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 ...

Moses Josef Rubin (1892–1980) was leading rabbinic figure in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

and later in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

(

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

), a scion of the Kosov-Seret dynasty.

Biography

Moses Josef Rubin was born in 1892 in the town of

Wola Michowa Wola Michowa (; uk, Воля Мигова, Volia Myhova) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Komańcza, within Sanok County, in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (province) of south-eastern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. ...

in the

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

region of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. His father was Rabbi Mendel Rubin, who later became the

Chassidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

Rebbe A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) 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 Spiritu ...

Siret Siret (; german: Sereth; hu, Szeretvásár; uk, Серет, Seret; yi, סערעט, Seret) is a town, municipality and former Latin bishopric in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Siret is ...

, Bukovina. His mother was Beila Rubin née Horowitz. When Moses Josef was a toddler he and his family moved from Galicia to Siret in the Bukovina where his father's family resided. During his youth, Moses Josef was Rabbinically ordained by the leading Halachik figures of his time such as Rabbi

Chaim Tzvi Teitelbaum Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Teitelbaum (December 28, 1879 – January 21, 1926) (''6 shevat 5686'' on the Hebrew calendar), the Sigheter Rebbe, author of ''Atzei Chaim'', was the oldest son of Rabbi Chananya Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum, the ''Kedushas Yom Tov' ...

of Sighet and Rabbi

Yehuda Leib Tsirelson Yehuda Leib Tsirelson (1859 in Kozelets, Chernihiv Oblast – 1941 in Kishinev, Soviet Union) was the Chief Rabbi of Bessarabia, a member of the Romanian parliament, and a prominent Jewish leader and posek. Biography Yehuda Leib Tsirelson was ...

of Kishinev among others, In 1921 he married Sarah Farkas. They had two sons; Dr. Samuel S. Rubin and Dr. Jacob K. Rubin. During the years 1922–1940, he served as Chief Rabbi of the Jewish-Romanian community in

Câmpulung Moldovenesc Câmpulung Moldovenesc (; formerly spelled ''Cîmpulung Moldovenesc'') is a town in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Câmpulung Moldovenesc is the fourth largest urban settlement in the c ...

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berge ...

. From 1941 until 1946 he served as President of the Rabbinical Council of Romania and Chairman of Agudath Israel in Romania. In 1940, on

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...

(the Day of Atonement, October 12), all Jewish homes in Câmpulung were plundered, and the Jews were assaulted by the pro-

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

Iron Guard The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strong ...

(''see

Romania during World War II Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania under King Carol II officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political uph ...

''). The valuable library of Rabbi Rubin was destroyed; he was mistreated and was given a document to sign which stated that he had hidden dynamite in the synagogue to be used in acts of

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identiti ...

. Because he refused to sign this document, he and his son were harnessed to a cart loaded with stolen goods, and driven at revolver point while being beaten and humiliate

After the incident, the Rabbi and his family escaped to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Rubin founded the first ''

Vaad Hatzalah Vaad Hatzalah (the Rescue Committee or Committee for Rescuing) was an organization to rescue Jews in Europe from the Holocaust, which was founded in November 1939 by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada (''Agudath Harabba ...

'' (emergency committee) in Bucharest, in order to aid Jewish people deported to the

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

After the war, Rabbi Rubin emigrated to the United States where he founded the Center for European Rabbis, whose aims included distributing post-war reparations for European Rabbis who had lost their communities and source for income, as well as the Geder Avos project to prevent the destruction of Jewish cemeteries in Europe. More than four decades after Rabbi Rubin's passing the activities of Geder Avos continue, working in close cooperation with the Israel-based "Oholei Zadikim" run by Rabbi Israel Meir Gaba

and separately with the German based

ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...

. From 1962 until his passing in 1980, Rabbi Rubin served as the head of the Rabbinical court of Borough Park, Brooklyn. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Moses Josef 1892 births 1980 deaths Romanian Orthodox rabbis Romanian people of World War II American Hasidic rabbis Hasidic rabbis in Europe 20th-century Romanian rabbis 20th-century American rabbis