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By Mikhl Weinblatt, Petakh Tikva
Linat HaTzedek
This was one of the first and wonderful institutions for the common good that Tomaszow once had. It was especially active in the First [World] War, and immediately after the War, in which disease, God forbid, were rampant, and the poverty was great, and Linat HaTzedek saved many young Jewish lives.
Its activity consisted of dispensing medicaments at no charge, good food, such a bread rolls, for sustenance, milk and butter, and volunteer nights to sit with the ill. ‘Linat HaTzedek’ was recognized by each and every Jew as an important activity, and a special tariff was imposed on ritual slaughter for its use. It was from this income that the institution sustained itself.
The activists were: Pinchas Szparer, Chaim Hymowitz, Yehoshua Fishl's Goldstein, and myself as a youngster. R' Eliezer Gershon Teicher was the bookkeeper.
I do not remember his name, only the story, which was as follows: The Hasidim of Radzyn felt very put out because not one of the servants of the community, such as Rabbis, ritual slaughterers, Hevra Kadisha, etc., was one of the Hasidim of Radzyn. Accordingly, they decided to retain their own ritual slaughterer at their own expense. However, the other Hasidim from all of the shtiblakh contested this, and did not permit them access to any of the butchers, nor to the slaughterhouse.
Having no alternative, the Radzyn Hasidim decided to do their own slaughtering, on their own account. The purchased cattle and Itta Hant'shels, as a mitzvah, sold it to them at no profit.
One time, on a Saturday night, they were leading a large ox to be slaughtered. A group of young folks from the Hasidic shtiblakh cut the rope, and the beast ran away. Since they were not experienced butchers, they were powerless in their attempt to capture the ox that had run free, and it disappeared. After this loss, the ritual slaughterer from Markuszow vanished. The boycott against the Hasidim of Radzyn persisted until the Holocaust.
By Sh. Leibowitz
This was a sacred ritual special to the Hasidic homes, where every Friday before sundown, prior to the lighting of the candles, a few groschen were dropped into the collection box. At every opportunity, be it a joyful occasion, or God forbid, a time of trouble, coins were dropped into the box. If one had a bad dream, or if God forbid, one's phylacteries fell off, the Rabbi would direct that twice chai was to be dropped into Rabbi Meir's little box. This box endured all the suffering as well as the joys of Jewish households, and it became an integral part of the Jewish family. There were no salaried collectors who gathered up the saved monies, only the most prominent of the balebatim, R' Aharon Lakher and R' Elkanah Fruchthandler had the franchise for this mitzvah. They emptied the boxes twice a year. R' Yisroel'i Garzytzensky was the President.
By Sh. Licht
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A basic treatment of those who held Rabbinical positions, since its founding and up to the Holocaust, is given in the Hebrew section of the essay of Sholom Lavi, and this is not a complete and exclusive list, but only that which has been possible for me to research and uncover, with great effort.
By Y. Weintraub
He was called after the city where he was the Rabbi and the Hasidic Rebbe, before he took up residence with us in [our] city. However, in truth, he was one of the members of the Rabbinate by us in our city, and finally, the Chief Rabbi.
I do not undertake to describe his erudition and charity, pedigree and wisdom, because this is beyond my powers. I wish to convey what I, as an ordinary person, saw and was able to grasp.
His patriarchal and majestic appearance, with is enchanting friendly look, captivated every person who came in contact with him. His pure crystal personality, and ardent soul was like a beacon tower, especially for the observant proud orthodox youth.
If the city had, in him, a loyal shepherd, a wise and active Rabbi with exceptional skills, if the Hasidim had in him a true Tzaddik and a bosom friend – then we, the youth, had in him a true and loyal educator, and a spiritual father. Every young boy saw in him, a fatherly relationship. He infused content into our lives. He elevated our souls wit energy and pride, awareness and clarity.
It was a spiritual pleasure to enjoy participating in a Tisch of his, and heartfelt, sweet and committed prayers, with which everyone was swept along in the refrain of his captivating melodies. With his fiery ardent soul, and Sanz intensity, suffused with genuine joy and liveliness, he refreshed us all and elevated us. He awakened the sleepy and ossified, and transformed them into blossoming lives, full of energy and a lust for life, with deeds for Torah and Hasidism.
Of special interest was the Friday evening Tisch, with the dances and Hasidic discussions which, with each participation, enriched our spiritual storehouse with Hasidic lore, and stories of ancient Tzaddikim.
His Shaleh-shudes meals were very lofty. It is a couple of decades since I had the privilege to sit at such a Shaleh-shudes, yet the picture still stands before my eyes: It is dusk on the Sabbath. The night draws near with quick steps. It spreads its dark wing over the entire world, and like a black silk curtain, it covers the window of the Rabbi's big house. The Rabbi's visage becomes intermingled with the heaviness of the dark. Only the white streaks of his small beard twinkle, and the white flowers on his Tisch kaftan. However, one cannot see a figure, all one hears is a soft voice, from the heart. The Rebbe begins to sing ‘Askinu Seudasa,’ with a fervent Sanz tune, and the gathering sings along after him. The Rabbi sings louder and louder. The ecstasy rises. The gathering is consumed by the fire. One feels as if one is a part of the ‘…B'nai hilkha dikhsifin…’ Somehow, he transports us to such distant worlds that we yearn for, which do not permit one to descend to the everyday workweek world, about to begin after the Havdalah ceremony, so rapidly.
And when one concludes with ‘…B'nai hilkha…’ and between one [Psalm of] Mizmor L'David and the second, it falls silent, and the Rebbe hums a tune to himself, ‘…lis asar pinui mini…’ there is not a space empty, as it were, but at the same time, ‘…lis makhshava tfisa bokh klal…,’ no mere mortal mind can grasp [the nature of] the Creator. And after a couple of minutes of such conviction, he begins with the [second Psalm of] Mizmor L'David, Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want.’
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At that time, somehow, he managed to imbue our hearts with such a strong sense of security, that we all felt that ‘The Lord is My Shepherd,’ and with it, ‘I shall not want,’ meant that we were missing nothing. This, despite the fact that the six days of the regular week awaited us, and with empty pockets, debts and notes, and boycotts.
And when he concluded with ‘May His peace be placed upon us, blessing and peace,’ with a cheerful Sanz march, everyone became suffused with happiness and confidence, and we approached the new week full of faith and confidence and full of the spirit of taking on our obligations.
We had special experiences and refreshment of spirit during the High Holy Days, when a great host of Hasidim would arrive from faraway. The prayers of the holy days lasted until dusk, and afterwards the march to Tashlikh accompanied by song and dance, left a deep impression on the young people. Or, the Sanz-style Hakafot of Simchat Torah, which in those days was the culmination point of joy and worship. It bubbled with joy and sanctity. First the songs of commitment, and the pouring out of the soul, and afterwards to be present at the dances at the Hakafot, and the populace clapped and sang until the late hours. Or, the blessing of Hanukkah candles, with his melodies that came from the heart. Indeed, it was this spiritual elevation that made our souls full.
His spiritually rich and substantive discourse with the young people set us on a spiritually rich base. He also would take an interest in private life, possible wedding matches, and helped as much as he could in connection with practical matters.
And now, about his discharge of Rabbinical duty: his precision and clarity in juridical affairs. His concern in looking after all the affairs of kashrut. His wisdom and knowledge. At the time of every difficult experience, one went in to see the Rabbi, solicited his advice, received a blessing, and felt that one's heart had been lightened.
All of us were proud of our great spiritual bastion. Even his political opponents respected him and gave him their consideration.
This very same Tzaddik came to be cast out into the Siberian Taigas, where the commandant harassed him and insulted him, where he suffered hunger and want, and saw how his beloved child, the gifted and talented Rabbi Meir had to die from hunger and suffering. On 26 Sivan 5702 [1942], his holy soul also left his body, and he lays together with Meir and his grandchild Nechama Zikhlinsky, and 25 other Jews in Gur'jevsk, in the Novosibirsk Oblast, may their souls be bound up in the bond of life.
It is worth noting that he anticipated the Holocaust and warned that one should fervently pray for continuation of peace, because no matter how bad the situation was for Jews, it would be that much worse in the event of war. That it would not compare to the troubles of the First World War, because the instruments of war today, were much greater, and Hitler means what he says, and the Poles here are in a position to give him considerable assistance.
