Moshe Leib Rabinovich
Encyclopedia
Mukacheve
Mukachevo or Mukacheve is a city located in the valley of the Latorica river in the Zakarpattia Oblast , in southwestern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Mukachivskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
) is the current rebbe
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 Munkacs
Munkacz (Hasidic dynasty)
Munkatch Hasidism is a Hasidic sect within Haredi Judaism of mostly Hungarian Hasidic Jews. It was founded and led by the late Polish-born Grand Rebbe Shlomo Spira, who was the rabbi of the town of Munkacs. Members of the congregation are mainly referred to as Munkacs Hasidim or Munkatcher Hasidim...
.
Rabinovich was born as the third child to his parents Rabbi Baruch and Frima Rabinovich in Munkacs, Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia is a region in Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast , with smaller parts in easternmost Slovakia , Poland's Lemkovyna and Romanian Maramureş.It is...
, Ukraine, the country itself having at the time just been created with a sizable piece of Hungary, which in turn received Munkacs from Czechoslovakia with the help of Nazi Germany in 1938.
His father, Rabbi Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinowicz
Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinowicz
Grand Rabbi Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinovich, , was born into a distinguished chassidic dynasty, and succeeded to the title Munkacser Rebbe.- Early years :...
served as Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi 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...
of Munkacs following the death of his father-in-law Chief Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira
Chaim Elazar Spira
Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira was one of the rebbes of the Hasidic movement Munkacz .-Family background:...
in 1937 until the Nazis occupied Munkacs in 1944.
During World War Two, Rabinovich's father escaped the Nazis and fled with his entire family to the land of Israel (then Palestine). Shortly after they arrived in Palestine, Rabinovich and his siblings were orphaned with the passing of their mother, Chaya Frima Rivka Rabinovich. Rabinovich studied in Israel and later in the United States at the Telshe yeshiva
Telshe yeshiva
Telshe yeshiva was a famous Eastern European yeshiva founded in the Lithuanian town of Telšiai. After World War II the yeshiva relocated to Wickliffe, Ohio, in the United States and is currently known as the Rabbinical College of Telshe, It is one of the most prominent Haredi institutions of Torah...
in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. At Telshe, he became especially close to Rabbi Mordechai Gifter with whom he had a study partnership of several consecutive hours on a daily basis. Following five years at Telshe, Rabinovich moved to Beis Medrash Elyon, a yeshiva for advanced learning in Spring Valley, New York
Spring Valley, New York
Spring Valley, incorporated on July 9, 1902 is a village spanning the Town of Ramapo and Town of Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Nanuet; east of Airmont and Monsey; south of Hillcrest and west of West Nyack...
. He also maintained a close relationship with the Satmar
Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)
Satmar is a Hasidic movement comprising mostly Hungarian and Romanian Hasidic Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants. It was founded and led by the late Hungarian-born Grand Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum , who was the rabbi of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary...
Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum until his passing in 1979.
While Rabinovich was in Beis Medrosh Elyon, the elders of Munkacs met in Brooklyn. Led by Rabbi Chaim Ber Greenfeld and Rabbi Shlomo Goldstein, both gabbai
Gabbai
A Gabbai is a person who assists in the running of a synagogue and ensures that the needs are met, for example the Jewish prayer services run smoothly, or an assistant to a rabbi...
's (secretaries) of the Munkacser Rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira, the participants agreed unanimously that the time had come for Munkacs Hasidism to be born again, in America, and that Rabinovich should be their Rebbe.
Rabinovich married Nechama Perl, daughter of Rabbi Aron Bernstein of Jerusalem in 1962 and was immediately appointed as leader of the Munkacs community. At first, he settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York and later moved to the Boro Park section of Brooklyn. He immediately began to rebuild the community, and established religious and educational bases in the United States, Canada, Israel, England and Australia.
Rabinovich's followers and petitioners seek his advice on all issues. His counsel is frequently sought by government and elected officials for his blessings and support.
Rabinovich frequently visits his home town in Munkacs (now, Mukachevo, Ukraine), to strengthen the remaining Jews and to help rebuild the Munkacs Jewish community. In August 2006, a Jewish community center and Synagogue were dedicated by Rabbi Rabinovich to serve the needs of the community.
Rabinovich has authored numerous books on Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
and Halacha (Jewish Law), among them Sharei Orah and Olas Shabbos. He also serves as Honorary President of Kollel Munkatch and Ten Suburbs in Jerusalem, Israel.
He resides in Borough Park, Brooklyn
Borough Park, Brooklyn
Borough Park , is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City in the United States....
, New York which is home to thousands of Jews of Munkacs descent and which is the international headquarters of worldwide Munkacs Jewry.
Rabinovich and his wife have three children, Rabbi Chaim Elazar, married to Gittel Beila Teitlebaum, Frima, married to Rabbi Yosef Horowitz and Rabbi Yerucham Fishel, married to Malka Teitelbaum.
Related reading
- Jewish Press "My Machberes" article regarding the Munkacser Rebbe
- New York Times article regarding wedding of Munkacser Rebbe's daughter
- Jewish Press "My Machberes" article describing the Munkacs sukkah
- Mishpacha magazine article on the Munkacser Rebbe
- Herman Wouk book on the Munkacser Rebbe