Chassidut Vishnitz (Vizhnitz)

B"H

The Vishnitzer Chassidim are always good for a headline and so also again in
these days. In Monsey, outside New York, a new branch of the U.S. discounters
Wal - Mart is to be opened. However, Monsey has the highes concentration of
Vishnitzer chassidim and exactly those are against the opening of the new
discounter - market. Thousand of non - or secular Jews could storm to Monsey
and so destroy the religious atmosphere. We will see soon how the issue
develops.

But not only in Monsey, there is this type of headlines. Also in the Israeli town of
Bnei Brak, Vishnitz caused a stir; there the Vishnitzer chassidim wanted to
introduce separate sidewalks. Separated after sexes. Whether that is reality, I
don't know, because I rarely get to Bnei Brak.

Much is said and written about Vishnitz, however, hardly any chassidic group
appears so closed and unknown to the public and even to other chassidim, as the
Vishnitzer. I don't know any single Vishnitzer chassid and therefore asked other
chassidim about the life as well as the customs of the Vishnitzer. None of them
knew anything. So, I was forced using two books written by the Vishnitzer
themselves. I wish I would have found more, however, this is all I found out so far.
One simply recommended me to call the Hager family (family of the Rebbe) and
ask them. Calling them up seemed to me a little unpleasant, because if groups
like Vishnitz or Toldot Aharon only also hear the word internet or writing on the
internet, already all seems suspiciously to them.

The chassidut Vishnitz was founded approx. 200 years ago. The town Vishnitz is
located in the Bukowina which was the center of the chassidut at that time. At
that time, the region belonged to Romania and today it is part of the Ukraine.

Of course, also chassidut Vishnitz is based on the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov.
Rabbi Yaakov Koppel (Kopul) was a student of the Baal Shem Tov. A later
descendant of Rabbi Koppel became the first Vishnitzer Rebbe. Therefore, the
Vishnitzer see themselves directly connected to the Baal Shem Tov.

The first Vishnitzer Rebbe was Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager, the author of the
book Zemach Zadik. Rabbi Hager came into the city Vishnitz and was chosen by
the local Jewish population as their rabbi. Immediately after his election, Vishnitz
turned into an important center of the chassidut.

The Hager family and chassidut Vishnitz suffered a great loss in the Holocaust.
Many chassidim and family members were murdered by the Nazis. Finally, in the
year 1947, the Vishnitzer Rebbe Chaim Meir Hager came to Israel. Immediately,
he opened a Yeshiva in Tel Aviv and later in Bnei Brak, close to Tel Aviv.

Until today, Bnei Brak is the most important community of the Vishnitzer with its
present head Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager. His brother Rabbi Mordechai Hager is
the Vishnitzer Rebbe in Monsey and their cousin Rabbi Eliezer Hager is the Rebbe
of the Seret - Vishnitz in Haifa.
A chassidut with three Rebbes is somewhat puzzling for me and I have not yet
found out how exactly these three work together. The worst thing is, which can
happen at all to a chassidic group, that if a Rebbe dies and his sons argue about
succession. Often, divisions within the group then occur as we will see later with
Satmar and Toldot Aharon as well as Avraham Yitzchak.

The two most important contents of the Chassidut Vishnitz are Ahavat Israel, the
love of the people Israel, and the study of the Torah. Already boys at the age of
three years go to the Cheder and begin to learn Torah. Religious education is
seen as one of the most important issues. The boys study in Talmud Torah and
the girls in a special division of Beit Yaakov which is called Banot Vishnitz.

Many Vishnitz girls learn in Yiddish but today there are many who also learn in
Hebrew. One can meet some of them in the Jerusalemer district Kiryat
Mattersdorf where the girls have one of their schools. Normally, Beit Yaakov girls
wear blue school uniforms. However, the Vishnitzer have red uniforms.

Another important thing is looking for a good Shidduch, preferably a Ben Torah.
Whoever learns Torah won't be influenced from the outside world. Already two
hours before the Shacharit prayer, chassidei Vishnitz begin with their Torah study.
This is seen as a proper and intense preparation for a deep prayer. Furthermore,
the men go into the Mikwe (ritual bath) on a daily basis.

Each chassidic Rebbe emphazises his particular customs. Vishnitz does so by

putting on clean clothes. Clean clothes are a sign of a pure soul. The table of the
Rebbe is famous. All his chassidim are around him and listen to his derashot
(Torah explanations). Famous is also the Seudah (meal) on Rosh Chodesh.

It goes without saying that Vishnitz also emphazises the study of the Halachot
(Shulchan Aruch) and the Talmud. What surprised me was to hear that very much
value is being put on the study of the book "Mesillat Yesharim", "The Path of the
Just" by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto. A pure Mussar - book. How do I perfect
myself in order to serve G-d.

Vishnitz is quite famous for its own Niggunim (melodies) which are even available
on the internet. People whom I asked about Vishnitz said that they don't know
any details but could sind me Vishnitz niggunim right away.

