Early life
Avraham Abba Leifer was born in Nagykároly, Hungary (today Carei, Romania) to Rabbi Yosef Leifer, the grandson of Rabbi Mordechai of Nadvorna and a direct descendant of Grand Rabbi Meir the Great of Premishlan, a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov. He was the oldest of four brothers; the others were Yissachar Ber, Mordechai and Yitzchak Eisik. Yitzchak Eisik died at the age of 11. [1]
Before the First World War, Rabbi Yosef Leifer traveled to America to raise money to marry off his orphaned nieces. When he came to the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the local Hasidic community asked him to stay and serve as their spiritual leader. Rabbi Yosef agreed and brought over his entire family, naming himself the Pittsburger Rebbe. [2] He served as Rebbe for more than four decades, until his death on 7 March 1966 (Shushan Purim 5726). [3]
Though the family now lived in America, the Pittsburger Rebbe sent his three eldest sons to learn in yeshivas in Europe. He sent Avraham Abba to the yeshiva in Rachov right after his bar mitzvah in 1930. [2] [3] Avraham Abba received rabbinic ordination there at the age of 17, being fluent in the Shulchan Aruch and knowing the entire Shas by heart. [2] He also learned in the yeshiva in Sekelheid, considered to be the crown of Hungarian yeshivas, where he excelled in his studies. [4]
He married Rachel Rosenbaum, the daughter of Rabbi Isamar Rosenbaum, Admor of Nadvorna. [2] Due to the political situation in Europe, his parents were unable to attend the wedding. [4] He and his new wife were supported by her father for eight years in the city of Chernowitz. [2]
World War II
Of the three brothers learning in European yeshivas, only Avraham Abba survived the Holocaust. [3] The Nazis who were in charge of Chernowitz ordered all Jews to sew a yellow badge on their coats and to shave their beards. Leifer did not shave his beard, [2] and he once went outside to accompany a visitor home without remembering to put on his coat, on which the yellow badge was sewn. Nazi officials arrested him and brought him to a large courtyard where thousands of Jews had been rounded up for deportation. Though most of the captured Jews spoke bleakly about their fate, Leifer displayed strong emunah (faith in God) and immersed himself in heartfelt prayer. Two days later, when the men were being led into cattle cars, an SS officer instructed Leifer to stand to the side. After the transport left, the officer said to him, "You should know that in the past few days, I observed all of you, and I heard everyone talking with despair in their voices, except for you. You were busy praying to your God, so know that your God has heard your prayers and you are free to go." Leifer ran back to his father-in-law's house, where his family was already mourning his demise. He recounted this story of his personal redemption at every Passover Seder. [2] [4]
In 1947 Leifer and his wife succeeded in leaving Communist Romania and returning to America, where he reunited with his parents whom he had not seen in 17 years. [2] In 1950 he moved to Newark, New Jersey to establish his Hasidic court, [3] and established a yeshiva and Talmud Torah. [2] Upon his father's death in 1966, Leifer accepted the invitation of the Pittsburger Hasidim to return to Pittsburgh and succeed his father as Rebbe. [2]
Move to Ashdod
In 1970, [1] he decided to move to Israel. He chose the coastal city of Ashdod for his new base, though at the time the city had very few religious Jews and almost no Hasidim. [3] He chose this city based on a dream which he had, in which a man who identified himself as Hasdai ibn Shaprut (the foreign minister of the caliph of Córdoba some 1000 years earlier) appeared to him and asked him to establish his court in Ashdod, promising him success. [2] In Ashdod the Rebbe established Torah schools for children, bringing in teachers from other cities, and began monthly shiurim (classes) for adults. He also established a kollel for avreichim (married students) from Bnei Brak yeshivas and founded Yeshivas Tzidkas Yosef in memory of his father. During the last 20 years of his life, he brought thousands of Jews back to full Torah observance and drew countless families closer to the Hasidut. [3]
The Rebbe became known throughout Israel for his great yiras Shamayim (fear of Heaven) and ahavas Yisrael (love for fellow Jews). His son, Rabbi Mordechai Yissachar Ber, testified that his father detached himself from worldly pleasures and did everything for the sake of fulfilling the mitzvos of the Torah. Yet he also displayed a genuine simcha shel mitzvah (joy in performing mitzvos), and would engage others with humorous vertlach (stories). [4]
He was also quite humble. Unlike the custom of most Rebbes, who first partake of the food at a tish and then hand out shirayim to those in attendance, the Rebbe would distribute the food to the attendees and only afterward take for himself, saying that he wanted "to eat shirayim from the holy Jewish nation". He also waited for others to be served before he would partake at family meals. [4]
Nadvorna is a Hasidic rabbinical dynasty deriving its name from the town of Nadvorna, (Nadvirna), today in Ukraine.
Belz is a Hasidic dynasty founded in the town of Belz in Western Ukraine, near the Polish border, historically the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. The group was founded in the early 19th century by Rabbi Shalom Rokeach, also known as the Sar Shalom, and led by his son, Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach, and grandson, Rabbi Yissachar Dov, and great-grandson, Rabbi Aharon, before the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939. While Rabbi Aharon managed to escape Europe, together with his brother Rabbi Mordechai Rokeach, most of the Belz Hasidim were murdered in the Holocaust. Rabbi Aharon re-established the Hasidic community in Israel following World War II. At present, Belz has sizable communities in Israel, Western Europe, and the Anglosphere.
