My Machberes
Latest update: February 16th, 2012
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Tefillin Declared Unfit
The Badatz of the Eidah Hacharedis has declared all stam (sifrei Torah, mezuzahs and tefillin) written by “SK” as unfit. (Please see the Jan. 27 My Machberes column for full details.)
Dushinsky Rebbe
Dushinsky Rebbe Visits New York City
Rabbi Yosef Zvi Dushinsky, Dushinsky Rebbe of Jerusalem, arrived in New York City on Wednesday, February 8. On Wednesday evening, February 13, the Rebbe will be participating in the wedding of a grandchild of his brother-in-law, Rabbi Yesochor Dov Katz, Williamsburg Dushinsky Rav.
The Rebbe will remain in the area for several weeks; a schedule, however, has not yet been released.
The Dushinsky Rebbe is the son of Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Dushinsky, zt”l (1921-2003), Dushinsky Rebbe and seventh chief rabbi of the Eidah Hacharedis of Jerusalem (from 1996 to 2003) and grandson of Rabbi Yosef Zvi Dushinsky, zt”l (1865-1948), who was Galanta Rav, Chuster Rav and later served as the third chief rabbi of the Eidah Hacharedis of Jerusalem (1935 to 1948).
Boyaner Chassunah
Boyaner Rebbe
On Tuesday evening, February 14, at the Royal Garden Hall in Petach Tikva, Dovid Moshe Friedman married the daughter of Rabbi Nochum Dov Brayer, Boyaner Rebbe in Jerusalem. The chassan is the son of Rabbi Dov Beryl Friedman, Chortkova Rav in Antwerp. A huge tent was erected to accommodate the huge crown. The aufruf was held at the Bernstein Beis Medrash in the Geulah neighborhood of Jerusalem. Shabbos Mishpatim sheva berachos, as well as sheva berachos on Monday, February 20, will be held in a huge tent in Jerusalem near the Boyaner Beis Medrash.
The chassan is the grandson of Rabbi Dovid Moshe Friedman, zt”l (1914-1988); son of Rabbi Dov Ber Friedman, zt”l (1882-1936), Chortkova Rebbe in Vienna; son of Rabbi Yisroel Friedman, zt”l (1854-1933), second Chortkova Rebbe and author of Ateres Yisroel and helped establish Agudath Israel; son of Rabbi Dovid Moshe Friedman, zt”l (1927-1903), founding Chortkova Rebbe and author of Divrei Dovid; son of Rabbi Yisroel Friedman, zt”l (1797-1851), founder of the Ruzhin-Sadiger-Boyan-Chortkova dynasty, a grandson of the Meseritzer Magid.
Rabbi Dov Ber zt”l was the son-in-law of Rabbi Yitzchok Friedman, zt”l (1839-1917), Boyaner Rebbe; son of Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Friedman, zt”l (1819-1883), Sadigera Rebbe and author of Emes LeKaakov; son of the founding Ruzhiner Rebbe.
Rabbi Nochum Dov was declared third Boyaner Rebbe on Chanukah, 1984, succeeding his maternal grandfather, Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo Friedman, zt”l (1890-1971) second Boyaner Rebbe who emigrated to Palestine in 1927; son of Rabbi Yitzchok Friedman, zt”l (1839-1917), first Boyaner Rebbe; son of Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Friedman, zt”l (1819-1882), Sadegura Rebbe; son of Rabbi Yisroel Friedman, zt”l (1896-1840), Ruzhiner Rebbe.
Rabbi Nochum Dov is the son-in-law of Rabbi Meshulem Zysha Heschel, zt”l (1930-2003); son of Rabbi Avrohom Yehoshua Heschel, zt”l (1888-1969), Kapitchnitzer Rebbe. Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo was one of four sons and the only one to have survived the Holocaust.
Sadigura Rebbe
Sadigera/Lubliner Chassunah
On Wednesday evening, February 8, in front of the Sadigura Beis Medrash in Bnei Brak, Aaron Ber Friedman married the daughter of Rabbi Avrohom Naftali Eiger of Zurich, a direct descendant of the Lubliner chassidishe dynasty as well as of the venerated Rabbi Akiva Eiger, zt”l (1761-1837), chief rabbi of Posen and prolific author. The wedding was then celebrated by thousands in the Keser Harimon Hall.
The chassan is the son of Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Friedman, Sadigura Rav of London and only son of Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Friedman, Sadigura Rebbe in Israel and member of the Council of Torah Sages.
The aufruf took place at the Sadigura Beis Medrash in Golders Green in London on Shabbos Bo. A second aufruf was celebrated in Bnei Brak, on Shabbos Beshalach, at the Sadigura Beis Medrash with the participation of the Sadigura Rebbe. Shabbos Yisro Sheva Berachos were held at the Sadigura Beis Medrash in Jerusalem. The Sadigura Rebbe came for Shabbos and led the tefillas and tisch.