As we will later see with the Satmarer chassidim, Vishnitz is also socially very
much involved. Gemilut Chassadim (Gemach). Whoever requires help of financial,
material or any other matter goes to a Gemach. If it is clothes, glasses, dishes or
money. Anything is available. Until now I thought that Chabad and Belz follow the
strictest Pessach rules. But with Vishnitz I was taught better:

The Vishnitzer don't drink any milk on Pessach and don't smoke either. I read that
there once was the custom not to eat any fish on Pessach. Whether this is still
valid today I don't know. Also, they sieve the water on Pessach. Hence, like Belz
and Chabad, they hang a rag around the tub in order to make sure that the water
does not contain any chametz. There are very many different stories about this
chassidic custom. One may either think that this is exaggerated or antiquated,
but on the basis of my relationships to Belz, I myself hold this custom.

Regarding the topic Pessach: No chassidic group eats Gebrochts on Pessach.

Litvishe haredim and other religious people do love their Mazze - ball - soup on
Pessach. For Chassidim this is impossible and not kosher for Pessach. I also do
keep this custom and I only participate in a chassidic Pessach Seder.

What should maybe much outsider interest: One must me born into chassidut
Vishnitz. Otherwise no one is getting into the inner circle let alone accepted. Of
course, a newcomer can probably study at one of their centers but it doesn't
mean that he is Vishnitz.

A good friend of me informed me that he wants to arrange a meeting between

me and a Vishnitzer chassid. This would be great because this way I could find
out many more details. Hopefully, the meeting is going to take place and if, I am
going to write more about the chassidut.

Otherwise, I will explain the Chassidut Toldot Aharon next. Toldot Aharon, the
most fundamentalist group at all.

Witness to the Revival: A Talk with Reb Itche

Duvid Rezmowitz, Gabbai of the Imrei Chaim of
Vizhnitz
Yisroel Besser
Reb Itche Duvid Rezmowitz saw the Imrei Chaim of Vizhnitz with the eyes
of a child, of a bochur laying tefillin for the first time. Then, he saw him
through the eyes of a frightened teenager, amid fear of death. He saw the
Vizhnitzer court crumble and fall, beheld the horrific reality that it was no
more. Then those eyes saw the first blossoms of spring, the harbinger of
hope and rebirth. From his home in Boro Park, Reb Itche Duvid relives
those moments, sharing the sights and scenes of Vizhnitzs revival

 In every chassidishe hoif, its the eyes of
the gabbai that have seen it all. Privy to the secrets of the inner sanctum, the holy will
of its occupant, the devotion its adherents, he carries their burdens, shares their joys
and sorrows.

Reb Itche Duvid Rezmowitz was born into the Vizhnitz Chassidus and has been
breathing its air for decades and for several years, some of the most historic in the
history of Chassidus, he served as in the pivotal position of gabbai..

He was gabbai to the Rebbe, the great Imrei Chaim Rav Chaim Meir Hager who
made it his lifes work to teach his chassidim what Chassidus means, a legacy from his
holy fathers. In a way, his task was harder than that of his predecessors. They had to
share the meaning and depth of Kossov and Vizhnitz with chassidishe Yidden, the
devout Jews of the towns and villages near peaceful Grosswardein. Reb Chaim Meir
was charged with the mandate of reviving dry bones, of filling the deafening stillness
that followed the great destruction with song once again.

Itche Duvid Rezmowitz had spent his best days in the Vizhnitzer court in Romania,
where Shabbos brought peace and tranquility to throngs of warm-hearted Yidden from
surrounding towns that would come find shelter in the Rebbes presence. It was a place
where Yom Tov meant just that: good days, days when the simplest Yidden along with
the most illustrious would come taste joy in the Rebbes court. The sights and sounds
of the Vizhnitzer court seeped into the very essence of teenaged Itche Duvid Vizhnitz,
defining him as a Vizhnitzer chassid.

When it all came tumbling down, the buildings and memories, and there was only
smoke, he remained a staunch chassid. When Shabbos seemed to be just another day
filled with hunger and abuse, he remembered. When the present seemed to herald a
future even bleaker, when it was virtually assured that a Vizhnitzer Lecha Dodi
would never again be heard, he still believed. And when a group of broken survivors
regrouped in postwar Palestine, numb from grief and loss, he still identified himself as
a proud Vizhnitzer chassid.

One Erev Shabbos, in 1950, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, Rav Chaim Meir Hager,
disembarked from a ship, carrying within him a hope for perpetuation of Vizhnitz
Chassidus on the holy shores of Eretz Yisrael. Standing among the crowds of
chassidim at the port, Itche Duvid Rezmowitz shed a tear.
It was time to rebuild.

He threw himself in to the task, working with single-minded dedication to reconstruct

the Vizhnitz of his memories. When the Rebbe shared his vision, even while others
scoffed, Itche Duvid knew that vision would be realized. Soon enough, the Vizhnitzer
court would find a seat in Kiryat Vizhnitz, a shtetl in Eretz Yisrael that would match
the small town in Romania.

He bent his young shoulders before his Rebbe and said, I am here to serve you. And
serve he did.

The Calm Before the Storm

The story of Reb Itche Duvid goes back to his childhood in Kwassi, the last days of the
leadership of the Saba Kadisha, the Ahavas Yisrael of Vizhnitz, who led the Chassidus
from the city of Grosswardein. He vividly recalls the bitter day at the beginning of
Sivan 1936, when the new of the Rebbes passing reached the towns of the Marmorosh
region. The sky was already dark with the ominous news of the German rashas
steady ascent. Against that backdrop, we well understood that the passing of the
tzaddik was mipnei haraah, a portent of bad times.

The petirah had been on Shabbos, so that the news of the levayah came too late for the
chassidim to actually travel to Grosswardein to participate.

He recalls his father traveling to Grosswardein, the seat of the Chassidus, for the
shloshim, when a successor would be crowned. The Rebbe left over four sons, each
one extraordinarily qualified to lead the chassidim, and the olam was prepared to let
the older chassidim make the decision as to whom the new Rebbe would be. The
oldest son, the Sheiris Menachem of Vishive, was a tremendous talmid chacham with a
yeshivah of his own, but he was in America at the time of the petirah, collecting
money for the yeshivah; his absence withdrew him as a candidate for the rebbisteve.
The other three sons were the Vilchovitzer Rov, Rav Chaim Meir; the Damesek
Eliezer, who lived in Vizhnitz; and the Mekor Baruch, who lived in Seret.

Reb Itche Duvid recalls his fathers return, with word of a new Rebbe in mouth: Reb
Chaim Meir, the Vilchovitzer, had been crowned by the chassidim as their new leader.
The sun had risen again.

Reb Itche Duvid remembers his first nesiya to the new Rebbe, the Imrei Chaim. It
was the first Rosh HaShanah of his leadership 1937 and a large contingent of
chassidim came to join the Rebbe.

How can I describe that first tefillah, Shacharis on Erev Rosh HaShanah? The olam
was split in to two rows, and the Rebbe himself walked up and down between the
crowds, his face aflame: I will never forget the picture.
After the Yamim Tovim of that year, young Itche Duvid remained in Grosswardein for
cheder, living with his grandparents, so he had the opportunity to spend time in the
hoif of the new Vizhnitzer Rebbe.

The Rebbe was in the year of aveilus, and he would lead Shacharis every morning at
nine oclock sharp. The doors of the beis medrash were locked at nine fifteen, so that
no one should enter once the tefillos were underway.

I had to be in cheder before that time, so I would stop by just to hear a bit from the
Rebbe, a small part of birchas hashachar. But, Reb Itche Duvids eyes twinkle
mischievously, there were days when I was simply unable to tear myself away and I
would remain there to hear the Rebbe daven. On those days, I got punished for coming
late.

He pauses. Today I know that the inspiration and invigoration of those early years
entered my heart and they are what kept me warm throughout the years.

The young boy celebrated his bar mitzvah while a talmid at the yeshivah. My father
couldnt leave Kwassi to join me. He was the town shochet, and since Kwassi was a
resort town, the summer was high season for him. The Rebbe, the Imrei Chaim,
affixed the tefillin on the boys head for the very first time, and it was at the Rebbes
tisch that he delivered his pshetel. He was no longer a Vizhnitzer boy, but a Vizhnitzer
bochur.

Not long after his bar mitzvah, the idyllic world of Itche Duvid Rezmowitz came
tumbling down, just as it did for the majority of the Jewish nation. Far too young, he
bid farewell to his parents for the last time. Far too soon, his youth was complete.

Years of Wrath

He spent the next few years bitter, difficult ones running, eventually being sent
to Birkenau and Mauthausen. Those years spent without his Rebbe are worthy of an
article of their own. (In fact, he documents his experiences in his fascinating memoir,
Yamim Mkedem.)

Reb Itche Duvid recalls the last encounter with the Rebbe, right before the Rebbe left
Grosswardein for the last time. The Hungarians were then collaborating with the
accursed Germans, and were enforcing the law that called for every Yid to shave off
his peyos and beard. A group of Yidden worked together, performing the painful task
for each other. No one wanted to be the one to touch the Rebbes heilege beard and
peyos, and I couldnt bear the thought of seeing his angelic countenance after it would
be done. I had to go. I left the Rebbe for the last time, holding on the hope that his
daughter, Rebbetzin Sheva [later Ernster], who was working assiduously to bring him
to Romania, would succeed.
The young chassid left Grosswardein and his Rebbe with nothing; nothing except a
small tattered piece of paper that he clung to as to life itself. It was a relic from that
last period, just before the exile from Grosswardein. At that time, the Rebbe
spearheaded a campaign to collect funds to feed and sustain the swelling numbers of
refugees from Poland and Galicia. To each donor, he gave a small receipt listing the
amount donated along with their name and mothers name. The opportunity to receive
a paper inscribed with the Rebbes holy handwriting inspired many people to give,
among them the young bochur. The small paper with the words Yitzchok Dovid ben
Chana Baila became a treasured possession.

