Rabbi Yisroel Yitzchok Piekarski (1905–1992) was a Polish-born rabbi who was the Rosh Yeshiva of the

Lubavich Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...

hassidic 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 ...

movement for 42 years.

Biography

Rabbi Yisroel Yitzchok Piekarski was born in Sosnowiec

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 ...

in 1905 to a family of Amshinover hassidim, he was a disciple of Rabbi Aryeh Tzvi Frummer and Rabbi Abraham Weinberg of

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 ...

(author o
Reishis Bikkurim
After receiving

semicha 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 ...

from Rabbi Aryeh Tzvi Frommer, Rabbi Piekarski went on to serve briefly as Rabbi of the small town of Modrzejów in Poland (which is now part of Sosnowiec) before accepting a position as a Rabbi in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

shortly before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1947, Rabbi Piekarski emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

where he was appointed Rabbi of the "Tzierei Agudas Yisroel"

Shul A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worsh ...

in Bronx New York. In 1951 he was appointed Rosh Yeshiva of

Tomchei Temimim Tomchei Tmimim ( he, תומכי תמימים, "supporters of the complete-wholesome ones") is the central Yeshiva (Talmudical academy) of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Founded in 1897 in the town of Lubavitch by Rabbi Sholom Do ...

of Lubavitch where he taught thousands of students. Simultaneously, he relocated from the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

where he served as the Rabbi of Bais Yakov Shul in Forest Hills NY and delivered shiurim attended by large crowds of admirers.

Works

*
Even Yisroel
' *
Otzros Hashiurim
'
Chakrei Hilochos Volume 1

Chakrei Hilochos Volume 2

Chakrei Hilochos Volume 3

Chakrei Hilochos Volume 4

Chakrei Hilochos Volume 5

Chakrei Hilochos Volume 6

Chakrei Hilochos Volume 7

Chakrei Hilochos Volume 8

Chakrei Hilochos Volume 9

Links

Photograph of Rabbi Piekarski together with the Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson in Camp Gan Yisroel (1960)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piekarski, Yisroel Yitzchok Polish Orthodox rabbis 20th-century Polish rabbis 1905 births 1993 deaths People from Sosnowiec 20th-century American rabbis