[Photograph of newspaper clipping depicting the late Rabbi Yitzchak Aizik Menachem Eichenstein, ztz”l, the Admor of Podhajce]

The Rabbi's house played a ruling role. During the Sabbaths and on holidays, it was completely packed at the Rabbi's place. Whoever speaks about whether joyous occasions took place in the courtyard, [remarks] that this was simultaneously a happy occasion for the entire town. Aside from his being a moral authority, he also brought in livelihood to the town, on account of his hundreds of Chasidim who came here from the surrounding towns.

The Rabbi The Holy Tzaddik R' Nachumtshe Z”L was among the eldest rabbis of his time. He took over the leadership from his grandfather, the first Stratyner Rabbi, R' Yuda Hersh Z”L; from his father, R. Leizerl ZT”L of Stratyn, who was the son of Rabbi R. Yehudah Hersh. The Bursztyner Rabbi R. Nachumtshe became rabbi very young, at eighteen years of age. In the year 5625 [1865] he filled the position of his father in Stratyn. Following several years of living in Stratyn, he established his residence in Bursztyn. He was the Rabbi [there] for a full fifty years. Aside from being a big scholar and Kabbalist, he even published four books pertaining to Kabbalah, and so he was also considered a great wise man.

He led the rabbinate with broad involvement, was one of the greatest prayers, naturally, also in the style of Stratyn. In his house of study there were always inhabitants who were provided for by him. His home was open to every Jew. With food, drink, and [a place to] sleep. At his home there was always a movement of Chasidim, who came from near and far for salvation/help and advice. He loved Jews and helped everyone in whatever way that he could. All the children spent many years on Kest/rooming and boarding at his home [i.e., the institution of Kest, whereby sons-in-law were supported by their in-laws, as they learned in a yeshiva or some similar type of institution]. His married grandchildren also lived on Kest at his home. His Chasidim were devoted in heart and soul. His influence on them was quite great. And this influence was felt in all the cities and towns in which his Chasidim resided. Among his loveliest traits were joy, joyful melodies, and dancing. His Chasidim came from various strata: rabbis, ritual slaughterers, melameds [i.e., teachers of children in a cheder or cheder-like setting], rich men, merchants, and artisans.

[pp. 207-208]

Bursztyn prayer houses were in various towns.

Every summer, the Rabbi and his entire household would leave for the mountains, taking with them some of the trustees and his ritual slaughterer. He would spend time in the mountains from just after Shavuos until halfway through Elul. Even there, in the village of Dora next to Dytiatyn, Chasidim from near and far would come for the Sabbath.

This is how the Rabbi's courtyard was run until a fire broke out in the town. That was in the month of Tammuz, in the year 1914. Three-fourths of the town went up in smoke, and the Rabbi's courtyard, as well. The Rabbi was not in the town at the time, but in the village, as [he was] every year. In this manner, the kingdom/royalty of Bursztyn that had existed for a full fifty years was destroyed.

[Title page of the rabbinic tome: Sefer Imre Bracha Lemberg, [5]658 Imreij Bruchu Printed by U.W. Salat Lemberg, 1898]

[pp. 209-210]

There were many more of them, the beautiful and great Jews, whose memory kindles our hearts. These lines are dedicated only to one passage/segment of time that I lived through. The time, just like the people, remained awake in my frame of mind and does not give me any peace. These people elicited relationships and warmth from everyone who knew them well.

Bursztyn possessed rabbis who were famous for their brilliance far beyond the boundaries of the town. From those that I recall, was the Gaon R' Meir Segal- Landau Z”L. After him,

R' Vove the ritual slaughterer, of blessed memory

The ritual slaughterers were Chasidim, religious, [religiously] cautious Jews. There were three ritual slaughterers: R' Sholom, who was the special ritual slaughterer for the Rabbi's courtyard, and who, in either case, became one of the 3 city-wide ritual slaughterers. Each of the ritual slaughterers had his [own] watch, during which he would slaughter chickens and cows/cattle. R' Sholom the ritual slaughterer was a big/major Jew and was also a good Torah reader, naturally, also one of the Rabbi's fiery Chasidim. His home was open to all guests who passed through the town.