By Rae Lehrer Fust
At one time, the Kosciuszko Street was once called ‘Die Ulica[1],’ just like all the other streets where there were gardens, trees and flowers. But this street was different from all the other ‘Ulicas.’
For example: the ‘Ulicas’ not far from the krynica[2], or the ‘Ulica’ near the ‘targowica,’[3] indeed had orchards, gardens, trees and flowers, but the houses were low, the windows small, hung with shutters that covered the panes.
The gardens were planted with green stuffs. In the spring, when one went for a stroll there, the eye was entertained by the young sprouts: from new-month radishes, beet leaves, hay, shallots, cucumbers, beans, potatoes, corn, carrots, pumpkins, olive trees, and parsley. The budding sprouts emitted a delicious aroma, the trees blossomed, and the white pollen fell like an aromatic snow.
A gentle breeze caused the trees to rustle. And when the sun illuminated everything, one could see green in all manner of shades, only that there was no river there.
There was a ‘pond’ of sorts near the krynica, that was formed from the water runoff of the gardens that abutted it. This ‘pond’ was overgrown on all sides with sorrel grass. Only in the middle, was there a green foam. Often, when the water of the pond was illuminated by sunlight, one would see miniature colors, of lilac, blue, red, green, purple and yellow.
There were times when it was thought that the ‘pool’ contained oil, and it was the light of the sun that formed such colors.
The Ulica that later became the Kosciuszko Street was quite different, because this Ulica had a river.
This river was circular, and was in the very center of the street. And it was this very circular river that was called ‘The Tashlikh River.’
On the sides of the street there were foot bridges. Near the foot bridges, little huts. The huts had porches, and some had windows, which were hung with tulle curtains. Flowers grew in the gardens. Trees lined the street and it extended from the Kiri'sch Highway, which bounded it at its beginning, to the Brigade ‘ Ulica.’
This street was the promenade of the observant fathers and mothers, and their children. [The reason was] that the circular river made this ‘ Ulica’ into a ‘Jewish street,’ despite the fact that Christians lived there as well.
The circular river was called ‘The Tashlikh River,’ because on Rosh Hashana, Jews came there from the Kiri'sch Highway, and from the ‘Ulica,’ and from quite far, for the Tashlikh ritual.
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And so, Jews stood by ‘The Tashlikh River’ (on Rosh Hashana) dressed in their holiday finery. With a gartl around the waist, and with red kerchiefs in their pockets. With their Makhzors in hand, they piously swayed front to back, and recited the Tashlikh prayers. Young boys emulated their fathers in swaying back and forth, and the tails of their long kapotes swayed along with them.
The women stood at a separate second side of the circular Tashlikh River. Decked out in their finery from the ‘Dress Shop’ with a Makhzor in hand. Out loud, they entreated The Most High for a good and healthy year, for nachas from children, for ease in raising them, and for sustenance.
The little girls looked like flowers in their variegated little dresses. Like flowers absorbing the dew, they drank in the image of Tashlikh, and carefully hid it away, deeply in their hearts and memories.
When a breeze blew, the reflection of the trees in the water also swayed rapidly, and the girlish curls and the curled side locks of the boys flew about. One thought that the prayers flew directly up to heaven.
The pockets were then emptied. the crumbs were thrown into the water. and one felt cleansed of sin, and went away with a lighter heart from the circular Tashlikh River.
By Isaac Bashevis[1]
I am a scion of Tomaszow on my father's side. My father, Rabbi Pinchas Menachem HaKohen Singer, is a son of Rabbi Shmuel Singer who, late in life became the Halakhic Director in Tomaszow. His father was R' Yeshayahu of Konskie, and his father – R' Moshe Harif of Warsaw (the author of Iggeret HaKodesh, which was printed in the book, Da'at Moshe), a son of R' Tuvia Sztekszyner Rav, as son of R' Moshe Rav of Sadeh Khadash (Neufeld), a son of R' Zvi Hirsch Rav in Zhork and so forth and so on. My father's pedigree is even more distinguished on his mother's side, my grandmother, Tema'leh, or Tema Bluma, as her name was. She was descended from the ShA”Kh[2], from Megaleh Amukot[3], and the ReM”A[4]. All of this is spelled out in a letter from our relative, Rabbi Zvi Yekhiel Mikhlson, the Rabbi of Plonsk.
I have never been in Tomaszow, however, from childhood on, I heard stories about my grandfather, R' Shmuel, my grandmother Tema'leh, my grandmother, Hinde Esther. This very Hinde Esther was a personality, sui generis. She wore a fringed garment[5] and would travel to visit Rabbi Sholom of Belz. I think her husband was called R' Itzik Hirsch and I am named for him: Yitzhak Zvi.
My grandfather, R' Shmuel, was and remained a dependent individual. Mostly, he spent years living from supported by his father-in-law, and mother-in-law, and committed himself to the study of the Kabbalah. He barely spoke, and prayed for long periods of time, and wrote things that he never had published. After his father-in-law's death, my grandmother Tema'leh became a jewelry merchant. She would travel around among the wealthy to sell precious stones. Later on, she opened a small clothing store. He was a sickly man, about whom my father writes as follows in the introduction to his book, Maggidim Hadashim:
“And Is I remind myself of my sanctified father, let us tell of his virtue, which I saw with my own eyes. Each and every day, he committed hi entire being to his pure and pristine prayer,
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such that, after completing his worship, he needed to change his clothing because he had become so perspired from the effort, with his love of God and his commitment to Him. He would be engaged in Torah study for the entire day, revealed and esoteric, and all done in a subdued fashion. He wrote many esoteric things about Torah, with great trepidation and fear of God, and was very modest in his own self, praising God for the bad with the same joy as for the good. As for those who did him wrong, he embellished them with goodness, always justifying the decree as is he was always beset with tribulation. This is just a part of his holy ways” –
From time to time, my grandfather would take trips, and it was not known where he went. After he married, and at the time he was being supported, he did not want to eat any meat. He knew, however, that his father-in-law and mother-in-law would raise a ruckus, so he swore mt grandmother Tema'leh to keep this a secret. For seven years, he made do for the entire week only with dry food, and my grandmother had to find all sorts of excuses, so that my great-grandmother would not know about this.
There is a trait that runs through almost every member of our entire family: introversion. My grandfather, R' Shmuel was an introverted man. My maternal grandfather, the Rabbi of Bilgoraj, R' Yaakov Mordechai Zilberman, also was introverted. My father was like this also in a large measure, despite the fact that he was simultaneously undisciplined. When my father was a young boy, he did not socialize with the other young boys and had a reputation as an idler. As a young man, he had already begun to write innovative things, and authored a book that he called ‘Ratzuf Ahava.’ It was, if I am not mistaken, a commentary on the Siddur. It could be said of my father, without any apology, that he didn't have any concept of a coin.
My father had an older brother, Yeshaya who married in Galicia. After his marriage, this Yeshaya became a merchant and a wealthy man. He lived in the city of Rohatyn. He also had a brother, Shimon, who died young, and two sisters that married in Hungary. There were several insane people in my father's family and my mother would leave him even when she had a minor spat with him.
In those years, families quickly fell apart. My grandfather R' Shmuel died. His children all moved away. Only my grandmother Tema'leh remained in Tomaszow. She passed away at the beginning of the First World War, over the age of eighty. My father was the apple of her eye, because my grandmother had an indescribable love of Torah, and Yiddishkeit. In addition to this, she was a woman who was well acquainted with life, and got along well with people. She was perhaps the only one of my family (to the extent that I know) who mingled with people and was close to them. I did not know her, but my friend R' Moshe Gordon (Garzytzensky) knew her quite well, and he told me a little about her. I received regards from her all over. Here, in New York, and elderly Yiddish actress who came from Tomaszow, told me about her. I no longer remember her name. She sat with me for an evening, and did not stop praising my grandmother Tema'leh.
Due to the fact that my father had, in his youth, begun to write innovative essays, and to comport himself in a rabbinical manner, the young men in the Bet HaMedrash harassed him in a manner not unlike the way the older brethren pursued the young Joseph. It is likely that they also jeered at his idleness. He was, and remained, a man divested of all worldly things. He did not know a word of Polish. For him, the only ones who existed were religiously observant Jews. The Torah and religiously observant Jews, for him, constituted the entire world. Apart from this, everything was alien, uncivilized, the [sic: useless] husk of the world.
My father would speak mournfully, about his brother Yeshaya ,who had become a merchant and wealthy man.
