R. Shlomo Zalman son of R. Shmuel Katz
Daugavpils / Dvinsk / Dinabug / Denenborg / Denabarg
Born approximately in 5523 (1763)1). He is known by the name R. Zalman Zezmer, after his rabbinate in the city of Ziezmariai (between Vilna and Kovna) before he became rabbi here in Dvinsk.
A renowned Hasid, among the great students of the Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch, and afterward among the students of his son the Middle Rebbe of Lubavitch.
He also served as rabbi in Kreslava.
His student, the well-known Hasid R. Hillel of Paritch, writes about him: “Before him there was none like him and after him I have not yet seen a servant of God with mind and heart; his heart like the heart of a lion and broad knowledge in the depth of the divine light, from level to level, without measure.”
He passed away in Kreslava on 28 Tevet 5587 (27 January 1827), and his resting place is there.
Source of the quotation: Migdal Oz, p. 637. More about him: Torat Menachem Reshimat HaYoman, p. 509, note 33 (and see the introduction to the responsa Zekher Yehuda (Ohalei Shem Institute, 5751), note 19).
Latvia and Rabbis