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The gifted Sokolov, a great journalist of our generation and a leader of Judaism during the years of great doubts of the country on its final path to statehood, was, as is well known, a native of Wyszogród and a fruit of its Jewish heritage. We are proud of the great son of our nation who was born in our town and we present here the article by Y. Greenbaum detailing the stages of his greatness and the stages of his growth as a leader.

As it is well known, Sokolov brought to Zionism the profound synthesis between it and Hasidism, thereby preventing the catastrophe of division in the people as they were preparing for their redemption. I. Grinboim highlights this as a sign of Sokolov's greatness of spirit, and it seems to us that Sokolov nurtured this synthesis in his hometown of Wyszogród, which was divided in its opinions and remained united as a community. It is no coincidence that in the reincarnations of his position, Sokolov always remembered Rabbi Chaim Aharon Persht, his distinguished and beloved rabbi, a resident of Wyszogród, who shaped the character of his childhood. The inclusion of Sokolov's chapters in the book of remembrance for the city also highlights the merit of Wyszogród itself.

In the 1870s, Warsaw, the capital of Poland, which was subject to Russia, was the center of Jewish enlightenment and assimilation. Memories of the uprising of 1863, in which Jewish intellectuals fought shoulder to shoulder with Polish nobles against Russia, in which the rabbi of Warsaw participated in bloody demonstrations together with Catholic priests, and it seemed that a pact of peace and brotherhood for all time had been reached between the Poles and the Jews – were still alive in the heart of every Jewish intellectual, while the people were still subject to the rule of the Hasidism and its tzaddikim.

During this period, Nahum Sokolov began his literary work.

An 18-year-old young man came from Płock, where his name had become famous as a gifted person, to Warsaw, and entered the world of the educated, becoming an assistant to Salonimski, who published the Hebrew “HaTsifra” and to Palatin, who published the Polish “Israelita”. It wasn't long before he took over the editing of the “HaTsifra” and in the “Israelita” he was the head of the speakers. He learned a lot and put himself in the forefront of the Polish and European world, while he did not leave the world of the Jews, and instructed them and taught them knowledge and Judaism.

“HaTsifra” was not a newspaper that fought for its opinions amidst a storm of attacks from the old world, against ignorance and Hasidism. The ways of “HaShachar” and even the ways of the “HaMelitz” were not its ways. The reader of “HaTsifra” was not the young man who rebelled and strayed from the paths of life, the young man who evaluated the destruction of his world and sought the way to a new world, not even the educated among the new generation in whom the buds of national and Zionist thought had sprouted.

Most of the readers of “HaTsifra” were from the world of the Hasidim and their youth, to whom no other language than Hebrew was understandable. And these did not rebel, nor did they destroy worlds, nor did they go astray, or little by little and slowly lost their world.

All those early days of Love of Zion, he stood on the sidelines, observing and criticizing, and sometimes mocking the dreams and delusions, especially the Yom Kippur Katan that took hold of the Love of Zion movement. Perhaps unknowingly, he longed for a great activity, for a vision, for a broad and comprehensive plan that penetrates

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to the abyss. Therefore, his heart was drawn to Baron Hirsch's plan, the same first plan that promised a mass exodus to a new land. And it goes without saying that he tried to reconcile it with the love of Zion and to prove that there was no contradiction between these two methods.

Meanwhile, the anti-Semitic movement grew and expanded. The positivity faded out. Day by day, the peace and brotherhood pact that had been made during the rebellion of 1863 and its aftermath waned.

To the arrogant anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism was added for national reasons, and Sokolov became a target for them – the same Sokolov who wrote in Hebrew and was the editor of the “HaTsifra”.

Then Herzl's book The Gospel of the Jewish State appeared – this was the great and bold plan for which Sokolov's soul yearned. But the things that were printed did not appeal to him. Behind them he did not see the man and the act he was capable of doing. He criticized, doubted. Even mocked a little.

And here was the first act: the congress in Basel. A great and grand act like no other. Sokolov still had doubts, but something stirred in his heart. Could this be the act he has been waiting for? He went to Basel. He listened, he observed, he penetrated into the depths of things, he came into contact and conversed with Herzl – and swept away after him. The skeptic who did not appreciate the illegal activities of the Love of Zion, who mocked their smallness, who did not see the nucleus that could grow and expand, became a believer when he saw Herzl, when he heard his words, when he peered into the depths of his plans. He believed in Herzl, in political Zionism, in this organization founded at the First Zionist Congress, he stuck to Herzl and the Zionist Organization and linked the fate of his life to their fate.

