Rabbi Yisroel Szapira of

Grodzhisk Grodzhisk is a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Elimelech Szapira, author of ''Imrei Elimelech''. Grodzhisk is the Yiddish name of Grodzisk Mazowiecki, a town in present-day Poland. Lineage * Rabbi Elimelech Szapira of Grodzhisk (b. 1823, d. ...

was a

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

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. ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. His father, Chayim Meir Yechiel, was the son of the Grodzhisk Rebbe, Elimelech Szapira. When his grandfather died, some of the Chassidim chose Yisroel as the new Rebbe, others chose to wait for the young son who would eventually become the Piasezner Rebbe.

Writings

The teachings of Yisrael Szapira are called ''Emunat Yisrael'' (on Torah) and ''Binat Yisrael'' (a second work on Torah)

Death

Yisroel Szapira was killed at the

Treblinka Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, ...

Extermination Camp. At the beginning of ''Emunat Yisrael'' there is an account of the event:

When the people entered the camp, the community of thousands, into Treblinka; the people asked the Rebbe: "What can we say now"? So the Rebbe answered softly, "Listen my brothers and sisters, the Godly nation, it's not for us to understand the actions of God and if it has been decreed for us that at this time we are to be the ''
korbanot In Judaism, the (), also spelled or , is any of a variety of Sacrifice, sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah. The plural form is , , or . The term primarily refers to sacrificial offerings given from humans to God f ...
'' (sacrifices) for the birth pangs of the Messiah, this is a great and lofty level of the redemption. We should rejoice in our fortune, just as ''
Chazal Chazal or Ḥazal () are the Jewish sages of the Mishnaic and Talmudic eras, spanning from the final 300 years of the Second Temple period until the 7th century, or . Their authority was mostly in the field of ''Halakha'' (Jewish law) and les ...
'' (Talmudic Sages) say "Let the Messiah come, but I should not see it" that means he's not yet here. But we, when we reach this level, we must rejoice because we merited that our ashes will purify the whole of ''Am Yisrael'' (the Nation of Israel). Thus we are obligated to not hesitate and to not cry as we walk into the furnace; we must be happy, while singing ''Ani Ma'amin'' (I believe with perfect faith. And just as Rabbi Akiva did when he was murdered we will say the ''Shema Yisrael'' when the time comes.

The community fulfilled his holy words, sang the ''Ani Ma'amin'', and recited the ''Shema Yisrael'' in the ultimate sanctification of God's name.

External links

* http://hebrewbooks.org/3894* http://hebrewbooks.org/3863 Polish Orthodox rabbis Hasidic rebbes {{Hasidic-Judaism-stub