I repeat here, in brief, what I had described at length in my book, ‘In My Father's Court,’ but I believe that
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I have added [here] several facts that are not found there.
A great fear for my father (as it was later for me) was the draft, for presenting one's self for military service. I cannot conceive of any worse punishment for a man like my father, than having to be among ‘Ivan's’ gentiles. Higher forces shielded him from this fate. He received a ‘Ligota.’ I do not know exactly what this is, but I think this was a higher number. My father would tell us about this often, and add that he actually never needed to disrobe in front of the gentiles.
In his entire life, my father had but one wish: to study Torah in peace, but regrettably, he never had this peace. He wanted to learn the Torah and deal in Yiddishkeit. He had the sense somewhere, that he wanted to become a good Jew, but it was no longer the time for such things. My uncles, the sons of the Rabbi of Bilgoraj, looked upon my father as an idler. He didn't want to learn any Russian, didn't want to take any sort of examination, which in those days was necessary in order to become a Rabbi. What remained in our family was an expression of my Father's. One day, he said: ‘There is no point to it, I will not speak to the Governor!’ My mother, who had within her a spark of worldliness, and much wisdom, would repeat this ‘solution’ with sarcasm. But, I understood my father only too well. The Governor, for my father, was the symbol of ‘goyishkeit,’ that which is alien, sin, lust for power. Talking to the Governor for my father was the same as going into a cage with a malevolent beast.
It was through my father that I obtained an understanding of the Jew, the ghetto-Jew, that very same Jew that burdened himself with non-denumerable mitzvot and compounding difficulties in order to segregate himself from the gentile. The prime mover of Yiddishkeit consisted of distancing one's self from the ‘Goy’ as far as possible: as much as the body will permit. The Haskalah, for my father, was as unclean as the flesh of swine, because it sought to approach the gentile. I recall how a Zionist once said to my father, that Jews need to become a nation like all other nations, and how my father looked at him astonishment. With sadness. The phrase, ‘like all other nations,’ killed him.
When his own children began to stray, this was an indescribable sorrow for my father. He had one explanation: that they came from a way of life of Mitnagdim. While the Rabbi of Bilgoraj did pay homage for a brief time to the Rebbe of Turzysk, deep inside he was really a Mitnaged.
Yiddishkeit for my father was Polish Yiddishkeit. {It was] the Yiddishkeit of the disciples of the Baal Shem [Tov]. [To] everything that belonged to the ancient times, to books of the sort that today's person has no access.
My father had dark hair, a tobacco-red beard, blue eyes, and a Slavic nose. He was handsome, but short in build. Apart from his faith in God, he had a boundless believe in Holy Men. He trusted people in general. He was easy to fool. He had a childlike soul. One time, he gave away the last sixty rubles he had, to a pauper.
The World War, the straying of his children, pained my father, but did not dissemble him. All of this had one name: the world of the husk, the world of darkness, wickedness, lust, evil, that God had created in order that you might have a choice, and therefore be able to elevate yourselves to a high level. My father was the Rabbi of the shtetl Leoncin by the Vistula for ten years, and then, he was for years the Director of Halakha in Warsaw on Krochmalna Street. Then – after the War – he became the Rabbi in Stary Dzikow, a tiny bit of a shtetl near Oleszyce. He had nachas from only one son, my brother Moshe, the youngest, who was an enduringly righteous man. I cannot, nor will I here, write about his righteousness. He was killed by the Bolsheviks. My father had one joy: He died before the Hitler Holocaust.
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When I was in Israel, I met there with a Karper family, who were our distant relatives, and the elder Karper, an erudite Jew, talked to me about my grandfather and father.
The bit of Yiddishkeit, that bit of Yiddish fire that there is in my works, I inherited from them, my father, my mother, my grandfathers and grandmothers. The bit of light that there is in the Yiddish literature is a reflection of their light. If we do not all become gentiles, it is only because they hold us closely, and do not permit us to be torn away from our origins.
By Rae Fust
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The sky is suffused with blue, The grass covered with dew, The shutters closed, The moon hangs in the sky sunk in thought. A Gemara refrain rises from the Belz shtibl And mixes with the intonation Of Jews reciting Psalms in the Bet HaMedrash. Birds sing their song, A mother goes to her child In a crowded residence. Gold colored small clouds decorate the sky, The shepherd and his flute Leads the cattle, already noisy. Already awakened by the chirping of the birds, Little girls go In colored dresses. With flower-decorated kerchiefs on their heads. Their feet covered by ragged shoes. With sleep still in their child's eyes They go to the woods, Each holding a small pot or jar. Their young backs are bent, They gather berries and mushrooms. The sun turns a tinder red, And in a low-slung house Bread is baking. Laundry is drying On a neighbor's fence. Smoke already curls up from a chimney, The first minyan prays aloud, Onion breadboards are redolent with poppy seed, The rooster crows from the attic. A message: night has gone away The little shtetl has awakened. |
By Moshe Garzytzensky
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in the middle of the street near the synagogue |
At a small meeting of Tomaszow landsleit, which took place at [the residence of] the Tomaszow-Cieszanow Rabbi, the Righteous Rabbi R' Sholom Yekhezkiel Rubin-Halberstam שליט”א, it was planned to publish a Yizkor Book about Tomaszow, in order to preserve the memory of the martyrs who were brought down by the unclean Nazis, may their names be erased. Each of those attending were given a task to write about a certain ‘theme,’ memories about our birthplace Tomaszow-Lubelski.
I was given the task of writing [a piece] about the above indicated title, ‘Tomaszow Before The First World War.’
However, ‘before’ The First World War has no limit. Tomaszow figures only minimally in the history of Poland. From the history ‘Toledot HaYehudim,’ and other books, Tomaszow is mentioned only in connection with the Chmielnicki period, may his name be erased. His hordes laid waste to Tomaszow. Hundreds of Jews were slain. And as legend would have it, 300 children were interred in one single [mass] grave. I remember from my childhood onwards, in the three days of preparation prior to Shavuot, the Hevra Kadisha would go about with shovels, and maintain the graves that were in the following streets: in front of the synagogue, in front of the Bet HaMedrash, etc. In Hasidic texts, the name of Tomaszow is mentioned in connection with various Tzaddikim that lived there, and which I have used, for example: ‘Shem HaGedolim HeKhadash,’ ‘Niflaot HaRebbe,’ ‘Ohel HaRebbe,’ ‘Ohel Yitzhak,’ ‘Or Niflaot,’ ‘Shearit Yisrael,’ ‘Dover Shalom,’ ‘HaBe'er,’ ‘HaRebbe MiKotzk,’ ‘Przysucha und Kotzk,’ etc. In most of these, Tomaszow is mentioned in connection with the Hasidism of Kotzk.
In the years 1945-46, when the tragedy that befell the Jewish people became apparent, the greatest destruction in Jewish history, in which a third of the Jewish people were exterminated, and the destruction in Poland became known, that all the little towns were emptied of their Jews by the Nazis, may their names be erased, with the assistance of anti-Semitic Poles, I wrote a few memoirs about Tomaszow for the ‘Morgen Zhurnal,’ but which had only a personal family character. However now, I will attempt to write in a more general manner.
As is the usual case, towns, especially small towns, become known through a Tzaddik or a Gaon that lived in that town. As cited by the first Chief Rabbi in the Land of Israel, the Gaon, Rabbi Abraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook ז”ל. He has said: Hasidim say: It is not only the recollection of the name of a Tzaddik that privileges Jews, but also the mention of the city where the Tzaddik lived, it too invokes a privilege. And it is through the great Tzaddikim that lived in the small towns, that such a small town became world famous. He established this, and cited a reference from the Jerusalem Talmud (Yoma, 3): From the entire [Middle] East, he only mentions Hebron, and why only Hebron? – In order to recall the benefit derived from our holy ancestors, the Patriarchs that are interred there. And it was through the few Tzaddikim that lived in Tomaszow, that this little shtetl became world renown.
The Rebbe, R' Mendele ז”ל
A large part of what Tomaszow occupies in many Hasidic writings is thanks to the Kotzk Rebbe, R' Menachem Mendl Morgenstern, ז”ל. He is known throughout the Hasidic world as ‘R' Mendele Tomashover,’ who began to direct his Hasidic way of life in Tomaszow, and afterwards re-situated in Kotzk. He was a son-in-law of R' Isaac Neu, a wealthy and learned man, from among the best of the balebatim in Tomaszow, who promised him permanent financial support, so that he could sit and learn without being disturbed.