Ahad Ha'am left the first congress disappointed and bitter. Sokolov, on the other hand, left it as an enthusiastic believer, as a Hasid who had just found his rabbi after having already given up on finding a leader and guide among all the tzaddikim he knew and learned their ways in Torah and in practice. And not only did Sokolov find his rabbi – if we use the language of Hasidim – in Herzl, but also his country in the Zionist Organization, the opportunity to live a political life, to develop and perfect his political talents, his power and ability to inspire, organize them, lead them towards actions and deeds, to be their leader. Sokolov, who until then spoke every day to his readers using the “HaTsifra” pages about the ways of the world and countries, about the daily troubles of the communities, about the war against anti-Semitism that castrates and denigrates, about acts of charity and salvation, Sokolov began appearing before audiences from all walks of life, began to proclaim to them the news of Zionism.

Thanks to Zionism, Sokolov approached to the people. Thanks to Zionism, his horizons expanded, it gave flavor to his publicist work. His style and manner of explaining changed: they became clear and fresh, European. His publicist talent blossomed, and he became the quintessential Hebrew journalist. However, he did not forget his dyed-in-the-wool readers, the Hasidic and Haredi audiences who remained loyal to him and to the “HaTsifra”. Herzl sought ways to reach this part of the nation and pinned great hopes on his joining the Histadrut. Sokolov addressed the Hasidic and Haredi, the great and honored rabbis, in a series of articles that were later published in a special book. In them, he analyzed the reasons for their opposition, the aspirations of the Zionist Organization, its activities and plans. And all this in his own unique way of explaining. In a way of straightening the crookedness of the heart. With great moderation and caution, he explained to the great and honored rabbis that all their opposition to Zionism and its ways is fundamentally wrong, that sometimes it is nothing more than a fear of order and knowledge and the beauty of life.

When the controversy over Uganda arose, Sokolov stood at the head of those who were primarily concerned with the integrity and unity of the Histadrut. He did not want to get to the bottom of it and distanced himself from any heated controversy, any war that was going on in Herzl's last days and even after his death. In his moderate and cold words, it was as if he were pouring buckets of cold water on our hot heads, and he demanded that the Histadrut, its unity and integrity, be preserved.

The actions and plans may change, but the Histadrut must stand forever and be the subject of the actions and plans. The organization of the people precedes the plan and action. The people may stray in their ways, but if the organization remains here – everything is here.

The first Russian Revolution, which destroyed the Hebrew press, forced Sokolov to move out of his apartment in Warsaw. The “HaTsifra” ceased to appear. It could not withstand the competition of the large Yiddish newspapers. The Haredi and Hasidic audiences also abandoned this newspaper.

Sokolov moved to Cologne and served as the general secretary of the board by Wolfson. In Cologne he founded the “HaOlam”, which served him as a kind of replacement for “HaTsifra”, but it did not take its place either in Sokolov's life or in his literary work. The writer and journalist, who would deliver his speeches to his readers every day, was rejected by the political activist, by the leader of the Histadrut. Sokolov helped Wolfson with his political work, which was renewed with the victory of the Turkish revolution and the rise of the Young Turks to power. He went with him to Kushta, where he participated in negotiations with the new rulers of Turkey and spoke about the Gospel of Zionism to the Sephardic people. However, it was not long before Sokolov left his post.

He moved to Berlin and became one of the leaders of the Zionist opposition. For the first and last time in his life, Sokolov became a member of the opposition and fought its war. However, even in these difficult days, he did not lose his moderation and caution. Whenever it was unbearable for him, he did not go out of his way. That gentlemanliness – or, more precisely, the political authority did not leave him even in his most difficult moments, when he felt himself insulted to death. The opposition triumphed. Wolfson left the leadership of his own free will. Sokolov was elected to the executive committee, to that small working committee in Berlin that wrote the beautiful page in the history of the Zionist movement, the dominance of the Hebrew language in the schools of the Hebrew settlement in Palestine. From this time on, Sokolov did not leave the Zionist executive until the days of the Congress in Lucerne. And the stations of the Zionist movement in its development and progress are the stations of Sokolov's life.

The world war broke out, and great hopes arose in the hearts of the leaders of the movement and the masses, which were strengthened when Turkey joined the war and the fate of Israel was decided. Throughout the movement, especially in management circles, it was felt that the great day was forthcoming,

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that a wonderful opportunity that should not be missed was created – to achieve the goal that had been receding in the years before the war, after several unsuccessful attempts in Kushta. Sokolov moved to London, and together with Weizmann and Chelnov, he began the work of public diplomacy and winning the hearts of the British government officials, of the influential among the Jews, in order to create the necessary conditions for this.