Throughout the long and dangerous journeys, I kept that paper close to my heart,
pulling it out and looking at it whenever I was particularly in need of chizuk. In the
darkest times, I would contemplate the fading letters and in them, I saw a reflection of
the Rebbes holy countenance and it kept me strong. It was like having him with
me.

Reb Itche Duvid prefers not to focus on the time in death camps, but he recalls one
bright spot. I was walking between the blocks one day, and I heard familiar voices. I
approached a group of men and saw Reb Boruchl, the Vishive Rav; Reb Moshele of
Rimanov; and other Yidden from Grosswardein. They told me that they been hiding in
a bunker in Grosswardein, but had been discovered by the reshayim and sent to
Auschwitz.

Reb Moshele from Rimanov, who had escaped Poland to Hungary before being sent
back, sighed deeply as he shared his story. Ana elech mruchacha, he quoted the
pasuk in Tehillim, from here I escaped and to here I was sent back.

The newcomers informed young Itche Duvid that the Rebbe and his family were safely
in Romania. The news was a ray of sunlight in the valley of darkness.

Hearing that my Rebbe was alive was a burst of energy, an injection of fresh kochos,
a reason to keep fighting. Reb Itche Duvid recounts.

After the liberation, the bochur spent several years learning in Yeshivas Sheiris
HaPleitah in Rome, under Rav Eizek Moscowitz. It was only in 1948 that he finally
made his way to Eretz Yisrael. Thus began what is undoubtedly the grandest part in
Reb Itche Duvids tale: his role in the rebuilding of the Chassidus that had been
decimated. He was no mere witness to the rebirth; he was part of the rebirth.

Immigrant Turned Activist

When he arrived, the Rebbe was traveling in Europe and America on a journey to lay
the groundwork for a new Vizhnitz Chassidus, a campaign that most considered
hopelessly optimistic.
The reunion between chassid and his Rebbe would have to wait, but Itche Duvid was
ushered in to see the Rebbes oldest son. At the time, Reb Moshele, the present
Vizhnitzer Rebbe, was known to Itche Duvid as the Vilchovitzer Rov, as he had
replaced his father there. In Eretz Yisrael, he was known as the Rosh Yeshivah.

The sight of the Vizhnitzer yeshivah with all the history that the name conjured up
saddened the new arrival; a small room, with just a few boys learning. The Rosh
Yeshivahs room adjoined the beis medrash, and Itche Duvid knocked.

The child that had left Grosswardein was no longer, and the bearded young man with
eyes that had seen too much was a stranger to the Rosh Yeshivah.

Vilchovitzer Rov! shouted Itche Duvid emotionally. Its me, Itche Duvid
Rezmowitz.

The Rosh Yeshivah embraced him and held him close. He accepted Itche Duvid as a
talmid in the nascent yeshivah, pending approval from his mother, the Rebbetzin, who
was in charge in the absence of the Rebbe.

This was the summer. Over the next few months, the resourceful chassid adapted
quickly and quickly went from being a helpless new immigrant to a talented askan. He
was in constant contact with his Rebbe, who expressed great joy that his chassid was
thriving in the yeshivah. Finally came the letter from the Rebbe with news of his
impending return to the Holy Land.

Reb Itche Duvid still remembers those moments. On Rosh Chodesh Shvat we stood at
the Haifa port on a Friday morning, about two hundred of us older people, young
people, all part of the simchah. What a moment it was the LaGuardia pulled in the
harbor and the Rebbe stepped out. Tears of joy, tears of anguish memories of the
past mingling with overwhelming gratitude. The Rebbe himself seemed overcome with
emotion. When he had left Eretz Yisrael, a significantly smaller crowd than the one on
hand had seen him off. The Chassidus had grown in his absence.

The Rebbe greeted the chassidim, each one by name. Suddenly, I heard his voice, so
full of love, so gentle. Itzik Duvid! he called out. He recognized me!

The Rebbe lost no time in articulating his dream: a kiryah, a shtetel of his own that
would mirror the one that was lost. To most, it seemed a guaranteed failure.

At the time, the majority of admorim lived in Tel Aviv, and most people encouraged
the Rebbe to remain there as well.

Bnei Brak was desolate, devoid of commerce, shopping, and convenience, and few
saw potential for a thriving settlement there. Still, the Rebbe refused to be dissuaded
and, with his loyal chassid at his side, got to work.
For ten years, Reb Itche Duvid worked as a mashgiach in the Vizhnitzer yeshivah,
working on both the educational and financial fronts. He carried two major
responsibilities, each of them daunting enough to break a lesser man: building a firm
financial base to ensure the yeshivahs future and establishing a firm spiritual base so
that the Chassidus would have a future.

In 1961, the Rebbe called in the talented mashgiach and promoted him, asking him
to work at his side and from then until the Rebbes passing in 1972, the new gabbai
was at the helm.

