Chaim Elazar Spira (December 17, 1868 – May 13, 1937) was a

rebbe 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 the

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

Munkacs Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...

dynasty.

Family background

Spira was born in Strzyżów, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, now part of Poland, where his grandfather, Shlomo Spira, was a rabbi. Chaim Elazar's father, Tzvi Hersh Spira, was from Spira family which had held rabbinical positions in Munkács dating back to the founder of the Munkács Hasidic dynasty, Tzvi Elimelech Spira of Dinov (Bnei Yisoschor), who was Chief Rabbi from 1828 to 1832. Spira became Chief Justice of the Rabbinical Court in Munkács in 1903, where he worked along with his father until the latter died in 1913. He succeeded his father as Chief Rabbi of Munkács and the surrounding communities.

Biography

Spira wrote and published over twenty books on the

Jewish law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

, Hasidism, and religious philosophy and customs including the six-volume ''Minchas Elazar''. He opposed political

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

and the Agudat Yisrael. Spira established elementary schools under the name "Machzike Torah." He founded 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 ...

'' (rabbinical college) in Munkacs, named ''Darchei Tshuva'', after the title of his father's

sefer (book) ''Sifrei Kodesh'' ( he, ספרי קודש, , Holy books), commonly referred to as ''sefarim'' ( he, ספרים, , books), or in its singular form, ''sefer'', are books of Jewish religious literature and are viewed by religious Jews as sacred. ...

Journey to Jerusalem

In 1930, Spira visited

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

for a thirteen-day trip to visit the elderly kabbalist

Solomon Eliezer Alfandari Solomon Eliezer Alfandari ( he, שלמה אליעזר אלפנדרי) ( 1826 – 22 Iyar 1930), also known as the Saba Kadisha ("Holy Grandfather"), was a distinguished rabbi, kabbalist and rosh yeshiva in his native home of Constantinople, and ...

(known as the Saba Kadisha, "Holy Grandfather") and also to visit with his followers in Palestine. He met with Alfandari for long hours behind closed doors over the span of a week. While Spira was in Jerusalem Alfandari died. Mun1

Details of the trip were recorded in a book written by a disciple of Spira's, Moshe Goldstein, who was one of those accompanying the Rebbe on his trip. The book was reprinted several times in Hebrew and Yiddish, and was translated to English in 2009 by Artscroll Publications.

Wedding of daughter in 1933

Spira's only daughter, Chaya Fruma Rivka (known as Frima), married

Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinowicz Grand Rabbi Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinovich (1914–1997), was a member of a chassidic dynasty, and succeeded to the title Munkacser Rebbe. Early years Boruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel was born in Russia in 1914 to his parents, Rabbi Nosson ...

in Munkács on March 15, 1933. Over 20,000 guests attended the wedding. According to the daily newspaper ''

Rudý večerník ''Rudý večerník'' ('Red Evening Newspaper') was a communist evening newspaper published from Prague, interbellum Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name ...

'', "The wedding lasted for seven days".

Legacy

Spira died in 1937 and was succeeded as Chief Rabbi by his son-in-law

, Spira's only daughter Frima's husband, who was chief rabbi until the Nazi occupation of Munkács in 1944. Spira's gravesite in the Munkács Jewish Cemetery dresses pilgrims, especially on the anniversary of his death on the third day in the month of Sivan.

Today

Munkacs World Headquarters in Boro Park, Brooklyn

The Munkacs Hasidic dynasty is now led by his grandson,

Moshe Leib Rabinovich Moshe Leib Rabinovich (born December 25, 1940 in Munkacs, Hungary) is the current rebbe of Munkacs. Early life Rabinovich was born as the third child to his parents Rabbi Baruch and Frima Rabinovich in Munkacs, Carpathian Ruthenia, the coun ...

, who lives in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Israel

Batei Munkacs, the Israeli residential neighborhood founded by Spira, draws tourists.

References

External links

Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapira – the Munkaczer Rebbe - A Jewish Community in the Carpathian Mountains- The Story of Munkács

Video of the wedding of Chaya Frima Rivka Spira - daughter of Rabbi Chaim Elazar to Rabbi Baruch Rabinovich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spira, Chaim Elazar 1871 births 1937 deaths 20th-century Russian rabbis Anti-Zionist Hasidic rabbis Hungarian Orthodox rabbis People from Strzyżów County Polish Hasidic rabbis Rabbis from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Rebbes of Munkacs Religious leaders in Hungary