Sokolov participated in all of this with great participation. He traveled to the capitals of Western Europe and North America, to Paris, Rome, Washington and New York, held talks with the governments, received from them declarations of consent to the creation of the national home, to the mandate and its articles that secure this creation. After that, he continued his travels in the countries of Europe, America and Africa, in order to acquire support for Zionism and the means to realize it. He became a member of the household frequent visitor in all the Jewish communities throughout the world, a visitor of the Jewish people in all their diasporas. Whenever excitement and irritation in the polemic of things crossed the line, Sokolov uttered his quiet words as if from the heights of generations of experience, his words mixed with a sharp paternal mockery and a spirit of a noble skepticism hovered over them. Despite all this, what a strong confidence emanated from his words, confidence in the final victory of Zionist truth.

All those days, no one felt that Sokolov was getting older.

He was young and fresh and full of energy and willingness to work. In recent years he returned to his journalistic work, he did not stop his literary work for a moment. He began again to voice his words on the pages of newspapers; in his articles it was felt as if the heyday of his journalistic work in Warsaw before the closing of “HaTsifra” had been renewed. The same clarity and freshness, the same brilliance of the propaganda.

Sokolov was taken from his work, like a commander who never stopped giving orders and guidance, and the enemy bullet pierced his heart while giving his instructions. He was preparing to travel to South America, preparing himself for literary work and working to finish his life's work, the great dictionary of the living Hebrew language. And then death came and took him from us.

1858 – Born in Wyszogród, Płock Region

1861 – Started learning in the cheder when he was 3 years old

1874 – His first article “To the Torah and to the Certificate” was printed in the “HaMaggid” when he was 16 years old

1879 – He became a permanent assistant in the “HaTsifra” when he was 21 years old

1897 – He traveled to the First Zionist Congress as the editor of the “HaTsifra”

1898 – He actively participated in the Russian Zionist Conference

1936 (25 Iyar 5696) – Sokolov died while sitting at his desk when he received horrific news about the bloody events in the Land of Israel.

For many years and about three generations, the people of Wyszogród became acquainted with Reb Chaim Aharon from Kotchek. He was part of the human landscape and one of the shapers of its society. He lived until the age of 92, and every year of his life was a contribution of inspiration and a humorous atmosphere which was so needed to the residents of our city. From him they drew moral stories, jokes, exaltation and morals in different social situations.

This Hasid from Kotchek, who set his sights towards Ger Hasidism just because he thought it is wise “to follow the majority opinion”, always walked with his very long pipe between his teeth, from which he would suck the essence of his wisdom that would interlard his rich stories and with which he would wave his hands from side to side as he spoke. He was a great scholar and ruled on matters that even those in charge of halacha matters were stumped by.

There were families who deliberately turned to him regarding matters of kashrut and meat and milk, because they placed their trust in his rulings regarding halacha matters.

They didn't know much about his private life, but everyone knew the man himself and everyone was interested in his character and fell in love with it.

For years and years, Rabbi Chaim Aharon from Kotchek would pour out the lessons of “Chayei Adam” every evening before craftsmen and others thirsting for the word of God. He loved his audience, and they loved him too. Just as he wanted to sit among Hasidim, so he loved even more to spend whole evenings among these people of labor, who loved their work and hated the rabbinate. Here he felt as if the anvil had found the hammer. After these people had finished their work between mincha and ma'ariv in their homes, they would rush to the Beit Midrash to enjoy the Torah of Reb Chaim Aharon, and just as he was strict and meticulous with light mitzvas as if they were severe mitzvas, here he was among the “simple people” he loved, he lightened their hearts, encouraged their spirits, and took them out of the realm of hard livelihood and brought them into the realm of the Creator of the world, and explained to them is simple words all of the things related to heaven.

Reb Chaim Aharon was known as a storyteller with divine grace, and each of his stories about rabbis and tzaddikim would captivate his listeners, causing them to follow his words with devotion. When he was old and only rarely left his house due to his old age and exhaustion, his audience would gather at his door and enjoy the poignancy of the story and the richness of the language that Reb Chaim Aharon would lavish upon them, and until the end of his life, he kept telling jokes.

There were two things about Reb Chaim Aharon that distinguished him and set him apart from everyone else in terms of simplicity and cordiality. On the one hand, he was immersed in the sea of the Talmud and the depths of the Gefet (Gemara, Perushei Rashi, Tosafot), struggling against their material waves with a kind of seriousness and avoided being in the company of frivolous people. And he considered the seriousness and strict adherence to the halachic laws of life the secret of Judaism's existence and its existence until the coming of the Redeemer.

