Itche Der Masmid
Encyclopedia
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
in pre-war Europe. Specifically, he served as a Mashpia
Mashpia
Mashpia lit. "person of influence", pl. Mashpi'im is the title of a rabbi or rebbetzin who serves as a spiritual mentor in Tomchei Temimim , in a girls' seminary belonging to the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, or in a Chabad community.-Definition:Although counterparts to the mashpia exist in...
, Hasidic mentor of the Chabad
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
movement. He was born to Shlomo Menachem Mendel and Elka Horowitz in the city of Bereznehuvate, in the Kherson Governorate
Kherson Governorate
The Kherson Governorate or Government of Kherson was a guberniya, or administrative territorial unit, in the Southern Ukrainian region, between the Dnieper and Dniester Rivers, of the Russian Empire. It was one of three governorates created in 1802 when the Novorossiya guberniya was abolished...
. Jewish agricultural settlement in the Kherson area
Jewish agricultural colonies in the Russian Empire
Jewish agricultural colonies in the Russian Empire were first established in Kherson Governorate in 1806. The Ukase of December 9, 1804 allowed Jews for the first time in Russia to purchase land for farming settlements . Jews were provided exemption from military service, tax abatements, and...
had been initiated and encouraged by the second Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Dovber Schneuri
Dovber Schneuri
Dovber Schneuri was the second Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch Chasidic movement. Rabbi Dovber was the first Chabad rebbe to live in the town of Lyubavichi , the town for which this Hasidic dynasty is named...
.
Refinement of character
Reb Itche earned the appellation "Masmid" (which refers to a highly assiduous Talmid ChachamTalmid Chacham
Talmid Chacham is an honorific title given to one well versed in Jewish law, in effect, a Torah scholar....
, Torah scholar) in his early youth, when he would intensively study until very late at night. He continued this assiduity throughout his life. He struggled to refine himself in a superhuman way that aroused wonder in all who saw him.
It was said that he attained the level of Beinoni described in the classic Hasidic text of the Tanya
Tanya
The Tanya is an early work of Hasidic philosophy, by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Hasidism, first published in 1797. Its formal title is Likkutei Amarim , but is more commonly known by its opening word, Tanya, which means "it was taught in a beraita"...
, one whose every thought, speech, and action is consistent with the Code of Jewish Law. He despised all the material narcissistic pleasures of the world,[(others attribute the following to Rabbi Avrohom Elye Axelrod) and said when visiting Manhattan (and seeing all the skyscrapers), "Di ofanim hoben do gut gekakt" ("The angels really relieved themselves here"--hinting at the idea discussed in Chasidic philosophy that materiality is literally an excrement of the spiritual worlds)].
It was his custom to pray for many hours, according to the Chabad tradition of prayer. However, he surpassed his colleagues by praying until five in the afternoon!
Public role
He served as an emissary (shliach) of the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom Dov Ber Schneersohn (the Rebbe Rashab), and of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn (the Rebbe Rayatz). He traveled throughout Europe and encourage the Hasidim and other Jews he met to increase in their devotion to Judaism and the Hasidic lifestyle.Communist persecution
In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution broke out in RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and after some time, virtually any kind of formal Jewish education was outlawed by the new Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
regime. Anyone committing this "crime" was in danger of imprisonment and execution, and many young rabbis suffered this fate. Reb Itche continued his work to strengthen Jewish observance despite this danger, and survived this period.
Wider Influence
His influence reached outside the ranks of the Chabad hasidic circle as well, most notably to Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer DesslerEliyahu Eliezer Dessler
Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler was an Orthodox rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Jewish philosopher of the 20th century. He is known as mashgiach ruchani of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Israel and through collections of his writings published posthumously by his pupils.-Lithuania:Eliyahu Dessler Eliyahu Eliezer...
of the Musar movement, leading Dessler to include many ideas from Hasidic philosophy in his writings.
Demise
He was slain by the Nazis on 10 Kislev, 5702 (30 November 1941). They brought him and numerous other Jews into a synagogueSynagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, poured gasoline on it, and set it ablaze, burning everyone alive.