Jump to content

Radomsk: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
AnomieBOT (talk | contribs)
Bots
6,542,349 edits
Rescuing orphaned refs ("past" from rev 1135752419)
Tag: Reverted
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Radomsk''' ({{lang-he|רדומסק}}) is a [[Hasidic Judaism|hasidic]] [[List of Hasidic dynasties|dynasty]] named after the town of [[Radomsko]] in [[Łódź Voivodeship|Łódź]] province, south-central Poland.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gj8OAQAAMAAJ&q=radomsk |title=Encyclopedia Judaica, Ra&ndash;Sam |volume=17 |page=57|year=2006 |last1=Skolnik |first1=Fred |last2=Berenbaum |first2=Michael |author-link2=Michael Berenbaum |publisher=Thomson |isbn=0-02-865945-7}}</ref> The dynasty was founded in 1843 by [[Shlomo Rabinowicz|Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowicz]] (known as the ''Tiferes Shlomo'').<ref name="Radomsko">{{cite web |url=http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/radomsk/Radomsko.htm |title=Radomsko |date=4 January 2010 |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=jewishgen.org}}</ref> His son, grandson and great-grandson also led the dynasty, which had thousands of followers. On the eve of World War II, Radomsk was the third largest Hasidic dynasty in Poland, after [[Ger (Hasidic dynasty)|Ger]] and [[Alexander (Hasidic dynasty)|Alexander]].<ref name="press">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/printArticle.cfm?contentid=38878 |title=Radomsker Rebbe's Yahrzeit |work=[[The Jewish Press]] |last=Tannenbaum |first=Rabbi Gershon |date=7 April 2009 |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref>
'''Radomsk''' ({{lang-he|רדומסק}}) is a [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] [[List of Hasidic dynasties|dynasty]] named after the town of [[Radomsko]] in [[Łódź Voivodeship|Łódź]] province, south-central Poland.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gj8OAQAAMAAJ&q=radomsk |title=Encyclopedia Judaica, Ra&ndash;Sam |volume=17 |page=57|year=2006 |last1=Skolnik |first1=Fred |last2=Berenbaum |first2=Michael |author-link2=Michael Berenbaum |publisher=Thomson |isbn=0-02-865945-7}}</ref> The dynasty was founded in 1843 by Rabbi [[Shlomo Rabinowicz|Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowicz]] (the ''Tiferes Shlomo''), one of the great Hasidic masters of 19th-century Poland.<ref name="Radomsko">{{cite web |url=http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/radomsk/Radomsko.htm |title=Radomsko |date=4 January 2010 |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=jewishgen.org}}</ref> His son, grandson and great-grandson led the dynasty in turn, attracting thousands of followers. On the eve of World War II, Radomsk was the third largest Hasidic dynasty in Poland, after [[Ger (Hasidic dynasty)|Ger]] and [[Alexander (Hasidic dynasty)|Alexander]].<ref name="press">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/printArticle.cfm?contentid=38878 |title=Radomsker Rebbe's Yahrzeit |work=[[The Jewish Press]] |last=Tannenbaum |first=Rabbi Gershon |date=7 April 2009 |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref>


The town of Radomsko was destroyed and most of its Jews deported and killed during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. The fourth Radomsker rebbe, [[Shlomo Chanoch Rabinowicz|Shlomo Chanoch Hakohen Rabinowicz]], was murdered by the Nazis in the [[Warsaw Ghetto]] in 1942, bringing the father-to-son dynasty to an end.
The town of Radomsko was destroyed and most of its Jews deported and killed during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. The fourth Radomsker Rebbe, Rabbi [[Shlomo Chanoch Rabinowicz|Shlomo Chanoch Hakohen Rabinowicz]], was murdered by the Nazis in the [[Warsaw Ghetto]] in 1942, bringing the father-to-son dynasty to an end. In 1965, Radomsker Hasidim who had survived the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]] and were living in [[Israel]] asked Rabbi [[Menachem Shlomo Bornsztain]], the fifth [[Sochatchov (Hasidic dynasty)|Sochatchover]] Rebbe and a descendant of the first Radomsker [[Rebbe]],<ref name="Belovski">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-fj-sKboVBoC&q=radomsk+rebbe&pg=PR20 |page=xx |title=Shem Mishmuel |last=Belovski |first=Zvi |publisher=[[Targum Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=1-56871-141-7}}</ref> to become their Rebbe as well, and he agreed. Bornsztain's son, Rabbi Avrohom Nosson Bornsztain, is the current Rav of the Radomsker shul in Bnei Brak.