In the book, ‘Sefer HaGedolim HeKhadash,’ the author, R' Aharon Woldin ז”ל, who lived in the time of R' Mendele, writes as follows: ‘…The Rabbi, Our Rebbe and Teacher, Menachem Mendl of Tomaszow was an exceptionally gifted Gaon, holy and pure, etc, a disciple of the Lublin ‘Seer,’ and of ‘Yid HaKadosh’ of Przysucha, and of ‘Rebbe Simcha Bunim of Przysucha.’ After he describes the greatness and sanctity of R' Mendele, he writes: Approximately at the age of twenty years, he secluded himself in his room, and did not leave his personal quarters. His greatest disciples were Rebbe Yitzhak Meir ז”ל, the first Rebbe of Ger, and Rebbe Hanoch Henoch HaKohen ז”ל, of Alexander.[1]
R' Mendele was an outstanding disciple of the Tzaddik of Przysucha, Rabbi Bunim, ז”ל, and he would often study with the Rebbe. He was the most significant of the Hasidim of Przysucha, and after the death of the Rebbe of Przysucha, he began to conduct the rabbinate of Tomaszow independently. And despite the fact that the Przysucha Rebbe left a son, Rabbi Abraham Moshe, ז”ל, the better of the young scholars traveled to Tomaszow to the Rebbe, R' Mendele.
Among the great analytical minds in the milieu of Hasidic youth was ‘The Warsaw Genius,’ R' Yitzhak Meir ז”ל, the later founder of the Ger dynasty, the world famous Rebbe of Ger, or better known by the name of his book, ‘Khidushei HaRi”M,’ (All the great Rabbis were called after the name of the book that they authored). Also, other Rabbinic dynasties later grew out of the Hasidism of Tomaszow, as for example: Ger, Izbica, Lublin, etc. (Incidentally: The Rebbe of Izbica, R' Mordechai Joseph ז”ל, was born in Tomaszow) to which the majority of Polish Hasidim belonged.
R' Mendele had an exceptionally sharp mind, (the ‘Khidushei HaRi”M’ said of him, that if he had lived in Tanaitic times, he would have been one of the Tana'im) and he did not want a large following, he only sought out selected individuals, a quorum of truly gifted minds, in order to elevate themselves to even higher spheres. the young Warsaw genius, R' Itcheh Meir'l, the later Rebbe of Ger, on whose word, many thousands of Hasidim in the Warsaw vicinity would hang, was one of his principal disciples.
Hasidim from Tomaszow would come to Przysucha, and they would convince the better young scholars to travel to Tomaszow. They looked for the exceptionally sharp minds who would be able to grasp the new way of the Hasidism of Tomaszow.
The older Hasidim of Przysucha, opposed this, and said that R' Mendele's way is forbidden. However, the ‘agitators’ said: we must have a Rabbi who can teach us how to go on the sharp edge of the sword, and R' Mendele will teach you in this way.
The eternal lamp in the Bet HaMedrash of the Rebbe of Przysucha, flickered by the prayer stand, which
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threw large shadows on the walls; and the Hasidim tell the following: When R' Itcheh Meir, the ‘Warsaw Genius’ entered the Bet HaMedrash, and drew near to the table, nobody took note of him, the Hasidic discourse was carried on, and one Hasid said: – R' Mendele is too analytical, and we want a Rebbe to whom one can pour out one's heart, so that he will want to and be able to understand us. – If so, R' Mendele is not for you, because there in Tomaszow, the veins are surgically excised….[2] – R' Hirsch Tomashover responded, who had secretly come to Przysucha, in order to persuade young people to travel to Tomaszow.
Rebbe Yitzhak Worker ז”ל, who has sat for this entire time sunk in thought, hear R' Hirsch Tomashover's last words, and he responded: With this level of analytics, nothing is accomplished, it is only through the love of the Jewish people that the world can be saved. However, R' Mendele puts everything on the point of a knife.
In Tomaszow one learns – R' Hirsch Tomashover again said, that one rips out the entire lie, and permits only the bare truth to remain.
And I hold – Rebbe Yitzhak Worker gave a shout – that ‘There is little good in intention’ – every Jew even, and especially, the one with a sharp mind, if he just has the correct intention, it is already sufficient. And Rebbe Yitzhak Worker then began to tell the assembled Hasidim a story:
– I once studied the commentary on the sentence in Leviticus 25:14 ‘If you sell land to one of your countrymen or buy any from him, do not take advantage of each other,[3]’ with a coterie of Jews regarding the great sin of fooling someone: an estate manager listened in on this discussion as well, and he went home to his wife, and instructed her that she should no longer adulterate the milk, that she sold in town, with water, because it is forbidden to fool people. This wife gave heed to her husband's words, and she began to bring pure milk into the city. In a couple of days, the Jews ceased coming to him to buy milk. The milk – they said – was no good. So this estate manager ran into me in a state of great agitation, demanding what it was that I wanted of him. So I responded to him: As we can see, the world cannot make do with the simple pure substance. Just put in a little bit of water into the milk, and the Jews of the town will again come back to buy milk from you.
And that is what happened….the milk became ‘good’ again, and in this connection, I say the same to you: it is necessary to put in a little bit of water… otherwise, the world won't be able to get along.
In the book, Shearit Yisrael, my Father ז”ל, the author writes: …that R' Nathan Neu told him, that when he was still very young, his father R' Yehoshua Neu took him along to the wedding of the son of the Rebbe of
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Kotzk[4], R' Benjamin ז”ל, which was held on a very cold winter's day. The wedding canopy was set up in the yard, in front of the window of the room of the Rebbe of Kotzk. All of the wedding kin and the bride, and the bride's father, himself the ‘Khidushei HaRi”M,’ and Hasidim, escorting them in their silken garments, stood and waited for the Rebbe of Kotzk to come out, since he was to officiate at the wedding ceremony. However, the Rebbe did not appear, despite the fact that , through his window, he could see that the audience was waiting, and shivering from the cold.
After the wedding ceremony, the parents of the couple and the important guests, such as R' Hirschel'eh Dushkis, R' Yitzhak Meir, the ‘Khidushei HaRi”M’ and R' Henoch of Alexander ז”ל, went to say Mazel Tov to the Rebbe of Kotzk. All of them spoke while standing. Afterwards, R' Mendele said: ‘Nu…’ this was a hint a wink, that everyone needed to exit. However, since the Rebbe of Kotzk had his hands around the gartl of the ‘Khidushei HaRi”M,’ he stood standing, as did his son, R' David ז”ל. It was at that time that the Rebbe of Kotzk gave an excuse for why he had not immediately come out to the wedding canopy, and he said: I want now to tell you and I am revealing the reason, because I had with me at that time, ‘my very dear friend,’ a ‘valued guest,’ who came to visit me on the occasion of this wedding – this was Rabbi Yitzhak Worker ז”ל, and how could I have possibly taken my leave of him and go out? At that very time when my friend was in my presence?… It was R' David ז”ל the middle [son] of the Kotzk Rebbe who told this to R' Nathan Neu many years later, and it was R' Nathan Neu who told this to my father ז”ל.
In that time, when R' Mendele began to carry out his duties in the position as the Rabbi of Tomaszow, the flow of Hasidim was drawn to Tomaszow under the influence of the Warsaw Genius, R' Itcheh Meir ז”ל. Old and new, the silk-clad young people abandoned their wives and children, and came to Tomaszow, to imbibe spiritual pleasure. And in order to sustain themselves, they created a communal group with a shared treasury, to which both the poor and the wealthy belonged, or put better: there were no rich or poor, all were equal, and it was like one big family.
At that time, the town Bet HaMedrash was under construction in Tomaszow, and they became simple laborers, carrying loam and bricks, and the money that they earned from this was placed in a common treasury. They would study at night, all pushed together in a corner, to drink a toast of ‘L'Chaim,’ and to immerse themselves in a word from the Rebbe towards midnight.
Among the very young Hasidim was also R' Leib'leh Eiger ז”ל, who would later become the Rabbi of Lublin.
