2008 Woodie Awards
"Rav Moshe Shatzkes - The Lomzer Rav"
Jonathan Hodes
Issue date: 5/16/05 Section: YUdaica
- Page 1 of 1
R. Moshe Shatzkes was renowned for his scholarship, wit and ability. More commonly known as the "Lomzer Rav," he was one of the pre-eminent Roshei Yeshiva of the early post war period at RIETS. He was a close friend of R. Yitzchak Halevi Herzog, chief rabbi of Israel, and had been one of the Gedolei HaRabbanim of Poland, a close friend and confidante of both the Chafetz Chaim and R. Hayyim Ozer Grodzenski.
R. Shatzkes passed away in December 1959 (18 Tevet), at the age of 77. A crowd of more than two thousand gathered in the Lamport Auditorium of Yeshiva University as a final mark of respect to, what the Yeshiva press release referred to as, one of the greatest rabbanim and roshei yeshiva of the generation.
The maspidim included R. Samuel Belkin and R. Joseph Baer Soloveitchik representing Yeshiva, and R. David Lifshitz representing the Agudath HaRabbanim. From Yeshiva University, he was taken to Yeshivat Tifereth Yerushalayim where the Maspidim included R. Moshe Feinstein, R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin and R. Avraham Kalmanowitz. A large crowd of mourners headed by R. Aharon Kotler also gathered at the New Jersey airport from where R. Moshe Shatzkes was taken to his final resting place on Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem. His funeral was attended by chief rabbis, Israeli roshei yeshiva and Members of the Israeli Knesset.
The Early Years
R. Moshe Shatzkes was born in Vilna in 1882, a scion of a centuries old Rabbinic dynasty.
His father, R. Avraham Aharon Shatzkes, was the spiritual leader of Vilna who was known as the "Illui miZhetel," one of the most famous Talmidei Chachamim in Lita, and reputed to have been boky in Shas at the age of only 17.
His mother, Chaya Resha, was the daughter of R. Avraham Abba Edelson of Vilna, and granddaughter both of R. Chaim Dworetzky, rabbi of Zelve and R. Yitzchak Sherwinter, Av Bet Din of Vilna.
Personal tragedy struck at an early age - his father R. Avraham Aharon died when R. Moshe was only 3 years old. Soon after, at the suggestion of her uncle R. Elya Eliezer Grodzenski (father-in-law of R. Hayyim Ozer) his mother remarried R. Yitzchak Blaser (known as R Itzele Peterburger), one of the talmidim of R Yisrael Salanter.
R. Moshe was brought up and educated by R. Itzele and was sent to study at the great Yeshivot of Slabodka and Telz and in 1904, at the age of 22, received semikha from R. Raphael Shapiro of Volozhin, R. Eliezer Gordon of Telz and R. Eliezer Rabinowitz of Minsk..
The Rabbinate
His first appointment upon entering the "Rabbinate" was in Lipnishuk, near Vilna, in 1909. This appointment marked the start of R. Moshe's career in which he excelled himself as a rabbi, leader, teacher and friend. He was immediately taken to the hearts of the community and within five years he was appointed rabbi of the nearby larger town of Ivye, in the district of Vilna, in 1914.
He was a leader in all aspects of communal life, well known as an outstanding orator, scholar, and halachic arbitrator. It was in Ivye that he demonstrated his skills in forging relationships with those who were able to make life easier for the Kehilla. He formed a cordial relationship with the German Commandant overseeing Ivye, such that he was able to reverse some of the Antisemitic decrees in place since WWI, such as freedom of movement for the residents, and thanks to his efforts he even succeeded in gaining permission to open soup kitchens for the poor and needy.
R. Moshe was arrested as a Bolshevik when the Polish army captured Ivye in 1920, but was released thanks to the entreaties of the local priest. This led to his increased standing in the eyes of the occupying forces such that he was able to serve as mediator on behalf of the community. Ultimately R. Moshe was appointed as vice Chairman of the Vaad which was set up to serve the wider Vilna district, to aid those refugees affected by the Great War. So began decades of rescue work that was to last until after World War II.
