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Rabbi Moshe Yechiel Epstein | |
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| Personal | |
| Born | 29 December 1889 |
| Died | 27 January 1971 (aged 81) |
| Nationality |  Israel |
| Denomination | Hasidic |
| Sect | Ozharov-Chentshin |
| Notable work(s) | Eish Dos, Be'er Moshe |
| Occupation | Rebbe, Torah scholar |
| Senior posting | |
| Successor | Grand Rabbi Tanchum Becker |
| Awards | Israel Prize (1968) |
Moshe Yechiel Epstein (29 December 1889 - 27 January 1971) was the Ozharover Rebbe, and an Israel Prize recipient in the category of Rabbinical literature in 1968.
Rabbi Moshe Yechiel Epstein first came to America in 1920 as part of a delegation from Agudas Yisroel, to raise money to help the Jewish refugees in Poland, which had been a major battleground between the Germans, Austrians, and Russians during World War I. While gone, Rabbi Moshe Yechiel's brother started to "fir rabbanus" in Ozherov, and made himself popular. When he returned and saw that people really liked his brother, he decided not to make a controversy, and took over as rabbi of the smaller Polish town of Otwock.
Shortly thereafter, Rabbi Moshe Yechiel was traveling on a train when a Polish man started up with him and spit on him.[ citation needed ] Rabbi Moshe Yechiel had been offered to be the rabbi of a synagogue for Ozerov immigrants on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and this incident—indicative of the treatment of Jews by the Polish people—was the impetus for him to apply to immigrate to the United States. After being rejected a first time, he was granted permission the second time and moved his Hasidic court to New York City in 1926. Rabbi Moshe Yechiel spent several years in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and then moved to the Bronx.
Rabbi Moshe Yechiel's entire family in Europe was wiped out in the Holocaust. After World War II the remnants of the chasidim of Chentshin were left leaderless, their rebbe having been killed by the Nazis. They adopted the Ozherover Rebbe, a grandson of the first Chentshiner Rebbe, as their leader. Rabbi Moshe Yechiel was therefore given the title Grand Rabbi of Ozherov-Chentshin.
Excited by the new state of Israel, Rabbi Moshe Yechiel moved to Tel Aviv in 1952, where he spent the rest of his life.
Rabbi Moshe Yechiel was known as one of the great Torah scholars of his generation. His encyclopedic series of Torah commentaries entitled Eish Dos (11 volumes) and Be'er Moshe (12 volumes) are renowned for their depth. They were considered to be just a small sample of the Rebbe's erudition.
Rabbi Moshe Yechiel died in 1971, and was succeeded by his grandson, Grand Rabbi Tanchum Becker (son of Rabbi Moshe Yechiel's daughter, Rebbetzin Miriam Becker and Rabbi Dovid Eliyahu Becker, a rav in Milwaukee, Wisconsin), the present Rebbe of Ozerov-Chentshin, who was trained by his grandfather to succeed him. Grand Rabbi Becker presently resides with his family in Bnei Brak, where he leads the Ozerov Torah Center, comprising a yeshiva, a kollel for married Talmudic scholars, and the Ozerover Beis Medrash.
Vizhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager. Vizhnitz is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a town in present-day Ukraine.
The Soloveitchik dynasty of rabbinic scholars and their students originated the Brisker method of Talmudic study, which is embraced by their followers in the Brisk yeshivas. It is so called because of the Soloveitchiks' origin in the town of Brisk, or Brest-Litovsk, located in what is now Belarus. Many of the first Soloveitchik rabbis were the official rabbis of Brisk, and each in turn was known as "the Brisker Rov". Today, Brisk refers to several yeshivas in Israel and the United States founded by members of the Soloveitchik family, including the yeshivas of R’ Avraham Yehousua Soloveitchik and the late R’ Dovid Soloveitchik, among others.
In Jewish law and history, Acharonim are the leading rabbis and poskim living from roughly the 16th century to the present, and more specifically since the writing of the Shulchan Aruch in 1563 CE.
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Modzitz, or Modzhitz, is the name of a Hasidic group within Orthodox Judaism that derives its name from Modrzyce, one of the boroughs of the town of Dęblin, Poland, located on the Vistula River.
Shotz is a Hasidic dynasty originating in the city of Suceava, Romania.
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Biala is a Hasidic dynasty originating from the city of Biała Rawska, where it was founded by R. Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowicz (II). Biala is a branch of Peshischa Hasidism, as R. Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowicz (II) was the great-grandson of R. Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowicz, the first Peshischa Rebbe. The dynasty was originally spread throughout many towns in Poland, often taking the names of said towns. However, after the Holocaust, the name "Biala" become synonymous with the entire dynasty. Today the dynasty is mostly concentrated in Israel, America and Switzerland.
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The Ozerov Hasidic dynasty is a Hasidic Jewish dynasty founded in 1827 when Yehudah Leib Epstein, rabbi of Ożarów in Poland since 1811, assumed leadership of his Hasidim ("disciples").
Ożarów is a town in Poland, in the province of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in Opatów county, historic Lesser Poland, with 10,399 inhabitants as of December 31, 2021. Ożarów received its town charter in 1569, during the Polish Golden Age, lost it in 1869, and regained in 1988. The town lies in eastern part of the province, some fifteen kilometers west of the Vistula river. Ożarów's coat of arms is the Rawa, which was used by the Ozarowski family.
Isser Zalman Meltzer, was a Jewish rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek. He was known as the "Even HaEzel", after the title of his commentary on Rambam's Mishneh Torah.
Chentshin is the name of a Polish Hasidic dynasty founded by the Rebbe Chayim Shmuel Szternfeld. Chentshin is the Yiddish name of Chęciny, a town in present-day Poland.
Skolya is a Hasidic dynasty named after the town of Skole in Eastern Galicia, where the founder of this dynasty lived and led his court.
Kalonymus Kalman Halevi Epstein was a rabbi, Kabbalist and a leader of the Chassidic movement, known as the Maor Vashamesh after his Hebrew book.
Kaliv is a Hasidic dynasty founded by Yitzchak Isaac Taub (1744–1821) of Nagykálló, Hungary.
Koidanov is a Hasidic dynasty originating from the city of Dzyarzhynsk (Koidanov), Belarus, where it was founded by Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Perlow (1797–1862) in 1833. Koidanov is a branch of both Lechovitch Hasidism and Karlin-Stolin Hasidism as Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Perlow was the paternal grandson of Rabbi Mordechai of Lechovitch and the maternal grandson of Rabbi Asher of Stolin. Koidanov was the smallest of the three Lithuanian Hasidic dynasties, with most of its Hasidim being murdered in the Holocaust. The dynasty was re-established after the war in Tel Aviv, then moved to Bnei Brak, where the majority of the dynasty is located, but there are Chassidim located around the world.
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