Hasidim tell: Rabbi Shlomo Eiger ז”ל. the son of the great Rabbi Akiva Eiger ז”ל, who played a prominent role in Warsaw; his appearance was arresting, a handsome man with a long flecked black beard that was clean and neat, he would wear a cloth top hat, a three-quarter length kapote, with long striped trousers, and shined shoes, as was the custom in that time in Germany, and he came to Tomaszow to find his son, R' Leib'leh, who had fled from the home that was Mitnaged inclined, and remained residing in Tomaszow.
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Rabbi Shlomo Eiger made the rounds in the Hasidic Bet HaMedrash, from one table to the next, and asked: have you perhaps not seen my Leib'leh?
The Hasidim barely acknowledged him, but rather continued with their discussions of Hasidism, until he ran into R' Lejzor Ber Hasid, who was walking about sunken in thought with a pipe of onion in his mouth, and he asked him the same question: have you perhaps not seen my Leib'leh?
I don't know whom you are referring to – R' Ber Hasid replied to him, and continued to pace, sunken in thought about the Bet HaMedrash. However, when he had walked a few steps further, he ran back to R' Shlomo Eiger, and asked him: My fellow Jew, whom do you mean? Do you refer to Leib'l Shlomo's? – If it is him you mean, he will return shortly, he has been sent out to fetch some drink…
The Hasidim pushed themselves to the table where the ‘Warsaw Genius’ sat, and listened to his explanation of the Rebbe's Dvar Torah. Immediately, the Rebbe called R' Itcheh Meir into his private room, and when he subsequently emerged, he was totally soaked through with sweat.
When the Hasidim approached him asking that he tell them what it was that the Rebbe discussed with him, he did not want to give them any reply, all he said was to the elderly Hasid, R' Hirsch Tomashover: It is necessary to start going to school all over again… Oh, does he cut out the veins…. But it does not matter, now I have found my Rebbe, to whom I can attach myself, for surely, a fire burns here!….
And full of great joy, R' Itcheh Meir began to dance with the Hasidim, and once again, they began to sing the words,
‘In Tomaszow a fire burns
A new light rises….’
Until suddenly a shout was heard: Give me back my son! – this shout had come from R' Shlomo Eiger who had come to take his son R' Leib'leh back. – What is this? A saloon? – He shouted once again in a loud voice.
The Hasidim stopped their dancing, and they wanted to let him have it, but R' Itcheh Meir gave a wink, indicating that he should not be touched. He approached him and inquired as to what he wanted. Rabbi Shlomo Eiger knew the ‘Warsaw Genius’ very well, and he asked him anew: And also you, R' Itcheh Meir, are to be found among them?
– Yes, I am also among them – R' Itcheh Meir replied: But you are making a big mistake if you think that this is God forbid, some sort of saloon. Do you know why the Evil Inclination [sic: in Man] is called a ‘Dolt?’ As it is written, [Ecclesiastes 4:13] ‘Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning;’ because in truth, the Evil Inclination os the most cunning among the wise, and a dolt, and he is called this because all he deals with are fools….
– Very good – R' Shlomo said, and before R' Shlomo had time to think about what to reply, he was taken into the circle, and they began to dance with him, but with even greater enthusiasm than before:
‘In Tomaszow a fire burns A new light rises….’
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Yet another great Hasid who followed Rabbi Mendele Tomashover, was R' Mordechai Joseph ז”ל, who later became the Rebbe of Izbica, the patriarch of the Radzyn Rabbinic dynasty.
R' Mordechai Joseph was born in Tomaszow in the year 5561 [1801]; He was the leader of the ‘residents’ at R' Mendele's. There were two kinds of Hasidim, those who would come to the Rebbe only for the Sabbath, and remain there for a week or two. And there were others, who had left wife and child for months at a time, and resided for this whole while in Tomaszow.
R' Mordechai Joseph ז”ל, himself born and raised in Tomaszow, concerned with providing these ‘residents’ with a living, finding ‘jobs’ for them, and their entire earnings would go into the treasury. After a day's work, and after resting up with a page of the Gemara until late into the night, they took a ‘L'Chaim’ drink, and with it they sang:
He who has hidden himself,
Under my balcony,
Gives a sign that he loves
The elderly father…Having not yet prayed
And not yet studied
At least the Creator,
Was not provoked.Let us not worry,
What will be tomorrow,
Rather let us repair,
That which we spoiled yesterday.
The ranks of the Hasidim of Tomaszow grew larger and larger. It was necessary to erect a large chamber. Many of the ‘residents’ slept there. They worked together and took their meals together in the chamber. This is how things proceeded for several years, until a conflict broke out with another Rebbe, who also lived in Tomaszow, and was an opponent of the Hasidism of the Kotzk-Przysucha variety. When Rebbe Mendele began to conduct his brand of Hasidism, it elicited opposition from the Rebbe R' Yoss'leh.
The Rebbe, R' Yoss'leh ז”לR' Yoss'leh Jarczower, he was called that because he had been the Rabbi in Jarczow, a small shtetl near Tomaszow, was an outstanding pupil of the Rabbi of Lublin, the Chozeh, ז”ל[5]. Who indeed had instructed
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him to take up residence in Tomaszow, and all of the Hasidic balebatim grouped themselves around him and his leadership.
During the first times, R' Yoss'leh worshiped together with R' Mendele in the Hasidic Bet HaMedrash. But later, R' Mendele was compelled to leave, and he, along with his Hasidim transferred to the shtibl on the promenade, which in my time was called the ‘Hevra Tehillim.’ However, when the defections began to rise, the more R' Mendele's Hasidim arrived, the greater became the antagonism of R' Yoss'leh to them. This conflict grew more intense, and the city balebatim adhered to R' Yoss'leh and in order to avoid any future conflicts, R' Mendele left Tomaszow, and took up residence in Kotzk. And from that time on, he was called the ‘Rebbe of Kotzk.’
But before the Rebbe of Kotzk left Tomaszow, he said to those near to him smilingly: Our Sages say: Two Torah scholars live in the same city, and each does not yield to the other on matters of Halakha, one dies and one goes off into exile (Talmud Sota 49), and so, I desire to be exiled….
It was in this manner that R' Mendele left Tomaszow, and transferred himself to Kotzk, in the Lublin Province. A new period was initiated in Kotzk, a shining epoch, thousands of Hasidim began to travel to Kotzk, especially Torah scholars, young students, Rabbis and gifted intellects.
R' Yoss'leh Jarczower would travel about in a variety of cities and towns, and he once arrived at a city where he was in the habit of spending some time every year. The head of the house, at that time, married off his daughter to a young man who was a Kotzk Hasid. When R' Yoss'l heard this, he moved to a different inn. The young man, the Kotzk Hasid, found himself to be highly insulted, and went to R' Yoss'leh. After saying hello to him he said: Those Tzaddikim who take issue with the Kotzk way is due only to the fact that he worships at a later hour, therefore, I ask of you, Rabbi of Tomaszow: The commandment to pray comes only from our Rabbis, which our Sages set down, but you embarrassed me publicly, which is forbidden by the Torah itself, where it is written: Who insults a comrade in public, does not have a portion in the world to come?….
These words made a great impression on R' Yoss'leh, and he replied: I truly regret this, and I repent. So the young man asked him: Is it possible to repent in one minute? – Certainly! – R' Yoss'leh replied, it says so explicitly in the Gemara: Who marries a woman on condition that he is a totally righteous man – the woman is married to him, because perhaps in his heart he had repented. From this we see that even the felling of repentance is sufficient.
When he returned to Kotzk, the young man related the conversation he had with R' Yoss'leh Tomashover to R' Mendel. The Rebbe of Kotzk then said: If I had spoken to R' Yoss'leh, and he had said that to me, I would have replied that his citation from the Gemara is entirely inappropriate to the issue. Because, there, in ‘marrying a woman,’ he is after all a bridegroom, and a bridegroom is one of three who are forgiven their sins, as it is brought forward in the Jerusalem Talmud, Bekhorim. That is why, a feeling of repentance suffices for him, but for another man, who is not a bridegroom, a feeling of repentance is not sufficient, rather he must engage in substantive repentance…
R' Hirsch Tomashover ז”ל
One of the closest adherents of the Rebbe, R' Mendele, was R' Hirsch Tomashover. He was the right hand of the Rebbe of Kotzk. And also, when the Rebbe of Kotzk closeted himself in his own private room for about twenty years, and did not let anyone in, the door remained open to R' Hirsch his ‘soul brother’ who could come into his inner sanctum at any time, face-to-face. In Kotzk, very little was spoken; understanding was achieved by a wink, and when the Rebbe would say one word, or a short phrase, it was imputed with meaning, interpreted and explained… naturally with an emphasis, so that even a shortened beat of a melody, already contained an inference, a meaning. R' Hirsch Tomashover was a great expert in interpreting the Rebbe's brief words.