And on the other hand, he knew the secret of the smile and cordiality, which are necessary for every Jew in the harsh conditions of his life as a life elixir for the individual. The community as a whole will not exist, according to his opinion, unless it scrupulously observes the mitzvas and scrutinizes its unique actions, but the individual as an individual, who must bear the burden of this severity, will not be up to the task unless he is enriched with the splendor of wit, parable, joke, and story.

And Wyszogród, who lived mostly on its craft and, like most working people, rose with him to the heights of beauty and smiles, kindness and grace. And its life of labor suddenly took on a meaning of “it is worth being a Jew”, even a working Jew.

In our articles about Wyszogród and its events in the book, the image of Reb Chaim Aharon Ferszt is portrayed as a figure who greatly influenced the city and its people.

Here is the place to add that Rabbi Chaim Aharon Ferszt was honored to be Nachum Sokolov's teacher and guided him in the beginning of his path in Judaism.

May the memory of Rabbi Chaim Aharon Ferszt accompany us for generations.

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Reb Mosze was about twenty years old when he settled in Wyszogród after his marriage to a girl from our city. Already upon his arrival, the young Torah scholar stood out and he was known in the community of Wyszogród residents as one whose hallmarks were Torah and commerce, honor and humility, advice and wisdom.

He lived on Rambova Street, and supported himself with dignity and financial welfare from the fabric store he ran with great commercial talent. However, he never considered himself detached from the poor people on other streets of the city and was attentive to every detail of the lives of the residents of remote alleys. However, he was never seen immersed in commerce to the point of forgetting the main thing, which was the study of the Torah and Hasidism. Being an outstanding scholar, knowledgeable and “up-to-date” in the halachic laws as one of the poskim, he did not take power for himself and never tried to lower the status of rabbis and dayanim, while trying to overshadow them with his knowledge, although the rabbis themselves recognized his greatness and were not offended if someone specifically wanted his rulings on matters of halachic law.

He would dedicate his free hours to the teaching of Torah and maintaining its existence as a dominant force in the lives of the youth, the future generation, who began to be swept away by the wave of new winds and ideas that overwhelmed the Jews of Poland.

Reb Moshe Gurfinkel was one of the few in the city who, for the sake of maintaining the “Beit Yaakov” school and the “Cheder Yesod HaTorah”, was able to close his shop during the busy hours and devote himself to solving their financial or administrative problems.

The people of our city remember favorably that he confiscated the tallits of the worshippers, in order to force them to fulfill their financial vows to maintain a school. This method was at his own personal risk, but more than anything, it testified to his faith in the Jew, who would overcome mental and financial obstacles in order to return his tallit. A short time after his arrival in our city, people began to turn to him for various matters and knew that they would be saved by him, that he would listen to your distress and try to ease your suffering through conversation, explanation, comfort that would reach the heart and provide a balm for the soul, he would help with your financial distress and solve it with his money, or by collecting money from others. But above all, Reb Mosze Jakob Wolf's became famous as a man who pursued peace and restored it to its rightful place in sibling quarrels, marital disputes, and neighborly disputes. In a very short time, Reb Mosze became synonymous with asking for peace and he would achieve it on both sides with the charm of his speaking, his sound logic, the charm of his personality and great character. There were many couples, whose home was on the verge of collapse and Reb Mosze brought peace to it. And there were families who had peace in their homes until the end of their lives after profound misunderstandings between them, and they knew it was only thanks to the intervention of Reb Mosze Gurfinkel, z”l.

Reb Mosze developed his own system of charity and carried it out to the best of his ability. He did not wait for people to come and ask for his mercy. From an unknown source, he gleaned information about various necessities and would take care of them with his money in a planned manner and with loans, which in our time we would call them constructive loans.

Hachnasat Kalla and establishing a home in Israel – he immersed himself in these things to the point of losing count and the limit of what was possible.

Many grocers would enjoy his loans every week, sometimes he himself would bring them the loans and reassure the one in need, so that he would not be dispirited, God forbid, and that he would not be forced to pay if he could not, it can happen, and Reb Mosze would say:

I have never had a Jew who owed me money. They always pay off their debts. There are only those who are not yet in a position to repay, but they will repay, they will repay, no worries. It is only a question of time.

And this was a quality for its own sake, not in order to become famous or to glorify his name. His charity was in secret, but his charity was so wide that its publication came naturally and against his will.

There was a case of a woman coming to him and asking him for 50 zlotys, she needs to save her husband and hand him over to medical experts in Warsaw, and she has no means to do it, and who knows, maybe it's already too late for it.