There were also lovely figures: R' Vove the ritual slaughterer, a Chasidic Jew, with huge, humane virtues; R' Yankl the ritual slaughterer, a huge scholar and a huge maven in his field. They were [considered] distinguished and loved by all the Jews in the town.

[pp. 211-212]

Shmuel Schapira and his wife

It was following the passing of R' Leibele Jupiter, who left behind 3 sons and 2 daughters. The youngest was Yeshaya. They used to call him “Shaye, the adjudicator's [son].” He sat day and night, learning in the religious house of study. The younger fellows would approach him with difficult questions, for which they could not find an answer. Yeshaya gladly responded to them and clarified [matters for them]. No single question or query was too difficult for him.

Indeed, the Jews in Bursztyn sought a big rabbi for themselves, and invited R' Yoel Ginzburg, who was then the head of a yeshiva in Brzezhany. The yeshiva was established by the Gaon Sholom Mordechai Hakohen Schwadron, and R' Yoel Ginzburg received this position while he was still very young. He exemplified himself with his tremendous breadth [of knowledge] and ability to convey [all of this to others].

I was then one of his students and saw the respect and love for him from all of the students. I was also the one who invited him to the office of the religious adjudicator in our town and to come and give his first sermon.

The Sabbath when Rav Yoel Ginzburg held his first sermon will remain unforgettable for me, as well as for everyone else. It contained within it some sort of exaltation, which inspired; all the learners from the town expressed their amazement at R' Yoel's sharp-mindedness and incredible breadth [of knowledge].

He remained in this position, serving the town honestly and devotedly until the day of the major destruction [i.e., the Holocaust]. This great spirit persevered through all the trouble and wrath, which was unleashed upon our people, and perished cruelly, just like everyone [else].

In the beginning of the 1920s, that is, just after the First World War, the youth of our town, just as in all of Poland, embraced every new idea, every new solution. The socialist and socialist-Zionist parties had the strongest effect and influence on the youth. Right after the war, a revolution of ideas took place among the young people; and just as with every revolution, they sometimes overstepped their boundaries, overtook the masses.

Some of the Bursztyn youth were sympathetic to the Communists, Left Poalei Zion, and the Bund, [and] fought, it is understood, against the fanaticism of the “unreasonably conservative” [i.e., the rigidly religious elements]. They openly violated

[pp. 213-214]

the Sabbath, and so forth. Their behavior elicited wrath and embitterment from the religious.

In this instance, the religious law adjudicator R' Yoel Z”L found himself in a particularly difficult situation. Incidentally, the 3 children of R' Yoel – in the eyes of some of the religious – were also not clean of sin.

The children, having received a strict religious upbringing, all turned outwardly; they threw themselves in with fire and learning, so as to attain a secular education. They attended university and specialized in various areas.

All 3 had an effect on Jewish national life, 2 were teachers in Hebrew gymnasias. But according to the thinking of some of the religious people, the children of the adjudicator had “left the straight/upright path.”

As [previously] mentioned, as a religious judge, R' Yoel had to come out with the greatest severity against the heresy of the youth, then. It would often happen, though, that when he spoke in the religious house of study about this matter, Jews would rebuke him that his [own] children were likewise Goyim [Gentiles].

R' Yoel knew [full] well that his children were not Goyim. His greatest pride was in his children. Himself a deep believer in Zionism, he was happy about their activity within Jewish social life. His daughter, Zisele and older son, Chaim Z”L were active in the “Hitachdut Poalei Tzion.”

The youngest son, Gershon Z”L [was] in the Beitar. It is understood that although they were educated people, they nonetheless kept Judaism and were religious.

The adjudicator of Jewish law would indeed ask, demand, and request from the youth that they not stray too far.

[Even] with his strong religiosity and duties as an adjudicator of religious law, he nevertheless had much understanding for the younger generation. It was particularly evident during the last years before the Second World War, when the youth had already quit declaring their free-thinking ways, which to a great degree stemmed from ignorance.

It is interesting that R' Yoel used to love schmoozing with Minne Tobias, the rabbi of the awoken youth. These two figures shined through out of the terrible darkness, loneliness, fear, and human decline, which ruled during the time of destruction and extermination in our beloved town.