One time – the Hasidim tell – a residing Hasid got the desire to hear how R' Mendele reviews the portion of the week on a Friday. The Hasid stole into the Rebbe's room, and hid himself behind the door, in order to hear the Rebbe review the portion of the week. So he hears how the Rebbe is grousing about the sentence, ‘…and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,’ making the remark: ‘Ha? –as thyself?…’ and after several minutes th e Hasid heard the Rebbe pronounce the word with the trope note ‘esnakhta[6]:’ ‘O-o-khamoka!’ The form of the question and the reply severely disturbed the Hasid; he could not understand its meaning. The Hasid sneaked out of the Rebbe's room, and asked R' Hirsch Tomashover for the meaning, and he explained to him briefly: the Rebbe himself asked: how can the Torah say that a man must love his friend like himself, can a person indeed love himself? ‘Kamokha?’ This seems like a contradiction, in contrast to the way of Kotzk? Self-admiration engenders falsity, to self-delusion, to alien thoughts?…. But the answer to this is as follows, this is the explanation: Since we have to conduct ourselves with modesty, in a lowly way, with self-hate, we must, in the same measure show love to a second person, unbounded affection for our fellow man… this is what the Rebbe meant: Ha-a…Kamokha? – O-o-kamokha!….
R' Hirsch Tomashover once came to Lublin, and came together with R' Leib'leh Eiger ז”ל, who had previously traveled to Tomaszow to the Kotzk [Rebbe], but afterwards went to Izbica, to R' Mordechai Joseph ז”ל: This was after the Rebbe of Izbica had passed away. So R' Leib'leh said to R' Hirsch: I would really like to travel back to Kotzk. R' Hirsch Tomashover said to him: When you can feel within you the condition that prevails for an ascetic: ‘and the first of the days shall fall,’ that the entire time that you had gone to Izbica has fallen away, as if it never happened….then you can return to Kotzk.
Rabbi Yehoshua'leh Tomashover ז”לAfter the passing of the Rabbi R' Yoss'leh ז”ל, the Rabbinical seat was taken over by his son, R' Yehoshua'leh ז”ל.
The writer of these lines remembers Rabbi R' Yehoshua'leh, who in my childhood years was an incredibly old man. Most of all, it was his sanctified patriarchal appearance that made the greatest impression on me, on the occasion when he was invited to come to see us in the Turzysker-Kuzmir shtibl, and act as a Sandak at a brit [milah]. To this day, I remember that pious visage and silken caftan, with the broad gartl and the high hat.
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This R' Yehoshua'leh was a greatly important personage to the Holy Rebbe of Sanz, R' Chaim Halberstam ז”ל, who played a rather large role in the Hasidic scholarly world, and indeed with the [characteristic] Hasidic ardor, as he learned it in Sanz, he conducted Hasidism in his own house of worship, ‘R' Yehoshua'leh's shtibl,’ as well as the Hasidic Bet HaMedrash. R' Yehoshua'leh's shtibl was the most observant of all the shtiblakh in Tomaszow. It was so, to the extent, that it was possible to recognize the young people and boys as coming from R' Yehoshua'leh's Bet HaMedrash. There beards, side locks, their entire demeanor, dress, was different from that of the Hasidic Jews who worshiped in the other shtiblakh.
In the book, ‘Dovayr Shalom,’ the following is presented: …that one time R' Yehoshua'leh Tomashover was spending Shavuot with the old Rebbe of Belz, R' Yehoshua'leh ז”ל. So, the Rebbe of Belz asked that at his Tisch, the following verses be sung:
‘And they all came to the Covenant together,’
‘We will do, and we will hear, they said as one,’
And they began and replied with ‘The Lord is One.’
With great feeling, the Hasidim sang this once, and then again more loudly and with greater spirit. Suddenly, the Rebbe of Belz gave a wink to signal for the singing to stop. And he said: Our Sages say: At the time that the Torah was given [on Sinai] the Jews responded with ‘Yes’ to all positive commandments, and to each commandment of prohibition – no! And our Sages continue: ‘I am, and Thou Shalt not’[7] – were uttered simultaneously. That means, that the positive commandment of ‘I am’ and the prohibition commandment ‘Thou shalt not’ were said together, in one expression. As a result, the Jews did not know whether to answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ Because, were they to say ‘Yes,’ it would be possible that God forbid, they could be seen to assenting to the ‘Thou shalt not,’ commandment, which is a commandment of prohibition. And if they say ‘No,’ one could err and construe that they are rejecting the commandment of ‘I am.’ In this connection, they counseled with one another, and they responded with ‘The Lord is One,’ [i.e. the verse, ‘And they began and replied with ‘The Lord is One.’], the reason being, is that this constitutes a response to both commandments.’ And the Tzaddik of Belz said with all his energy: ‘And they began and replied with ‘The Lord is One,’ and he did this with such a leonine roar, and with such a vigorous voice that a great dread fell upon all those who were within earshot, and R' Yehoshua'leh had said, that a fright fell on him [as well] when he heard the Rebbe of Belz utter in such a loud voice: And they began and replied with ‘The Lord is One.’
Rabbi Yehoshua would travel extensively with his Gabbai throughout Galicia and Hungary, where he spent the larger part of the year in transit. And it was through him that our city of Tomaszow became familiar to peoples in Galicia and Hungary. When I would simply recall my birthplace in the presence of Galician and Hungarian landsleit, they would immediately reply with: ‘Ah, R' Yehoshua'leh Tomashover!’
The Rebbe, R' Leibusz Neuhaus ז”ל
Another Rabbinic dynasty in Tomaszow was the Neuhaus family. The founding father was R' Leibusz ז”ל. They descend from the great Gaon The Ba”Kh ז”ל. and it is from him that they get their family name. The acronym Ba”Kh stands for Bayit-Khadash – a new house [sic: Neuhaus]. He was referred to by the name of his great book, ‘Bayit-Khadash,’ – Ba”Kh.
For a certain period of time, I studied with the Rabbi, R' Nachman, a grandson of the Rebbe, R' Leibusz, in the ‘Chelm shtibl.’ R' Nachman ז”ל, was a great Torah scholar, and a very handsome man of magnificent presence, having a patriarchal persona, which elicited respect and deference. He was the Rabbi of Krasznik for many years, and in his older years, he took up residence in Tomaszow.
In passing, I wish to introduce a word that is told of the Rabbi, R' Leibusz, זצ”ל: A Tomashover Hasid was with R' Sholom Joseph ז”ל, the oldest son of the Holy Ruzhiner ז”ל. When he returned, he related to R' Leibusz what he had seen there: that during the time that the Rabbi, R' Sholom Joseph was saying his prayers in his private chamber, he did not hear a single voice, he only heard the tread of the Tzaddik, going back and forth. After praying, the attendant entered the private chamber, and he brought out a soaked shirt that the Rebbe had taken off, and hung it up to dry. The Hasid from Tomaszow wondered about this greatly, but the attendant said to him: this is a daily occurrence, every day after praying, I must take off the Rebbe's shirt, which has been soaked through, and dress him in another shirt.
When the Hasid told this to the Rabbi, R' Leibusz, that which he had seen at the home of the Rebbe R' Sholom Joseph, the Rabbi R' Leibusz remarked: this is the test that is referred to in the ‘Kedushat Keter’ which is recited on Rosh Hashana: ‘Zayot, bli l'ot, m'khil kisay.’ This means: the heavenly host does not sweat from exhaustion, but from trembling before the Throne of Glory….
The Tomaszow Rabbi. The Gaon, R' Moshe Rogenfish ז”ל, was well-known in the scholarly and Hasidic world, not only in Tomaszow and its environs, but also throughout all of Poland.
Previously, he had been the Rabbi of Chmielnik, for seven years, and then Konskowola. Afterwards, he was in Tomaszow until he died, 18 MarHeshvan, 5640 [ 1879].
Here, I wish to cite what my father, ז”ל writes in his book, ‘Shearit Yisrael,’ about the appointment of my grandfather as the Rabbi of Tomaszow. This actually took place in Trisk, at the home of the Maggid of Trisk, זצ”ל.
