This Day in History – 9 Shevat/January 29

In 5704/1944, Harav Aharon of Belz, zy”a, and his brother Harav Mordechai of Bilgoray, zy”a, were saved from the Holocaust. On this day they arrived in Beirut, where many Chassidim anxiously awaited them.

Yahrtzeiten

5134/1374, Rabbeinu Nissim, zt”l, the Ran.

5609/1849, Harav Yaakov Helburn, zt”l, Rav of Zenta.

5625/1865, Harav Yehosef Schwartz, zt”l, mechaber of Tevuos Ha’aretz and Divrei Yosef.

5728/1968, Harav Eliezer Silver, zt”l, Rav of Cincinnati, Ohio, and president of Agudas Harabbanim of the United States and Canada.

5761/2001, Harav Dovid of Skver–Boro Park, zt”l

Harav Dovid’l, as he was fondly known, was the son of Harav Yitzchok, the Skverer Rebbe of Boro Park who was a great grandson of Harav Itzik’l, zy”a, the first Skverer Rebbe.

In 5683/1923 Reb Itzik’l, as he was affectionately called, emigrated to America and settled on the East Side of New York City. He later moved to Williamsburg and then to Boro Park, where he made his home and established his shul on 47th Street. Tragically, Reb Itzik’l was niftar in 1941, and at the age of 19, his young son, Reb Dovid, became Rebbe.

His dedication to mitzvah observance was remarkable. In 5745, when admitted to the hospital, he cried with bitter tears, “Since my bar mitzvah I never once failed to put on tefillin without first immersing in the mikveh. How can I fail to do so today?”

The Rebbe was selflessly devoted to all in need, especially to those in need of medical advice. World-renowned physicians heeded his call without question. Many sought guidance in every step of their lives. He also founded the Skverer Mosdos, the Talmud Torah and the Tomer Devorah girls’ school.

Once a young man came to him, crying hysterically. He’d brought his young wife to Mt. Sinai in New York from Eretz Yisrael hoping  to secure her a healthy future. Scheduled for a liver transplant, she had slipped into a coma and the doctors were about to declare her clinically dead. The distraught man fell to the floor, pleading with the Rebbe to do something for the mother of their little children whom they had left behind in Eretz Yisrael.

The Rebbe, deeply touched, immediately took action. He phoned one of the first transplant pioneers, Dr. Starzel in Pittsburgh. After sending her medical records and consulting with him by telephone, Dr. Starzel concurred with the New York doctors and was unwilling to accept the woman as a patient.

Unable to bear the anguish of the young father, the Rebbe dialed Pittsburgh again. “Dr. Starzel, I am ordering you to operate on this woman. I will arrange her transfer to Pittsburgh by tomorrow, and you will perform the transplant and keep her in your care until she is fully recovered.” He kept contact with the doctor and the husband until he was assured that things were taking a turn for the better.

Several months later, in Adar, the young man and his wife came to personally thank the Rebbe for being the shaliach who saved her life.

Harav Aharon Kotler, zt”l, remarked, “There are those who are Rebbes in Torah, there are those who are Rebbes of Chassidus, and then there are Rebbes of chessed. The Skverer Rebbe is a Rebbe of chessed.”

On the ninth of Shevat 5761/2001, the heart that beat with compassion for the pain and suffering of so many others stopped beating, and the Skverer Rebbe returned his soul to his maker.

Zechuso yagen aleinu.

Jan. 29

In 1820, Britain’s King George III died at Windsor Castle.

In 1843, the 25th president of the United States, William McKinley, was born in Niles, Ohio.

In 1861, Kansas became the 34th state of the Union.

In 1919, the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which launched Prohibition, was certified by Acting Secretary of State Frank L. Polk.

In 1975, a bomb exploded inside the U.S. State Department in Washington, causing considerable damage but injuring no one; the radical group the Weather Underground claimed responsibility.

In 1990, former Exxon Valdez skipper Joseph Hazelwood went on trial in Anchorage, Alaska, on charges stemming from the 1989 oil spill. (Hazelwood was acquitted of the major charges  but convicted of a misdemeanor.)