Dovid Bornsztain (1876 – 17 November 1942
), also spelled Borenstein, Bornstein and Bernstein, known as the Chasdei Dovid, was the third
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
Sochatchov Hasidic dynasty. He succeeded his father, Rabbi
Shmuel Bornsztain, as Rebbe upon the latter's death in 1926.
Early life
Bornsztain was born in the
Hebrew month
The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...
of
Elul
Elul ( he, אֱלוּל, Standard ''ʾElūl'', Tiberian ''ʾĔlūl'') is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August ...
5636
[''Harav Dovid Bornstein — The Sochatchover Rebbe''. ]Hamodia
''Hamodia'' ( he, המודיע – "''the Informer''") is a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Jerusalem. A daily English-language edition is also published in the United States, and weekly English-language editions in England and Israe ...
Features, 11 November 2010, p. C3. in
Nasielsk
Nasielsk is a small town in Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located approximately north of the Polish capital Warsaw, on the Warsaw- Gdańsk rail line and serves as a railway junction. In 2020, the population of the town was estimated at 7, ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
. He was the eldest son of Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain (the ''Shem MiShmuel'') and his wife Yuta Leah. He had a younger brother,
Chanoch Henoch, and at least one sister. At the time of his birth, his grandfather, Rabbi
Avrohom Bornsztain
Avrohom Bornsztain (14 October 1838 – 7 February 1910), also spelled Avraham Borenstein or Bernstein, was a leading posek in late-nineteenth-century Europe and founder and first Rebbe of the Sochatchover Hasidic dynasty. He is known as the ...
, later known as the ''Avnei Nezer'', was serving as Rav of Nasielsk. In 1883, when the ''Avnei Nezer'' moved to the city of
Sochatchov to serve as that city's Rav, his son Rabbi Shmuel and his family accompanied him and lived in a separate house in the same town.
Young Dovid was taught privately by Rabbi Yitzchak Shlomo Lieberman of Ozorkow, but his primary teacher during his childhood was his grandfather, the ''Avnei Nezer''. From him he learned both the revealed and hidden Torah, along with the ''Avnei Nezer's'' unique methodology for understanding the commentary of the Jewish sages, which formed the Hasidut of Sochatchov.
Later he learned in his grandfather's yeshiva with students who were much older than he.
In 1891 Bornsztain was engaged to Rachel, the daughter of Rabbi Chaim Yisrael Morgenstern, the Pilover Rebbe. Rachel died that same year, before the wedding took place. Two years later, Bornsztain married Esther Weingut, the daughter of Rabbi Mottel Weingut, a
Ger Hasid from
Wola Zadybska. Although the custom was for married men to live in or near the home of their father-in-law, Bornstzain and his wife lived in his grandfather's house, where he continued to learn from him.
Entering the rabbinate
Around 1906, (some date this event as late as 1910, after the death of the ''Avnei Nezer''
), Bornsztain accepted the rabbinate of
Vishgorod. During his time in Vishgorod, he 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 st ...
patterned after the learning style of Sochatchover Hasidut,
where hundreds of young men studied.
With the outbreak of World War I, Bornsztain was forced to move to
Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...
. At war's end, he decided not to return to Vishgorod, but accepted the rabbinate of
Tomaszów Mazowiecki
Tomaszów Mazowiecki (, yi, טאָמעשעוו or ''Tomashuv'') is a city in central Poland with 60,529 inhabitants (2021). The fourth most populous city in the Łódź Voivodeship and the second with free public transport. In Tomaszów Mazowi ...
. He was rabbi in Tomaszów in years 1918-1926. Upon his father's death in January 1926, Bornsztain was appointed third Sochatchover Rebbe by his father's Hasidim. This appointment occurred during the funeral itself on 24
Tevet
Tevet ( he, טֵבֵת, ''Ṭevet''; ; from Akkadian ) is the fourth month of the civil year and the tenth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It follows Kislev and precedes Shevat. It is a month of 29 days. Tevet usually occ ...
5686 (1926).
Third Sochatchover Rebbe
The new Rebbe established his court in
Pabianice
Pabianice is a city in central Poland with 63,023 inhabitants (2021). Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County. It lies about southwest of Łódź and belongs to the metropolitan area of that city. It is the ...
, near
Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...
.
He also founded a network of yeshivas under the name ''Beis Avraham'' (the name of the ''Avnei Nezer'') in Łódź,
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, and other Polish cities.
In addition to his duties as Rebbe and
rosh yeshiva, he was an active member of
Agudath Israel and the
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (, "Council of great Torah ages) 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 pr ...
.
He became known as one of the generation's leading Rebbes.
He often spoke of the idea of settling the
Land of Israel and encouraged his Hasidim to emigrate there. He was quoted as saying that he himself would have emigrated there, were it not for the thousands of Hasidim in Poland who depended on his leadership.
He himself visited
Palestine in 1924 and 1925. On his first trip, which he took with his brother Chanoch Henoch, he put a down payment on a plot of land south of
Ramle
Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations.
The city was f ...
with the intention of starting a Hasidic settlement. When he returned to Poland to raise the rest of the money, his plan was thwarted by an economic depression that hit Poland shortly after his return.
He eventually lost his rights to the land, as well as the money he had invested in it.
World War II
On
Rosh Hashana
Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...
1939 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 N ...
invaded Łódź — then home to the second-largest Jewish community in Europe — and proceeded to snatch men off the streets for forced labor. They found the Rebbe in his home and beat him, cutting off some of his beard. Then they forced him to clean the streets.
After this episode, his Hasidim obtained forged documents for him and smuggled him into the
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...
, where he lived incognito.
