Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of
Apt, popularly known as the Apter Rebbe or Apter Rov, was born in
Żmigród,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
in 1748 and died in
Mezhbizh,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
(now
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
) in 1825.
Rabbinical career
A scion of famous rabbinic families, on both his father's and his mother's side (his family can be traced back to
Maharam Padua and
Saul Wahl
Saul Wahl Katzenellenbogen (1541–1617) was a wealthy and politically influential Polish Jews, Polish Jew who is in Jewish folk legends said to have Pro tempore, briefly occupied the King of Poland, throne of Poland on 18 August 1587. He has his ...
), Avraham Yehoshua Heshel showed great promise even at an early age. Acquiring fame as a
talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ic scholar, he studied under Rabbi
Elimelech of Lizhensk
Elimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk (1717–March 11, 1787) was a rabbi and one of the founding Rebbes of the Hasidic movement. His hometown was Leżajsk () near Rzeszów in Poland. He was part of the inner "Chevraya Kadisha" (Holy Society) school o ...
and Rabbi Yechiel Michl of
Zlotchov.
Becoming one of the foremost spokesmen of the growing
Chasidic movement in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, he began his career as Rabbi of
Kolbuszowa. In 1800 he accepted the post of Rabbi of Apt, or
Opatów
Opatów (; ) is a town in southeastern Poland, within Opatów County in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Province). Historically, it was part of a greater region called Lesser Poland. In 2012 the population was 6,658. Opatów is located ...
.
Although he held many other rabbinic positions, to the chasidim he remained always the Apter Rov. In 1808 he was chosen as Rabbi of
Iaşi,
Moldavia
Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...
. In the wake of communal strife there, he was forced to leave his post and settled in Mezhbizh, the home of the
Baal Shem Tov
Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...
and the cradle of Hasidism, where he devoted himself completely to the study and dissemination of
Chasidism.
His daughter, Rachel Ashkenazi, authored several original commentaries on the Torah.
It was during this period in his life, in Mezhbizh, that he gained the veneration of thousands of followers, among whom were a number of the prominent rabbis of the age. His outstanding character trait was his strongly expressed love of the
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
people, which earned him the title of ''Oheiv Yisrael'', "Lover of Israel". ''Oheiv Yisrael'' became the title of the published collection of his thoughts arranged according to the weekly
Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
portions. The work abounds with lofty kabbalistic insights and interpretations. It is one of the basic Chasidic texts and bespeaks the Apter Rov's passionate love of his fellow
Jew
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
s. The Apter Rov is one of the most notable and beloved luminaries in the Hasidic firmament.
On his deathbed, crying bitterly over the long exile, he said: "Before his demise,
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev promised that upon entering the World-to-Come he would not rest or sit until
Mashiach would come. But they diverted his attention by teaching him lofty and mystical concepts until he forgot his pledge—but I assure you, I will not forget."
He was buried in
Mezhbizh, near the
Baal Shem Tov
Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...
. An ornate stone ohel marks his grave in the old Jewish cemetery. According to one Hasidic legend, angels subsequently carried his body and buried him in the
Holy Land
The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
, and in the Jewish Cemetery in
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...
there is a stone marking his supposed grave.
The Hasidic dynasty of Mezhbizh/Zinkov
Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apt was the founder of the Mezhbizh/Zinkover rabbinic dynasty. In honor of the dynasty's founder, his descendants adopted the family name Heshel.
References
*Chapin, David A. and Weinstock, Ben, ''The Road from Letichev: The history and culture of a forgotten Jewish community in Eastern Europe, Volume 1''. iUniverse, Lincoln, NE, 2000.
*Kaplan, Aryeh (1991) Chasidic Masters: History, Biography, Thought. Moznaim Publishing Corporation.
*Rabinowicz, Tzvi M. ''The Encyclopedia of Hasidism'': Jason Aronson, Inc., 1996.
*Finkel, Avraham Y. ''The Great Chasidic Masters'': Jason Aronson, Inc., 1992.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heshel, Avraham Yehoshua
1748 births
1825 deaths
People from Jasło County
Hasidic rebbes
Hasidic rabbis in Europe
Polish Hasidic rabbis
Rabbis
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as '' semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...