Meshulam Fayish Tzvi (Herman) Gross or Grosz () (1863–1947) was a businessman, inventor and learned layman, author of two ''
sefarim'' of
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 () ...
novellae, ''Nachlas Tzvi'' and ''Ateres Tzvi''.
Early life
Herman Grosz (as his name was then spelled) was born in
Debrecen
Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...
,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, in 1863. Soon after, his family moved to
Nyírbátor
Nyírbátor () is a town in Szabolcs–Szatmár–Bereg County, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. The town contains 15th and 16th century ecclesiastic and secular architectural heritage.
Geography
It covers an area of and ...
, where he was raised. His father, Reuven, was engaged in business, possibly as a
breeder
A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed, to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist ...
or trader of horses. As a young man, Meshulam reportedly was involved in "breaking" horses for his father.
It is not known which
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 ...
s he attended, although it is believed that much of his Torah learning was self acquired. In 1890 he married Leah Billiczer, daughter of Rabbi Amram Yishai Halevi Billiczer,
Av Beth Din of
Szerencs, Hungary, and a descendant of a long line of rabbis. The family originally came from Spain and reportedly were descendants of Rabbi
Isaiah Horowitz
Isaiah or Yeshayahu ben Avraham Ha-Levi Horowitz () (c. 1555 – March 24, 1630), also known as the ''Shelah HaKaddosh'' ( "the holy ''Shelah''") after the title of his best-known work, was a prominent rabbi and mystic.
Biography
Isaiah Horo ...
(the ''Shelah HaKadosh'', whose ancestry has been traced to
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi ().
Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...
and Rabbi
Yochanan Hasandlar
Johanan HaSandlar (Hebrew language, Hebrew:; lit. "Johanan the Shoemaker" or "Johanan the Sandalmaker", ; alternatively "Johanan the Alexandrian") was a rabbi who lived in the second century (fourth generation of tannaim).
Biography
He was a gre ...
.
Religious American businessman
Gross emigrated to the United States in 1893 and settled in New York's
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...
. After World War I, the family moved to
Borough Park, Brooklyn
Borough Park (also spelled Boro Park) is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The neighborhood is bordered by Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst to the south, Dyker Heigh ...
.
After engaging in a variety of business ventures, he settled in the women's blouse business, which, after his retirement, was carried on by his sons into the 1950s. He viewed his business solely as a means of subsistence, for his true passion was Torah. He retired from business at a relatively young age to devote himself to
Torah study
Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's Sifrei kodesh, religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the ''mi ...
and was supported by his sons.
He is remembered as sitting at his desk, in a book-lined study, with a "shivisi" sign in front of him and a number of ''sefarim'' opened before him. He rose many hours before dawn each day to learn and write. He was attentive and meticulous to beautifying religious observance, and paid particular attention to the selection of an
etrog
Etrog (, plural: ; Ashkenazi Hebrew: , plural: ) is the yellow citron (''Citrus medica'') used by Jews during the weeklong holiday of Sukkot as one of the four species. Together with the ''lulav'', ''hadass'', and ''Aravah (Sukkot), aravah'', th ...
, the purchase of a beautiful etrog box, and the decoration of his
sukkah
A or succah (; ; plural, ' or ' or ', often translated as "booth") is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated with autumnal, harvest or Judaic ...
, arguably one of the first in the country that had canvas walls. Although his son Moshe was the
chazan of a large
Orthodox synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
only a block away, he refrained from going there because the Torah was not read from a central
bimah.
Torah works
His two ''sefarim'', ''Nachlas Tzvi'' and ''Ateres Tzvi'', contain original Torah thoughts on the
Chumash
Chumash may refer to:
*Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism
*Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California
*Chumashan languages, Indigenous languages of California
See also
* Pentateuch (dis ...
. The profundity of his knowledge of Chumash,
Navi,
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 ...
,
Rishonim
''Rishonim'' (; ; sing. , ''Rishon'') were the leading rabbis and ''posek, poskim'' who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' (, "Set Table", a common printed code of Jewis ...
and
Acharonim
In Halakha, Jewish law and history, ''Acharonim'' (, , ; ; ) are the leading rabbis and Posek, poskim (Jewish legal decisors) living from roughly the 16th century to the present, and more specifically since the writing of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' ...
are readily apparent throughout. He combined an encyclopedic knowledge with an inventive and creative mind to develop highly original and novel interpretations of the Chumash. A student of the
Zohar
The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...
, he had a weekly ''chavrusa'' (learning partnership) to study
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 ...
with Rabbi
Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the
Lubavitcher Rebbe
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. ...
, and he used this source liberally in his works.
His primary work, ''Nachlas Tzvi'', although not widely known, includes approbations from exceptionally great and famous Torah luminaries, including Rabbi
Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, Av Beth Din of the
Edah HaChareidis of Jerusalem; the
Satmar
Satmar (; ) is a group in Hasidic Judaism founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum (1887–1979), in the city of Szatmárnémeti (also called Szatmár in the 1890s), Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is a b ...
Rebbe, Rabbi
Yoel Teitelbaum; Rabbi Nachum Wiedenfeld of Dombrova, Poland (brother of the
Tchebiner Rav); and Rabbi
Avrohom Elyashiv (father of Rabbi
Yosef Shalom Eliashiv).
Inventions
He invented one of the first vending machines. For a penny it dispensed candy and a fortune card, and a monkey tipped his hat. He also developed a
parve
In ''kashrut'', the dietary laws of Judaism, pareve or parve (from for "neutral"; in Hebrew , ''parveh'', or , ''stami'') is a classification of food that contains neither dairy nor meat ingredients. Food in this category includes all items th ...
shortening made of
coconut oil
Coconut oil (or coconut fat) is an edible oil derived from the kernels, meat, and milk of the coconut palm fruit. Coconut oil is a white solid fat below around , and a clear thin liquid oil at higher temperatures. Unrefined varieties have a disti ...
, and a device to keep food from burning.
Patents were issued for many of his inventions. After World War II began, recognizing that lice was a serious problem for soldiers, he performed scientific experiments with mice, experimental and control groups, and developed a lice repellent which he offered to the
Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
; they opted, instead, for
DDT.
Death and legacy
He died on September 20, 1947 (6
Cheshvan
Marcheshvan (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard , Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ; from Akkadian language, Akkadian , literally, 'eighth month'), generally shortened to Cheshvan (, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, S ...
5708) and was buried in Mount Hebron Cemetery in
Queens
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
. His family offers free copies of ''Nachlas Tzvi'' to anyone who commits to learning from it.
References
External links
''Sefer Nachlas Tzvi'' online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, Meshulam
1863 births
1947 deaths
People from Debrecen
Hungarian Orthodox Jews
American Orthodox Jews