Liepāja / Libau / Libava
Born in 5642 (1882)1) in the town of Dunilowitz, district of Vilna,2) where his father served as rabbi. He studied at the yeshiva of R. Yitzchak Yaakov Reines in Lida and was ordained by him for the rabbinate. He also studied for a time at the Slonim yeshiva.
Son-in-law of R. Meir Robinson, rabbi in Krok, Švenčionys, and Radoshkovichi, district of Vilna.
Immediately after his marriage in 5660 he was accepted as rabbi in the town of Olshan, district of Vilna. At the outbreak of the First World War he wandered to Berdiansk on the shores of the Black Sea and served there as rabbi. After the war he returned to Poland. In 5682 he was appointed rabbi in the city of Švenčionys, and from 5689 served as rabbi of Liepāja.
He perished in the Holocaust on 29 Tammuz 57013) (24 July 1941).
Sefer Zikaron LeKehillot Ba'ezor Sventsyan, p. 207. Yahadut Latviya, p. 405. Eleh Ezkerah, vol. 7, pp. 137 ff. Latvia: Batei Knesset VeRabbanim, p. 238. In the book Leben un Umkum fun Olshan, p. 87, it is written in error that he was also the chief rabbi of Riga.
His letter to the man of kindness, R. Mordechai Dubin, requesting help for the Torah veDerekh Eretz school in his city:
With God's help, Friday, 24 Adar 5691.
Dear friend, communal activist, Mr. M. Dubin, may he live.
I am compelled to reveal to him the situation prevailing in our school “Torah veDerekh Eretz” here, and to ask him to take interest in its fate and extend immediate assistance.
Soon, in the month of May, the building housing our school is to be sold due to old and new debts, as his honor knows — but that is an internal matter. Worse is that Passover is approaching and the teachers do not have a penny.
The local resources suffice for only half, and fundamentally we rely on miracles and on the state support that we receive thanks to the efforts of Mr. [Dubin].
Because of the poor economic situation afflicting our city, it is difficult to conduct a special collection for our school, even though my wife herself has already gone around to the donors and gathered some sum.
The conclusion of our words — my request is laid before his honor: (a) to involve our friend in the matter and send us a respectable loan of approximately forty to fifty thousand [lats] against the support of April–July of this year. (b) When the support is distributed, upon its approval by the Sejm, not to reduce in favor of other schools the sum allocated to us, since Libau is exceptional and we stand in a struggle against other schools foreign to our spirit.
With my blessing for a joyful and kosher holiday, and in my expectation of prompt assistance, I remain with feelings of honor and esteem,
His friend.
Latvia and Rabbis