Minne Tobias, the first chairman of the Judenrat in Bursztyn, when he received a command from the Germans to hand over the first Jews to be murdered, officially resigned from his position.

Our adjudicator, R' Yoel Ginzburg ZT”L, appeared his entire life not to be very energetic, not to have high tolerance for that which befell him. This human being, during the downfall of the town, demonstrated super-human power and exaltation.

R' Yoel Ginzburg comforted and encouraged the exhausted, tormented Jews of Bursztyn. Proud and fearless he went to his death.

It was in Bukaczowce, on the day when a large number of the Bursztyn Jews were taken to Belzec, when the adjudicator went around among the Jews of Bursztyn and said Viddui [i.e., the confessional prayer uttered when one is near death] with them. It was then that the bullet of a German murderer shot through his heart.

He merited being buried in accordance with Jewish ritual in Bukaczowce's Jewish cemetery.

Among us remnants of Bursztyn Jewry, his holy figure will remain eternally etched within our hearts.

[pp. 215-216]

How much moral greatness this Jew possessed insofar as humility and fear of Heaven. At that same time, he was inflamed with rebellion against everyone who wanted to disturb his notions regarding the may not's and may's, which were forced upon us from Mount Sinai, but so stemming from his own Jewish-humane disposition, from his vigilant love for God and from his no less vigilant love for [God's] creations, as he understood it, he wanted to prevent people from [committing] a sin.

Buntche Pomerantz

Because of the major rains that fell during those years, the pasture fields became flooded and the cows [or cattle] went about day and night in the deep mud, and this led to a new illness among the cows/cattle, which was crowned with the sonorous name, “Red Spots.”^[1] Red dots appeared on their tongues. And as it turned out, there was no reference in the books to this illness. And this presented the ritual slaughterers with a difficult question, kosher or traif [i.e., not kosher]? As usual, they went to the Rabbi, examined the lungs, felt them, [and] squeezed them. Unfortunately, this type of illness was not mentioned. So, what was one to do? The ritual slaughterers, my uncle Vove, and R' Sholom the ritual slaughterer looked at the Rabbi, and everyone together, at Yankl the ritual slaughterer. If somebody recalls those days, life in Bursztyn then, then he will be able to appreciate the role that Yankl the ritual slaughterer played. Aside from his inborn intelligence, he was considered one of the leading ritual slaughterers. And in this realm, he was an authority. His opinion was counted on not only by us in the town. People came to him with questions regarding the laws of ritual slaughter from far, far-off places; and if a young man wanted to be a first-class ritual slaughterer, he strove to receive an approval or a notification/proclamation from Yankl the ritual slaughterer.

Yankl the ritual slaughterer was also a wise Jewish man. People would come to him for advice and even for remedies during times of illness. For one should

[pp. 217-218]

not forget that at that time it was not so customary to call upon a doctor, [and so] one would count on the opinion of Yankl the ritual slaughterer. He would come to the sick person at home, examine him, feel his forehead, listen to his pulse, and if he said that it was not necessary, then they did not call upon the doctor.

And so, one stood and considered what to do; [for] this problem [i.e., the illness affecting the cows/cattle] was very sharp. At that time in the Jewish towns of Galicia, one had to live within an environment of ritual slaughterers and butchers, all of them poor people, particularly the latter, whose entire livelihood stemmed from the calf, which they would bring from the village, often times, driving [or chasing] it on foot, in the rains and mud; and if God helped, it was slaughtered and came out kosher, then the meat was sold at the butcher shop, and one had a beautiful Sabbath. It was bitter, very bitter, when the ritual slaughterer uttered the word traif, and unfortunately, in most cases this terrible word was uttered by Yankl the ritual slaughterer.

According to the order [of things] in such a situation, the butcher would be asked to leave, and a discussion would ensue. One ritual slaughterer would say such and such, the second one would say otherwise, the rabbi would wrinkle his brow, and in the end, Yankl the ritual slaughterer would prevail [with his] ruling … Not kosher!

And from that point began a series of traif cows/cattle with “Red Spots.” The Bursztyn butchers went about miserably with downturned heads, and empty pockets. That year they became the poorest of the poor.