The Chazon Ish Has Ruled

Far from the end of Rabbi Akiva Street, a few buildings stood, proudly carrying a
vision that seemed too grand for their lonely appearance: the revitalization of Vizhnitz.
Yet what the kiryah lacked in convenience was compensated by the richness of the
spiritual infrastructure. Reb Itche Duvid remembers the Old Country flavor that
marked the new venture: There was a Yid, Reb Mendel Daskal, who would walk
through the dusty streets at dawn and rouse everyone for Shacharis, using the age-old
nigun.

Slowly but steadily, the yeshivah grew, and its new quarters in the kiryah were soon
cramped. The rosh yeshivah, Rav Moshele, was appointed rav of the kiryah, though
he continued to teach the bochurim in the yeshivah. With its firm basis of yeshivah
complemented by some housing and a small infrastructure all drawing strength and
encouragement from the vision of the Imrei Chaim, Kiryat Vizhnitz became a reality.
Finally, on the 2nd day of Sivan 1952, the settlement was officially inaugurated at a
chanukas habayis. The giant of Bnei Brak, the Chazon Ish, attended and blessed the
olam. He remarked to the Rebbe that a time would come that people wouldnt say that
Kiryat Vizhnitz is next to Bnei Brak, but that Bnei Brak is next to Kiryat Vizhnitz.

Reb Itche Duvid shares a beautiful story. While in Tel Aviv, we used electricity in the
yeshivah on Shabbos, in accordance with the psak of Rav Dushinsky. When we moved
to Bnei Brak, however, the Rebbe directed us to follow the psak of the Chazon Ish, the
local posek, who ruled that its forbidden. The generator we installed made a
tremendous noise, one that could be heard throughout the neighborhood, and someone
asked the Chazon Ish if the noise didnt decrease the peace of Shabbos.

The Chazon Ish smiled. Adaraba, he replied, the generator is proclaiming Shabbos
Kodesh, Shabbos Kodesh, crying out that it is forbidden to use municipal electricity
on the holiest of days.$$separate quotes$$

Reb Itche Duvid was also privy to highly sensitive negotiations between the Rebbe
and his esteemed family members. This account, too, centers around the words of the
Chazon Ish.
The story begins with the Rebbes leave-taking from Grosswardein, which had been
the seat of the Vizhnitzer Chassidus for so long. Before his escape, the Rebbe visited
the gravesite of his father, the Ahavas Yisrael, and placed his hands on the stone.
Tatte, I must leave our town Grosswardein and I hope to reach Eretz Yisroel. I
promise you, Tatte, that I will do everything in my power not to leave you here, but to
bring you up as well.

After the war, the Rebbe convened a beis din who gave him a heter to move his
fathers holy aron to Eretz Yisrael. There were all sorts of hindrances bureaucratic,
technical, and financial and it wasnt until 1950 that the Rebbe was able to fulfill
his promise.

At that time, Reb Yankel Halperin was developing the Zichron Meir neighborhood in
Bnei Brak and offered the Rebbe a plot in the cemetery adjoining the village. The
Rebbe was ready to accept the offer, but others in the family felt that the Ahavas
Yisrael belonged in Tiveria or Yerushalayim, with the great rebbes of the generations.

It was decided to ask the Chazon Ish.

The Rebbe went to meet the gadol hador accompanied by his son-in-law, Reb Yidele
Horowitz a talmid of the Chazon Ish and Reb Itche Duvid.

There werent enough chairs in the room for all the guests, and the host offered his
own chair to the Rebbe while he himself sat on his bed. With complete simplicity he
gestured to Reb Yidele to sit next to him on the bed a request that Reb Yidele turned
down, refusing to sit in the presence of his rebbi.

The Rebbe explained the different opinions within the family, but the Chazon Ishs
response was immediate. Definitely here, without a doubt. Chazal tell us about
Chizkiyahu HaMelech that they established a yeshivah al kivro, and you are in the
midst of building a yeshivah here, next to where he will be.

The Chazon Ish had ruled.

The conversation seemed to have come to a close. But then Reb Itche Duvid caught a
few more words that fell from the holy mouth of the Chazon Ish. We will have a
gutte shcheinos, be good neighbors.

Reb Itche Duvid remembered those words a few years later, when the Chazon Ish was
niftar and laid to rest next to the Ahavas Yisrael good neighbors, two tzaddikim
protecting the holy city of Bnei Brak.

Decades later, when the Rebbe realized his dream of having a sefer Torah written in
memory of his father, Reb Itche Duvid heard him comment: Before I left to Eretz
Yisruel, I traveled from Bucharest to Grosswardein and I hurried to my fathers tziyun.
As I did, I thought, Heilege Tatte, all your life, your passion was to be with other
Yidden, among Yidden, and so its been since your passing youve always been
surrounded by Yidden. Now, I am leaving, the Yidden are leaving ... must you remain
alone? Since then, the Imrei Chaim continued, my goal was to bring him here, and
despite the hardships it entailed, we merited to do so. I only hope that he is happy ... all
he ever wanted was to be with Yidden!

