Moshe Greenwald (1853–1910), also spelled Grunwald, 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 ...

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 ...

at the end of the 19th century. He was the rabbi of Chust, Hungary and progenitor of the Pupa Hasidic dynasty through his son Yaakov Yechezkiya. He was also the author of ''Arugas Habosem'', a book of

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

covering

halakhic ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments (''mitzv ...

issues.

Biography

He was the eldest son of Amram Greenwald and studied at the

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 ...

of Menachem Katz in

Deutschkreutz Deutschkreutz ( until 1899, ''Németkeresztúr'' ) is an Austrian market town in the district of Oberpullendorf in the state of Burgenland. Geography Deutschkreutz lies in Middle Burgenland. It is divided into the districts of Deutschkreutz an ...

with his grandfather Yosef Greenwald, and at the Pressburg Yeshiva under

Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer (), also known by his main work Ksav Sofer or Ketav Sofer ( trans. ''Writ of the Scribe''), (1815–1871), was one of the leading rabbis of Hungarian Jewry in the second half of the nineteenth century and rosh yeshi ...

. His father died when he was twenty and he worked in timber trading, while continuing his studies. He married his relative Zissel Gestetner. At the age of twenty-six he began working as a rabbi in

Humenné Humenné (; ; ) is a town in the Prešov Region ("kraj") in eastern Slovakia and the second largest town of the historic Zemplín region. It lies at the volcanic Vihorlat mountains and at the confluence of the Laborec and Cirocha Rivers. Na ...

in Hungary (today in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

). In 1887 he became rabbi of

Kisvárda Kisvárda (; , ) is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary near the border of Slovakia and Ukraine. It is the 3rd largest town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg after Nyíregyháza and Mátészalka ...

in Hungary. Greenwald was originally from a non-hasidic family but as a young man he became a

hasid Ḥasīd (, "pious", "saintly", "godly man"; plural "Hasidim") is a Honorifics in Judaism, Jewish honorific, frequently used as a term of exceptional respect in the Talmudic and early medieval periods. It denotes a person who is scrupulous in hi ...

and was a disciple of the second Belzer rebbe,

Yehoshua Rokeach Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach (1825 – February 3, 1894), known as the ''Mitteler Ruv'', was the second Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He combined Torah scholarship with practical common sense to guide thousands of Hasidim and to fight the Haska ...

.''A World That Was'',

Hamodia ''Hamodia'' ( – "''the Informer''") is a Jewish daily newspaper, published in Hebrew language, Hebrew-language in Jerusalem and English language, English-language in the United States, as well as weekly English-language editions in England and I ...

Magazine, 18 March 2010, p. 7. Greenwald was a rabbi in Humenné, where he established a yeshiva. He became the rabbi of

and in 1887 he moved to

Khust Khust (, ; ; ; ; ; ) is a city located on the Khustets River in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is near the сonfluence of the Tisa and Rika Rivers. It serves as the administrative center of Khust Raion. Population: Khust was the capi ...

, where he also headed a yeshiva. In 1893, Greenwald became rabbi of the city of Khost in Hungary (now in Ukraine). Greenwald opposed

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

and any deviation from traditional orthodox Judaism. His descendants include his sons

Yaakov Yechezkiya Greenwald Ya'akov Yechezkiya Greenwald (Hebrew: יעקב יחזקי' גרינוואלד. Legal name: Jakab Grünwald. Also called the "Vayaged Ya'akov", 1882 – c. 1 March 1941 (2 Adar 5701)) was the rabbi of the Etz Chaim community in Pápa, Hungar ...

, Yaakov's son

Yosef Greenwald Yosef Greenwald (; 1903 – Brooklyn 1984) was the second Rebbe of the Pupa Hasidic dynasty. Before World War II he was a rabbi and rosh yeshiva in Pápa, Hungary. Greenwald was the son of Yaakov Yechezkiah Greenwald of Pupa and the grandson o ...

, and Yosef's son

Yaakov Yechezkiya Greenwald II Rabbi Yaakov Yehezkiya Grunwald (born April 17, 1948) is an American rebbe, the current leader of the Pupa Hasidic group in the United States. Biography He was born in Antwerp, the second son of Yosef Greenwald (the last rabbi of Papa, Hungary ...

. His students included

Leopold Greenwald Leopold Greenwald (1888–1955), also known as "Yekuthiel Yehuda" Greenwald, was an Orthodox rabbi. Born in Transylvania, he emigrated with his family to the United States in 1924. For nearly thirty years he was the rabbi at Beth Jacob Congregation ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwald, Moshe Greenwald family 1853 births 1910 deaths Hungarian Orthodox rabbis 19th-century Hungarian rabbis 20th-century Hungarian rabbis Orthodox poskim