Questions poured in from the surrounding towns, because the “Red Spots” also appeared there on the lungs, and it became a general misfortune in the entire area.

A story transpired with Moshe the butcher traveling one lovely day to Lemberg, and as was customary for a butcher, he went to the butcher shops, and how he trembled when he saw hanging lungs and livers with the sadly familiar “Red Spots.” Speaking to the butchers, he asked them whether the cows/cattle with the “Red Spots” on the lungs garnered high prices, since in Bursztyn, most of the cows/cattle that had been slaughtered that year had had the “Red Spots,” and the butchers had become the poorest of the poor. They raised their shoulders and asked him why it mattered to him if the meat had red spots. And so, he opened up widely a pair of eyes to them and said: What do you mean, where shall we place so much non-kosher meat? [And so] they laughed heartily at him, [remarking] that among us, they say that this is kosher, like all kosher cows/cattle. Go home and porge [i.e., remove the forbidden fat and veins from meat to make it kosher] them [the meat] through your butchers, together with the rabbi. And he, Moshe the butcher, stood there and his blood was running from his heart; so much of his hard work had been wasted on account of the culpability of the ritual slaughterers; and before his eyes stood the figure of Yankl the ritual slaughterer, the most culpable of all.

Returning home, Moshe the butcher mobilized the entire family of butchers; and in the evening, one felt that the air smelled of gun powder. Right away they went after Yankl the ritual slaughterer. The shouts were exceptional, so far[-reaching], that it nearly came to blows.

Uncle Yankl did not even eat any dinner that evening. Seeing as he was standing and walking with a lung and liver under his arm, he took the train following that same evening to Lemberg, where he immediately went to the rabbi with the question, [and] the rabbi examined the lung. “I do not see anything on the lung” – was the rabbi's response – the lung is kosher. Yankl the ritual slaughterer remained standing, stunned, for one ought not to forget that this was the Lemberger Rabbi. “Well, and you don't see the ‘Red Spots?’” inquired Yankl the ritual slaughterer, upset. “Yes, I see them. It's nothing. It's kosher.” They began to argue. The rabbi held fast to his [opinion] and said kosher, and Yankl the ritual slaughterer was not frightened, and shouted traif. The rabbi saw that he was dealing with a ritual slaughterer [who was] not of the usual ritual slaughterers, with an opponent who was bold and not frightened,

[pp. 219-220]

and above all, a big maven, [and so] the other ritual slaughterers were called in. But notwithstanding all the opinions, all the arguments, which Yankl the ritual slaughterer brought, that the “Red Spots” are traif, the Lemberger Rabbi and the ritual slaughterers held their ground that it was kosher. And following an entire day of discussions, they did not reach an agreement; Yankl the ritual slaughterer remained with his opinion, and the Lemberger Rabbi and the ritual slaughterers with their opinion.

The noteworthy [one] in that episode, did not end with this. At that time, a religious periodical appeared in Lemberg with the title “Machzikei Hadas” [i.e., Strengtheners of the Religion] and began to air the question in the columns of the newspaper. Rabbis and ritual slaughterers polemicized about this matter and two sides were created; each side zealously defended its standpoint, and it is understood that the leading position was taken up by the figure of Yankl the ritual slaughterer. And given that the two sides could not come together, since each side passionately defended its standpoint, a project was enacted to call together a congress of rabbis and ritual slaughterers from all of Galicia that would issue the decisive ruling.

They threw themselves intensively into preparing for this congress. Yankl, the ritual slaughterer, greatly prepared himself. He assembled a cluster of materials, which were supposed to show the world his correctness.

It never came to the congress. The First World War broke out, which at the same time, put an end to the entire dispute.

Translator's Footnote

1. The name used in the vernacular – Hebrew, in this case – was “Nekudot Adumot.” Return

R' Sholom was the special ritual slaughterer of Rabbi Nachumtshe. He was brought up to Bursztyn during a major dispute, on account of ritual slaughterers. The Rabbi's fiery Chasidim supported him and he remained the most distinguished ritual slaughterer in Bursztyn, and the butchers thought very highly of him.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, he prayed in the religious house of study before the lectern. His two sons, Yidl and Meir, were the choirboys. His “Kol Nidrei” stirred hearts. People came to hear his “Unetaneh Tokef” even from the synagogue.

