Sholom Noach Berezovsky
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Rabbi Sholom Noach Berezovsky ( he, שלום נח ברזובסקי; August 18, 1911 – August 8, 2000) served as Slonimer
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 ...
from 1981 until his death. A prolific writer, He is widely known for his teachings which are published as a series of books entitled ''Nesivos Sholom''. Through his writings he was among the most influential of contemporary chasidic rebbes, among chasidim and non-chasidim alike. A leading non-chasidic rosh yeshiva has referred to the ''Nesivos Sholom'' as the "
Mesillat Yesharim ''Mesillat Yesharim'' or ''Mesillas Yeshorim'' ( he, מסילת ישרים, lit. "Path of the Upright") is an ethical ('' musar'') text composed by the influential Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707–1746). It is different from Luzzato's other wri ...
of our times". The statement, according to one understanding, refers to the impact of the respective religious works, each in their generation, rather than to the authors themselves.


Early life

Sholom Noach was born on August 18, 1911 (4 Av 5671 in the Hebrew calendar) in Baranavichy (today in
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
), to Rabbi Moshe Avrohom Berezovsky and Tzvia Berezovsky. His father was the head of the local Jewish community. His mother was a granddaughter of Hillel Weinberg, a brother of the first Slonimer rebbe Rabbi Avraham Weinberg (author of the ''Yesod Ha'avodah''). Sholom Noach studied in the Slonimer
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 ...
Toras Chessed in Baranovitsh. The '' rosh yeshiva'', Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Hirshovitz was a grandson of Rabbi
Eliezer Gordon Eliezer Gordon ( he, אליעזר גוֹרְדוֹן; 1841–1910) also known as Reb Laizer Telzer (), served as the rabbi and ''rosh yeshiva'' of Telz, Lithuania. Early years Eliezer Gordon was born in 1841 in the village of Chernyany (or ...
of Telz, and the mashgiach, Rabbi Moshe Midner, was a grandson of the ''Yesod Ho'Avoda'' and a student of Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik; the Yeshiva thus combined the Lithuanian Talmudic style of the Misnagdic yeshivas with the Hasidic approach. In approximately 1930, the Slonimer Rebbe Rabbi Avraham Weinberg appointed Sholom Noach to commit to memory and subsequently write up the discourses which he (the Rebbe) delivered every Shabbos. These notes were subsequently published under the name ''Beis Avrohom''. By 1933 he had moved to Israel and in that year married a daughter of Rabbi Avrohom Weinberg of
Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...
, (who would later to become Slonimer Rebbe, known as the ''Bircath Avrohom''.


Rabbinic career

In 1940, Rabbi Sholom Noach was appointed ''rosh yeshiva'' of ''Achei Temimim'', the Lubavitcher yeshiva in Tel Aviv. In 1941 he opened the Slonimer yeshiva in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
with just five students. On Friday nights rabbi Berezovsky would sit with the students for hours on end, teaching them the traditional Slonimer melodies. The Slonim Hasidic dynasty was virtually wiped out in 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; ...
; the yeshiva in Jerusalem served as the focus for its revival. As part of his effort to rejuvenate Slonimer chasidus, Rabbi Sholom Noach was responsible for collecting the oral traditions ascribed to previous Slonimer rebbes (who did not commit their teachings to writing) in works such as ''Divrei Shmuel'' and ''Toras Ovos''. In 1954, Rabbi Berezovsky's father-in-law agreed to assume the mantle of the Rebbe. Rabbi Sholom Noach wrote up his discourses, too; they were subsequently published as ''Birkas Avrohom''. Rabbi Sholom Noach also authored many volumes of his own teachings, including his magnum opus, the seven-volume ''Nesivos Sholom'' (1982) as well as numerous smaller works on educational issues, marital harmony and other issues. He succeeded his father-in-law as Slonimer Rebbe following the latter's death in 1981, serving in that capacity for almost twenty years. He is succeeded by his son, Rabbi Shmuel.


References


Sources

*
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 ...
, August 18, 2000, p. 24 and ''Marbitzei Torah Me'olam Ha'chasidut'' Vol. I, p. 177 and Vol. III, p. 167, quoted i
Hama'yan

Responding to Loss with Leadership: Nesivos Shalom on the Holocaust, Weinberg, Tzipora. August 9,2016


Further reading


Rebbe Avraham of Slonim, Yesod Ha'avodah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berezovsky, Sholom Noach 1911 births 2000 deaths Belarusian Orthodox Jews Hasidic rebbes Israeli Hasidic rabbis Israeli Rosh yeshivas People from Baranavichy People from Novogrudsky Uyezd Slonim (Hasidic dynasty)