Reb Shmuel and his Wife Breine Rivka Huminer One Hundred and Nineteen Years since their arrival in our Holy Land (1871-1990)

To English: Gadi Barlevi [Translator’s notes are added in brackets]

Acknowledgement and Recognition

We wholeheartedly wish to thank our cousin Haim Huminer, son of reb Shlomo and his wife Tsippora, who worked tirelessly for years and published the book “Yosifon” [ a book attributed to the Jewish historian Josippon, originally compiled in 10th Century Italy ], which he issued in five different editions, two of which included a history of our ancestors – the founders of the Huminer family.

The Huminer family today is spread out across Israel, and by my estimate includes over five hundred men, women, and children, some of them in important occupations such as lawyers, and one even serves as a highly respected judge in Tel Aviv [ Amnon Huminer, Shmuel Huminer’s great grandson ].

Unfortunately, despite the large number of family members, only a tiny part is interested in knowing its prestigious roots. The fact that Haim felt incumbent to twice add an appendix chronicling our family history in the aforementioned Yosifon illustrates the necessity that each Huminer descendant know his great and important origins.

During a family celebration some time ago, a woman of about 16 or 17 came and asked me innocently: who is this Shmuel everybody keeps talking about? I was stunned by the question and did not bother to find out who her parents were; I merely told her briefly of our family history and observed how she listening as I was talking and I am sure my words stirred feelings of pride and honor in her heart.

By my estimate, the family now includes sixth generation descendants and beyond, but alas not many are interested in knowing their important origins. For this reason I took it upon myself to reprint that which Haim Huminer worked to put together, and to distribute it among our family so that they shall know what they have to be proud of.

By my reckoning there are at least ten people named Shmuel in the family, and surely they are all named after the great grandfather, and there are a few Breine Rivka named after the grandmother, although I have been unable to confirm their number.

Shmuel son of Leah Rachel and Yaakov Zeidel Shulsinger

Their offspring

Chaya [ Frost-Harris ] Eliyahu Yeshiayahu Mordechai Zeev Chana Rodil [ Stern ] David Chava Sara [ Shapira ] Shlomo Leah Rachel [ Shulsinger ] Ester Feyge Reb Shmuel Huminer One Hundred Years since their arrival in our Holy Land (1871-1971) by Haim Huminer

Reb Shmuel was born in 1819 to his father, the great genius Rabbi Yeshiayahu Huminer, the rabbi and president of the rabbinic court of Biarezan in the Minsk province of Belarus. In his youth he studied Torah from his genius father, and later went on to study Torah at different far off yeshivas. His great talents were evident from a young age, and he was a diligent and successful student. By the time he became of age, he attained great knowledge in most of the Talmudic tractates and interpretations of the Mishna. After he was married, he studied in his father’s yeshiva and helped in managing it, and did much to expand it. On occasion his father would send him to various locations on behalf of the yeshiva.

When his genius father passed away (June 5th, 1868), he could find no peace until he made up his mind to move to our Holy Land, his heart’s desire since he was a youth, in hope of finding comfort and solace.

As soon as an opportunity opened up, he packed his books and belongings, loaded them onto carts, and rode with his family to the port city of Odessa , where he boarded a ship to Jaffa. 1 Even though the ship he boarded was rickety and crowded, and the seas were choppy and stormy, he paid no attention, but traveled with full devotion to his mission. More than once he cried out in his pain to the heavens: Save me Lord, since I can take no more. This took place during March of 1871, and the difficult journey took three months until he finally arrived at the port of Jaffa on the eve of the festival of Shavuot.

With great joy, reb Shmuel jumped ashore and fell upon the sand, kissing the holy land, following what is written at the end of the Ktubot tract: “Rabbi Abba would kiss the rocks of Acre …. Rabbi Chiya bar Gamda rolled in its dust, as it written ‘For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and love her dust ’ (Psalms 102:15).” Then reb Shmuel got up and tore his shirt down to his chest, and his eyes were uncontrollably weeping.