R. Moshe also excelled as a communal fundraiser. He was instrumental in forming a Gemach for the needy and setting up an orphanage. Battei Midrash and Battei Tefilla that had been destroyed in WWI were rebuilt. He established an educational network for Jewish children from elementary through to High School, and which gained a reputation as one of the best schools in the whole of Lida. He sought and found common ground with secular Jewish teachers; he understood the spirit of the time and was especially cherished for his rapport with the youth. He had a unique ability to capture the hearts of even the most unaffiliated, and was treated with uncommon derekh eretz by a very wide cross-section of the community.
He was also famed for his wit and wisdom and he was regularly invited by the Chafetz Chaim to important Rabbinic gatherings, so that the participants could benefit from his teachings. His fame for Torah and wisdom spread throughout Poland through his vice-presidency of the Agudath HaRabbanim in Poland and people turned to R. Moshe from near and far with she'elot. It is said he was one of the great "Makilim," using his encyclopaedic knowledge of hilkhot yoreh deah, shas and poskim to be meikil and machsher whenever possible, to prevent financial loss to a Jew during these difficult times.
In 1929, a devastating fire consumed almost every building in the town, leaving hundreds of families without a roof over their heads. R. Moshe worked day and night, appealing to Jews throughout Poland, and to landsmen from Ivye scattered throughout the world, to come to their rescue. Thanks to his efforts, generous help flowed in from Jewish communities around the world and communal institutions, new schools and Battei Midrash were rebuilt.
After the fire, he was approached by larger towns to head their communities. However, true to his principles, R. Moshe would not agree to leave his community in such a desolate situation. Within two years, most of Ivye had been rebuilt and in 1931 he was asked to become rav and Av Bet Din of Lomza. He had been proposed for the position by his rebbe, R. Hayyim Ozer Grodzenski, to whom he was very close and who had nicknamed him "Yismach Moshe," on account of his sunny disposition.
Known for his neutrality, this was a crucial factor in the ratification of R. Shatzkes by the whole cross-section of the Lomza Community. The only dissenters were a group of Alexander Chassidim who opposed his election based on R. Shatzkes' annual subscription to Keren HaYesod, the inference being he was a Zionist.
Shortly after his arrival in Lomza, he was asked to give a hesped after the Chafetz Chaim's death in Ellul 1933, both in his capacity as a close friend of the Chafetz Chaim and also as one of the outstanding speakers of the Rabbinic world. Similarly, he was one of the Maspidim of R Hayyim Ozer Grodzenski at his funeral in Vilna in 1940. In fact, he was visiting R Hayyim Ozer's sickbed with his brother-in-law R. Chizkiyah Mishkovsky, when R. Hayyim Ozer passed away.
His time in Lomza was not an easy one. It was marked by anti-Jewish demonstrations, the outlawing of Shechita and a boycott of Jewish shops. Lomza Jews fled in droves and the community gradually declined. With the Stalin-Hitler pact in August 1939 on the division of Poland, Lomza was transferred into Russian Hands and, on Hoshana Rabba that year, the Soviet tanks rolled into town. Community leaders pleaded with R. Moshe to escape before he would be arrested.
Escape from Horror
R. Moshe was compelled to leave the city and escaped under cover of darkness across the Lithuanian border to Vilna, where he continued his work in relieving the plight of refugees who had assembled there.
Vilna, still neutral at that time, had become a magnet for Yeshivot that had fled from their home towns. One of the Yeshivot that had escaped en masse to Vilna was Yeshivat Sha'ar HaTorah of Grodno, headed by R. Shimon Shkop. After the death of R. Shkop, R. Moshe was appointed by R Hayyim Ozer Grodzenski to succeed R. Shimon Shkop as Rosh Yeshiva.
Apart from serving as the Vice Chairman of the Committee for Refugees, R. Shatzkes was an active leader of the Vaad HaYeshivot in Vilna, a role which carried with it the enormous responsibility for the supervision (and financial condition) of the many Yeshivot in Vilna and the surrounding areas.
