This Day in History – 26 Av/August 27

26 Av

In 5569/1809, a group of 70 “perushim,” talmidim of the Vilna Gaon, arrived in Eretz Yisrael. The group was led by Harav Yisrael of Shklov, zt”l,.

Yahrtzeiten

5649/1889, Harav Noach Naftali, Rebbe of Kobrin, zt”l

5732/1972, Harav Shlomo Chaim Friedman, Rebbe of Sadigura, zt”l

5729/1969

Harav Menachem Shlomo Borenstein, Rebbe of Sochatchov, Zt”l

Harav Menachem Shlomo Borenstein was born in 5695/1935. He was the son of Harav Chanoch Henoch Borenstein, son of the Shem
MiShmuel.

At his bris he was named Menachem Shlomo after his paternal great-grandfather, Harav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, zy”a, and his maternal ancestor, Harav Shlomo Hakohen Rabinowitz, zy”a, the Tiferes Shlomo of Radomsk.

As a young child, Menachem Shlomo was noted for his intelligence and his ability to express himself.

He learned at the Knesses Chizkiyahu yeshivah in Zichron Yaakov in 5710/1950, showing great diligence in learning. The Rosh Yeshivah, Harav Noach Shimonowitz, zt”l, arranged chavrusos for him with the yeshiva’s top bachurim, as well as with the Rosh Yeshivah himself.

Two years later, when Harav Elyah Lopian, zt”l, became the Mashgiach, he developed a very close relationship with him.

Rav Menachem Shlomo married the daughter of Harav Daniel Movshowitz, zt”l, one of the leading Rabbanim of Tel Aviv and a descendant of the Lechovitz dynasty.

Thereafter, his father, the Sochatchover Rebbe, zy”a, who lived in Yerushalayim, dispatched him to Tel Aviv to oversee the Sochatchover shtiebel there. Rav Menachem Shlomo settled in Tel Aviv and learned in Kollel Beis Yehudah under Harav Yechiel Michel Feinstein, zt”l, son-in-law of the Brisker Rav.

In 5720/1960, he was officially appointed Rav of the Sochatchover shtiebel in Tel Aviv. He established times for shiurim, most of which he delivered himself, drawing large crowds from the neighborhood. He also worked to convince secular families to send their children to yeshivos.

When the Rav of Tel Aviv’s Yad Eliyahu neighborhood was suddenly niftar, a new Rav was sought and although he was only 30 years old, Rav Menachem Shlomo was unanimously selected and became the Rav in 5725/1965.

As Rav of the Yad Eliyahu neighborhood, Rav Menachem Shlomo supervised the renovation of old shuls, the expansion of shiurim and the establishment of tzedakah and chessed organizations.

At the same time, Rav Menachem Shlomo led the Radomsker Kollel Kesser Torah in Bnei Brak, founded by his late uncle, Harav Dovid Moshe Rabinowitz.

With the sudden petirah of his father, Harav Chanoch Henoch, in Elul 5725/1965, Rav Menachem Shlomo was asked by the Sochatchover Chassidim to become their Rebbe. As a descendant of the Radomsker dynasty, Reb Menachem Shlomo was asked by the Radomsker Chassidim, who had survived the Holocaust, to become their Rebbe as well. His first move as Rebbe was to establish a yeshivah.

On 26 Av 5729/1969, as Rav Menachem Shlomo was heading home from a visit to an elderly Chassid hospitalized in Tel Aviv, an army vehicle crashed head-on into his car and Rav Menachem Shlomo was thrown from the vehicle. Twenty-four hours later he was niftar as a result of his injuries at the young age of just 34.

Zechuso yagen aleinu.

August 27

In 1859, Edwin L. Drake drilled the first successful oil well in the United States, at Titusville, Penn.

In 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in Paris, outlawing war and providing for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

In 1989, the first U.S. commercial satellite rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida — a Delta booster carrying a British communications satellite, the Marcopolo 1.

In 2005, coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to get out of the way of Hurricane Katrina, which was headed toward New Orleans.

In 2008, Barack Obama was nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo.