BD”E: Rabbi Hersh Meir Lichtig, Z”l

Hamodia is saddened to report the petirah of Rabbi Tzvi (Hersh) Meir Lichtig, z”l, Rav of shuls in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn, who passed away Tuesday night at the age of 99.

Reb Hersh Meir was born in Sosnowiec — Sosnovitz — in Poland in 1923.

After surviving the Holocaust, he moved to America, where at the age of 27 he was hired as Rav of a shul in the Bronx.

He married Rebbetzin Chava Miriam, a”h, nee Gotlib. She passed away three years ago.

In 1960, with the Bronx kehillah dwindling and the neighborhood becoming dangerous, Rav Hersh Meir accepted an offer to build and lead the first Orthodox shul in a Flushing, Queens, neighborhood.

Rav Lichtig led Congregation Bnei Avraham in Flushing for over 40 years.

With the coming of the new millennium, the Flushing neighborhood began to change, as well. In 2003, the Lichtigs moved to Kensington, where they continued Congregation Bnei Avraham, in
the basement of their new home on Webster Avenue, between Seton Place and Ocean Parkway. The Lichtigs quickly became cherished members of the Kensington community.

Rav Lichtig is survived by, ybl”ch, generations of descendants all of whom follow in his shining example.

 Rav Lichtig was interviewed by Hamodia, and shared his memories of pre-War life, during the Holocaust and rebuilding post-War.

His levayah was held Wednesday morning outside his home and shul on Webster Avenue in Brooklyn.

Yehi zichro baruch.