My father traveled with my grandfather to the Maggid of Trisk, to ask his advice, as to which seat of the rabbinate to accept. Th reason for this, is that he had been asked by two cities, in Hrubieszow and Tomaszow. The Maggid of Trisk then said: he does not consent to the Hrubieszow appointment even if the entire populace of residents agreed to it. By chance, on that Sabbath, the most important balebatim from Tomaszow happened to have arrived in Trisk, and it was immediately decided there that he should assume the pulpit in Tomaszow.
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My grandfather's ‘Questions & Responses,’ were printed by the greatest of the Gaonim who lived in his time, in their own books, such as the book, ‘Responsas of Khidushei HaRi”M,’ of the first Rabbi of Ger. And many responses were lodged with us from the Rabbi of Sanz ז”ל, and also in the book, ‘Avnei Nezer,’ of the Gaon of Sochaczew ז”ל, there are printed responses from my grandfather.
In the book, ‘Shearit Yisrael,’ the author writes that when the Rabbi of Sanz ז”ל was told that the Rabbi of Chmielnik (my grandfather was at that time the Rabbi of Chmielnik) had come for a visit, he went out to receive him, and in greeting him, took him in both of his holy hands, and led him into his study.
He knew my grandfather personally, apart from the fact that they corresponded over questions and their responses. The Rabbi of Sanz was a friend of Rabbi Joseph Neustadt, the son of the author of ‘Maor V'Shemesh,’ ז”ל, and when the Rabbi of Sanz was in Neustadt, all the Rabbis in the area would travel to him for the Sabbath, and there they engaged in dialectic and learning And my grandfather had a brother, R' Yaakov Yitzhak ז”ל, in Lancut, who was a great scholar, and who also traveled to Sanz, and he wrote to his brother that the Holy Rabbi of Sanz had said: I can relay regards to you from your brother, the Rabbi of Chmielnik, because I was in Poland, and I entertained discussions with many Rabbis, and I regard your brother as the greatest scholar of all the Rabbis that I encountered in Poland.
I still recall the many hand-written questions and responses done by my grandfather which were [left] with us. One could have produced several large volumes from them. Among others, there were questions and responses from the Rabbi of Lemberg, R' Joseph Shaul Natanson ז”ל, the author of ‘Shoel U'Mayshiv,’ from the Rabbi of Radomsk, the author of ‘Tiferet Shlomo,’ from the Rabbi of Jass, the Rabbi of Kalisz, R' Chaim Elazar Wachs ז”ל, the author of ‘Nefesh Khaya,’ from R' Yehoshua'leh Kutner ז”ל, and from many other great Rabbis.
The hand-written responses that were with us are recalled in the book, ‘Shearit Yisrael,’ complete folios, which were not printed, from the greatest of the righteous, from the Rabbis of Berdichev, Kazachina, Ruzhany, ז”ל, which tragically were all consumed by fire in the ‘Destruction of Poland. ’ A small part of them are reproduced in the referenced book ‘Shearit Yisrael,’ written by my father.
One hand-written essay, called ‘Pri Maggidim’ [sic: the fruit of the Orators], from which my father copied, and finally was completed and published by Rabbi R' Pinchas Mendl Singer[8] ז”ל, a scion of Tomaszow, who was for many years a director of Judaic tradition in Warsaw.
May grandfather ז”ל, knew the Tzaddik of Ruzhany [personally], and he traveled to sees him in Ruzhany (Russia), even before he took up residence in Sadagura (at that time in Austria). And this was the way he wrote down the appearance of the Tzaddik of Ruzhany: Once, the Tzaddik of Ruzhany ז”ל said: It is cited that King Solomon had little hair, and yet, it is said of King Solomon thus: ‘And he was wiser than all men,’ and this despite the fact that he had little hair, as it is said in the world: ‘Long on hair – short on common sense.’ And here is what he wrote:[9]
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‘I the writer had the privilege of seeing his sacred countenance while he was still in Ruzhany. He did not have a beard, like a lad of fifteen, and at that time he was already forty years old. It was only about the lips that he had any hair, and afterwards, I was privileged to be with him in Sadagura, after he was confined to the prison in Kiev. He had a wart like a pea, out of which grew a number of strands of hair that could be counted. So writes Moshe, the Rabbi of Tomaszow.’
As the Rabbi, my grandfather would pray every Sabbath in the Great Synagogue. Only on the Festival Holidays, did he have discretion over where he would pray. In this respect, he exercised a prerogative to pray at the Trisk shtibl on Simchat Torah.
As a little boy, I studied in the small prayer house of Husyatin, with R' Moshe ז”ל, an elderly Jew, who knew my grandfather very well. He would tell me very interesting stories about my grandfather. However, this is not the place to retell them. I will only relate a single item.
In that time, the Synagogue, which had come to ruin, underwent repair and many letters that had been written on the walls in ancient times had become erased, and in many places, entire sections of the wall had been chopped down.
An especially talented artist was specially brought in, who drew out a variety of artistic pictures, which symbolized historical events. For example: the Western (Wailing) Wall, Rachel's Tomb, Cities in the Holy Land, etc. One picture near the entrance to the synagogue portrayed the ‘Binding of Isaac’ where Isaac lies stretched out and bound on the altar, awaiting the slaughter, and Abraham stands with the large knife in his hand. Abraham [is pictured as] tall with a handsome white beard, a patriarchal figure, with a broad sash, a high forehead, wearing a Polish shtrymel on his head. The artist had presented my grandfather as Abraham, ‘that is exactly how your grandfather looked,’ – my Rebbe told me.
The sentiment on my grandfather's grave stone reads:
Both a Hasid and a modest man who cried out and offered praise
A great Rabbi, who can retell his grandeur
His thorough knowledge of the Torah, was praised by all who heard it
He judged with integrity and did charity in Israel
Placing his own soul as dust for all who beseeched God
The great beacon of a Rabbi, the leader of Ariel's Diaspora.[10]
Our Teacher, Rabbi R' Moshe son of Rabbi Ephraim Fishl זצלל”ה, The Bet Din Senior of Tomaszow.
Grandson of the ShL”A and ReM”A. May he rest in peace and rise up at the end of days.
Moshe ascended on high on 18 MarHeshvan 5640
The year: The days of weeping and mourning for Moshe, was a heavy period of mourning for the Jews.
Rabbi R' Shmuel Singer זצ”ל[11]
One of the great Rabbis, a Director of the Faith, was Rabbi Shmuel Singer ז”ל. I can recall his patriarchal figure yet from my childhood. Rabbi Shmuel actually lived in our house: when he died, I was still a little boy. But his sacred persona still stands before my eyes. The great white beard, with his large tallit katan, the open collar of his shirt, where two strings hung, in place of buttons, to tie up the collar opening. The high forehead with the large skullcap on his head. This is how he sat, sunken deeply into a large book, either a Gemara, or Yoreh De'ah. When he went off to pray, he carried a large prayer shawl and phylacteries under his arm, with a staff in hand, a caftan with a wide sash, and a high hat on his head.
The Rabbi, R' Zvi Yekhezkiel Mikhlsohn, The Lord avenge his blood, writes, in his book, ‘Honor the Father,’ that the Rabbi, R' Shmuel Singer, the Director of Faith in Tomaszow, told him that which he heard from his parents, an interesting thing about the Rabbi, R' Shmulik. Here is not the place to retell it. Also, in the book, ‘Wonders of the Rebbe,’ Hasidic sayings by him are included.
Rabbi R' Pinchas Mendl Singer ז”ל, the son of R' Shmuel Singer, was the Rabbi in Lenczyn and afterwards the Director of the Faith in Warsaw, enumerates the pedigree of his father R' Shmuel of Tomaszow-Lubelski, in the book, ‘Maggidim Hadashim,’ who was the son of the Rabbi of Konskie, the Gaon R' Yeshaya ז”ל, a grandson of the Rabbi, R' Moshe of the ‘Sadeh Khadash,’ (Neufeld) who was one of the disciples of the Baal-Shem [Tov].
Rabbi Shmuel's wife, the Rebbetzin Tamar'l or Tema'leh, as she was called, was one of those righteous women and also a very wise person, and she enjoyed an excellent reputation in the entire area. Our house belonged to her parents, and their heirs sold it to my father ?”ה. But Tema'leh did not want to sell her share without a provision, that she be allowed to live in one room with a kitchen so long as she lived. And, indeed, this is the way it was. She lived for a long time after her husband passed away, and lived in our house. She dealt in jewelry and stringed pearls. In her later years, she dealt with salt that was kosher for Passover, which was bought from her by the entire city. This must have been a sort of concession granted to her by the Tomaszow community, as well as Sabbath candles.
The Rebbetzin Tema'leh had a very distinguished pedigree. She was a granddaughter of the Rebbe Ber'ish Meiseles through his daughter. A very graceful woman of middling height, with a permanent smile on her lips. On the Sabbath, after noon, she would give me a Sabbath snack, a small apple or a small pear, and directed me to recite the blessing over the fruit out loud, and then answered ‘Amen.’
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I recall R' Israel HaKohen Garzytzensky ז”ל, or as he was called: R' Yisrael dem Rav's, from my childhood as having a blond-whitish beard that was mottled, charismatic, a rather lean build, with attractive blue eyes: always dressed in clean clothing, with polished shoes.
While still a young lad, he has a reputation for being intellectually outstanding. He was greatly dedicated to scholarship. At the age of sixteen, any number of financially attractive matches were proposed for him, but it was my grandfather, who at that time was the Rabbi of Chmielnik, that ‘snatched him up’ as a bridegroom.
After the wedding, my grandfather taught him ‘Yoreh De'ah,’ ‘Orakh Chaim,’ and other rabbinical texts. He wanted to prepare him to become a Rabbi. But even while still living under the patronage [i.e. subsidy] of his father-in-law, he bought into forest property with a partner, and they both succeeded [in the venture]. He did not want to be a Rabbi, and accordingly, for all his years, he was a merchant that conducted large-scale businesses. He would often quote Rabbi Yaakov Emden ז”ל, who would recite the blessing ‘Shelo Assani AV”D[1]’ It is a word play on the blessing recited each morning: ‘Shelo Assani Eved,’ [Eved – Hebrew for a ‘slave’] and AV”D, the acronym for Av Bet-Din, a Master of a Bet-Din [e.g. a sitting Rabbi].
At the time of his wedding, he received ordination from a prominent Rabbi, with the privilege of leading religious discourse, and he had the possibility to become a Rabbi.
I recall, as a young lad, how each morning, he would conduct a study lesson in the Trisk shtibl, with outstanding young men. Also, he would engage in single study between the afternoon and evening prayer services. As engaged as he was, he had a factory with several tens of workers, and also an export business to Galicia, but he did not miss his study periods.
My father was also active in community affairs, and he was the ‘Dozor’ for decades, the President of the town Talmud Torah, etc.
He would write innovative things about Torah text, and carried on a correspondence with many Rabbis, many of which were published in rabbinical journals, such as ‘HaBe'er,’ ‘Ohel Moed,’ ‘Kol Torah,’ and also Hasidic books that his mekhutan Rabbi R' Menachem Mendl Woldin ז”ל, published: ‘Or HaNiflaot,’ ‘Niflaot HaRabi,’ ‘Ohel Yitzhak’ and so on. Almost in every letter that he ever sent me, he would add a bit of a new commentary on Torah text. And, indeed, it was from these addenda, that I assembled and published a book, ‘Sefer Yisrael,’ dedicated to his eternal memory.
Up to the First World War, Torah and greatness were in one place for my father ז”ל. Apart from the businesses that he ran successfully, my older brothers, while still young men, bought a ‘lottery ticket’ in which they won a large prize of seventy-five thousand rubles, which cam into Tomaszow. An they had a quarter of this. The other quarters belonged to: R' Joel Shafran, R' Yekhezkiel Lehrer, and R' Abraham Steinworcel. In those years it was a huge fortune. My bothers gave the money to my father ז”ל, which, as he conducted himself in all of his businesses, tithed [to charity]: I can still recall, as a child, when on the Sabbath after he had collected the money in Warsaw, how he was called to the Torah, and he donated five hundred rubles for the building of the Talmud Torah, and other charities. He also underwrote the writing of
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a Torah scroll, and at the celebration of the completion of the scroll, he led a great parade with the scroll from the market square to the synagogue, with music and fireworks which has been especially brought from Warsaw.
Almost every night, after the members of the household had retired to sleep. he would first sit down to write. He copied an older edition of ‘Pri Maggidim,’ which was about one hundred fifty years old, and in addition, the paper was ‘cotton,’ and very hard to read. He gave the manuscript to his friend, the Rabbi, R' Pinchas Mendl Singer ז”ל, the Director of the Faith of Warsaw, a scion of Tomaszow, as son of the Director of the Faith of Tomaszow, Rabbi Shmuel Singer ז”ל. who published it in Bilgoraj in the year 5670 [1909]. And, in the preface, he does, indeed, write a thank you to my father ז”ל. This book, today, is a rare collector's item, that is not available for purchase. I have one copy.
Additionally, my father ז”ל also copied over a handwritten set of lessons from the Tzaddik of Ruzhany ז”ל, but it has been lost.
May father ז”ל also had a large library, including first editions that are today not to be found. This is apart from the books and handwritten manuscripts, which were left to him by my grandfather, the Rabbi of Tomaszow, he would also buy many books, but tragically, everything was incinerated after the First and Second World Wars.
During the time of The First World War, when the Austrians occupied Tomaszow, my father was arrested, and was held for ransom against the large taxes that the army had levied against the Jewish populace. With the retreat of the Austrians, he fled with his family to Minsk, where he remained for four years, until the end of The First World War.
After the War, when my father returned to Tomaszow, he found the city almost entirely burned down, Immediately, he went over to the wall of the house that had been burned down, and recited a blessing, to fulfil the words of our Ancient Sages: As one should bless all good fortune – similarly one should bless misfortune. He only cheered up when he was told that part of his books were saved. My fried, R' Yaakov Griener, who saved himself, and today lives in Brooklyn, told me that he had his store in our house, and, a bit at a time, he packed away the books in boxes, and hid them with him. When my father ז”ל, saw these books, tears of joy poured from his eyes.
Incidentally, in the book, ‘Shearit Yisrael,’ he describes that the books found with him were highly valuable ancient texts.
After my father passed away, Rabbi Israel Dov HaKohen Frishman, הי”ד, the editor of the rabbinical journal ‘Unser Geist,’ writes in the edition of the month of Nissan 5698 [1938]:
‘A scholar that has passed away…I was dismayed and upset by this saddening news, of his passing, the great rabbinical torah scholar, and of Hasidim in every appropriate measure, a scion of treasured roots, etc., Our Teacher R' Israel Garzytzensky ז”ל, of Tomaszow Lubelski, the son-in-law of the renown Gaon etc, Our Teacher, Rabbi Moshe Rogenfish זצ”ל, the Bet Din Senior of Tomaszow. With the passing of the deceased, the Jewish community of Tomaszow has lost one of its most important sons and supporters, who during his long life, to the very end, worked at, and did mich with commitment for the benefit of strengthening The Faith.’
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‘Dos Yiddishe Togenblatt’ of 3 Nissan 5698 [April 4, 1938] writes:
‘At the age of 93, the highly regarded Rabbi, R' Israel Garzytzensky, known as R' Yisroel'i dem Rav's passed away in Tomaszow-Lubelski after a short illness. The deceased was the President of land finances for over fifty years, and for that number of years, he led the local Talmud Torah, where he was the President.’It is interesting, that in the course of his life, the deceased had met with over one hundred great Tzaddikim, such as the ‘Khidushei HaRI”M’ the Maggid of Trisk, the Elder Rabbi of Sanz זצ”ל, et. al. The deceased was a scion of distinguished rabbinical families. The funeral took place on Friday. The procession was led by all the children of the Talmud Torah who called out: ‘Walk before a Righteous Man.’
In the shtibl of Trisk-Kielce, where the deceased worshiped, a series of eulogies were delivered after the Hakafot. Despite the heavy rain and wind, the deceased was escorted by an enormous number of people. The deceased left behind a will, in which a substantial amount of money was given away to charity. In this, were several hundred zlotys for the local Talmud Torah.
It is interesting that despite his advanced age, he did not lose his faculties up to the end. He took care of himself, and not depending on anyone, the deceased was a contributor to a variety of rabbinical monthly journals and periodicals. He also left behind original compositions about Torah. apart from this, he was a great scholar of Hasidism.
ת.נ.צ.ב.ה
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