Reb Mosze was strapped for cash at the time. His business was beginning to decline, but the problem was a problem and should not be ignored. He advised her to go on his behalf to a specific person who had means, and ask for 25 zlotys from him, and he, Reb Mosze, would give her 25 zlotys as well.

The person with the means could not refuse, as she approached him at Reb Mosze's request, but he demanded from her bills and a pledge of the last few leather tools she had.

The man returned healthy from Warsaw and the woman came to Reb Mosze a short time later to thank him and repay him his loan. Reb Mosze dissemblingly tried to dissuade her from this, and said he did not remember at all that she had taken money from him, he said he remembered that he had referred her to a specific person, etc. Then the woman told him how and under what conditions she had received the favor from this specific person. Reb Mosze answered her:

– In that case, go to him first and redeem your pledge and as to me, I believe you if you say that you owe me money, but you will repay your debt to me only when you are capable of doing so. There is no rush.

Reb Mosze Gurfinkel was unique and special in his behavior and all his qualities were true qualities, all of which arise and form one division of love for Israel, whose existence in the diaspora depended on the grace of truth and the grace of love, aka love of Israel. Reb Mosze drew this life philosophy from Hasidism, in which he saw a spiritual refuge for the soul of Israel, from its friendship he would draw strength to carry the burden of the generations of Jewish existence, and from the word “Hasidism” he drew the quality of charity (chesed). He cultivated the shtibel with great enthusiasm and believed that performing prayer in the shtibel has both a true communion with the plight of Israel

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as well as its solution, as if the Holy One, blessed be He, sees Jews in the shtibel, and sees that brotherhood and unity prevail among them and he is ready to answer their prayers, more so than in a general place of prayer, which may be a shelter for the cry of the people, but is not a sign of their unity. True, in the synagogue each person prays for himself and for his own benefit, although it may seem to him that he is performing a communal prayer.

Therefore, his prayer was a cry and devotion, as one who has everything and does not pray for himself, but for others in need, thus he is permitted to cry out where others are discouraged and do not have the courage to raise their voices to heaven.

And so, it was in his death. If anyone died in silence, it was not Reb Mosze. He dies and a sky-high cry filled with devotion and faith escaped from his lips and ascended to heaven.

In the landscape of figures in Wyszogród, Reb Mosze Gurfinkel was a person of deep faith, steeped in Torah and full of good deeds. His image will not soon be forgotten.

May the righteous man be blessed in his deeds.

Reb Pinchas Garbarez was tall, as tall as a cedar, thin and straight without any hunchback. His black beard hung down over his body, his face was slightly elongated, his figure was noble, his walk was slow and restrained, and his clothing was impeccable, as befits a wise Torah scholar like him.

Like all the Jews of the city, he also had a nickname, without which no Jew in the town could be identified. He was known as Pinchas Hodes's, after his mother-in-law Hodes (or Yehudit).

Reb Pinchas had a livelihood, but his main occupation was Torah studies. He studied at home alone or with students, and gave lessons on the Daf Yomi and others at the Beit Midrash of Ger Hasidim, in which many of the worshippers participated: Reb Moshe Yaakov Wolf's, Reb Mendel Benno, Reb Elazar Kramarz, Reb Gabriel Boimgold, Reb Yehezkel Friedman, Reb Mendel Boim, Reb Zeinbil Segal, Reb Yosef Toiv, Reb Yaakov David Zand, Reb Yaakov Yehuda Pels, Reb Azriel Popovsky, Reb Yechiel Zalman, Reb Leiser Zilberstein, Reb Moshe Fox, Reb Oren Feibish Tabenfeld, Reb Henich Gadelman, Reb Yehoshua Sokolov, Reb Moshe (Chasid) Goldberg, Reb Yaakov Griner, Reb Henich Rosenberg, Reb Avraham Friedland, Reb Yosef Lumesal's, Reb Henich Shveyrts, Reb David Shveyrts, Reb David Leib Gips, Reb Yitzhak Meir Cohen, Reb David Meir Nashelsky, Reb Meir Gurfinkel, and many more that I don't remember, or others who participated only intermittently.

Reb Pinchas dedicated a special lesson for his son Hershel, and I was privileged to be one of the participants in this lesson. Thanks to this lesson, I gained an idea of what it means to study a page or a line of Gemara. He taught Gemara with Rashi, but straight. All the commentariat I consulted for the lesson did not help me ask a single question that Reb Pinchas would have to work hard to solve it. His straight teaching solved all my dilemmas and everything was clear. The breaks – interruptions during the lesson came to us from another place: the eldest daughter Riva smelled the smell of tasty food and left the room, which was pricks in the eyes of Reb Pinchas. Going out and looking for her was not in his nature or in his honor, so Hershel and I volunteered to spy on her and bring her home. I was not present at the family discussion. However, I felt sorry for the moments of the lesson that we lost due to this issue.

