Rabbi Avraham Brandwein (; died February 20, 2013), ''

Admor A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. 3 ...

'' of Stretin, was an Israeli

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

Family and early life

Brandwein's family includes many

chassidic masters A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic Judaism, Hasidic movement, and the personalities of List of Hasidic dynasties, its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirit ...

, including the Maggid of Mezritsch,

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 Levy Yitschak of Berditshev, and he was directly descended from the first ''Admor'' of Stretin. Brandwein was born in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, the seventh generation in his family to live there. His family originally settled in

Tsfat Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortified town in the Upper Galil ...

, the city of

Kabbalists Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (). Jewi ...

. His father, Rav Yehudah Tzvi, was the previous ''Admor'' and a scholar of Kabbalah. Brandwein served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

in artillery and was among the soldiers that crossed the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

into

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

during the

Yom Kippur war The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

Ordination

Brandwein was ordained as a

Rabbi 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 t ...

by ''

Gedolim ''Gadol'' or ''godol'' (, plural: ''gedolim'' ) (literally "big" or "great" in Hebrew) is used by religious Jews to refer to the most revered rabbis of the generation. Usage The term ''gadol hador'' refers to the "great/est (one of) the generatio ...

'' representing the entire Orthodox community in Israel, and also holds an M.A. He integrated Charedi life with active participation in the life of the modern state. Brandwein served as a rabbi in the Absorption and Immigration Department of the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

, providing spiritual assistance to recent immigrants.

Teaching and writing

From 1985, Brandwein taught

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 () ...

and

Chassidut Hasidic philosophy or Hasidism (), alternatively transliterated as Hasidut or Chassidus, consists of the teachings of the Hasidic movement, which are the teachings of the Hasidic ''rebbes'', often in the form of commentary on the Torah (the Five ...

throughout Israel. He edited more than 20 volumes of classical Kabbalistic texts. He established a ''

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

'' in the

Jewish Quarter Jewish Quarter may refer to: *Jewish quarter (diaspora), areas of many cities and towns traditionally inhabited by Jews *Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem), one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem *Jewish Quarter (), a popular name ...

of the Old City of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

where he taught Kabbalah. He wrote the book "The Essence of Religion and its Purpose" Commentary by "Or Hadash" Hebrew for New Light (Book Title in Hebrew "Mehut HaDat UMatrata") based on Rav Ashlag's article of the same name.

Death

Brandwein died on February 20, 2013 (Hebrew Date Lunar Calendar is 10th of Adar), aged 67, in the

Hadassah Medical Center Hadassah Medical Center () is an Israeli medical organization established in 1934 that operates two university hospitals in Jerusalem (one in Ein Karem and one in Mount Scopus) as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology ...

Ein Kerem Ein Karem (; )Sharon, 2004, p155/ref> also Ein Kerem or Ain Karem, is a historic mountain village southwest of Jerusalem, presently a neighborhood in the outskirts of the modern city, within the Jerusalem District in Israel. It is the site of th ...

, after several months' illness. He was buried in the

Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery The Jewish Cemetery on the Mount of Olives () is the oldest and most important Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives had been a traditional Hebrew/Jewish burial location in antiquity. The present-day main cemetery is approximately fiv ...

, next to his wife, Tzipora, who had died four years earlier.

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070811104700/http://www.projectmind.org/exoteric/brandwein.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandwein, Avraham 1945 births 2013 deaths Kabbalists Israeli Orthodox rabbis