Reb Itche Duvid shares a memory from many years later. The Lelover Rebbe, Reb
Moshe Mordche, wanted to move from Tel Aviv to Bnei Brak, but he first came to ask
the Rebbe for permission. The Rebbe smiled at the request and responded with a
question of his own: Is the Lelover Rebbe familiar with 47th Street, in New York?

The Lelover wasnt, so the Rebbe explained that its a diamond center, and the sheer
number of businesses selling the same merchandise assures the sellers that anyone
seeking a diamond will come to that street. There is no way someone seeking the right
diamond can come to 47th Street and not find what he is looking for.

I envision that Bnei Brak will be the center of Chassidus, the Imrei Chaim shared his
vision with the Lelover Rebbe. If a Yid needs a rebbe, he will know where to look.

Reb Itche Duvid laughs. There you have a story that highlights both the Rebbes
sweetness and his wisdom at once.

Years of Rebuilding

As the kiryah expanded and the population grew, Itche Duvid played a major role in its
continued development. Even as he continued learning in the yeshivah, he contributed
his considerable organizational talents to the administration, steadily gaining a name
for himself. One day, a gentleman from Yerushalayim, Reb Yitzchok Filip, came to the
office and inquired about sending his son to the yeshivah. He was actually checking
out the personable bochur who worked there, and in time, a meeting was arranged
between Itche Duvid and his daughter.

The wedding is still poignant in Reb Itche Duvids mind. From my own family, no
one attended after all, I had no one. But the Rosh Yeshivah and his Rebbetzin came
as mechutanim from my side.

At the chasunah, the Rebbe himself served as shushbin, escorting the chassan to the
chuppah, dancing joyously, and lifting the spirits of all those around him.

As a married man, Reb Itche Duvid juggled responsibility for his own home with
administration of the Chassidus. He was charged with the difficult task of organizing
and soliciting funding from Vizhnitzer chassidim, essentially creating a network where
there was none. It was far from easy, but if afforded him a special connection with the
Rebbe.
Once, a wealthy Vizhnitzer chassid who made his home in Europe visited the kiryah in
Eretz Yisrael. He was amazed at what he saw. His reaction wasnt lost on Reb Itche
Duvid, who requested a meeting with him at his hotel.

I asked him for the money necessary to complete the building of the shikun a large
amount and he hesitated. He said that if the Rebbe specified an amount, he would
donate that amount.

I went in to the Rebbe and relayed the offer to him. He smiled and responded, You
know that my father never asked for a specific amount, and maybe this Yid knows that
and is looking for a way out.

I pleaded with the Rebbe, just this once, to state a number, so that the burden of
raising the funds to finish the project would be removed from his shoulders. The
Rebbe suddenly grew very serious and told me, If I specify an amount and he refuses,
I am worried that his entire fortune will be in jeopardy. Its better not to ask.

Reb Itche Duvid pauses and reflects on the way the Rebbe walked in seemingly
ordinary paths, but in essence, so much mystery shrouded his actions and words. He
would make a joke to someone, and later we see how he was effecting salvation.

The Rebbe once casually remarked to his gabbai that it isn't that difficult to be
mashpia refuos, assist akaros, and bestow other blessings, but there are two areas that
are difficult for me: to be mashpia parnassah and help heal depressed children.

Reb Itche Duvid is no youngster, and he has little strength to continue our
conversation. He suggests that he has said enough. I plead for a few more memories,
for he has the gift of the storyteller and one cannot get enough of listening to him.

Reb Itche Duvid thinks for a moment and accedes. One summer I accompanied the
Rebbe to St. Moritz on his vacation. It was his habit to go for lengthy walks in the
mountains. One day, he asked if anyone was prepared to join him on a long walk. Of
course, I accompanied him, as did another chassid. The Rebbe asked me to bring a
chair, a bottle of water, and a towel. We started to walk, the Rebbe gripping his stick.
We walked and walked, with the Rebbe leading the way up hills and paths, obviously
with a destination in mind. After three hours, we reached the crest of a hill and the
Rebbe stopped. There was a small kiosk and the Rebbe handed me a few coins to buy
a bottle of cold soda. He poured a cup for each of us and then made a brachah,
shehakol. A soon as he finished the drink, he immediately began to descend, not
remaining to enjoy the magnificent view for an extra moment.

Though that event was a memorable one, it wasnt an isolated incident. Other times,
when we would travel, he would instruct us to stop the car at a certain place and he
would step out and make a shehakol on a drink.
The First Kvittel

Reb Itche Duvids memories span the highest moments of elation and the lowest times
of despair in Vizhnitz. On that darkest of days, the 9th of Nisan 1972, when his revered
Rebbe ascended heavenward, he was in the room along with the immediate family.

After the kvurah and the customary seudas havraah, he entered the house where he
had served his master so faithfully. The Rebbes two sons, Reb Moshe Yehoshua, who
had been Rosh Yeshivah, and Reb Mottele of Monsey, were sitting forlornly.

I reminded them that in Vizhnitz the minhag is for the yorshim to accept kvittlech
immediately after the levayah. They both refused to listen. They were overwhelmed
and it was Erev Shabbos. I insisted. The younger brother looked to the older one, who
said, Perhaps after Shabbos, not today.

