Yona Sztencl ( he, יונה שטנצל, ; August 3, 1904 – July 5, 1969) was an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

who founded the

Mishnah Yomis In Judaism, Mishnah Yomis ( he, משנה יומית "The Daily Study of the Mishnah") refers to the Torah study cycle in which two Mishnayos (brief collections of rulings dealing with the Oral Law) are learned every day. Previous cycles of the Mish ...

and the

Halacha Yomis The Halacha Yomis Program (or ''Halacha Yomit'', as it is known in Israel) is a learning program which covers the entire Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim followed by the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. The cycle takes about 4 years to complete. Every day, Jewi ...

. He also served as the rabbi of Congregation Bais Hassidim Arlenger in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

and was a member of the

Chief Rabbinate Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

Family background

Sztencl 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 ...

on 3 August 1904 to Rabbi Shlomo and Miriam Baila Zweigenhaft. Sztencl was born into a

nical family. His father Shlomo was a Polish

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

rabbi who served as Chief Rabbi of

Czeladź Czeladź (; yi, טשעלאַדזש, Chelodz) is a town in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie (part of historic Lesser Poland), in southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river (tributary of the Vistul ...

, Poland, and Rav, '' dayan'', and rosh yeshiva of Sosnowiec, Poland. He also authored ''Koheles Shlomo'' and ''Beis Shlomo''. Sztencl's mother Miriam was the daughter of Rabbi Efraim Mordechai Mottel Zweigenhaft who served as a

Posek In Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities a ...

and Shochet in Sosnowiec.Chidushei Hagaon M'sosnovitz

Biography

In his youth Sztencl studied in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, Poland. His study partner, Moshe Mordechai Biderman would later become Grand Rabbi of the Lelov dynasty. Thereafter, Sztencel was one of the first students to study in the famed

Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva ( he, ישיבת חכמי לובלין, "Academy of the Sages of Lublin"; pl, Jeszywas Chachmej Lublin) was a Jewish educational institution ( yeshiva) that operated in the city of Lublin, Poland from 1930 to 1939. At t ...

. In 1932, Sztencl married Sheva Fiszel, the daughter of a businessman in Sosnowiec. In 1935, Sztencl immigrated to Palestine and settled in

where, in addition to serving as the Rabbi of a local synagogue named "Bais Chassidim - Erlanger", he was appointed as a member of the

of Tel Aviv. Initially his duties involved overseeing the Kashrut in Tel Aviv, a position which he held jointly with Grand Rabbi Shemuel Eliyahu Taub of the Modzitz dynasty. Thereafter, Sztencl was appointed as the sole authority in Sabbath enforcement. After most of his family was murdered 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; ...

, Sztencl created the

and the

as a spiritual merit for the millions of victims of the Holocaust. These programs received overwhelming support from many Rabbinical authorities of the time, among them, Rabbi

Isser Zalman Meltzer Isser Zalman Meltzer ( he, איסר זלמן מלצר) (February 6, 1870 – November 17, 1953),Isser Zalman Meltzer "Even HaEzel" (1870 - 1953) was a famous Lithuanian Jewish and Belarusian Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek. He is also kn ...

, Rabbi

Moshe Feinstein Moshe Feinstein ( he, משה פײַנשטיין; Lithuanian pronunciation: ''Moshe Faynshteyn''; en, Moses Feinstein; March 3, 1895 – March 23, 1986) was an American Orthodox rabbi, scholar, and ''posek'' (authority on ''halakha''—J ...

, Rabbi

Avraham Mordechai Alter Avraham Mordechai Alter ( pl, Abraham Mordekhaj Alter, he, אברהם מרדכי אלתר; 25 December 1865 – 3 June 1948), also known as the ''Imrei Emes'' after the works he authored, was the fourth Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a po ...

and Rabbi

Menachem Mendel Schneerson Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Modern Hebrew: מנחם מענדל שניאורסון; old-fashioned spelling: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן; April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to man ...

Works

Halacha Yomis Calendar

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sztencl, Yonah 1904 births 1969 deaths People from Sosnowiec 20th-century Israeli rabbis Haredi rabbis in Israel Israeli Rosh yeshivas