Reb Pinchas had a pleasant voice, and among the most distinguished prayer leaders, he was considered the ultimate prayer leader. In my time, during the Days of Awe, he was the prayer leader of the Musaf. I do not remember from whom he inherited the Musaf, but I remember that he inherited the Kol Nidrei and Nehila from Reb Chaim Aharon Katzker. (Reb Chaim Aharon Katzker bequeathed the Shacharit to Reb Gabriel Boimgold). At Shalosh Seudot (three meals), he sang the “Yetzave Tzur Hasdo” and the other psalms like prayers. Every Shabbat of the year, Reb Gabriel, Reb Yehoshua Sokolov, Reb Zeinbil Segal and others passed before the Ark. When Reb Pinchas took the tallit to wrap himself in for the “Lecho Neranena” prayer on Shabbat eve, a rustling was heard among those who lighten the burden of the mitzvas, because this served as a proof that the next morning, at Shacharit, the blessings are recited, or on the Saturday night, the first selichot are said. If it was not on some holiday or eve of a holiday, he did not come before the Ark to pray. In addition to the fact that he had a pleasant voice, he also knew how to accustom the “Khar” to follow him, and together with the “Khar” sweetened the fast of the fasting people. The holiday had a festive meaning through his prayers. The work of the “Khar” exercises was done mainly by his son Hershel, he himself was beyond such small things, I remember that when he finished the Musaf prayer with the song “Titkabel”, he was completely exhausted, and was immediately forced to sit down and rest, and someone else finished from “Ein kehelokenu” until the end.

His wife, and mainly Hershel, worked in the store. He only helped during market days and fairs, while his daughters Riva and Yocheved also helped. The bulk of his work was in the Torah studies and a bit of public matters. He was active in “Agudath Israel”, “Beit Yaakov”, in the “Cheder Yesod HaTorah”, and for a time served as chairman of the community management. In matters that time brought, he worked together with Reb Yitzhak Meir Cohen, Reb Lipa Wierzbinski, Reb David Zvi Lubin the More Tzedek, Reb Meir the Shochet and Bodek, Reb A. Kramarz, Reb G. Boimgold, Reb M.Y. Zilberbaum, Reb Shmuel Kruk, Reb M. Fox, Reb David Witelson, Reb H. Shveirtz, and others.

Another occupation of Reb Pinchas was to prepare wine for Kiddush. This wine was Unique and exquisite. Throughout the year, there was a special vessel and on top of it was a cloth filled with ashes, and the wine in the cloth was filtered into the vessel, and its taste was exquisite. This operation was done in a dark room, between the living room and the store, so that a stranger's eye would not see it, apparently, or for the simple reason that there was no other place in the apartment that was not occupied by a table, a table, a chair, etc.

Reb Mosze was born in Neshlsk, and upon his marriage he moved to Wyszogród, and even though he lived and worked in Wyszogród for over fifty years, and in Neshlsk for only less than the first twenty years of his life, including his childhood, the people of Neshlsk still did not stop their connection with Moshe and would feel a kind of satisfaction and hidden pride when they heard the Shamash at Ger calling Reb Mosze from Neshlsk to bless on the wine.

His life was full of content, emotion, faith, religious enthusiasm, honesty, righteousness, Hasidism, innocence, and all the virtues and good qualities that our sages enumerated in a Jew who served as the crown of Torah, the crown of Levi, and the crown of a good name were included in it. I have only known him for a few years, and my hands tremble with fear, lest I sin against this great figure, if I belittle him, God forbid, as I know I will not be able to encompass it all. I will mention at least a few lines from the character of this giant of spirit, who lived among his people, and never was arrogant towards any Jew. On the contrary, he was always willing to be humiliated by others if it was for the good of Judaism and the glorification of its name. Even on the holidays of Israel and its festivals, when the leaders of the people and all the Hasidim who prayed in the shtibel gathered in his apartment to rejoice in the joy of a good day, and the apartment was mistreated and the food and drinks were without limits, Rabbi Mosze did not frown. Even when a chair, a table, etc. were broken, the look of his face did not change, and not a glimmer of anger or resentment was visible in him.

