Dovid Bornsztain
Encyclopedia
Dovid Bornsztain also spelled Borenstein, Bornstein and Bernstein, was the third Rebbe
of the Sochatchov Hasidic
dynasty. He succeeded his father, Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain (I), as Rebbe upon the latter's death in 1926.
5636 in Nasielsk
, Poland
. He was the eldest son of Rabbi Shmuel and Yuta Leah Bornsztain. He had a younger brother, Chanoch Henoch
, and at least one sister. At the time of his birth, his grandfather, Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain
, 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.
. During his time in Vishgorod, he established a yeshiva
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 Lodz
. At war's end, he decided not to return to Vishgorod, but accepted the rabbinate of Tomashov
. 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
5686 (1926).
, near Lodz
. He also founded a network of yeshivas under the name Beis Avraham (the name of the Avnei Nezer) in Lodz, Warsaw
, 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
. 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 to Palestine
. 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 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.
invaded Lodz — 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
, where he lived incognito. However, his home became a center for Torah study
and gatherings of rabbis and activists, and he continued to conduct his tish
every Shabbat
. He also supervised the education of 200 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
(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 Genesha Street. He died there of heart failure on 17 November 1942 (8 Kislev
5703).
He was the last person to be buried in the Genesha Street cemetery in Warsaw, and 500 Jews attended his funeral. The day after the funeral, the Nazis closed off the cemetery.
, 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
, Israel
.
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
of the Sochatchov Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
dynasty. He succeeded his father, Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain (I), as Rebbe upon the latter's death in 1926.
Early life
Bornsztain was born in the Hebrew month of ElulElul
Elul is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days...
5636 in Nasielsk
Nasielsk
Nasielsk is a small town in Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located on a major Warsaw-Gdańsk rail line and serves as a junction, with an additional connection to Sierpc....
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. He was the eldest son of Rabbi Shmuel and Yuta Leah Bornsztain. He had a younger brother, Chanoch Henoch
Chanoch Henoch Bornsztain
Rabbi Chanoch Henoch Bornsztain , also spelled Borenstein or Bernstein, was the fourth Rebbe of the Sochatchov Hasidic dynasty. He acceded to the position of Rebbe following the death of his older brother, Rabbi Dovid Bornsztain, the third Sochatchover Rebbe, who died in the Warsaw Ghetto during...
, and at least one sister. At the time of his birth, his grandfather, Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain
Avrohom Bornsztain
Avrohom Bornsztain , 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 Avnei Nezer after the title of his posthumously-published set of Torah responsa...
, later known as the Avnei Nezer, was serving as Rav of Nasielsk. In 1883, when the Avnei Nezer moved to the city of Sochatchov
Sochaczew
Sochaczew is a town in central Poland, with 38,300 inhabitants . Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship , previously in Skierniewice Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sochaczew County....
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
Ger (Hasidic dynasty)
Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish name of Góra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland....
Hasid from Wola Zadybska
Wola Zadybska
Wola Zadybska is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kłoczew, within Ryki County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately north of Ryki and north-west of the regional capital Lublin.The village has a population of 340....
. 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 VishgorodWyszogród
Wyszogród is a town in Poland, in Masovian Voivodship, in Płock County, by the Vistula River. The population of Wyszogród was 2,793 in 2004.-History:...
. During his time in Vishgorod, he established a yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
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 Lodz
Lódz
Łódź is the third-largest city in Poland. Located in the central part of the country, it had a population of 742,387 in December 2009. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is approximately south-west of Warsaw...
. At war's end, he decided not to return to Vishgorod, but accepted the rabbinate of Tomashov
Tomaszew, Masovian Voivodeship
Tomaszew is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wiskitki, within Żyrardów County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Wiskitki, west of Żyrardów, and south-west of Warsaw.-References:...
. 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
Tebet 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 winter month of 29 days...
5686 (1926).
Third Sochatchover Rebbe
The new Rebbe established his court in PabianicePabianice
Pabianice is a town in central Poland with 69 648 inhabitants . Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County...
, near Lodz
Lódz
Łódź is the third-largest city in Poland. Located in the central part of the country, it had a population of 742,387 in December 2009. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is approximately south-west of Warsaw...
. He also founded a network of yeshivas under the name Beis Avraham (the name of the Avnei Nezer) in Lodz, Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, and other Polish cities. In addition to his duties as Rebbe and rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
, he was an active member of Agudath Israel
Agudath Israel
Agudath Israel can refer to any of several related organizations, including:*World Agudath Israel, an international movement*Agudath Israel of America, an American organization*Agudat Yisrael, an Israeli political party...
and the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah refers to the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of any of several related Haredi Jewish organizations....
