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 Munkacs dynasty.
Family background
Spira was born in
Strzyżów
Strzyżów is a town in Strzyżów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, along the Wisłok river valley. Strzyżów is one of the towns within the Strzyżowsko-Dynowskie Foothill, located south-east of Kraków and 30 km from Rzesz ...
,
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,, ; pl, Królestwo Galicji i Lodomerii, ; uk, Королівство Галичини та Володимирії, Korolivstvo Halychyny ta Volodymyrii; la, Rēgnum Galiciae et Lodomeriae also known as ...
,
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
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 ...
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, 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 ...
, Hasidism, and religious philosophy and customs including the six-volume ''Minchas Elazar''. He opposed political Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a 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 known in Je ...
and the Agudat Yisrael
Agudat Yisrael ( he, אֲגוּדָּת יִשְׂרָאֵל, lit., ''Union of Israel'', also transliterated ''Agudath Israel'', or, in Yiddish, ''Agudas Yisroel'') is a Haredi Jewish political party in Israel. It began as a political party re ...
.
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 st ...
'' (rabbinical college) in Munkacs, named ''Darchei Tshuva'', after the title of his father's sefer (book).
Journey to Jerusalem
In 1930, Spira visited Palestine for a thirteen-day trip to visit the elderly kabbalist Solomon Eliezer Alfandari (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.
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 in Munkács on March 15, 1933.]
Over 20,000 guests attended the wedding. According to the daily newspaper '' Rudý večerník'', "The wedding lasted for seven days".
Legacy
Spira died in 1937 and was succeeded as Chief Rabbi by his son-in-law Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinowicz, 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
The Munkacs Hasidic dynasty is now led by his grandson, Moshe Leib Rabinovich, 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
Further reading
*
*Aviezer Ravitzky, "Munkacs and Jerusalem: Ultra-Orthodox Opposition to Zionism and Agudaism," ''Zionism and Religion'', eds. Shmuel Almog, Jehuda Reinharz, and Anita Shapira (Hanover and London, 1998), 67-89.
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