R' Sholom the ritual slaughterer owned [i.e., he saw to, was responsible for] the Musaf prayers and Neilah service. Shacharit [the morning prayer service], R' Yitzchak Yidl Moyshe's Lasberg. R' David Breiter received the rights to Mincha, [the afternoon prayer service].

R' Dovidl was a melamed the entire week, and on the Sabbaths and holidays he was a cantor in the synagogue; he prayed with great sweetness.

R' Itzik David was the cantor of the religious house of study, a clever man of a Jew. It was a pleasure to hear him pray. The words, sung out with much simplicity, poured themselves into peoples' hearts.

The Melamed, R' Hershl Strelisker, was a Belzer Chasid, and learned Gemara with boys. R' Hershl Azipolier was also a Gemara Melamed. Naftali Lysicer, Yisroel and Vovele were teachers of the youngest children.

In the Rabbi's courtyard there were special Melameds for the Rabbi's children and grandchildren.

R' Yidl, the Rabbi's trustee, was a big music player [musician]. In addition, he was very smart and a major writer. He was a beloved figure among the thousands of Chasidim, who

[pp. 221-222]

came to the Rabbi's tish [i.e., table]. Hearing R' the trustee's singing was one of the greatest pleasures.

Ephraim Schneider – the letter-carrier. For many years he was an official of the then

Berish Meler, the son of Vove the ritual slaughterer Died 22 August 1958

Aside from him, the 3 town policemen wore uniforms. I recall their names: Karl, the policeman and Antony, the policeman. The third one I do not recall. All of them spoke Yiddish. And they would come to Jewish happy occasions as in-laws.

This is how the town conducted itself for several generations, until the First World War. One can say about the town of Bursztyn what Rashi said about our Forefather Yaakov, when he left Be'er Sheva, “While the righteous is in the city – he is magnificent, he is glory, he is splendor. When he leaves there – the magnificence, the glory, the splendor departs [with him].”

Following the major conflagration, when the Rabbi ZT”L left the town, the idiosyncrasies of the Chasidic way of life fell to the wayside. The war changed the entire appearance of the town. New customs developed. New ideas, parties, right and left.

Indeed, the memory of the former town remains within every person his entire life.

Mechl the Lysicer was perhaps called such, because he hailed from the town of Lysica. But in Bursztyn, he was the eldest Melamed of young children. Most of the town's children went through his cheder. Just as soon as they turned three years old, their fathers took them to the Lysicer, and at that, they were reminded of their own childhood years, when they, too, were brought to the very same cheder.

The cheder was located inside of a large house, of which Hershele Trud, by trade a tailor, was a partner. It was a large house [or room] with an alcove in which the windowpanes were always broken, covered up with rags. Along with Mechl and his wife, Chaya-Sarah, their sons Zalmen-Ber, Chaskel, and their daughter, Zelda, also lived there. The eldest daughter, Sheindel-Rivka, and her husband, Asher Blecher, lived separately on another street.

Shaye, the Melamed's assistant, would carry the three-year-old students to cheder upon his back. In the large room stood two long tables; at the head of one of the tables sat R' Mechl and learned with the older children how to pray from the prayer book. At the second table, Zalmen Ber taught the smaller children the Hebrew alphabet and the vowel signs. Shaye the Melamed's assistant saw to the youngest group, the three-year-olds.

[pp. 223-224]

In his hand he held a twig, which had come from a broom. R' Mechl and Zalmen-Ber already held leather whips in their hands, the same sort used to beat the Rabbi Malkus [i.e., symbolic lashes used as a sign of atonement] on Yom Kippur.^[1]

He is standing before my eyes as with fifty years ago, when I learned by him [at his cheder]. He was a Jew of stately appearance with a long, grey beard. Notwithstanding the large number of students, he frequently did not have [anything to eat] for the Sabbath. More than once, the Rabbi's sickly wife returned [home] from the shop on a Thursday evening with empty bags. The shopkeeper, Itshele Schapira, did not wish to give [her] anything more on loan.