When his young son, the righteous Reb Itche z”l, died, I looked for an expression of sorrow in his face, and I found no sorrow, grief, or resentment in him, but rather an expression of the agony of love, as one who stands in the temple and sacrifices what is dear to him as an offering to God. At any moment he was ready and willing to give up his essence, himself, as a sacrifice to God, all of it without a trace.

A person like me had no idea about his sacred work in prayer, Torah, or his behavior in secluded rooms. I only learn about his personality from his daily actions, and from his interactions with people, and from some of them, I will try to come up with some lines of his figure.

A. A Jew who needed money and turned to Reb Mosze was never turned away empty-handed. B. My late father told me that in the evenings, at the end of market days, Reb Mosze went from person to person to exchange the pennies of his daily earnings for banknotes (rubles), in order to make it easier for the borrowers, so that they would not have to carry bags of copper coins. Once, when my father was destined to take part of the loan from him in pennies, Reb Mosze appeared in our apartment after a while and announced with great joy that he had nevertheless managed to obtain money in banknotes and wanted to exchange them. This is how Reb Mosze went to great lengths to save others a certain amount of trouble. C. Reb Mosze used to say that he had never encountered a Jew who would take a loan from him and not repay it, but rather, he had not yet repaid it. The reason is clear: he does not have money to pay now, but he will certainly repay it when he has means. D. Reb Mosze behaved differently when it was necessary to provide help to the sick and the, even when it was a matter of a poor person for a limited time, he did not believe, but took the tallit as a pledge. I remember an incident, it was a matter of life threatening, and in the midst of Shabbat in the house of prayer, after the awakening, the congregation of worshippers brought the money and handed it over to Reb Mosze. There were worshippers who brought their small children with them so they would hand the money to Reb Mosze, but Reb Mosze urged them to bring it themselves because every moment was crucial. E. When I was engaged with the handling of the “Cheder Yesod HaTorah”, I once went to his shop on a Friday before the time of lighting the candles, when he was about to close the shop, and told him that I intended to withdraw from handling the matters of the Cheder, because I did not have enough money to pay the salaries of the teachers of the secular classes, and it was implied that they would not come to teach on Sunday. I was forced to do so due to the seriousness of the situation. However, I immediately regretted the whole matter when I saw a tear roll down his cheek and onto his silvery beard. I wanted to turn back, to run away, and here Reb Mosze pulled me to him with both hands in love, and tried to encourage me not to despair, to hold on, and assured me that with the help of God, everything would be solved. And indeed, that was the case. During the break after Kabbalat Shabbat, in the Beit Midrash, Reb Mosze knock hard on the table, and as was his custom, he began with “Der Sfat Emet HaKedesh Zagt”, with the addition of a saying from the Zohar, and with his holy enthusiasm and true faith in the greatness of Israel and its saints, he raised the generosity of the worshipers and immediately at the end of Shabbat Kodesh, each one brought his offering. This was the way Reb Mosze solved such situations. F. Sometimes Reb Mosze would utter a cry in his prayer like the roar of a lion, whether in the “Parashat Hakorbanot” in “Vayedaber Elokim el Moshe lemor”, whether in “Shema Yisrael”, or “Baruch hu Baruch Shmo”. Whoever listened and wanted to hear, then heard the cry of the people of Israel answering their God from the mouth of Reb Mosze. G. On the first day of his illness, it was the first day of selichot, we did not know how severe his illness would be. We hoped that he would soon recover. As we stood by his bedside, his son Mendel told us that a week ago his father had told him that when he entered the mitzvot, his father Reb Yaakov Wolf brought before the “Sefat Emet” zt”l, and in his blessing that he bestowed upon him, he was accurate in three things: a. That he would not need anyone's help until his seventieth year, b. That he would not get sick until then, c. (I am sorry that I forgot the third thing), and now today he turned 70, and he is beginning to worry. This ends my part about Reb Mosze, and Reb Mendel added “his blessing, zy”a, fulfilled in full until his 70th birthday, and what's next? Only a week has passed and now… May God have mercy on him!”

