Avraham Abba Leifer (1918 – 7 January 1990) was the second Rebbe of the Pittsburgh Hasidic dynasty and the instigator for the relocation of the Hasidut from its original location in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
to the Israeli coastal city of
Ashdod
Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...
. He was widely known for his ''yiras Shamayim'' (fear of Heaven), humility and friendliness toward Jews of all backgrounds.
Early life
Avraham Abba Leifer was born in
Nagykároly
Carei (; , ; /, yi, , ) is a city in Satu Mare County, northwestern Romania, near the border with Hungary. The city administers one village, Ianculești ( hu, Szentjánosmajor).
History
The first mention of the city under the name of "Karul ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
Baal Shem Tov
Israel ben Eliezer (1698 – 22 May 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ( he, בעל שם טוב, ) or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. "Besht" is the acronym for Baal Shem Tov, which ...
. He was the oldest of four brothers; the others were Yissachar Ber, Mordechai and Yitzchak Eisik. Yitzchak Eisik died at the age of 11.
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. He served as Rebbe for more than four decades, until his death on 7 March 1966 (
Shushan Purim
Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Boo ...
5726).
Though the family now lived in America, the Pittsburger Rebbe sent his three eldest sons to learn in
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
s in Europe. He sent Avraham Abba to the yeshiva in Rachov right after his bar mitzvah in 1930. Avraham Abba received
rabbinic ordination
Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination.
The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 C ...
there at the age of 17, being fluent in the
Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Is ...
and knowing the entire Shas by heart. He also learned in the yeshiva in Sekelheid, considered to be the crown of Hungarian yeshivas, where he excelled in his studies."Glimpses of Greatness: The Pittsburgher Rebbe, Harav Avraham Abba Leifer, On His 20th Yahrtzeit, Asarah B'Teves, 5750/1990". '' Hamodia'' Features, 2009-12-31, pp. C3-5.
He married Rachel Rosenbaum, the daughter of Rabbi Isamar Rosenbaum,
Admor
A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritua ...
of Nadvorna. Due to the political situation in Europe, his parents were unable to attend the wedding. He and his new wife were supported by her father for eight years in the city of
Chernowitz
Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the u ...
.
World War II
Of the three brothers learning in European yeshivas, only Avraham Abba survived the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. The
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
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, 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
The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew c ...
.
In 1947 Leifer and his wife succeeded in leaving
Communist Romania
The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the s ...
and returning to America, where he reunited with his parents whom he had not seen in 17 years. In 1950 he moved to
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. and established a
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
and
Talmud Torah
Talmud Torah ( he, תלמוד תורה, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary educat ...
. 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.
Move to Ashdod
In 1970, 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. 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
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
of Córdoba some 1000 years earlier) appeared to him and asked him to establish his court in Ashdod, promising him success. In Ashdod the Rebbe established Torah schools for children, bringing in teachers from other cities, and began monthly ''
shiurim
Shiur (, , lit. ''amount'', pl. shiurim ) is a lecture on any Torah topic, such as Gemara, Mishnah, Halakha (Jewish law), Tanakh (Bible), etc.
History
The Hebrew term שיעור ("designated amount") came to refer to a portion of Ju ...
'' (classes) for adults. He also established a
kollel
A kollel ( he, כולל, , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim (lectures) and learning ''sedarim'' (sessions); ...
for ''avreichim'' (married students) from
Bnei Brak
Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an are ...
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.
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
In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; he, מִצְוָה, ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment commanded by God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discus ...
of the Torah. Yet he also displayed a genuine ''simcha shel mitzvah'' (joy in performing mitzvos), and would engage others with humorous ''vertlach'' (stories).
He was also quite humble. Unlike the custom of most Rebbes, who first partake of the food at a ''
tish
''TISH'' was a Canadian poetry newsletter founded by student-poets at the University of British Columbia in 1961. The publication was edited by a number of Vancouver poets until 1969. The newsletter's poetics were built on those of writers associa ...
'' 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.
Death and legacy
The Rebbe died before dawn on Sunday, January 7, 1990 (10 Tevet 5750) at the age of 72. He was buried on Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem. His son, Rabbi Mordechai Yissachar Ber, who succeeded him as Rebbe, built on his programs and expanded the Hasidut to its current total of nearly 200 families, each of whom has a personal relationship with the Rebbe.
The Rebbe left behind a large number of unpublished manuscripts and his published work, ''Emunas Avraham''.
Meshulam Eliezer Leifer
Meshulam Eliezer Leifer ( he, משולם אליעזר לייפער; born January 23, 1979) 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 Oct ...