Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on April 13, 2019

Hasidic dynasty of the Heshel family, originating in the nineteenth century. Its main influence was in Podolia, Bucovina, Moldavia, and Bessarabia. The founder of the Apt dynasty was Avraham Yehoshua Heshel (ca. 17481825), a disciple of Elimelekh of Lizhensk. Heshel was born in migrd Nowy in Galicia to a distinguished rabbinical family. By about 1786 he was rabbi of Kolbuszowa, where he first became acquainted with Hasidism and began to function as a rebbe. In 1800, Heshel went to serve as the rabbi of Apt (Opatw), and, as the Apter Rebbe, was known by the name of that town for the rest of his life, even when he became rabbi of Jassy (Iai; 1809) and, later, of Mezhbizh (Midzybo, Medzhibizh; from 1814 until his death).

Heshels Hasidic leadership was characterized by a firmness that sometimes led to friction, both with members of the communities in which he lived and with other Hasidic leaders. Nevertheless, he supported pluralism and did not claim exclusivity or preference with regard to Hasidic leadership. He was respected by the tsadikim of his generation, especially later in his life, when he was regarded as the eldest tsadik. His activities included appointing and discharging ritual slaughterers and other religious functionaries, collecting money for the Land of Israel, and resolving disputes within the Hasidic community.

Heshels influence transcended the boundaries of his communities, extending to the southern Pale of Settlement and even outside Russia. For example, he issued a proclamation calling for a public fast in all Jewish towns, in response to plans of Russian authorities to forbid Jews to earn a livelihood by leasing and to expel them from villages (1823). He was known to be a hearty eater and was famous for telling tall stories, which even his admirers regarded with jocular skepticism. Still, these traits were regarded by his followers as concealing profound secrets.

Heshels teachings are typical of the spirit of the period: he gave extensive attention to the doctrine of the tsadik, and treated exile and redemption as spiritual concepts related to individual experience. He apparently had reservations about the desire of several contemporary tsadikim to popularize the study of Kabbalah, although he did not refrain from writing approbations to kabbalistic texts or from including such contents in his own books. His letters are collected in Igrot ha-ohev Yisrael (Letters of a Lover of Israel; 1999), and his teachings appear in Torat emet (Torah of Truth; 1854) and Ohev Yisrael (Lover of Israel; 1863; an expanded edition, Ohev Yisrael ha-shalem, was published in Jerusalem in 1980). Ohev Yisrael became another of Heshels sobriquets.

Only one of Heshels two sons, Yitsak Meir (ca. 17761855) of Zinkev, Podolia, became a Hasidic rebbe, and during his fathers lifetime he administered Heshels court while serving as a rabbi in several communities. He increased the power of Apt Hasidism and established it as a dynasty. After Yitsak Meirs death, his son, Meshulam Zusya of Zinkev (ca. 18131864), took his place.

In the generation of Meshulam Zusyas sons, the dynasty split into three main branches. The main branch was founded by Avraham Yehoshua (ca. 18321880), the rebbe of Mezhbizh. His sons Yisrael Shalom Yosef (18521919) and Meshulam Zusya (ca. 18711920) were rebbes there as well. Another son, Yitsak Meir (18611935), was the rebbe of Kopitshinits in Galicia. After the outbreak of World War I, Yitsak Meir fled to Vienna with his children, where he attracted followers and was active in community affairs, especially during the war. He also participated in aredi organizations and was a member of Agudas Yisroel. This branch of the Kopitshinits dynasty remains active today in Jerusalem. Another son, Mosheh Mordekhai (18731916), was a rebbe in Warsaw. His son was the theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel (19071972), who studied in Berlin before immigrating to the United States, and was renowned as a scholar and teacher of Judaism at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.

The second branch of the dynasty was headed by ayim Menaem (ca. 18371893), whose sons Pinas (ca. 18721916) and Mosheh (ca. 18791923) served as rebbes in Zinkev. A third branch was led by Shemuel (ca. 18401862), the rebbe of Murovanye Kurilovtsy in Podolia, and who was succeeded, after his early death, by his brother Yeiel (ca. 18431916).

Yitsak Alfasi, Ha-Rav me-Apta: Baal Ohev Yisrael (Jerusalem, 1980/81); Israel Halpern, Yehudim ve-yahadut be-Mizra Eropah: Mekarim be-toldotehem (Jerusalem, 1968/69), pp. 348354; Gershon Kitzis, Rabi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel: Ohev Yisrael me-Apta, Sinai 92.34 (1983): 153171; Mendel Piekarz, Ha-Hanhagah ha-asidit (Jerusalem, 1999), pp. 228231.

Translated from Hebrew by Jeffrey Green

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YIVO | Apt Hasidic Dynasty

Category: Hasidic
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