A Wonderful Genius, A Lofty Tzaddik, An Ember Saved from the Fire

On the first day of the shiva (7 day mourning period), I sat with the mourners, the sons of the Biala Rebbe z”l, and I heard wonderous things. This tzaddik (righteous man) was a remnant of the last generation that enlightened the world with his teachings and holiness.

I asked the son of the Rebbe what his father told at home about those days, and his answer surprised me. I was even more surprised by the tone in which it was said.

The son was surprised at the very question and said: “My father never talked about those days. Not about the Polish period, not about the Baranovice exile, not about Siberia, and not about the “Tehran Children” chapter.

He sat all day and studied, served God, and brought distant sons closer to their Father in Heaven.

He did not see the need to speak about the past, nor to cling to memories.

What’s more, at the celebrations of his descendants, before the holy Rebbe’s dance, he would give an emotional speech of thanksgiving to G-d for saving his life from death, and giving him the privilege of raising a magnificent family and having many disciples.

It is true that the Rebbe did not usually talk to his children about what had happened, because his whole life revolved around building and doing things, but from a few conversations he gave on rare occasions, the beautiful Yiddish article, published in the last holiday magazine “Di Voch” in the USA, was created. I was told at the house of mourning that during Passover, the grandson read the article in Yiddish in the ears of the Rebbe, who listened with excitement and responded: “All this is true. That’s what it really was.”

A Leader for Thousands

On Friday at noon, the sun shone down on thousands of grieving and heartbroken Hasidim who marched in Jerusalem after the genius and holy Biala Rebbe z”l, who returned his soul to its maker after a short illness.

The Biala Rebbe was a revered leader of thousands and a wonderful genius in all parts of the Torah. He shepherded his flock wisely and established Torah and chasidic institutions; institutions that glorify the world of Torah, kindness and yeshivas, and chasidic synagogues and shtiebelach (small synagogues and study halls) in all the ultra-Orthodox settlements in Israel and around the world.

“The parting of a tzaddik makes an impression,” said the Sages, all the more so a tzaddik revered in holiness, “a man of generations has seen his eyes”, from the last remainders of the elders of the survivors of Polish Jewry, survivors of the Holocaust of European Jewry, a tzaddik and a genius who expressed in his personality the glory of Polish Judaism that disappeared in the “years when we saw evil”, from the end of the year 5669 to the year 5705 (1939-1945).

One would have not have noticed when seeing the peaceful face of the Biala Rebbe when he gave a lesson in religious thought, nor would he imagine what kind of childhood the Rebbe experienced during the Holocaust, as a refugee fleeing for his life, away from his home, until he was privileged to join the “Tehran Children” group, on the way to the Land of Israel.

The Synagogue Goes Up in Flames

On the Shabbat after which the Slichot services began, in the year 5699 (1939), the Nazis broke into the city of Siedlce. The Biala Rebbe, then a five-year-old boy, stared dumbfoundedly at the flames that engulfed his home and the study hall of his father, the Rebbe, Rabbi Yechiel Yehoshua.

This horror scene did not leave him throughout his life, and in one conversation he said that every Shabbat night when he said the Modeh Ani (prayer to thank G-d for restoring one’s soul in the morning) before Kiddush, he remembered that fire and thanked G-d that he was saved and was able to immigrate to the Land of Israel.

Since his birth, the Rebbe was connected to the Land of Israel, therefore one of his names is “Bentzion” (son of Zion). His full name was Betzalel Simcha Menachem Bentzion.

When that Shabbat ended, at the end of Elul 5699 (1939), he ran away with his family into the forest, and on the way he was bruised and injured his leg. The boy did not tell anyone about the injury and continued running. A few days passed and his mother noticed the marks of the blow on his leg. She asked him why he did not tell. His answer stunned his mother.

“I heard that there are children whose parents left them so that they would not be disturbed in their escape; I was afraid that this is what would happen to me if I told you about the injury.” His mother burst into bitter tears and assured him that such a terrible idea had never occurred to her and would never happen.

After several days, the family returned to to Siedlce, and there the scope of the destruction became clear to them

The Rabinowitz family (the Rebbe’s family) found shelter in the home of Hershel Kornitzer, and there they arranged the prayer service for Rosh Hashana (5700/1939). In the meantime, the persecutions became more and more frequent, and the rabbis were the first to suffer.

For example, when the gentile mayor of the city died, the father, the great and holy Biala Rebbe, Rabbi Yechiel Yehoshua, was forced to personally attend to his burial. Another example: Rabbi Yechiel Yehoshua was forced to run with horses and keep up with their pace, which was impossible for him, and for that he was shot in the leg!

In light of the situation, the members of the family fled to Baranowice (today in Belarus), where they stayed at the home of his uncle, the Rebbe of Koidinow, and much has already been written in various books about the life of the Biala Rebbe in this city, under the watchful eyes of the communists.

From Baranowice, they were expelled to Siberia, where it was very difficult for the family.

The Rebbe told that in Siberia, seven families lived together in one room.

Later they ended up in Kazakhstan and from there went to Turkmenistan, where, according to the Rebbe’s testimony, “we simply starved.”

Then, a little over eighty years ago (in 5703/1943), the Rebbe joined the Tehran Children on a long journey, full of trials and self-sacrifice. Much has already been written here about the journey of the ultra-Orthodox Tehran Children who fought by the skin of their teeth for their Jewish identity.

The Rebbe, who as mentioned, did not talk much about the period when he was one of the Tehran Children, said on his last Seder night that “they didn’t even allow us to hold a Seder in that sad chapter.” It was a rare statement the likes of which had never been heard from him.

After years of suffering and upheavals, the Rebbe arrived in Israel, where he was received by his close relative, the tzaddik, Rabbi Yosef Zvi Kalish of Skierniewice, who lived in Bnei Brak.

In Bnei Brak, he spent several years in the “Home of the Elderly” of the Ponevezh yeshiva, where he became very close to the Ponevezher Rebbe.

He spent his days of youth and studenthood delving into the Torah, and as he said in his old age:

“If then they refined their souls and laboured in acquiring the Torah, all the more so in our time when it is possible to sit and study with the expansion of the mind, then surely we should seize every minute to learn Torah and wisdom…” (Hamodia).

Throughout his days, the Rebbe delved into the Torah and service of G-d. He served as rabbi and dayan (judge in a rabbinical court) in important communities. For decades he served as rabbi of Lugano, Switzerland, and was the head of the yeshiva. His lessons in religious thought were to the point, and his knowledge of all parts of the Torah was amazing.

In this way, the boy who escaped the horrors of war, with his perfect personality, integrated the rare mixture of rabbi and dayan, in the style of the rabbis of past generations, the inheritance of his father-in-law, the well-known dayan Rabbi Avraham Moshe Babad, rabbi of Sunderland and chairman of the Council of Torah Elders in Europe (the Babad family was known in Galicia as a family of dayans, from generation to generation); the head of the yeshiva in the style of the great Torah scholars of Lithuania, the legacy of the heads of the Ponevezh yeshiva who loved him like a son and nurtured him with devotion, a Rebbe revered in holiness, a tzaddik of the world and a servant of G-d in the way of his forefathers, whose teachings he passed on to thousands in his special way.

The Rebbe was also known for his special approach to baalei teshuva (Jews who became religious), and it was said about him, “and He returned many from iniquity” (Malachi 2:6).

The Rebbe authored over a hundred books on all parts of the Torah, from which his rare genius and the clarity of his teachings can be seen.

In recent times, he became weaker. Those close to him say that the events in the Land of Israel and the hardships of the community and individuals had a negative effect on him. He was often seen sighing from the bottom of his heart and praying profusely for the salvation of the Jewish People.

And on Friday Iyar 2, 5784 (May 10, 2024), he returned his soul to its Maker, to protect the hearts of thousands of Jews.

May his soul be bound in the bonds of life.