Riga
Born in 5634 (1874)1) in the town of Bilytcha near Lida, district of Vilna. He studied at the Novhardok yeshiva and was among the distinguished students of R. Yosef Yozel Horowitz, one of the great masters of Musar.
Son-in-law of R. Betzalel Samrik, among the holy martyrs of Hebron in the events of 5689.
He was the rabbi of Tze'irei Agudath Yisrael in Riga.
He devoted himself with all his passion and energy to turning the hearts of the children toward the Rock from which they were hewn, and many returned to the right path through him.
He arrived to reside in Riga in 5669. In 5674 he founded the society Tiferet Bachurim, which after the First World War was incorporated into Tze'irei Agudath Yisrael. He was among the founders of the Gymnasium Torah veDerekh Eretz in Riga in 5680, and the founder of the organization Yagdil Torah.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Mohariatz) writes about him (Igrot Kodesh, vol. 2, p. 152): “In my heart I hold dear and cherish the chief director of this school, who truly fears God in the fullest sense of the word, of the school of the Musar masters, and his name is the rabbi Yoel, may he live, Barantzik, known for praise and renown among those close to the renowned Gaon, my friend from long ago, R. Chaim Ozer, may he live, and the Gaon the Chofetz Chaim, may he live.”
He perished in the Holocaust, in the second Action for the liquidation of the Riga ghetto, on 18 Kislev 5702 (8 December 1941).
Yahadut Latviya, p. 371. Latvia: Batei Knesset VeRabbanim, p. 224. His biography in the book E'evra Na (Jerusalem 5775), pp. 151 ff.
Latvia and Rabbis