Gravesite Of Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz Found
Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz, zt”l
Renowned as a Talmudic genius, Rabbi Boruch Dov Ber Leibowitz, zt”l (1864-1939) studied at various yeshivas and became an outstanding student and disciple of Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik, zt”l (1853-1918), Brisker Rav. “Reb Boruch Ber,” as he was respectfully called by his thousands of students, succeeded his father-in-law, Rabbi Avrohom Zimmerman, zt”l, who became Halusker Rav in 1890. Reb Boruch Ber was elected Slabodka Rosh Yeshiva in 1904.During World War II the yeshiva had to flee to Minsk, and then to Kremenchug in Vilna. The yeshiva moved to Kaminetz in 1926. Reb Boruch Ber died on Friday, November 17, 1939 (5 Kislev, 5704).
In accordance with his instructions, Reb Boruch Ber was buried at the Zaretcha Cemetery in Vilna. No burials had taken place at the cemetery for decades due to lack of space. Reb Boruch Ber knew this when he wrote his burial instructions. However, he wished to be buried near his father. Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, zt”l (1863-1940), Rav of Vilna, ruled that the burial should take place in the Zaretcha Cemetery. At that time, Vilna was under the dark cloud of threatening enemies from both east and west. On that short Friday (sunset was at 4:13 p.m., candle lighting at 3:55), the burial hurriedly took place.
The Communist Russians had occupied Vilna on September 17, 1939. The Germans captured Vilna in June 1941. Ninety-five percent of the more than quarter-million Jews of Vilna were murdered during the Holocaust.
Due to the turmoil and chaos of the war, a monument was never erected on Reb Boruch Ber’s gravesite. Those few who attended the funeral and survived the Holocaust were unable to pinpoint the location. The Nazis destroyed parts of the cemetery. When the German occupation ended, it was immediately replaced by a Communist one. Buildings and roadways were constructed in much of the cemetery. The municipality did, however, have the decency of collecting virtually all of the displaced monuments and incorporating them into a large memorial in remembrance of the original cemetery.
Since no monument had been erected on the burial place of Reb Boruch Ber, many wondered whether the site was now under a building or under a roadway. With the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the dissolution of the Soviet empire, Lithuania again became an independent nation. Concerned activists continued their search. As Vilna developed into a center of commerce, fears were raised that the remaining parts of the Zaretcha Cemetery would be the site of new construction of a major thoroughfare.
In response to the concern, activists working together with Ohalei Tzadikim and the tireless Rabbi Yisroel Meir Gabbai, in concert with the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe (CPJCE), the London-based international organization led by Rabbi Elyakum Schlesinger, efforts to determine Reb Boruch Ber’s final resting place intensified. Every map was searched for clues, including old maps stored in Vilna’s municipal archives. Finally, after much work, the gravesite was found. Since all regular burial plots had been filled well before Reb Boruch Ber passed away, he was buried in a space between regular rows.
Preparations are presently underway to erect an appropriate monument as well as a sturdy ohel that will also serve as an anchor impeding any effort to further harm the cemetery.
Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Leibowitz, Rosh Yeshiva Ponovezh and a grandson of Reb Boruch Ber, has been active in these efforts, raising the necessary funds to underwrite the costs. His two sons, Rabbi Yaakov Moshe and Rabbi Ouziel, have been delegated to be near the burial site and to stand guard against any further damage to the cemetery.
Ohel Plaque
The Ohel Of The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch
Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried, zt”l (1804-1886), Ungvarer Rosh Beth Din and author of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, passed away on 26 Tammuz, 5646 (July 30, 1886). His burial instructions directed that he not be buried among other rabbis, but rather alongside his father, Yosef Ganzfried zt”l (d. 1812), who passed away when Shlomo was only eight. The burial place of honor that was reserved for Rabbi Ganzfried was alongside that of Rabbi Meir Asch (Aisenstadt), zt”l(1780-1852), Ungvar Rav and author of Imrei Aish. Rabbi Ganzfried served as rosh beis din in Ungvar under the direction of Rabbi Asch. Rabbi Ganzfried’s intention was that his father’s tombstone would be visited by those who came to that of the author of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch.
Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried, zt”l
In 2002, Rabbi Nachum Zvi Josephy, zt”l (1940-2003), Rav of Beis Medrash Hagadol of Boro Park and vice president of the Igud Horabbonim, organized the building of the first ohel on Rabbi Ganzfried’s gravesite of. The plaque affixed to the outside of the ohel indicates it was underwritten by Shmuel Aryeh Rovt of Munkatch-Brooklyn and built under the guidance of the Munkatcher Rebbe.
Recently the ohel was enlarged under the direction of Rabbi Mendel Teichman, Chabad Rav of Uzhgorod (Ungvar), underwritten by Avraham Moshe Melan. Kalman Weinberger, a descendent of Rabbi Ganzfried, served as the spark of ignition for the expanded ohel.
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