In 1965, Radomsker Hasidim who had survived the [[Holocaust]] and were living in [[Israel]] asked [[Menachem Shlomo Bornsztain]], the fifth [[Sochatchov (Hasidic dynasty)|Sochatchover]] [[rebbe]] and a descendant of the first Radomsker rebbe,<ref name="Belovski">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-fj-sKboVBoC&q=radomsk+rebbe&pg=PR20 |page=xx |title=Shem Mishmuel |last=Belovski |first=Zvi |publisher=[[Targum Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=1-56871-141-7}}</ref> to become their rebbe as well. Bornsztain's son Avrohom Nosson Bornsztain leads the Radomsker synagogue in Bnei Brak.{{cn|date=January 2023}}


==History==
==History==
Line 9: Line 7:
===Leadership===
===Leadership===
[[File:GreatSynagogueRadomsko.jpg|180px|right|thumb|Great Synagogue in Radomsk]]
[[File:GreatSynagogueRadomsko.jpg|180px|right|thumb|Great Synagogue in Radomsk]]
The founder of the dynasty was Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowicz (known as the ''Tiferes Shlomo'') (1801&ndash;1866), who had begun serving as rabbi of Radomsko (Radomsk) in 1834.<ref name="yizkor">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/radomsko/rad110.html#shlomohle |title=Reb Shlomohle Radomsker |last=Bader |first=Gershom |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=Radomsker Memorial Book |page=111}}</ref><ref name="finkel">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DlvXDMNboYwC&q=tiferes+shlomo&pg=PA348 |page=348 |title=Kabbalah: Selections From Classic Kabbalistic Works From Raziel Hamalach To The Present Day |last=Finkel |first=Avraham Yaakov |year=2003 |publisher=[[Targum Press]] |isbn=1-56871-218-9}}</ref><ref name="chazaq">{{cite web |url=https://www.chazaq.org/?section=articles&categoryId=51&articleId=359 |title=Yahrzeits &ndash; Week of 29 Adar |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=chazaq.org}}</ref> When [[Lelov (Hasidic dynasty)|Moshe Biderman of Lelov]] moved to the [[Land of Israel]] he told his hasidim to follow Rabinowicz<ref name="chazaq"/><ref name="shtetl">{{cite web |url=http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Radomsk/RadomskerRebbe.html |title=Radomsker Rebbe Who Perished in Jewish Martyrdom in the Warsaw Ghetto |last=Ungar |first=Manashe |date=19 April 1950 |publisher=The Day-Morning Journal |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> and Radomsk became a major hasidic center.<ref name="finkel"/> Rabinowicz's discourses on the [[Chumash (Judaism)|Chumash]] and [[Jewish holiday]]s were published posthumously in [[Warsaw]] in 1867&ndash;1869 as the two-volume ''Tiferes Shlomo''.<ref name="Rosenstein">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nKQWAQAAIAAJ&q=shlomo+warsaw |page=232 |title=The Unbroken Chain: Biographical sketches and the genealogy of illustrious Jewish families from the 15th-20th century |last=Rosenstein |first=Neil |publisher=Shengold Publishers |year=1976 |isbn= 0-88400-043-5}}</ref><ref name="dia">{{cite web |url=http://www.diapositive.pl/chasydzi_radomska.htm |title=Chasidim of Radomsko |publisher=diapositive.pl|access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> This work, considered a textbook of hasidic thought,<ref name="nishmas">{{cite web |url=http://www.nishmas.org/biograph/tifshlom.htm |title=The Tiferes Shlomo |publisher=nishmas.org |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> and has been continuously reprinted.<ref name="kabb">Finkel, ''Kabbalah'', p. 349.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://rebshlomo.org/transcriptions/months/adar/purim/purim-nothing-else-matters/ |title=Purim: Nothing Else Matters |last=Carlebach |first=Rabbi Shlomo |author-link=Shlomo Carlebach |date=15 March 1984 |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=The Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach Foundation}}</ref>
The founder of the dynasty was Rabbi Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowicz (the ''Tiferes Shlomo'') (1801&ndash;1866), who had begun serving as Rav of Radomsko (Radomsk) in 1834.<ref name="yizkor">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/radomsko/rad110.html#shlomohle |title=Reb Shlomohle Radomsker |last=Bader |first=Gershom |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=Radomsker Memorial Book |page=111}}</ref><ref name="finkel">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DlvXDMNboYwC&q=tiferes+shlomo&pg=PA348 |page=348 |title=Kabbalah: Selections From Classic Kabbalistic Works From Raziel Hamalach To The Present Day |last=Finkel |first=Avraham Yaakov |year=2003 |publisher=[[Targum Press]] |isbn=1-56871-218-9}}</ref><ref name="chazaq">{{cite web |url=https://www.chazaq.org/?section=articles&categoryId=51&articleId=359 |title=Yahrzeits &ndash; Week of 29 Adar |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=chazaq.org}}</ref> Under his leadership, the Jewish community of Radomsk grew both in prestige and population.<ref name="feinkind">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/radomsko/rad110.html#shlomohle |title=The Radomsker Dynasty |last=Feinkind |first=T. |publisher=Radomsko Memorial Book |access-date=21 January 2012|page=112&ndash;114}}</ref> When Grand Rabbi [[Lelov (Hasidic dynasty)|Moshe Biderman of Lelov]] moved to the [[Land of Israel]] and instructed his Hasidim to follow Rabinowicz, the latter's influence as a Rebbe grew significantly<ref name="chazaq"/><ref name="shtetl">{{cite web |url=http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Radomsk/RadomskerRebbe.html |title=Radomsker Rebbe Who Perished in Jewish Martyrdom in the Warsaw Ghetto |last=Ungar |first=Manashe |date=19 April 1950 |publisher=The Day-Morning Journal |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> and Radomsk became a major Hasidic center.<ref name="finkel"/> The masses revered their Rebbe for his lofty prayers, beautiful singing voice, and benevolence towards their needs,<ref name="yizkor"/><ref name="virtual">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0017_0_16334.html |title=Radomsko (Radomsk), Solomon Ha-Kohen Rabinowich of |publisher=[[Jewish Virtual Library]] |year=2010 |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> while the more scholarly Hasidim admired his profound discourses in [[Halakha]] and [[Kabbalah]].<ref name="finkel"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zO5CAAAAIAAJ&q=radomsker |page=314 |title=Ideas and Ideals of the Hassidim |last=Aron |first=Milton |publisher=Citadel Press |year=1969|isbn=9780806507224 }}</ref> Rabinowicz's discourses on the [[Chumash (Judaism)|Chumash]] and [[Jewish holiday]]s were published posthumously in [[Warsaw]] in 1867&ndash;1869 as the two-volume ''Tiferes Shlomo''.<ref name="Rosenstein">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nKQWAQAAIAAJ&q=shlomo+warsaw |page=232 |title=The Unbroken Chain: Biographical sketches and the genealogy of illustrious Jewish families from the 15th-20th century |last=Rosenstein |first=Neil |publisher=Shengold Publishers |year=1976 |isbn= 0-88400-043-5}}</ref><ref name="dia">{{cite web |url=http://www.diapositive.pl/chasydzi_radomska.htm |title=Chasidim of Radomsko |publisher=diapositive.pl|access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> This work, considered a textbook of Hasidic thought,<ref name="nishmas">{{cite web |url=http://www.nishmas.org/biograph/tifshlom.htm |title=The Tiferes Shlomo |publisher=nishmas.org |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> met with widespread acclaim and has been continuously reprinted.<ref name="kabb">Finkel, ''Kabbalah'', p. 349.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://rebshlomo.org/transcriptions/months/adar/purim/purim-nothing-else-matters/ |title=Purim: Nothing Else Matters |last=Carlebach |first=Rabbi Shlomo |author-link=Shlomo Carlebach |date=15 March 1984 |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=The Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach Foundation}}</ref>


