Yehuda Chitrik
Encyclopedia
Rabbi Yehuda Chitrik was an author and Mashpia
in the Chabad
Hasidic
community in Brooklyn
, New York.
in Russia
, to a prominent Lubavitch family that traces its roots to the foremost Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe. At the age of 14, he began studying in Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim in the village of Lubavitch, where he met the fifth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn
. For the next 12 years, he traveled to many different communities together with the Yeshiva, for the difficulties caused by World War I, the Bolshevik revolution, and the economic pressures to which the Jews were subjected compelled the Yeshiva to move frequently.
In 1926 Chitrik married Kayla Tomarkin, the daughter of Rabbi Aharon Tomarkin, a Rabbi in Kharkov, Ukraine
, and began to serve as a Shochet until the Russian government forcefully shut down the ritual slaughterhouses. During this period he also met Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
, who later became the seventh Lubavitcher rebbe.
, Rabbi Chitrik and his family moved to Belgium
with the intention of continuing to the United States. But the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn recognized his skills and asked him to remain in Belgium to support the community and spread Yiddishkeit
and Chassidic warmth among the many refugees who had settled in that country.
In 1949, he emigrated to Montreal
, Canada
, where he was appointed Mashpia in the branch of the Lubavitcher Yeshiva
established there. After the passing of his wife in 1983, he moved to Brooklyn.
Rabbi Chitrik was the eldest Chabad Chassid for many years, and served as a source of knowledge and inspiration for many. He had four children and eighteen grandchildren, and is survived by over 300 descendants in total.
Many of his descendants serve as spiritual leaders and rabbis across the globe. Amongst them is his son-in-law Rabbi David Moshe Lieberman, who serves as the chief rabbi of Antwerp, Belgium. Other descendants serve in China, Turkey, Germany, Australia, Israel, Canada, Uruguay, Brazil, Ukraine, England and cities across the United States: Bedford, NY; Philadelphia, PA, New York City, NY; Munster, IN; Oak Park, MI.
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...
in the Chabad
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad-Lubavitch is a Chasidic movement in Orthodox Judaism. One of the world's larger and best-known Chasidic movements, its official headquarters is in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York...
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...
community in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York.
Early life
Yehuda Chitrik was born in 1899 in Krasnaluk, a small Jewish shtetlShtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
in Russia
Russia
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...
, to a prominent Lubavitch family that traces its roots to the foremost Chassidim of the Alter Rebbe. At the age of 14, he began studying in Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim in the village of Lubavitch, where he met the fifth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn
Sholom Dovber Schneersohn
Sholom Dovber Schneersohn was an Orthodox rabbi and the fifth Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch chasidic movement. He is also known as "the Rebbe nishmosei eiden" and as "the Rebbe Rashab" .His teachings represent the emergence of an emphasis on outreach that later Chabad Rebbes would develop...
. For the next 12 years, he traveled to many different communities together with the Yeshiva, for the difficulties caused by World War I, the Bolshevik revolution, and the economic pressures to which the Jews were subjected compelled the Yeshiva to move frequently.
In 1926 Chitrik married Kayla Tomarkin, the daughter of Rabbi Aharon Tomarkin, a Rabbi in Kharkov, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, and began to serve as a Shochet until the Russian government forcefully shut down the ritual slaughterhouses. During this period he also met Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
, who later became the seventh Lubavitcher rebbe.
Post Holocaust
In the turmoil that followed World War II and the HolocaustThe Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, Rabbi Chitrik and his family moved to Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
with the intention of continuing to the United States. But the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn recognized his skills and asked him to remain in Belgium to support the community and spread Yiddishkeit
Yiddishkeit
Yiddishkeit literally means "Jewishness", i.e. "a Jewish way of life", in the Yiddish language. It can refer to Judaism or forms of Orthodox Judaism when used by religious or Orthodox Jews...
and Chassidic warmth among the many refugees who had settled in that country.
In 1949, he emigrated to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, where he was appointed Mashpia in the branch of the Lubavitcher Yeshiva
Tomchei Temimim
Tomchei Temimim is the central Yeshiva of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement...
established there. After the passing of his wife in 1983, he moved to Brooklyn.
Rabbi Chitrik was the eldest Chabad Chassid for many years, and served as a source of knowledge and inspiration for many. He had four children and eighteen grandchildren, and is survived by over 300 descendants in total.
Many of his descendants serve as spiritual leaders and rabbis across the globe. Amongst them is his son-in-law Rabbi David Moshe Lieberman, who serves as the chief rabbi of Antwerp, Belgium. Other descendants serve in China, Turkey, Germany, Australia, Israel, Canada, Uruguay, Brazil, Ukraine, England and cities across the United States: Bedford, NY; Philadelphia, PA, New York City, NY; Munster, IN; Oak Park, MI.
Writings
- Reshimot Devorim, four volumes.
- From My Father's Shabbos Table, A Treasury of Chabad Chassidic Stories
External links
- A collection of stories by Yehudah Chitrik on Chabad.orgChabad.orgChabad.org is the flagship website of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. It serves not just its own members but Jews worldwide in general. It was one of the first Jewish internet sites and the first and largest virtual congregation.-History:...
- Books
- Rabbi Yehuda Chitrik, 106; Chasidic Storyteller The Jewish Week
- At 105, the Rabbi Doesn't Sleep Late (New York Times reprint)