After Vilna was captured by the Russians, he travelled via Russia to Japan, having received a Japanese permit from Sempo Sugihara, the Japanese temporary consul in Kovno. Arriving in Kobe by boat in May 1941, R. Shatzkes immediately set about continuing his relief efforts for Jews. R. Moshe also worked to build a spiritual life for the almost five thousand refugees in Kobe, amongst them many Roshei Yeshiva and almost the entire Mir Yeshiva, who had fled Poland and Lithuania. He befriended the famous Japanese scholar, Professor Setzuso Kotsuji, a friend of Japan's Foreign affairs minister, and with his help he aided the fleeing of thousands of refugees.
Owing to his reputation as a brilliant Talmudic scholar and his previous position as rav of Lomza, R. Moshe was selected by the refugee community as one of their two representatives (the other being the Amshinover Rebbe), who had been summoned to meet with Japanese government representatives in Tokyo, to discuss their plight and plea to stay in Japan until another place of refuge could be found.
The Yeshiva Years (1941-1959)
R. Moshe finally reached the United States in 1941. He was immediately appointed to become a Senior Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS. Having turned down the invitation of R. Herzog to join the chief rabbinate in Eretz Yisrael, he preferred to devote his time and strength to Harbatzat Torah. R. Moshe remained in this role for the last eighteen years of his life, during which time he also served as a council member of the Agudath HaRabbanim of the United States and Canada.
Along with R. Soloveitchik and R. Belkin, R. Shatzkes served as a member of the Rabbinical Ordination Board at RIETS, granting semikha to 425 of its graduates. One recent biographer, Victor Geller, in his "Orthodoxy Awakens," recalls the informal nature of the oral semikha bechinot. It invited distraction, with R. Soloveitchik and R. Shatzkes often ignoring the bewildered student and engaging into their own spirited, scholarly exchange, with R. Belkin often having to bring them back to the business at hand.
His wonderful sense of humour was manifested by one of the most famous stories as told by Yeshiva Chancellor Norman Lamm who was in the class at the time. R. Shatzkes would usually look down the list of the names of his students and then at random would ask one student to read the day's daf. The students always assumed he didn't know the boys anyway. One day looking down the list he says "ok, Shapiro, zug the gemorah" [say the gemara]. Shapiro, who didn't have time to prepare properly, pipes up "Shapiro is nisht due" [Shapiro is not here]. R. Shatzkes looks up from his gemara and with a twinkle in his eyes says to the trembling Shapiro "ok due zog" (ok you read)...as you can imagine the entire class fell to the floor in laughter.
His Legacy
After R. Shatzkes' death in 1959, "Kollel Rabbeinu Moshe Shatzkes" was formed as a lasting memorial in Israel at Kfar Chassidim. It was attached to Yeshivat Knesset Chizkiyahu, named after R. Moshe's brother-in-law, R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Mishkowsky, Av Bet Din of Krinki.
He was survived by his sons R. Avraham Aharon (a Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS from 1944 until his death in 1983), married to Judith, (daughter of R. Chaim Yitzchak Korb, Rosh Yeshiva of Hebrew Theological College, in Skokie, Illinois); R. Aryeh Leib, a Rosh Yeshiva at Mesivta Torah Vodaath; and a daughter Chana, who married R. Zvi Levenberg, a Rosh Yeshiva in Mesivta Chaim Berlin, (son of R. Yehuda Levenberg, founder of the Yeshiva of New Haven, Connecticut). A daughter Itel perished with her husband and young daughter at the hands of the Nazis.
R. Moshe wrote many Responsa and Chiddushim on a plethora of subjects. Our tragedy is that the vast majority were destroyed when he left Poland in 1940 - indeed R. Moshe often said that his greatest loss, above all that had happened to him during a lifetime of tragic misadventure, was the loss of his writings, a loss from which he never truly recovered. His vast library of seforim was buried in the forests of Lomza for safekeeping before he left and has never been recovered.
R. Shatzkes provided a link between the lost world of East European Torah Jewry and the dynamic new Jewish life being forged in the New World. Yehi Zichro Baruch.
Mr. Jonathan Hodes is a director in the Real Estate tax practice of Deloitte & Touche in London, England. He is married to Karen, daughter of Jerry Shatzkes (YC '67, RIETS '70), son of R. Avraham Aharon Shatzkes (RIETS Rosh Yeshiva from 1944 - 1983) and grandson of R. Moshe Shatzkes.
R. Shatzkes passed away in December 1959 (18 Tevet), at the age of 77. A crowd of more than two thousand gathered in the Lamport Auditorium of Yeshiva University as a final mark of respect to, what the Yeshiva press release referred to as, one of the greatest rabbanim and roshei yeshiva of the generation.
The maspidim included R. Samuel Belkin and R. Joseph Baer Soloveitchik representing Yeshiva, and R. David Lifshitz representing the Agudath HaRabbanim. From Yeshiva University, he was taken to Yeshivat Tifereth Yerushalayim where the Maspidim included R. Moshe Feinstein, R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin and R. Avraham Kalmanowitz. A large crowd of mourners headed by R. Aharon Kotler also gathered at the New Jersey airport from where R. Moshe Shatzkes was taken to his final resting place on Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem. His funeral was attended by chief rabbis, Israeli roshei yeshiva and Members of the Israeli Knesset.
The Early Years
R. Moshe Shatzkes was born in Vilna in 1882, a scion of a centuries old Rabbinic dynasty.
His father, R. Avraham Aharon Shatzkes, was the spiritual leader of Vilna who was known as the "Illui miZhetel," one of the most famous Talmidei Chachamim in Lita, and reputed to have been boky in Shas at the age of only 17.
His mother, Chaya Resha, was the daughter of R. Avraham Abba Edelson of Vilna, and granddaughter both of R. Chaim Dworetzky, rabbi of Zelve and R. Yitzchak Sherwinter, Av Bet Din of Vilna.
Personal tragedy struck at an early age - his father R. Avraham Aharon died when R. Moshe was only 3 years old. Soon after, at the suggestion of her uncle R. Elya Eliezer Grodzenski (father-in-law of R. Hayyim Ozer) his mother remarried R. Yitzchak Blaser (known as R Itzele Peterburger), one of the talmidim of R Yisrael Salanter.
R. Moshe was brought up and educated by R. Itzele and was sent to study at the great Yeshivot of Slabodka and Telz and in 1904, at the age of 22, received semikha from R. Raphael Shapiro of Volozhin, R. Eliezer Gordon of Telz and R. Eliezer Rabinowitz of Minsk..
The Rabbinate
His first appointment upon entering the "Rabbinate" was in Lipnishuk, near Vilna, in 1909. This appointment marked the start of R. Moshe's career in which he excelled himself as a rabbi, leader, teacher and friend. He was immediately taken to the hearts of the community and within five years he was appointed rabbi of the nearby larger town of Ivye, in the district of Vilna, in 1914.
He was a leader in all aspects of communal life, well known as an outstanding orator, scholar, and halachic arbitrator. It was in Ivye that he demonstrated his skills in forging relationships with those who were able to make life easier for the Kehilla. He formed a cordial relationship with the German Commandant overseeing Ivye, such that he was able to reverse some of the Antisemitic decrees in place since WWI, such as freedom of movement for the residents, and thanks to his efforts he even succeeded in gaining permission to open soup kitchens for the poor and needy.
R. Moshe was arrested as a Bolshevik when the Polish army captured Ivye in 1920, but was released thanks to the entreaties of the local priest. This led to his increased standing in the eyes of the occupying forces such that he was able to serve as mediator on behalf of the community. Ultimately R. Moshe was appointed as vice Chairman of the Vaad which was set up to serve the wider Vilna district, to aid those refugees affected by the Great War. So began decades of rescue work that was to last until after World War II.
R. Moshe also excelled as a communal fundraiser. He was instrumental in forming a Gemach for the needy and setting up an orphanage. Battei Midrash and Battei Tefilla that had been destroyed in WWI were rebuilt. He established an educational network for Jewish children from elementary through to High School, and which gained a reputation as one of the best schools in the whole of Lida. He sought and found common ground with secular Jewish teachers; he understood the spirit of the time and was especially cherished for his rapport with the youth. He had a unique ability to capture the hearts of even the most unaffiliated, and was treated with uncommon derekh eretz by a very wide cross-section of the community.
He was also famed for his wit and wisdom and he was regularly invited by the Chafetz Chaim to important Rabbinic gatherings, so that the participants could benefit from his teachings. His fame for Torah and wisdom spread throughout Poland through his vice-presidency of the Agudath HaRabbanim in Poland and people turned to R. Moshe from near and far with she'elot. It is said he was one of the great "Makilim," using his encyclopaedic knowledge of hilkhot yoreh deah, shas and poskim to be meikil and machsher whenever possible, to prevent financial loss to a Jew during these difficult times.
In 1929, a devastating fire consumed almost every building in the town, leaving hundreds of families without a roof over their heads. R. Moshe worked day and night, appealing to Jews throughout Poland, and to landsmen from Ivye scattered throughout the world, to come to their rescue. Thanks to his efforts, generous help flowed in from Jewish communities around the world and communal institutions, new schools and Battei Midrash were rebuilt.
After the fire, he was approached by larger towns to head their communities. However, true to his principles, R. Moshe would not agree to leave his community in such a desolate situation. Within two years, most of Ivye had been rebuilt and in 1931 he was asked to become rav and Av Bet Din of Lomza. He had been proposed for the position by his rebbe, R. Hayyim Ozer Grodzenski, to whom he was very close and who had nicknamed him "Yismach Moshe," on account of his sunny disposition.
Known for his neutrality, this was a crucial factor in the ratification of R. Shatzkes by the whole cross-section of the Lomza Community. The only dissenters were a group of Alexander Chassidim who opposed his election based on R. Shatzkes' annual subscription to Keren HaYesod, the inference being he was a Zionist.
Shortly after his arrival in Lomza, he was asked to give a hesped after the Chafetz Chaim's death in Ellul 1933, both in his capacity as a close friend of the Chafetz Chaim and also as one of the outstanding speakers of the Rabbinic world. Similarly, he was one of the Maspidim of R Hayyim Ozer Grodzenski at his funeral in Vilna in 1940. In fact, he was visiting R Hayyim Ozer's sickbed with his brother-in-law R. Chizkiyah Mishkovsky, when R. Hayyim Ozer passed away.
His time in Lomza was not an easy one. It was marked by anti-Jewish demonstrations, the outlawing of Shechita and a boycott of Jewish shops. Lomza Jews fled in droves and the community gradually declined. With the Stalin-Hitler pact in August 1939 on the division of Poland, Lomza was transferred into Russian Hands and, on Hoshana Rabba that year, the Soviet tanks rolled into town. Community leaders pleaded with R. Moshe to escape before he would be arrested.
Escape from Horror
R. Moshe was compelled to leave the city and escaped under cover of darkness across the Lithuanian border to Vilna, where he continued his work in relieving the plight of refugees who had assembled there.
Vilna, still neutral at that time, had become a magnet for Yeshivot that had fled from their home towns. One of the Yeshivot that had escaped en masse to Vilna was Yeshivat Sha'ar HaTorah of Grodno, headed by R. Shimon Shkop. After the death of R. Shkop, R. Moshe was appointed by R Hayyim Ozer Grodzenski to succeed R. Shimon Shkop as Rosh Yeshiva.
Apart from serving as the Vice Chairman of the Committee for Refugees, R. Shatzkes was an active leader of the Vaad HaYeshivot in Vilna, a role which carried with it the enormous responsibility for the supervision (and financial condition) of the many Yeshivot in Vilna and the surrounding areas.
After Vilna was captured by the Russians, he travelled via Russia to Japan, having received a Japanese permit from Sempo Sugihara, the Japanese temporary consul in Kovno. Arriving in Kobe by boat in May 1941, R. Shatzkes immediately set about continuing his relief efforts for Jews. R. Moshe also worked to build a spiritual life for the almost five thousand refugees in Kobe, amongst them many Roshei Yeshiva and almost the entire Mir Yeshiva, who had fled Poland and Lithuania. He befriended the famous Japanese scholar, Professor Setzuso Kotsuji, a friend of Japan's Foreign affairs minister, and with his help he aided the fleeing of thousands of refugees.