1 His son the genius Rabbi Mordechai Huminer told me that Rabbi Baruch Zeldovich (who passed away in on October 14, 1936) told him the following: Your father and I were both in the town of Biarezen. One day your father vanished and I did not see him any more. When I asked the townspeople: why is reb Shmuel nowhere to be seen, they replied: the man and his family went to Jerusalem. I was stunned when I heard this, since I heard not even a hint of this from your father, and I began to wonder about him, why he left his birthplace where he earned a good living for the hardships of the Land of Israel. But today I envy your righteous father, since I see the blessing he bequeathed: a blessed lineage. And I wonder why I did not come to Israel before him. Upon entering the city of Jaffa, he learned that several Jews had recently been detained. Reb Shmuel did not rest until he secured their release from jail for a large sum of money, and was overjoyed at the privilege of fulfilling the mitzvah of redeeming prisoners together with the mitzvah of settling in Israel. 2

Reb Shmuel wanted to waste no time in Jaffa, and was in a hurry to arrive in the Holy City and site of the Temple, Jerusalem, the object of desire for all of the people of Israel. In those days there was no paved road between Jaffa and Jerusalem, and the trip proceeded slowly atop donkeys and mules for several days. Along the way, two of his children fell from the donkey they were riding, and nobody noticed their absence for almost an hour, and then they returned and found them safe and sound. 3

When they neared their destination, reb Shmuel descended from his donkey and proceeded to walk by foot into the Holy City of Jerusalem. They warned him: you will exhaust yourself, since the city is still far away and the route is not paved and is steep and winding. He replied: if the Lord blessed me to reach the threshold of Jerusalem, on this holy ground upon which our fathers and mothers and prophets and priests and kings and ministers tread, I too shall walk by foot and kiss the holy dirt. The donkey drivers complained: because of you we shall have to proceed more slowly, so you must increase our pay. Reb Shmuel agreed to raise their pay if they would let him walk with his own feet upon holy ground.4

As soon as he stepped within the walls of the holy city, reb Shmuel tore his shirt a second time to mourn the destruction of the city, and when he approached the Western Wall, the remnant of our Temple and glory, he tore his shirt a third time to mourn the destruction of the Temple.

Reb Shmuel was twenty six years old when he joyously arrived in the Land of Zion. He brought with him a vast fortune, over fifty thousand rubles, and many precious books, over a thousand, which he inherited from his genius father, and in their pages were various remarks and insights written in his own father’s hand. His father especially commented on the writings of the Rambam [ Maimonides ], which together with several other books were saved by reb Shmuel’s genius and pious grandson, [ also named ] Rabbi Shmuel Huminer, who inherited them from his genius father Rabbi Mordechai, reb Shmuel’s son.

He had a special fondness for books. Besides the many books he brought with him from the diaspora, he would often buy books to add to his important collection . He bought these not to show them off, but to study, and he was highly knowledgeable about both the books and their authors.

Most of reb Shmuel’s books had disappeared over time, but by God’s will a few of them – other than those in [ his grandson ] Rabbi Shmuel Huminer’s possession – survived, and were passed on to me by my pious father reb Shlomo son of reb Shmuel,.

2 According to Rabbi Baruch Yehudah Blau. 3 According to his grandson, Rabbi Zalman Haim Huminer. 4 According to his son, my father and mentor [ Shlomo Huminer ] Among these many books was a Bible that reb Shmuel had lent to the genius Rabbi [Yehoshua Leib ] Diskin, and one of the latter’s relatives or acquaintances wrote on the book’s cover that it belonged to the Rabbi from Brisk [the name by which Rabbi Diskin was known among the locals in Jerusalem ], thinking it to be his property. But before he passed away the genius ordered his descendants to return the book to its rightful owner, and it was returned to reb Shmuel after the Rabbi from Brisk had passed.

