Rabbi Yisroel Szapira of Grodzhisk

Grodzisk Mazowiecki

Grodzisk Mazowiecki is a town in central Poland with 26,881 inhabitants in 2006. It is 30 km. southwest of Warsaw.Between 1975 and 1998 it was situated in the Warszawa Voivodeship but since 1999 it has been situated in the Masovian Voivodeship. It is the capital of Grodzisk Mazowiecki...

was a Hasidic 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...

 in 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...

. His father, Chayim Meir Yechiel, was the son of the Grodzhisk Rebbe, Elimelech Szapira

Elimelech Szapira

Rabbi Elimelech Szapira of Grodzhisk was the leading Hasidic rebbe of his time in Poland. He was a chosid of the Rizhiner Rebbe...

. When his grandfather died, some of the Chassidim chose Yisroel as the new Rebbe, others chose to wait for the young son who would eventually become the Piasezner Rebbe.

Writings

The teachings of Yisrael Szapira are called Emunat Yisrael (on Torah) and Binat Yisrael (a second work on Torah)

Death

Yisroel Szapira was killed at the Treblinka Extermination Camp. At the beginning of Emunat Yisrael there is an account of the event:

When the people entered the camp, the community of thousands, into Treblinka; the people asked the Rebbe: "What can we say now"? So the Rebbe answered softly, "Listen my brothers and sisters, the Godly nation, it's not for us to understand the actions of God and if it has been decreed for us that at this time we are to be the korbanot (sacrifices) for the birth pangs of the Messiah, this is a great and lofty level of the redemption. We should rejoice in our fortune, just as Chazal

Chazal

Chazal or Ḥazal is an acronym for the Hebrew "Ḥakhameinu Zikhronam Liv'rakha",...

(Talmudic Sages) say "Let the Messiah come, but I should not see it" that means he's not yet here. But we, when we reach this level, we must rejoice because we merited that our ashes will purify the whole of Am Yisrael (the Nation of Israel). Thus we are obligated to not hesitate and to not cry as we walk into the furnace; we must be happy, while singing Ani Ma'amin (I believe with perfect faith. And just as Rabbi Akiva did when he was murdered we will say the Shema Yisrael when the time comes.



The community fulfilled his holy words, sang the Ani Ma'amin, and recited the Shema Yisrael in the ultimate sanctification of God's name.

External links

• [Emunas Yisroel|http://hebrewbooks.org/3894]
• [Binas Yisroel|http://hebrewbooks.org/3863]