Owing to his reputation as a brilliant Talmudic scholar and his previous position as rav of Lomza, R. Moshe was selected by the refugee community as one of their two representatives (the other being the Amshinover Rebbe), who had been summoned to meet with Japanese government representatives in Tokyo, to discuss their plight and plea to stay in Japan until another place of refuge could be found.
The Yeshiva Years (1941-1959)
R. Moshe finally reached the United States in 1941. He was immediately appointed to become a Senior Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS. Having turned down the invitation of R. Herzog to join the chief rabbinate in Eretz Yisrael, he preferred to devote his time and strength to Harbatzat Torah. R. Moshe remained in this role for the last eighteen years of his life, during which time he also served as a council member of the Agudath HaRabbanim of the United States and Canada.
Along with R. Soloveitchik and R. Belkin, R. Shatzkes served as a member of the Rabbinical Ordination Board at RIETS, granting semikha to 425 of its graduates. One recent biographer, Victor Geller, in his "Orthodoxy Awakens," recalls the informal nature of the oral semikha bechinot. It invited distraction, with R. Soloveitchik and R. Shatzkes often ignoring the bewildered student and engaging into their own spirited, scholarly exchange, with R. Belkin often having to bring them back to the business at hand.
His wonderful sense of humour was manifested by one of the most famous stories as told by Yeshiva Chancellor Norman Lamm who was in the class at the time. R. Shatzkes would usually look down the list of the names of his students and then at random would ask one student to read the day's daf. The students always assumed he didn't know the boys anyway. One day looking down the list he says "ok, Shapiro, zug the gemorah" [say the gemara]. Shapiro, who didn't have time to prepare properly, pipes up "Shapiro is nisht due" [Shapiro is not here]. R. Shatzkes looks up from his gemara and with a twinkle in his eyes says to the trembling Shapiro "ok due zog" (ok you read)...as you can imagine the entire class fell to the floor in laughter.
His Legacy
After R. Shatzkes' death in 1959, "Kollel Rabbeinu Moshe Shatzkes" was formed as a lasting memorial in Israel at Kfar Chassidim. It was attached to Yeshivat Knesset Chizkiyahu, named after R. Moshe's brother-in-law, R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Mishkowsky, Av Bet Din of Krinki.
He was survived by his sons R. Avraham Aharon (a Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS from 1944 until his death in 1983), married to Judith, (daughter of R. Chaim Yitzchak Korb, Rosh Yeshiva of Hebrew Theological College, in Skokie, Illinois); R. Aryeh Leib, a Rosh Yeshiva at Mesivta Torah Vodaath; and a daughter Chana, who married R. Zvi Levenberg, a Rosh Yeshiva in Mesivta Chaim Berlin, (son of R. Yehuda Levenberg, founder of the Yeshiva of New Haven, Connecticut). A daughter Itel perished with her husband and young daughter at the hands of the Nazis.
R. Moshe wrote many Responsa and Chiddushim on a plethora of subjects. Our tragedy is that the vast majority were destroyed when he left Poland in 1940 - indeed R. Moshe often said that his greatest loss, above all that had happened to him during a lifetime of tragic misadventure, was the loss of his writings, a loss from which he never truly recovered. His vast library of seforim was buried in the forests of Lomza for safekeeping before he left and has never been recovered.
R. Shatzkes provided a link between the lost world of East European Torah Jewry and the dynamic new Jewish life being forged in the New World. Yehi Zichro Baruch.
Mr. Jonathan Hodes is a director in the Real Estate tax practice of Deloitte & Touche in London, England. He is married to Karen, daughter of Jerry Shatzkes (YC '67, RIETS '70), son of R. Avraham Aharon Shatzkes (RIETS Rosh Yeshiva from 1944 - 1983) and grandson of R. Moshe Shatzkes.