Pinchas Shapiro of Koretz (; 1726 – 10 September 1791) was a Lithuanian

Chasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those affi ...

rabbi and theologian who was a disciple of the

Baal Shem Tov Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...

Biography

Born in Shklov, R' Pinchas was the son of Rabbi Avraham Abba Shapiro and Sora Rochel Shapiro. R' Pinchas' father was a descendant of Rabbi Nathan Nata Spira, the author of '' Megaleh Amukot''. He was named after his paternal grandfather, described as "the famous and great scholar Rabbi Pinchas from Shklov." He had 4 children, Moshe (born in 1759), Yehudah Meir (born in 1760), Eliyahu, and Rachel Sheindel Sara. His grandson was Rabbi Pinchas Chodorov. Rabbi Meir Shapiro was a 5th generation descendant of R' Pinchas. Originally of Lithuanian background, R' Pinchas' family was against chasidus, but when they moved to the town of Wohlin, his father became a student of the

, who was known as the founder of the chasidic movement. R' Pinchas, too, followed the Baal Shem Tov, and became known as one of his most important disciples. R' Pinchas had many students, including the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Boruch of Medzhybizh. Other disciples include Rabbi Rafael of Bershadi and Rabbi Benjamin Zeev of Balta. In 1790, R' Pinchas attempted to make

Aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. However, while on route, he died and was buried in

Shepetivka Shepetivka (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city located on the Huska River in Khmelnytskyi Oblast (Oblast, province) in western Ukraine. Shepetivka is the Capital (political), administrative center of Shepetivka Raion (Raion, district). ...

. After R' Pinchas' death, his son, Yehudah Meir, was appointed Rabbi in Shepetovka.

Works

*''Midrash Pinchas'' - A collection of Hasidic stories and sermons delivered by R' Pinchas. The book was compiled based on the records of his students. *''Sefer Imrei Pinchas'' - A collection of all of the writings of R' Pinchas, arranged by the order of the weekly

Torah The Torah ( , "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. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

parasha. These manuscripts were held by R' Pinchas Chodorov, the grandson of R' Pinchas. The current version of the book includes stories of R' Pinchas and his student, R' Rafael of Bershad, biographical material on them and their families, and information of their Hasidic customs. This manuscript was bought after the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

from a non-Jewish acquaintance of R' Pinchas Chodorov.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapiro, Pinchas 1726 births 1791 deaths 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian rabbis Hasidic rebbes 18th-century Jewish theologians Orthodox rabbis from Galicia (Eastern Europe)