Moshe Leib Rabinovich (born December 25, 1940, in Munkács,

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 ...

) is the current

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. ...

of Munkacs.

Early life

Rabinovich was born as the third child to his parents Rabbi Baruch and Frima Rabinovich in Munkács,

Carpathian Ruthenia Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. From the Hungarian Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, conquest of the Carpathian Basin ...

, the country itself having at the time just been created with a sizable piece of Hungary, which in turn received Munkacs from Czechoslovakia with the help of Nazi Germany in 1938. His father, Rabbi Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinowicz served as

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

of Munkacs following the death of his father-in-law Chief Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira in 1937 until the Nazis occupied Munkacs in 1944. During World War Two, Rabinovich's father escaped the Nazis and fled with his entire family to the land of

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 ...

(then

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

). Shortly after they arrived in Mandatory Palestine, Rabinovich and his siblings were orphaned with the death of their mother, Chaya Frima Rivka Rabinovich. Rabinovich studied in Israel, undertook secular studies in public schools in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, and later studied in the United States at the Telshe yeshiva in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, refusing to attend college, to his father’s disappointment. At Telshe, he became especially close to Rabbi

Mordechai Gifter Mordechai Gifter (October 15, 1915 - January 18, 2001) was an American Haredi rabbi. He was the rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Telz Yeshiva in Cleveland. He was a staunch opponent of Zionism. Gifter studied in yeshivas in Lithuania, and held seve ...

with whom he had a study partnership of several consecutive hours on a daily basis and from Rav Gifter he acquired his derech halimud. Following five years at Telshe, Rabinovich moved to Beis Medrash Elyon, a yeshiva for advanced learning in

Spring Valley, New York Spring Valley is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the town of Ramapo, New York, Ramapo and Clarkstown, New York, Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is ...

. He also maintained a close relationship with 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 Joel Teitelbaum until his death in 1979. While Rabinovich was in Beis Medrosh Elyon, the elders of Munkacs met in Brooklyn. Led by Rabbi Chaim Ber Greenfeld and Rabbi Shlomo Goldstein, both gabbai's (secretaries) of the Munkacser Rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira, the participants agreed unanimously that the time had come for Munkacs Hasidism to be born again, in America, and that Rabinovich should be their Rebbe.

As Rebbe

Rabinovich married Nechama Perl, daughter of Rabbi Aron Bernstein of Jerusalem in 1962 and was immediately appointed as leader of the Munkacs community. At first, he settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York and later moved to the Boro Park section of Brooklyn. He immediately began to rebuild the community and established religious and educational bases in the United States, Canada, Israel, England and Australia. Rabinovich's followers and petitioners seek his advice on all issues. His counsel is frequently sought by government and elected officials for his blessings and support. Rabinovich frequently visits his home town in Munkacs (now, Mukachevo, Ukraine), to strengthen the remaining Jews and to help rebuild the Munkacs Jewish community. In August 2006, a Jewish community center and Synagogue were dedicated by Rabbi Rabinovich to serve the needs of the community. Rabinovich has authored numerous books on

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

Halacha ''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 ('' mi ...

(Jewish Law), among them ''Sharei Orah'' and ''Olas Shabbos''. He also serves as honorary president of ''Kollel Munkatch and Ten Suburbs'' in

Jerusalem, Israel 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 ...

Personal life

He resides in

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 ...

, New York, which is home to thousands of Jews of Munkacs descent and which is the international headquarters of worldwide Munkacs Jewry. Rabinovich and his wife have three children: Rabbi Chaim Elazar, married to Gittel Beila Teitlebaum; Frima, married to Rabbi Yosef Horowitz; and Rabbi Yerucham Fishel, married to Malka Teitelbaum.

Notes

External links

Munkatcherseforim.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabinovich, Moshe Leib Beth Medrash Elyon alumni Rebbes of Munkacs Living people People from Mukachevo Hungarian Orthodox rabbis 1940 births Hasidic rabbis in Europe Hungarian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Israeli emigrants to the United States Mohalim People from Borough Park, Brooklyn

Early life

As Rebbe

Personal life

Notes

Related reading

External links