Rabbi Baruch Yehuda Blau told me the following: reb Shmuel made a tremendous impression on the people of Jerusalem, since most new arrivals in those days were old and poor, whereas he was young and wealthy. And although reb Shmuel would have been able to purchase large swaths of Jerusalem real estate with the vast wealth he brought from abroad, he instead doled it out to the needy and used it to support bright scholars, and he participated in building new neighborhoods, , and schools. He even demanded and received vast sums from his wealthy relatives abroad to give to the Jewish community in Jerusalem.

When he arrived in Jerusalem, reb Shmuel rented an apartment inside the and devoted his body and soul to holy works. He was appointed gabbai [manager ] of the religious school in Kolel Reisen, where he would deliver wonderful lectures on religious thought. And he would explain his views well, adding novel and profound explanations to the lore of previous rabbis, since reb Shmuel was an authority in lore, the teachings of past sages, the book of Zohar, as well as hymns and atonements.

At this time reb Shmuel founded a group by the name of “The Men of Tikkun Chatzot” who would go at midnight to the Western Wall to pray before their creator the prayer for Tikkun Chatzot” [a midnight service lamenting the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem ]. 5

While he lived in the Old City, he had a heated debate with the Karaite community [ a sect of Judaism that only accepts the original Bible and rejects interpretations of subsequent rabbis and sages ], whose members would sit in total darkness each Friday night, as they interpreted the verse “ You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day “(Exodus 35:3) to mean that it was forbidden to light a candle the day before that would remain lit on the Sabbath. After a lengthy debate, reb Shmuel emerged victorious, and as a token of acknowledgement they sent him as a gift the book Sefer haMivchar , an interpretation of the Torah by one of their most important scholars, Aharon ben Yosef the Physician [ also known as Aharon ben Yosef of Constantinople ]. 6 But reb Shmuel burned the book. 7

5 I heard from Rabbi Baruch Yehuda Blau that every day reb Shmuel would go to the Western Wall and with him a minyan [a group of ten Jewish men ] whom he would pay to join him. 6 The book was published in 1831 in Guzliev [ the original name of present day Eupatoria in Ukraine]. 7 According to my father and mentor [ Shlomo Huminer ]. Rabbi Shmuel Yosef Fuenn in his book Yisrael (Warsaw, 1887, page 81) writes: and it is told among the Karaites that he [ Aharon ben Yosef ] was a student of the Ramban [ Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman ], and when he completed this book (Sefer haMivchar) he sent it to his rabbi to solicit his opinion, and the Ramban threw it into the fire and wrote him back a short letter that read: “And Moses burned the Golden Calf that Aharon had built.” But Fuenn did not remember what he had written two lines earlier: “He finished his book in the year 1294” i.e. 24 years after the death of the Ramban! When the Company was founded in 1874, reb Shmuel was one of its original members. 8 The company purchased a plot of land known as Kerem Kadkud [the Kadkud vineyard that originally belond to the Arab village of ] and built the neighborhood of Mea Shearim on top of it. Reb Shmuel went together with Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Levi 9 to pay the Arab owner for the property. Reb Shmuel said: it is a great and festive day for me, that I was granted the privilege of helping to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. When the question arose: who shall be the first to build his house in the new neighborhood, reb Shmuel stood up and declared: I shall build the first house. Immediately upon its completion, he moved there with his children, despite the protests of his wife who refused to leave the Old City for fear of wild animals and robbers that threatened the new neighborhood built on a desert wasteland. But wise men and rabbis convinced her to follow her pious husband, and after several weeks she relented and moved into the new house. 10

In the new neighborhood of Mea Sherarim reb Shmuel organized a “Shovavim group” whose members would fast and say prayers of atonement during the Shovavim period. 11 And reb Shmuel devised a great scheme: to divide the Mishna among the members each year, so that each of them took it upon himself to study one tractate in the and to finish it during the six week period. At the end of the Shovavim period reb Shmuel would hold a grand feast in his home in celebration.