However, his home became a center for
Torah study
Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the '' mitzvah'' ("com ...
and gatherings of rabbis and activists,
and he continued to conduct his ''
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 ...
'' every
Shabbat.
He also supervised the education of several hundred Sochatchover yeshiva students in the ghetto and provided solace and encouragement to many.
Before Rosh Hashanah 1940, the Rebbe sent out a letter encouraging his Hasidim and inspiring them to repentance. He was also the first to warn the residents of the ghetto that their lives were in danger. He convened a meeting of rabbis in
Tammuz
Dumuzid or Tammuz ( sux, , ''Dumuzid''; akk, Duʾūzu, Dûzu; he, תַּמּוּז, Tammûz),; ar, تمّوز ' known to the Sumerians as Dumuzid the Shepherd ( sux, , ''Dumuzid sipad''), is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with shep ...
(summer) 1942 to warn them, but many did not believe that the danger was so great.
The Rebbe worked in several factories, the last of which was a shoe factory run by a man named Schultz, who employed other Hasidic Rebbes and prominent rabbis.
Out of fear that the Nazis were pursuing him, he moved from place to place constantly.
When the deportations began, the Rebbe hid in a shop on 67 Gensha (Gęsia) Street. He died there of
heart failure on 17 November 1942 (8
Kislev
Kislev or Chislev (Hebrew: כִּסְלֵו, Standard ''Kīslev'' Tiberian ''Kīslēw''), also 'Chisleu' in the King James (authorized English) Bible, is the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the H ...
5703).
He was the last person to be buried in the Gensha (Gęsia) Street cemetery in Warsaw,
and 500 Jews attended his funeral. The day after the funeral, the Nazis closed off the cemetery.
Legacy and successor
The Rebbe's wife, sons, daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren were all murdered by the Nazis in the spring of 1943. Additionally, almost all of the Rebbe's many manuscripts were destroyed, save for a few pages containing ''chidushim'' (new Torah thoughts) on the
Passover Haggadah
The Haggadah ( he, הַגָּדָה, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder._According_to_Jewish_practice,_reading_the_Haggadah_at_the_Seder_table_is_a_fulfillment_of_the_mitzvah.html" ;"tit ...
. These pages were later published as ''Chasdei Dovid'' together with the ninth volume of ''
Shem Mishmuel
:''This article refers to the Torah book. For the second Rebbe of the Sochatchov Hasidic dynasty, see Shmuel Bornsztain.''
''Shem Mishmuel'' ( he, שם משמואל) is a nine-volume collection of homiletical teachings on the Torah and Jewish hol ...
'', his father's work, which deals with the Haggadah.
The mantle of leadership of the Sochatchover Hasidim passed to his brother, Rabbi
Chanoch Henoch, who had established a
beth midrash in
Bayit Vegan
Bayit VeGan ( he, בית וגן, lit. ''House and Garden'') is a neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem. Bayit VeGan is located to the east of Mount Herzl and borders the neighborhoods of Kiryat HaYovel and Givat Mordechai.
History Bronze Age
A 4 ...
, Israel.
Quotes
* "We humans chase over the world to find things: We climb high mountains; we descend to the depths of the sea; we trek to the wilderness and the desert. There is one place where we neglect to search — our heart. But it is there we will find God".
Notable Hasidim
* Rabbi Yehoshua Moshe Aronsohn, rabbi of
Petach Tikva
Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Jews of the Old Yishuv, and became a permanent s ...
* Rabbi
Aryeh Tzvi Frumer
Aryeh Tzvi Frumer ( he, אריה צבי פרומר; also spelled ''Fromer'' or ''Frommer''; 18842 May 1943) was a leading Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and posek (halachic authority) in 20th-century Poland. Known as the Kozhiglover Rav after his ...
* Rabbi
Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft
Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft (Hebrew: ) was a Rosh Hashochtim of Poland (overseeing the country's kosher slaughterers) before the Holocaust. After the Holocaust he was Chief Rabbi of Hanover and Lower Saxony. Later, after emigrating to the Unit ...
Rebbes of Sochatchov
#
Avrohom Bornsztain
Avrohom Bornsztain (14 October 1838 – 7 February 1910), also spelled Avraham Borenstein or Bernstein, was a leading posek in late-nineteenth-century Europe and founder and first Rebbe of the Sochatchover Hasidic dynasty. He is known as the ...
, the ''Avnei Nezer'' (1838–1910)
#
Shmuel Bornsztain, the ''Shem Mishmuel'' (1856–1926)
# Dovid Bornsztain (1876–1942)
#
Chanoch Henoch Bornsztain (d. 1965)
#
Menachem Shlomo Bornsztain (1934–1969)
#
Shmuel Bornsztain (b. 1961)
References
Bibliography
* M. Galas, ''Bornstein Dawida z Sochaczewa'',
n:Z. Borzymowska, R. Żebrowski (ed.), ''Polski słownik judaistyczny. Dzieje – kultura – religia – ludzie'', vol. 1, Warsaw 2003, p. 220 (in Polish).
* Andrzej Kempa, Marek Szukalak, ''The Biographical Dictionary of the Jews from Lodz'', Łódź 2006, p. 34.
* Krzysztof Tomasz Witczak, ''Słownik biograficzny Żydów tomaszowskich'
Biographical Dictionary of the Jews from Tomaszów Mazowiecki Łódź - Tomaszów Mazowiecki 2010, . p. 64 (D. Bornstein's biographical note; in Polish).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bornsztain, Dovid
Rebbes of Sochatchov
Polish Hasidic rabbis
20th-century Polish rabbis
People who died in the Warsaw Ghetto
People from Nasielsk
People from Tomaszów Mazowiecki
Polish civilians killed in World War II
1876 births
1942 deaths