He died in 1866 and was succeeded by his youngest son, [[Avraham Yissachar Dov Rabinowicz]] (1843&ndash;1892), who was musical.<ref name="music">{{cite web |url=http://www.radomsk.org/radomskermusic.html |title=Radomsker Music |publisher=radomsk.org |access-date=21 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727200126/http://www.radomsk.org/radomskermusic.html |archive-date=27 July 2011}}</ref> After he became rebbe, he attracted many hasidim from Poland and [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]].<ref name="shtetl"/><ref name="dia"/> He had [[diabetes]]<ref name="past">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/radomsko/rad052.html |title=Remembrances of the Past |last=Poznanski |first=Yehieil |publisher=Radomsko Memorial Book |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> and died in Radomsk at the age of 49.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yeshshem.com/hilulaelul.htm |title=Hilula and Yarzeit for the Hebrew Month of Elul |publisher=Yesh Shem |access-date=21 January 2012 |year=2011}}</ref> His Torah teachings were compiled under the title ''Chesed L'Avraham'', published in [[Piotrkow]] in 1893.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kedem-auctions.com/en/Items/chesed-l%E2%80%99avraham-radomsk |title=Chesed L'Avraham (Radomsk) |year=2011 |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=[[Kedem Auction House]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127235042/http://www.kedem-auctions.com/en/Items/chesed-l%E2%80%99avraham-radomsk |archive-date=27 January 2013}}</ref>
Upon the Rebbe's death in 1866, his youngest son, [[Avraham Yissachar Dov Rabinowicz|Avraham Yissachar Dov Hakohen Rabinowicz]] (1843&ndash;1892), succeeded him. Rabbi Avraham Yissachar Dov was also a great Torah scholar<ref name="past">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/radomsko/rad052.html |title=Remembrances of the Past |last=Poznanski |first=Yehieil |publisher=Radomsko Memorial Book |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> and was musically gifted.<ref name="music">{{cite web |url=http://www.radomsk.org/radomskermusic.html |title=Radomsker Music |publisher=radomsk.org |access-date=21 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727200126/http://www.radomsk.org/radomskermusic.html |archive-date=27 July 2011}}</ref> After he became Rebbe, he attracted many Hasidim from Poland and [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]].<ref name="shtetl"/><ref name="dia"/> He suffered from [[diabetes]]<ref name="past"/> and died in Radomsk a year shy of his fiftieth birthday.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yeshshem.com/hilulaelul.htm |title=Hilula and Yarzeit for the Hebrew Month of Elul |publisher=Yesh Shem |access-date=21 January 2012 |year=2011}}</ref> His Torah teachings were compiled under the title ''Chesed L'Avraham'', published in [[Piotrkow]] in 1893.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kedem-auctions.com/en/Items/chesed-l%E2%80%99avraham-radomsk |title=Chesed L'Avraham (Radomsk) |year=2011 |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=[[Kedem Auction House]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127235042/http://www.kedem-auctions.com/en/Items/chesed-l%E2%80%99avraham-radomsk |archive-date=27 January 2013}}</ref>