I will fondly mention his daughter-in-law, this modest woman, Chaya, who was widowed by her husband Itche in the prime of her life. I cannot find words to describe her faithful devotion to her sick father-in-law. Nights and days, she fed him, gave him water, supported his bed, bathed and cleaned his wounds, put bandages on him, smeared him with alcohol and lemon juice, changed his linens ten times a day, she did all the work that tires and exhausts a man. She did it without resentment, without uttering a word that could be interpreted as complaining about her bitter fate. In addition to all this, she was burdened with the care of her three weak

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and orphaned children. And in the store, the shelves which were once full, were now empty, and the expenses at home were enormous, the support of the patient prevented elementary food from the members of the family and Chaya's was getting tired, but she does not resent. The world admired Joan of Arc who gave her life once, Chaya gave her life day by day, hour by hour, and I think that she herself, just as she was not aware of the reality of her hand or foot, so she was not aware and did not know the greatness of her heart, her virtues, because her virtues were also part of her being, and her simplicity and innocence and love for others were above human strength. These things will serve as a memorial to a great soul, the soul of Chaya Gurfinkel. H. On the first day of Rosh HaShana, before the Shacharit prayer, Reb Mosze was lying in his bed, from which he would never get out again. All the worshippers of the shtibel passed before his bed to bless him and to be blessed with a Shana Tova blessing. Among them were, of course, the Shacharit leader Reb Gabriel Boimgold, the leader of the Musaf, Reb Pinchas Gerberz, and the blower in the shofar Reb Leibel Meirsdorf. At that time, Reb Mosze turned to Reb Gabriel with a request to raise his voice a little during the first blessings of “Shema”, as his soul is eager to accept the yoke of the kingdom of heaven together with the holy congregation in the shtibel. And when Reb Gabriel had just arrived to the part “Habocher be'amo Israel be'ahava” (who choose his people Israel with love), we were all shocked by the powerful shout that came from Reb Mosze, “Shema Israel”!!! And this should be known, that between the Shamash and Reb Mosze there were five walls, as well as the apartment of the carpenter Reb Aharon Zipman, and a distance of about thirty meters. And, to our amazement, this 70-year-old Jew, paralyzed in half of his body, that the doctors already despaired of him, shouted in such a tremendous power “Shema Yisrael”! And I have no other answer to that, except that he accepted the yoke of the kingdom of heaven. I. Before my marriage and immigration to the Land of Israel, Rabbi Mosze knew about it, and also gave me his blessing, and it was at the end of Shabbat Kodesh. We were then on the night watch, Reb Pinchas Krongard and I. At about midnight, after he sucked the orange slice, we waited for him to fall asleep. We watched him and saw his lips moving, and as if by a force of gravity we were drawn closer to him, until we bent over him to hear him, and we heard fragmented words without any connection between them, and he said and repeated several times something about the verse in the Song of Songs: “Melech asur bar'atim”, “Melech ze Moshe”, “Bar'atim shel Yaakov”, “Asur Eretz Israel”. When he looked at me, a person who was immigrating to the Land of Israel, he also thought of the Land of Israel, and his longing to our land raised, and perhaps, in his mind, he also connected with our land, and therefore he wanted to ease the agony of longing for himself, with the Midrash's explanation of the verse “Melech asur bar'atim” thus: the Blessed One has forbidden from Moshe entry to the Land of Israel, and who is he to complain?

I once heard this story from the people of Neshlsk: An incident that occurred on the night of Shavuot, in Ger, after the holiday meal, Reb Mosze and the Neshlsk Hasidim were walking in the courtyard of the Beit Midrash and talking Hasidism as a prelude to Tikkun and learning. As they were walking like this, they noticed the son of the Rebbe (then still young and great in Torah, and now one of the greatest Rebbes and the leader of the community who resides in the holy city of Jerusalem, the holy Rabbi Rebbe Reb Israel Shlita), approaching and coming towards Reb Mosze. The group immediately separated, and the son of the Rebbe and Reb Mosze started walking and talking among themselves. The group of the people of Neshlsk were eager to hear at least some word or hint of the conversation of these two, most of them came as close as politeness and the courtesy would allow, and when one of them tried to get closer, Reb I. led Reb M. towards one of the rooms and there the conversation continued. The group tried to listen through the door, and the keyhole passed in turn from one eye to the other. What the conversation was about, and what its content was, they did not tell, but they told what they saw and heard at the end of the conversation early in the morning.

And so, they told us: At the end of the conversation, Rabbi Israel stood up, went to the cupboard, took out wine and a glass, poured the wine to the glass and said, “Whoever wants to pour wine on the altar, should give wine to the scholars of Torah”. “Drink Reb Mosze! Cheers, Reb Mosze”. And Reb Mosze, in his great humility, replied innocently and in surprise, “Rabbi Israel, are you joking?!” But Rabbi Israel was truly shocked and turned to Reb Mosze and said, “This is Shavuot night, Reb Mosze! We received the Torah together! How can you say this, God forbid joking, God forbid”.

The next day, the wiser people of the group advised Reb Mosze to appease Reb Israel, and indeed Rabbi Israel accepted him with open arms, and accepted his appeasement willingly.

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