. He became known as one of the generation's leading Rebbes.
He often spoke of the idea of settling the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
and encouraged his Hasidim to emigrate to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. 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 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 1939 the NazisNazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
invaded Lodz — 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
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
, where he lived incognito. However, his home became a center for Torah study
Torah study
Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...
and gatherings of rabbis and activists, and he continued to conduct his tish
Tish (Hasidic celebration)
A tish , also spelled tisch, is a gathering of Hasidim around their Rebbe. It may consist of speeches on Torah subjects, singing of melodies known as niggunim and zemirot , with refreshments being served. Hasidim see it as a moment of great holiness...
every Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
. He also supervised the education of 200 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
Tammuz
Tammuz Tammuz Tammuz (Syriac: ܬܡܘܙ, Hebrew: תַּמּוּז, Transliterated Hebrew: Tammuz, Tiberian Hebrew: Tammûz, Arabic: تمّوز Tammūz; Turkish: Temmuz Akkadian: Duʾzu, Dūzu; Sumerian: Dumuzid (DUMU.ZI(D) "faithful or true son") was the name of a Sumerian god of food and vegetation.-Ritual mourning:In...
(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 Genesha Street. He died there of heart failure on 17 November 1942 (8 Kislev
Kislev
Kislev Kislev Tiberian ; also Chislev is the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar....
5703).
He was the last person to be buried in the Genesha 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. These pages were later published as Chasdei Dovid together with the ninth volume of Shem MishmuelShem Mishmuel
Shem Mishmuel is the name of a nine-volume collection of homiletical teachings on the Torah and Jewish holidays delivered by Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain, the second Sochatchover Rebbe, between the years 1910-1926...
, his father's work, which deals with the Haggadah.
The mantle of leadership of the Sochatchover Hasidim passed to his brother, Rabbi Chanoch Henoch
Chanoch Henoch Bornsztain
Rabbi Chanoch Henoch Bornsztain , also spelled Borenstein or Bernstein, was the fourth Rebbe of the Sochatchov Hasidic dynasty. He acceded to the position of Rebbe following the death of his older brother, Rabbi Dovid Bornsztain, the third Sochatchover Rebbe, who died in the Warsaw Ghetto during...
, who had established a beth midrash
Beth midrash
Beth Midrash refers to a study hall, whether in a synagogue, yeshiva, kollel, or other building. It is distinct from a synagogue, although many synagogues are also used as batei midrash and vice versa....
in Bayit Vegan
Bayit Vegan
Bayit VeGan is a neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem, Israel, with a mostly charedi religious population. Bayit VeGan is located to the east of Mount Herzl and borders the neighborhoods of Kiryat Hayovel and Givat Mordechai. The Shaare Zedek Medical Center is located near Bayit VeGan...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
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".
Rebbes of Sochatchov
- Avrohom BornsztainAvrohom BornsztainAvrohom Bornsztain , 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 Avnei Nezer after the title of his posthumously-published set of Torah responsa...
, the Avnei Nezer (1838–1910) - Shmuel Bornsztain (I), the Shem Mishmuel (1856–1926)
- Dovid Bornsztain (1876–1942)
- Chanoch Henoch BornsztainChanoch Henoch BornsztainRabbi Chanoch Henoch Bornsztain , also spelled Borenstein or Bernstein, was the fourth Rebbe of the Sochatchov Hasidic dynasty. He acceded to the position of Rebbe following the death of his older brother, Rabbi Dovid Bornsztain, the third Sochatchover Rebbe, who died in the Warsaw Ghetto during...
(d. 1965) - Menachem Shlomo BornsztainMenachem Shlomo BornsztainMenachem Shlomo Bornsztain , also spelled Borenstein, Bornstein, or Bernstein, was the fifth Rebbe of the Sochatchov Hasidic dynasty. He acceded to the position of Rebbe following the death of his father, Rabbi Chanoch Henoch Bornsztain, the fourth Rebbe of Sochatchov...
(1934–1969) - Shmuel Bornsztain (II)Shmuel Bornsztain (II)Shmuel Bornsztain , also spelled Borenstein or Bernstein, is the sixth Rebbe of the Sochatchov Hasidic dynasty. He acceded to the position of Rebbe following the sudden death of his father, Rabbi Menachem Shlomo Bornsztain, the fifth Rebbe of Sochatchov, in a traffic accident in Jerusalem...
(b. 1961)