'I dont understand,'" I said. "'If one is able, then why not now?'

Nu, the new Rebbe waved his hand, do whatever you think is right.

The Imrei Chaims trusted gabbai, Reb Itche Duvid, handed over a kvittel and pidyon
to the older brother, who read it with great intensity, and then to the younger, who did
the same.

His hands extended the first kvittel to these two tzaddikim, the Rebbes of Vizhnitz in
Bnei Brak and Monsey.

The Rebbe was gone and his sons had replaced him; Reb Itche Duvid felt that his work
was done. He had poured his very lifeblood into the arid earth and watched the desert
bloom. He had heard the optimism in his Rebbes voice and followed his call, a true
mechutan in the simchah of the great rebirth.

He retired from public life, moving to America, where he continued to take a leading
role in helping the Chassidus, and a wide variety of other worthy causes.

Still, each Erev Rosh Chodesh he tries to travel from his home in Boro Park to join the
Monsey-Vizhnitz Rebbe, who leads the recitation of the entire sefer Tehillim.

Visitors to the beis medrash might notice an old man sitting in a corner, with a snowy-
white beard and eyes that have seen it all.... But his heart is no different than it was
that first time, a young boy from Kwassi ...

And the brachos of the Rebbes accompany him still.

http://www.mishpacha.com/Browse/Article/119/Witness-to-the-Revival-A-Talk-with-
Reb-Itche-Duvid-Rezmowitz-Gabbai-of-the-Imrei-Chaim-of-Vizhnitz
Collection of Chassidut Books and the History
of Vizhnitz-Kosov Rebbes
1. Tzemach Tzadik, on the weekly sections, holidays and more, by Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Hager of Vizhnitz. Tchernovitz, [1885]. Only edition.
2. Siftei Tzadik, on the Torah and holidays, by Rabbi Shmuel Avraham Aba ben
Baruch Hager of Horodenka. Kolomea, 1895. Only edition.
3. Even Shtiya, history of the Kosov-Vizhnitz dynasty, by Rabbi Chaim Kahana.
Munkatch, 1930. First edition. (Front cover missing. Uncut sheets).
4. Zichron Yisrael, eulogy in memory of Rabbi Yisrael of Vizhnitz, by Rabbi
Mordechai Ha-Levy Horwitz. Cluj, 1937. Only edition. (Author's signature and ink
stamps on page following title). (Cover title bibliographically unknown?).
5. Damesek Eliezer, "Imrot Tehorot Einayim" on the Torah, holidays and more, by
Rabbi Eliezer Hager. Jerusalem, [1949]. First edition.
6. Kuntrass Ha-Likutim Tinyana, likutim on the Torah and holidays by the holy Rebbe.
Bnei Brak, [1968]. (Stencil).
7. Ahavat Shalom, homiletics on the Torah by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager of
Kosov. Lemberg (Lvov), [1850]. Second edition.
8. Torat Chaim, on the weekly sections and likutim, by Rabbi Chaim ben Menachem
Mendel Hager of Kosov. Lemberg (Lvov), [1883]. Second edition.
9. Torat Chaim, on the weekly sections and likutim, by Rabbi Chain ben Menachem
Mendel Hager of Kosov. Kolomea, [1883]. Third edition.
Good condition, various sizes. Signatures and ownership inscriptions. Some of the
books with new bindings.

https://www.kedem-auctions.com/content/collection-chassidut-books-and-history-
vizhnitz-kosov-rebbes

Hsoiti'nik, cci mi - am amintit de versuri" argint placat cu Dumnezeu nainte de a- mi ntotdeauna "n orice
moment i n orice moment, Ahavat Shalom" El a fost un ucenic al lui rabin Moshe Leib Sasov i rabinul Zev
Wolf Czerny-Ostrau. Dup moartea lui Menachem Mendel de Kosov n TKF "o a servit ca Rabi Rabbi
Chaim din Kosov Age of Life", iar dup moartea sa ,n Tri "d servit Rabin Menachem Mendel , fiul viznitzer
era ginerele lui Rabbi Israel a Rozin . El a stabilit Vision berzele Vizhnitz dup moartea tatlui su, i
a servit ca Rabi pn la Trm "h .

Dupa ce rabinul Menachem Mendel , fiul a fost numit Admor Rabinul Baruch Vizhnitz Cartier Tell
binecuvntat . Prin cartea Rabbi Baruch a avut unsprezece copii, dintre care majoritatea au servit ca Rabi
 n apropiere de orae Vizhnitz Bucovina i Galiia: Utena, Horodonkh, scampering, i alte
Tchernowitz . Dupa ce rabinul Baruch Vizhnitz ( Trn "g motenit preoia rabinul Israel a trit-d Trtz" o .
n primul rzboi mondial pribegit cu urmaii si ora Vizhnitz din Oradea (Grosoordiin) , unde a condus
instana de judecat. Rabinul Israel cunoscut sub numele dedragostea lui Israel Vizhnitz, numele crii.