She died in [a state of] much want. R' Mechl continued to learn with the children, but his eldest daughter, Sheindel-Rivka already came to his aid. Her husband, Asher Deichsler, did a bit better and they helped her father, married-off the younger sister, Zelda, to Velvele the Melamed's assistant. Chaskel was sent off by the director of the Baron Hirsch School, Anshel Fogel, to Krakow, to study tinsmithing. Zalmen-Ber left for America and would from time to time assist his father, who grew weaker with every year.

The street on which the cheder was located was situated in a valley. Notwithstanding the fact that there was a “vat” through which the filthy water passed, the valley was full of all sorts of filth. On rainy days the children could not leave the cheder to play in the street. Thus, however, during the summer, when the rabbi would doze off, tired, [and] hungry, the boys would run off into the street, touch and roll about in the garbage. It would so happen that a boy would occasionally “unintentionally” receive a slap, and blood would start running from his head, from his nose, and at the same moment his mother, or a grandmother, who right away came running, ranting at the rabbi, and grabbed up the child for home. But the following morning, Shaye the Melamed's assistant brought him back [to cheder].

Translator's Footnote

1. Generally, this expression appears in Yiddish in conjunction with “Erev” [the eve of] Yom Kippur, although here, there is no reference to the “Erev.” Return

They called him “The Strelisker Melamed.” All of the parents who wanted their son to grow up to be a learner, sent their child to learn with R' Hershele. The [act of] learning was a profession for him, to which he devoted his utmost devotion. Permeated with the strong desire to convey to the children as much as possible of the fundamentals of Torah knowledge.

At that, he was a fanatical Belzer Chasid, strongly loved the rabbi, and believed in his greatness. He would travel there once a year, and would return, steadfast in his belief.

In the evenings, after having worked hard with the children, he would only just begin to sit back and learn by himself until half of the night. At that time, a passerby could hear a quiet, muffled cry tear through the closed shutters. That was Hershl Strelisker sobbing about the destruction of the Temple. Marking the event until the middle of the night.

He was the Torah reader in the small Ziditshoyber synagogue, which was located next to the religious house of study. They

R' Hershele the Strelisker Z”L The father of Shmuel Schapira

[pp. 225-226]

would ask him to pray before the lectern, however, he avoided doing this, unless he had a Yahrtzeit, or when the worshippers already strongly insisted [that he do this]. That occurred in rare instances.

Rabbi Moshe David Landau would sometimes call him over, so as to consult him regarding various important questions of religious life in the town.

The weeks of baking matzoh for Passover have become inscribed within my memory. He would go around following the evening prayers to [all] the bakeries and halt the baking of matzohs in the ovens, because the workers were tired, and could thereby lead to [the creation of] chametz [i.e., leavened dough or bread, which is not kosher during Passover]. He did this with the consensus and complete authority of Rav R' Moshe David.

Returning from this work, we all felt his devotion to this holy work, and we became infected by his enthusiasm.

The children would call her the Rabbi's wife. The adults – the Strelisker female Melamed. Only those people who were close [to her] called her simply by her name: Esther.

She was a learned woman; she recalled the laws from the Shulchan Aruch [i.e., the Code of Jewish Law] by heart. And pages of Gemara. Sitting in the distance, doing her work for her job responsibilities, she would overhear how the rabbi would teach the class of Gemara to the students. In the middle, the feathers would be plucked, or perhaps she had overheard some other work whereby a cheder boy was making a mistake or had not understood something correctly in the Gemara. She would then draw closer and correct, or quietly prompt [the cheder boy], so the “rabbi” would not hear.

She was always busy doing good for everybody [i.e., she was a do-gooder]. Here she collected donations for poor widows and orphans. Another time, for a poor bride. Friday, she spent part of the day collecting challahs for poor people. During the winter days, she would distribute wood to heat the cold homes of needy people.

Once, while carrying some wood to a poor widow, who did not have [anything with which] to heat her home, she caught a cold, until the highest temperature forced her into bed. The fever devoured her, she contracted consumption, and did not leave her bed for two years, until her soul expired.

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