Chernobyl is a Hasidic dynasty that was founded by Grand Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twersky, known by the name of his work as the Meor Einayim. The dynasty is named after the northern Ukrainian town of Chernobyl, where Rabbi Nachum served as the maggid. The lineage has continued to exist to this day, although not always with the name Chernobyl. Today there are several rebbes named Chernobyl. The central court is in Bnei Brak, headed by Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twersky.
Aharon Rokeach was the fourth Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He led the movement from 1926 until his death in 1957.
Yissachar Dov Rokeach is the fifth, and present, Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Belz. He is the son of Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgoray, the grandson of the third Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, and the nephew of the fourth Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, who raised him. He has led Belz since 1966.
Pittsburgh is a Hasidic dynasty founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1924 by Rabbi Yosef Leifer, a Hungarian rabbi and descendant of Rabbi Mordechai of Nadvorna. This is one of the few Hasidic dynasties named after an American city.
Slonim is a Hasidic dynasty originating in the town of Slonim, which is now in Belarus. Today, there are two Slonimer factions. Slonim, based in Jerusalem, and the Slanim community in Bnei Brak. They are two distinct groups today, and have many differences between them.
Ropshitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty, or rabbinical family and group, who are descendants of Rabbi Naftali Zvi of Ropshitz (1760–1827). Ropshitz is the name of a town in southern Poland, known in Polish as Ropczyce.
Dombrov is a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Mordechai Dovid Unger. Dombrov is the Yiddish name of Dąbrowa Tarnowska, a town in present-day Poland.
There are two Hasidic Jewish dynasties known as Cleveland and both are considered to be a part of the Nadvorna dynasty.
Kretshnif is a Hasidic Jewish dynasty that comes from the Nadvorna dynasty, named for Crăciunești in present day Romania. The founding rebbe was Meir Rosenbaum, a son of Mordechai, rebbe of Nadvorna. His sons and successors included Eliezer Zev in Kretshnif and Sighit, and Issamar of Nadvorna in Chernowitz. The descendant rabbis of this dynasty are mainly in Israel, New York City, England, and Canada.
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually prestigious Roshei Yeshiva or Hasidic rebbes, who are also usually regarded by many Haredi Jews to be the Gedolim ("great/est") sages of Torah Judaism. Before the Holocaust, it was the supreme authority for the World Agudath Israel in Europe.
Har HaMenuchot is the largest cemetery in Jerusalem. The hilltop burial ground lies at the western edge of the city adjacent to the neighborhood of Givat Shaul, with commanding views of Mevaseret Zion to the north, Motza to the west, and Har Nof to the south. Opened in 1951 on 300 dunams of land, it has continually expanded into new sections on the northern and western slopes of the hill. As of 2008, the cemetery encompasses 580 dunams in which over 150,000 people are buried.
Izhbitza-Radzin is the name of a dynasty of Hasidic rebbes. The first rebbe of this dynasty was Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner, author of Mei Hashiloach, in the city of Izhbitza. Mordechai Yosef founded his own Hasidic movement in the year 5600 (1839), leaving the court of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk.
Komarno is a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Aleksander Sender Safrin of Komarno, Ukraine.
Mordechai Rokeach, also known as Mordechai of Bilgoray, was a scion of the Belzer Hasidic dynasty and the right-hand man to his half-brother, Rebbe Aharon of Belz, the fourth Belzer Rebbe. He was the son of the third Belzer Rebbe, Rebbe Yissachar Dov Rokeach. His only son, Yissachar Dov Rokeach, is the fifth and current Belzer Rebbe.
Yosef Leifer was the founder and first Rebbe of the Pittsburg Hasidic dynasty in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which he led for 42 years. Known as the Tzidkas Yosef after the name of his posthumously-published sefer, he was a scion of the Nadvorna dynasty.
Mordechai Yissachar Ber Leifer was the third Rebbe of the Pittsburgh Hasidic dynasty. Born in the United States, he joined his father, Grand Rabbi Avraham Abba Leifer, in Ashdod, Israel, to serve as rosh yeshiva of a new Pittsburgher yeshiva in that city in 1981. After succeeding his father as Rebbe, he expanded the Hasidic presence in Ashdod with new schools and institutions, and increased the number of Pittsburgher families to nearly 200 in Ashdod. He also shepherded Pittsburgher Hasidim in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Beit Hilkia, New York City, and California. An accomplished Torah scholar and musical composer, he led the Hasidut for three decades until his death in 2020.
Shlomo Chanoch Hakohen Rabinowicz was the fourth and last rebbe of the Radomsk hasidic dynasty. He was the eldest son of the third Radomsker rebbe,Yechezkel Rabinowicz and great-grandson of the founder of the dynasty, Shlomo Rabinowicz, known as the Tiferes Shlomo. Under his leadership, Radomsk became the third largest hasidic dynasty in Poland, after Ger and Alexander. Rabinowicz built a network of 36 yeshivas across Poland and Galicia that enrolled over 4,000 students by 1939. He was murdered in the Warsaw Ghetto together with his entire family.
Meshulam Eliezer Leifer is the fourth Rebbe of the Pittsburgh Hasidic dynasty. He succeeded his father, Grand Rabbi Mordechai Yissachar Ber Leifer, upon the latter's death in October 2020.