Rabinul Israel, un Israel Ahavat ", este supravie uit de cinci fii:

Fiul su cel mare, rabinul Menachem Mendel, un Rmiele reconfortant ", stabilit n i
s compare i tratate ei ca Rabi (durata de via tatl su a fugit un Yeshiva format din mai mult de 500
de studeni). A murit n Ats . n Ats stabilit i ecuaia pledeaz rmne centrul sectei din nou
n Ramot n Ierusalim, iar Rabi numit nepotul reziduului Rabi Menachem.

Rabinul Chaim Meir, care a continuat conducerea antierului Bgrosoordiin

la Holocaust . Dup Holocaust stabilit n Belgia , iar n Tashaz a venit la ara lui Israel . Rabinului Haim
Meir sastabilit pentru prima dat n Tel Aviv , dar a nceput imediat s iniieze nfiinarea de Locuine
Viznitz n Bnei Brak , unde a transformat multe luni n strintate pentru a valorifica puternice i
N. tendoanelor idee i Lhtrimm s execute viziunea sa, aproximativ 3 ani dup ce construc ia a fost
finalizat i sa mutat n ea. A murit n acredita . Asta a spus rabinul c acest lucru este viznitzer n Bnei
Brak , introduce materia continu i bucuria n Bnei Brak, n cazul n care cea mai mare nevoie
subliniind problema de bucurie, pentru c exist o serie de ntlniri a crui conducere linia
de tristee Z. [1]

n Tsc "z au semnat o scrisoare de asteptare pentru ncurajarea operaiei tefillin de

ctre Rabi , n semn de recunotin fa de Dumnezeu pentru minunile vizibile
n Rzboiul din Golf . [2]

In-law Rabinului Naftali Adler Mdzikob a venit la Rabi ca el sta pe un scaun

cu rotile. Rabi binecuvntat cu binecuvntarea mpriei va ndura cu bucurie.

Rabinul Eliezer Vizhnitz, The Damasc Eliezer . Rabinul Eliezer a venit n Israel n Ts "d i
a stabilit ntlnirea Viznitz din Tel Aviv . Abia a venit n jurul lui muli adepi dup moartea sa ( Ts" o )
mutat urmaii si fratelui su rabinul Haim Meir , care a emigrat n Israel cteva luni mai trziu.

Rabinul Baruch a Fericitului Ciocul ", s- ar Badmoro" t ora Rabinat Seret Romnia a reuit
tatl su la Holocaust imigrat a. Eretz Israel n Tashaz ( 1947 ) i sa stabilit n Haifa , unde a iniiat i
avocai greu de locuine - Viznitz, spunnd: este "doorpost din Haifa". A murit n Tsc "d ( 1964 ). A fost
succedat de fiul su , rabinul Eliezer Hager ( Trf" h - nou ani ).

Rabinul Shmuel tatl - un om de tiin i spirit, i iubit melodii i formularea Viznitz le-ar
ntotdeauna hum. A fost cunoscut boala, i a murit n viaa tatlui su.
De fapt , dinastia Viznitz a durat Israelul de cei doi fii ai si viznitzer rabinul Haim Meir i rabinul Baruch
Hager , o regiune a binecuvntat Ciocul " , stabilit de instana din Haifa . Rabinul Baruch a fost membru
al Consiliului Torei nelepii lui Agudath Israel .

Prin Hasidismul [ edita ]

Hassidic: lipicios drept, fericit i sfnt Sabat .

Cele mai multe dintre problemele evideniate Vizhnitz este , de asemenea , problema dragostei pentru
Israel . [3]

Dinastia astzi [ edit ]

Rabinul Moshe Yehoshua Hager Vizhnitz

Dup moartea viaa zicale, adjunctul su au fost numii n New Rabi Moshe Yehoshua Hager locuine
Viznitz n Bnei Brak i rabinul Mordechai Hager Rabi de Monsey. Dup moartea lui Moshe Rabi Yehoshua
(n unele Adar Tsha ) au fost numii fii supleani, rabinul Israel Hager (locuine Viznitz) i rabinul Menachem
Mendel Hager (centrul Bnei Brak).

n a doua ediie a aprut n finalul Rambam , rabinul Yechiel Michal Daskal, eful Yeshivat plantelor drepte,
Doiz'nitz i prelungiri ale Rabi Moshe Yehoshua Vizhnitz, a amintit conversaia care explic Rabi c
n Simchat Tora Dancing . n loc de a studia Tora, pentru a sublinia faptul c Tora apar ine tuturor i oricine
care a pierdut un studiu al Torei, poate dansa n natur cu mare mare , acesta este sensul Rabi, rabinul
a continuat Daskal - Doug mare , n comparaie cu cea dintre cele mai mari i cele mai mici de lumi .. [4]

n Legea a aprut n prezena ncetrii Rambam , rabinul Yaakov Zaida trimisul lui Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua
Vizhnitz, i Dayan susine Viznitz n Williamsburg , se afla pe ceea ce este scris: