The sixth of Cheshvan is the yahrzeit of Rav Shlomo Dovid Yehoshua Weinberg (1914-1943), the Young Rebbe of Slonim. Son of the Slonimer Rebbe, Rebbe Avraham the Second, and great-grandson of the Kotzker, he was born in Slonim, and wandered with his family during the first war, before his father settled in Baronovich.
Rav Shlomo was named Slonimer Rebbe two years after his father’s sudden death when he was only 21. The following year, he married Sima Danziger, daughter of the Alexander Rebbe and spent two years studying under his father-in-law. Despite his great reluctance to accept the mantle of rebbe, all the Chassidim, including the elders who had been followers of his grandfather, accepted and insisted upon his leadership. He was also Rosh Yeshiva of the Slonimer Yeshiva in Baranovich as well as Ohr Torah in Tveriah. Baronovich had a litvishe yeshiva, led by Rav Elchanan Wasserman and the two yeshivos and their leaders had a warm relationship.
With the partition of Poland, Baranovich fell into Soviet hands. The Slonimer Rebbe had the opportunity to escape Nazi persecution by way of China, however, like Rav Elchanan, he felt his responsibility was to his flock and he refused to leave. In the Baronovich ghetto, the underground fighters had an ammunition store in his basement. He disguised his beard when he had to venture out but refused to cut it despite the danger. He survived the initial liquidation of the ghetto carried out by Ukrainian guards and was taken to the Koldichevo labor camp.
He made every effort not to consume non-kosher food or to work on Shabbos even in the labor camp, despite the danger. On the 6th of Cheshvan he was shot into a pit along with eight others.
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The eighth of Cheshvan is the yahrzeit of Rabbeinu Yonah of Gerona (1200-1263). Born in Provence, France he was a first cousin (later also a mechutan) of the Ramban. He initially studied under Shlomo ben Avraham of Montpellier, and later under the Baalei Tosefos in Northern France. Following in the footsteps of his first teacher, he was a fierce opponent of the works of the Rambam. The Ramban and Rabbeinu Yonah were aligned against the Radak in this controversy. Ultimately it led to the church burning the works of the Rambam in 1233 in Paris. The church’s involvement in an internecine debate troubled many of those who had opposed the Rambam and this was strengthened by the burning of 24 wagon loads of volumes of the Talmud (remember, these were all hand written) less than a decade later in the same place.
Realizing that his previous opposition was an error, Rabbeinu Yonah decided to travel to the grave of the Rambam to ask forgiveness. Along the way, traveling through Spain, he was stopped time and again, and was asked to lead different communities. He ended up delaying his trip and staying in Toledo, where the Rashba was one of his students. He also composed his book Shaarei Teshuva, Gates of Repentance, as part of his teshuva. In his Talmudic lectures he quoted the Rambam very frequently. He passed away of a strange disease in 1263.
In addition to the aforementioned work, he also authored a commentary on the RI”F on Meseches Berachos that was transcribed by his students, and wrote on Bava Basra and Sanhedrin as well. There is evidence that he composed works on other mesechtos, but those have been lost. He also wrote significant commentaries on Pirkei Avos and Mishlei.
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The tenth of Chehvan is the yahrzeit of Rav Dov Berish Weidenfeld, Rav and Rosh Yeshiva of Tschbein (1881-1965). Born in Galicia his father, a prominent posek, died when he was very young and he was raised by his mother and older siblings. His mother was known for her Torah knowledge and sharp wit and would often write responsa on behalf of her husband after he gave her the outline. Rav Dov Berish married at 19 and moved to Tschbein where his in-laws lived. He received numerous offers to lead communities and yeshivos but instead he and his wife ran a coal distribution business. He regularly corresponded with many of the leading rabbis of the day including the Maharsham, Rav Meir Arik and Rav Menachem Zemba. After he finished working, each day he would commute to Cracow to say shiurim to various groups. After the tribulations of the First World War, he was compelled to declare bankruptcy and, needing a source of support, eventually acceded in 1923 to become the Rabbi of Tschbein. He also opened a yeshiva.
After the Nazi invasion of Poland his picture appeared in Der Sturmer with the caption “Greatest Talmudist in the World.” He immediately left Poland along with the family of one of his daughters and went to Lvov which was then under Soviet control. The Soviets sent him to a Siberian labor camp where he languished for two years. His relief was that his son-in-law and eventual successor, Rabbi Baruch Shimon Schneerson, was with him and they could learn together. In 1942 he was freed from the labor camp and sent to Bukhara where he remained until 1946. The efforts of Rabbi Yitzchok HaLevi Herzog, Chief Rabbi of Mandatory Palestine, were vital in gaining his freedom and allowing him to move to British-controlled Palestine.
He reopened his yeshiva in Yerushalayim. He had many volumes of unpublished manuscripts which were lost during the war. All three of his sons and one of his daughters and their families were killed during the war. One of his granddaughters was hidden with a Polish family during the war and despite many efforts they were unable to get her back after the war. Two of his daughters and their families made it to Israel in the post-war years..