He was succeeded as rebbe by his second son, [[Yechezkel Rabinowicz]] (1864&ndash;1910), who had earlier been rabbi of [[Novipola]]. He had diabetes like his father<ref name="past"/> and also died before the age of 50.<ref name="chinuch">{{cite web |url=http://chinuch.org/Cheshvan.php |title=Gedolim Yahrtzeits |last=Saltiel |first=Manny |year=2011 |publisher=chinuch.org |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> An estimated 25,000 people attended his funeral from all over Poland and Galicia.<ref name="past"/> His Torah teachings were compiled under the title ''Kenesses Yechezkel'', published in 1913.<ref name="past"/>
He was succeeded as Rebbe by his second son, Rabbi [[Yechezkel Rabinowicz|Yechezkel Hakohen Rabinowicz]] (1864&ndash;1910), who had initially served as Rav of [[Novipola]]. The third Radomsker Rebbe was known for his dedication to Torah study,<ref name="past"/> his extreme modesty, and powerful sermons.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QpjXAAAAMAAJ&q=shlomoh+chanoch+killed |title=Contemporary Sages: The great Chasidic masters of the twentieth century |page=21 |last=Finkel |first=Avraham Yaakov |isbn=1-56821-155-4 |publisher=J. Aronson |year=1994}}</ref> He suffered from [[Diabetes mellitus|diabetes]] like his father<ref name="past"/> and also died before the age of 50.<ref name="chinuch">{{cite web |url=http://chinuch.org/Cheshvan.php |title=Gedolim Yahrtzeits |last=Saltiel |first=Manny |year=2011 |publisher=chinuch.org |access-date=21 January 2012}}</ref> An estimated 25,000 people attended his funeral from all over Poland and Galicia.<ref name="past"/> His Torah teachings were compiled under the title ''Kenesses Yechezkel'', published in 1913.<ref name="past"/>


His eldest son, [[Shlomo Chanoch Rabinowitz]] (1882&ndash;1942), succeeded him.<ref name="past"/> He was wealthy.<ref name="day"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYgtAQAAIAAJ&q=ran+away+warsaw |page=45 |title=From Auschwitz to Ithaca: The transnational journey of Jack Geltwert |last=Geltwert |first=Jack |publisher=CDL Press |year=2002 |isbn=1-883053-74-9}}</ref> and owned a glass factory and homes in [[Berlin]], [[Warsaw]], and [[Sosnowiec]]; he re-established his court in Sosnowiec after World War I.<ref name="press"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZqfXAAAAMAAJ&q=radomsk+sosnowice+tzvi+hasidism|title=The World of Hasidism |last=Rabinowicz |first=Tzvi |page=167 |publisher=Hartmore House |year=1970|isbn=9780876770054 }}</ref> He also amassed a large personal collection of old manuscripts and prints that was said to be the second-largest private library in Poland after that of the [[Ger (Hasidic dynasty)|Gerrer]] Rebbe.<ref name="day"/>
His eldest son, Rabbi [[Shlomo Chanoch Rabinowitz|Shlomo Chanoch Hakohen Rabinowicz]] (1882&ndash;1942), succeeded him.<ref name="past"/> The fourth Radomsker Rebbe was a dynamic and charismatic leader.<ref name="press"/> Thousands of Hasidim attended his court on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.<ref name="farbstein">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=772I7ZNUSKYC&pg=PA118|page=118 |last=Farbstein |first=Esther |author-link=Esther Farbstein|title=Hidden In Thunder: Perspectives on faith, halachah and leadership during the Holocaust |year=2007 |publisher=[[Feldheim Publishers]] |isbn=978-965-7265-05-5}}</ref> The Rebbe was also quite wealthy.<ref name="day"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYgtAQAAIAAJ&q=ran+away+warsaw |page=45 |title=From Auschwitz to Ithaca: The transnational journey of Jack Geltwert |last=Geltwert |first=Jack |publisher=CDL Press |year=2002 |isbn=1-883053-74-9}}</ref> He owned a glass factory and homes in [[Berlin]], [[Warsaw]], and [[Sosnowiec]]; he re-established his court in the latter city after World War I.<ref name="press"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZqfXAAAAMAAJ&q=radomsk+sosnowice+tzvi+hasidism|title=The World of Hasidism |last=Rabinowicz |first=Tzvi |page=167 |publisher=Hartmore House |year=1970|isbn=9780876770054 }}</ref> He also amassed a huge personal collection of old manuscripts and prints that was said to be the second-largest private library in Poland after that of the [[Ger (Hasidic dynasty)|Gerrer]] Rebbe.<ref name="day"/>


===Keser Torah yeshiva network===
===Keser Torah yeshiva network===
Line 34: Line 32:


==Music of Radomsk==
==Music of Radomsk==
The first Radomsker rebbe, Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowicz, was a [[hazzan]] (cantor) and composer of hasidic music. He composed and sang new ''[[nigunim]]'' (melodies) each year for the [[High Holy days]] and other Jewish holidays.<ref name="negina">{{cite web |url=http://heichalhanegina.blogspot.com/2006/03/musical-talents-of-tiferes-shlomo.html |title=The Musical Talents of the "Tiferes Shlomo"|date=29 March 2006 |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=Heichal Hanegina}}</ref> The second Radomsker Rebbe was also musical, and the ''niggunim'' of the first two Radomsker rebbes were sung in all Radomsker courts. [[Chaskel Besser]], a Radomsker rabbi in New York after World War II, produced an album titled ''Niggunei Radomsk'' (Melodies of Radomsk) to preserve the music of the dynasty.<ref name="music"/>
The first Radomsker Rebbe, Rabbi Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowicz, had a beautiful singing voice and was renowned as a [[hazzan]] and composer of Hasidic music. He composed and sang new ''[[nigunim]]'' (melodies) each year for the [[High Holy days]] and Jewish holidays.<ref name="negina">{{cite web |url=http://heichalhanegina.blogspot.com/2006/03/musical-talents-of-tiferes-shlomo.html |title=The Musical Talents of the "Tiferes Shlomo"|date=29 March 2006 |access-date=21 January 2012 |publisher=Heichal Hanegina}}</ref> He also sent money to one of his Hasidim in [[Safed]], Israel so the latter would organize a Radomsker [[Shalosh Seudos]] meal every [[Shabbat]] at which his ''niggunim'' would be sung.<ref name="negina"/> The second Radomsker Rebbe was also musically gifted, and the ''niggunim'' of the first two Radomsker Rebbes were sung in all Radomsker courts. Rabbi [[Chaskel Besser]], a prominent Radomsker Hasid in New York after World War II, produced an album titled ''Niggunei Radomsk'' (Melodies of Radomsk) to preserve the music of the dynasty.<ref name="music"/>


==Lineage of Radomsk dynastic leadership==
==Lineage of Radomsk dynastic leadership==

Revision as of 22:39, 26 February 2023

Radomsk (Template:Lang-he) is a Hasidic dynasty named after the town of Radomsko in Łódź province, south-central Poland.[1] The dynasty was founded in 1843 by Rabbi Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowicz (the Tiferes Shlomo), one of the great Hasidic masters of 19th-century Poland.[2] His son, grandson and great-grandson led the dynasty in turn, attracting thousands of followers. On the eve of World War II, Radomsk was the third largest Hasidic dynasty in Poland, after Ger and Alexander.[3]

The town of Radomsko was destroyed and most of its Jews deported and killed during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. The fourth Radomsker Rebbe, Rabbi Shlomo Chanoch Hakohen Rabinowicz, was murdered by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942, bringing the father-to-son dynasty to an end. In 1965, Radomsker Hasidim who had survived the Holocaust and were living in Israel asked Rabbi Menachem Shlomo Bornsztain, the fifth Sochatchover Rebbe and a descendant of the first Radomsker Rebbe,[4] to become their Rebbe as well, and he agreed. Bornsztain's son, Rabbi Avrohom Nosson Bornsztain, is the current Rav of the Radomsker shul in Bnei Brak.

History

Leadership

Great Synagogue in Radomsk

The founder of the dynasty was Rabbi Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowicz (the Tiferes Shlomo) (1801–1866), who had begun serving as Rav of Radomsko (Radomsk) in 1834.[5][6][7] Under his leadership, the Jewish community of Radomsk grew both in prestige and population.[8] When Grand Rabbi Moshe Biderman of Lelov moved to the Land of Israel and instructed his Hasidim to follow Rabinowicz, the latter's influence as a Rebbe grew significantly[7][9] and Radomsk became a major Hasidic center.[6] The masses revered their Rebbe for his lofty prayers, beautiful singing voice, and benevolence towards their needs,[5][10] while the more scholarly Hasidim admired his profound discourses in Halakha and Kabbalah.[6][11] Rabinowicz's discourses on the Chumash and Jewish holidays were published posthumously in Warsaw in 1867–1869 as the two-volume Tiferes Shlomo.[12][13] This work, considered a textbook of Hasidic thought,[14] met with widespread acclaim and has been continuously reprinted.[15][16]

Upon the Rebbe's death in 1866, his youngest son, Avraham Yissachar Dov Hakohen Rabinowicz (1843–1892), succeeded him. Rabbi Avraham Yissachar Dov was also a great Torah scholar[17] and was musically gifted.[18] After he became Rebbe, he attracted many Hasidim from Poland and Galicia.[9][13] He suffered from diabetes[17] and died in Radomsk a year shy of his fiftieth birthday.[19] His Torah teachings were compiled under the title Chesed L'Avraham, published in Piotrkow in 1893.[20]

He was succeeded as Rebbe by his second son, Rabbi Yechezkel Hakohen Rabinowicz (1864–1910), who had initially served as Rav of Novipola. The third Radomsker Rebbe was known for his dedication to Torah study,[17] his extreme modesty, and powerful sermons.[21] He suffered from diabetes like his father[17] and also died before the age of 50.[22] An estimated 25,000 people attended his funeral from all over Poland and Galicia.[17] His Torah teachings were compiled under the title Kenesses Yechezkel, published in 1913.[17]

His eldest son, Rabbi Shlomo Chanoch Hakohen Rabinowicz (1882–1942), succeeded him.[17] The fourth Radomsker Rebbe was a dynamic and charismatic leader.[3] Thousands of Hasidim attended his court on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.[23] The Rebbe was also quite wealthy.[24][25] He owned a glass factory and homes in Berlin, Warsaw, and Sosnowiec; he re-established his court in the latter city after World War I.[3][26] He also amassed a huge personal collection of old manuscripts and prints that was said to be the second-largest private library in Poland after that of the Gerrer Rebbe.[24]

Keser Torah yeshiva network

Main article: Keser Torah Radomsk

The fourth Radomsker Rebbe innovated a new trend in Hasidic education in Poland. Until World War I, Hasidic youth traditionally studied Torah and learned the customs and lore of their dynasties in shtiebelach (small houses of prayer and study) across Poland. As the war uprooted hundreds of thousands of Jews and decimated established communities, the shtiebelach lost their central place in Hasidic life.[27] In 1926, the Rebbe announced his plan to create a network of yeshivas called Keser Torah (Crown of Torah). By 1930, nine yeshivas were functioning in major Polish cities, together with a "Kibbutz Govoha" (high-level study group) for advanced students and avreichim (married students) in Sosnowiec.[3] The Rebbe appointed his new son-in-law, Rabbi Dovid Moshe Hakohen Rabinowicz (1906–1942), to serve as rosh yeshiva for the entire network.[27] By 1939, there were 36 Keser Torah yeshivas enrolling over 4,000 students in Poland and Galicia. The Rebbe paid for the entire operation, including staff salaries, food, and student lodging, out of his own pocket.[3][27]

World War II

Memorial to Rabbi Shlomo Chanoch Rabinowicz in the Warsaw Jewish cemetery.

On the eve of World War II, Radomsk was the third largest Hasidic dynasty in Poland, after Ger and Alexander.[3] In Kraków, there were more Radomsker shtiebelach than Gerrer shtiebelach.[24]

Following the German invasion of Poland, the Keser Torah yeshivas disbanded[27] and the Rebbe escaped to the town of Alexander, but from there was most likely sent by the Nazis into the Warsaw Ghetto.[24] His son-in-law, Rabbi Dovid Moshe Rabinowicz, was also incarcerated in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he continued to deliver shiurim to Keser Torah students.[28] The Rebbe and all the members of his family, including his only daughter, son-in-law, and their infant son, were shot to death during the Aktion of 1 August 1942.[3][24][28] They were buried in a mass grave in Warsaw's main cemetery.[3][27] With the Rebbe's death, the father-to-son lineage of Radomsker rebbes came to an end. (The Rebbe's brother, Rabbi Elimelech Aryeh Hakohen Rabinowicz, died in Mauthausen.[29])

Rebirth in Israel

After World War II, Radomsker Hasidim and Keser Torah yeshiva students who had survived the Holocaust established Kollel Keser Torah in Bnei Brak, Israel. In 1965 they approached Rabbi Menachem Shlomo Bornsztain, son of the Sochatchover Rebbe and a nephew of Rabbi David Moshe Rabinowicz, to lead the kollel (Bornsztain was also a direct descendant of the first Radomsker Rebbe, as his grandfather, the second Sochatchover Rebbe, married the daughter of the first Radomsker Rebbe.)[4] Bornsztain accepted the offer and commuted from his home in Tel Aviv to Bnei Brak.[30] When Bornsztain acceded to the leadership of the Sochatchov dynasty in 1965, the Radomsker Hasidim asked him to become their Rebbe as well, and he officially became known as the Sochatchover-Radomsker Rebbe.[30] Following Bornsztain's untimely death in 1969, his eldest son, Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain, became the Sochatchover Rebbe and another son, Avrohom Nosson Bornsztain, was appointed as the rav of the Radomsker shul in Bnei Brak.[31]

Today Radomsker communities exist in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, Israel; Brooklyn, New York; Lakewood, New Jersey; and Montreal, Canada.[27] The Radomsker Rav of Boro Park, Rabbi Leibish Frand, heads a Radomsker beis medrash in Brooklyn.[32][33]

Music of Radomsk

The first Radomsker Rebbe, Rabbi Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowicz, had a beautiful singing voice and was renowned as a hazzan and composer of Hasidic music. He composed and sang new nigunim (melodies) each year for the High Holy days and Jewish holidays.[34] He also sent money to one of his Hasidim in Safed, Israel so the latter would organize a Radomsker Shalosh Seudos meal every Shabbat at which his niggunim would be sung.[34] The second Radomsker Rebbe was also musically gifted, and the niggunim of the first two Radomsker Rebbes were sung in all Radomsker courts. Rabbi Chaskel Besser, a prominent Radomsker Hasid in New York after World War II, produced an album titled Niggunei Radomsk (Melodies of Radomsk) to preserve the music of the dynasty.[18]

Lineage of Radomsk dynastic leadership

References

  1. ^ Skolnik, Fred; Berenbaum, Michael (2006). Encyclopedia Judaica, Ra–Sam. Vol. 17. Thomson. p. 57. ISBN 0-02-865945-7.
  2. ^ "Radomsko". jewishgen.org. 4 January 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Tannenbaum, Rabbi Gershon (7 April 2009). "Radomsker Rebbe's Yahrzeit". The Jewish Press. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  4. ^ a b Belovski, Zvi (1998). Shem Mishmuel. Targum Press. p. xx. ISBN 1-56871-141-7.
  5. ^ a b Bader, Gershom. "Reb Shlomohle Radomsker". Radomsker Memorial Book. p. 111. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  6. ^ a b c Finkel, Avraham Yaakov (2003). Kabbalah: Selections From Classic Kabbalistic Works From Raziel Hamalach To The Present Day. Targum Press. p. 348. ISBN 1-56871-218-9.
  7. ^ a b "Yahrzeits – Week of 29 Adar". chazaq.org. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  8. ^ Feinkind, T. "The Radomsker Dynasty". Radomsko Memorial Book. p. 112–114. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  9. ^ a b Ungar, Manashe (19 April 1950). "Radomsker Rebbe Who Perished in Jewish Martyrdom in the Warsaw Ghetto". The Day-Morning Journal. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  10. ^ "Radomsko (Radomsk), Solomon Ha-Kohen Rabinowich of". Jewish Virtual Library. 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  11. ^ Aron, Milton (1969). Ideas and Ideals of the Hassidim. Citadel Press. p. 314. ISBN 9780806507224.
  12. ^ Rosenstein, Neil (1976). The Unbroken Chain: Biographical sketches and the genealogy of illustrious Jewish families from the 15th-20th century. Shengold Publishers. p. 232. ISBN 0-88400-043-5.
  13. ^ a b "Chasidim of Radomsko". diapositive.pl. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  14. ^ "The Tiferes Shlomo". nishmas.org. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  15. ^ Finkel, Kabbalah, p. 349.
  16. ^ Carlebach, Rabbi Shlomo (15 March 1984). "Purim: Nothing Else Matters". The Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach Foundation. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Poznanski, Yehieil. "Remembrances of the Past". Radomsko Memorial Book. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  18. ^ a b "Radomsker Music". radomsk.org. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  19. ^ "Hilula and Yarzeit for the Hebrew Month of Elul". Yesh Shem. 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  20. ^ "Chesed L'Avraham (Radomsk)". Kedem Auction House. 2011. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  21. ^ Finkel, Avraham Yaakov (1994). Contemporary Sages: The great Chasidic masters of the twentieth century. J. Aronson. p. 21. ISBN 1-56821-155-4.
  22. ^ Saltiel, Manny (2011). "Gedolim Yahrtzeits". chinuch.org. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  23. ^ Farbstein, Esther (2007). Hidden In Thunder: Perspectives on faith, halachah and leadership during the Holocaust. Feldheim Publishers. p. 118. ISBN 978-965-7265-05-5.
  24. ^ a b c d e Unger, Manashe (19 April 1950). "Radomsker Rebbe Who Perished in Jewish Martyrdom in the Warsaw Ghetto". Day-Morning Journal. Retrieved 21 January 2012. [dead link‍]
  25. ^ Geltwert, Jack (2002). From Auschwitz to Ithaca: The transnational journey of Jack Geltwert. CDL Press. p. 45. ISBN 1-883053-74-9.
  26. ^ Rabinowicz, Tzvi (1970). The World of Hasidism. Hartmore House. p. 167. ISBN 9780876770054.
  27. ^ a b c d e f "Keser Torah Radomsk: The crown of Torah, the network of Keser Torah Radomsker yeshivos in the Jewish centers of pre-World War II Poland". radomsk.org. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  28. ^ a b Kaliv World Center (2002). Shema Yisrael: Testimonies of devotion, courage, and self-sacrifice, 1939-1945. pp. 329–330. ISBN 1-56871-271-5.
  29. ^ Rabinowicz, Tzvi, The World of Hasidism, p. 175.
  30. ^ a b Growise, Yisroel Alter. "The Sochatchover Rebbe, Harav Menachem Shlomo Bornstein, zt"l, 40 Years Since His Tragic Passing". Hamodia Features section, 27 August 2009, pp. C4-5.
  31. ^ השבת בקהילות הקוש [This Shabbat in the Holy Communities]. Kol Mevasser (in Hebrew). 27 November 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  32. ^ Tannenbaum, Rabbi Gershon (1 August 2007). "Radomsk Torah Splendor Remembered In South Fallsburg". The Jewish Press. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  33. ^ Tannenbaum, Rabbi Gershon (21 April 2010). "Rosh Chodesh with the Igud". The Jewish Press. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  34. ^ a b "The Musical Talents of the "Tiferes Shlomo"". Heichal Hanegina. 29 March 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  35. ^ "BORO PARK CORONA VICTIM: Son of Radziner Rebbe, Harav Yeshaya Englard ZT"L". 25 March 2020.
  36. ^ "Rabbi Yeshayahu Englard, Brother of Radzhiner Rebbe, Passes Away from Coronavirus". 25 March 2020.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Radomsk&oldid=1141808083"