When the Yeshuot Yaakov was built in Mea Shearim, reb Shmuel donated two Torah scrolls, and he purchased additional books for the synagogue and had bookshelves installed to house them.

In 1875, reb Shmuel participated in founding the neighborhood of Beit Yaakov near Machne Yehuda. The bylaws of the Beit Yaakov company, which were written and signed in September 1875 by its first five elected members 12 , were reproduced in the Jerusalem Bulletin [ Luach Yerushalayim ] in 1951 , which I purchased from reb Pinchas Gravesky.13

Two of the great geniuses that lived in Jerusalem at this time were Rabbi Meir Auerbach, the Rabbi from Kalush [ in present-day Ukraine ] and Rabbi Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin, the Rabbi from Brisk [ the city of Brest in present-day Belarus ]. These two geniuses were close to reb Shmuel and respected him for his good deeds and his demeanor. The Rabbi from Kalush said of him: it is hard to find someone like him, an honest and truthful man who regards greed with such contempt. And the Rabbi from Brisk would

8 It saddens me to say that the committee recently appointed to name the streets of Mea Shearim did not see fit to name any street after reb Shmuel. [ A street in Mea Shearim has since been named after him ]. 9He was more commonly known as reb Zalman son of reb Nachum. 10 It should be noted that all of the apartments in Mea Shearim have been bought and sold several times since then, and only reb Shmuel’s house has not been sold to this day and his grandchildren still look after it. 11 The period of the six parshas Shemot, ve’Era, Ba, Be’shelach, Yitru, Mishapatim. [The acronym for these six parshas spells the word shovavim, which means “scoundrels” in Hebrew. According to the , this is an especially auspicious period in which to repent sins ]. 12 Reb Shlomo Zalman Levy, who was called Reb Zalman son of reb Nachum, reb Yosef Binyamin of Slonim, reb Moshe Graf of Bransk [ in present-day Poland ], reb Yitzhak Meir from Stawiski [ in present-day Poland ], and reb Shmuel of Biarezen, i.e. Shmuel Huminer. 13 For details refer to the cited pamphlet. Unfortunately, the original certificate has yet to be returned to me. praise him: he says what is in his heart, he does his work out of piety and not for rewards. The Rabbi from Brisk greatly influenced reb Shmuel through his awesome personality, and reb Shmuel became one of his most loyal associates. He would visit Rabbi Diskin’s house each and every day, even in rain or snow, in order to learn Torah from him and be inspired by his holy ways. Reb Shmuel would say: every word that comes from the mouth of our rabbi in holiness and purity rattles my bones and chatters my teeth, and his words are like embers stoking the flame of Torah, purity, and awe of God. 14

Reb Shmuel was one of the first to volunteer to help the genius from Brisk in his great work to fight for proper religious observance.

In 1884 he helped him set up the Diskin Orphanage , and he served in important roles in directing this institution during his lifetime, without any need for compensation. On his own, he set out to collect funds from charitable donors on behalf of this institution. For several years, reb Shmuel managed it using his own funds. At a time of crisis, when the orphanage was in dire need and about to be shut down, he turned to his wealthy relatives in the diaspora and they generously supported the orphanage. Then the Rabbi from Brisk asked him to take a salary for his effort, but reb Shmuel adamantly refused, for he would never agree to receive a reward for such holy work.

When the Rabbi from Brisk set up the Society for the Settlement of Petach Tikva , reb Shmuel was one of its busiest public activists, and he dedicated his time and money to help settle Petach Tikva .15 When the wise men of Jerusalem dispatched Rabbi Shimon Zvi Horowitz to distant lands to recruit our bretheren people of Israel from the disapora to help hasten the arrival of the day of redemption, they sent with him a letter entitled Et leVakesh [“A Time to Ask”], and one of its signatories is reb Shmuel of Biarezen. 16

Wise men have said: he who dies of intestinal disease – it is a propitious sign, since many righteous men have died due to intestinal diseases. 17 And Rabbi Yossi said: may it be my fate to die from intestinal illness, since it is said: most righteous men die from intestinal trouble 18 – they suffer greatly and their sins are cleansed.19 And Rabbi Yitzhak would say that it is written in the midrash: to cleanse food from the intestines, to be as pure and chaste as the Lord’s angels.20 And this is what the Midrash states: the original devout men would suffer bouts of intestinal illness for ten to twenty days, which is to say that the illness purifies,21 which Rabbi Zeev Wolf Einhorn interpreted to mean that it cleanses food and drink from the body, and makes it holy and pure.

14 According to Rabbi Baruch Yehuda Blau. 15 According to Rabbi Zalman Rivlin, although it should be noted that those who published a book on the history of Petach Tikva did not mention reb Shmuel’s name and his role has been forgotten. 16 The letter, which was signed on November 30, 1898, was published by the envoy, Rabbi Shimon Zvi Horowitz, in his book Kol Mevaser, Jerusalem, 1924, pages 72-73. 17 Ktubot tractate. 18 Shabbat tractate. 19 Rashi. 20 Tosafot 21 Bereshit raba, 62, 2. And the righteous reb Shmuel Huminer also died from intestinal disease. And he suffered great pains and aches not for ten days, not for twenty, not even for a month, but for eight months. In November 1906 he fell ill with a severe intestinal disease that lasted until after the festival of Shavuot [in May of 1907 ]. Nevertheless, not a day passed in which he did not pray or don his tefillin. On the night of Passover he grew very weak and was close to death, but in the end he recovered, and celebrated the Seder in all of its rituals. In the eve of Shavuot he called his close friends and he spoke to them about the holiday, and afterwards instructed them on what to do after his death. After the holiday meal he told his friends: “Up to now I have been charitable with you and now you shall be charitable with me.”

Let me add: Rabbi Baruch Yehuda Blau told me that he heard from the leader of the Chevre Kadisha burial society in Jerusalem, the elderly reb Yaakov Yehuda Chafetz, the following things that reb Shmuel said to his friends and family upon his deathbed:

A man needs to be moderate in his speech and be kind to others, to help those who are unfortunate, hard-up, or bitter, and support them with all of his strength. And especially one should help out widows and orphans, who have nobody to support them. And it is important to always remember the words of the proverbs: “ What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it ” (Psalms 34:12-14). These are the things that have guided me in my meager and arduous life of public service. 22

Towards evening he grew very weak and said: Tonight is my last night upon this land that God promised to our forefathers. At sunrise on May 20th he summoned his son, my father and mentor, and asked him to dress him in his talit and to put his tefillin on him. After finishing the morning shacharit prayer, he asked him to take off the talit and tefillin, and he closed his eyes. He did not open them again until the afternoon, about fifteen minutes before he perished. Then he asked to gather a minyan of ten men, in addition to his relatives, to say the prayers they used to pray from the book Ma’avor Yabok. He mouthed the words in unison as they prayed. After they finished, the head of the burial society began to say the psalms for the dying. When they read the verse “ Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheynu, Adonai echad ” reb Shmuel raised his right hand and waived it with great deliberation, until suddenly, in a flash, his soul left his body. The leader of the burial society said: a death like this, a kiss of death, with no signs of prolonged dying, I have seen but one time in my life: the genius Rabbi Shneyor Zalman of Lublin, author of Torat Chesed.

22 Rabbi Moshe Blau used to tell my father [ Shlomo ]: blessed is the father who knows how to live and divide his day between Torah and public activism. It is his great fortune to have taught his sons Torah and to follow the proper path, and it is the great fortune of his sons to have absorbed Torah from their father and to have listened to his arguments, to adore their father and to honor him after his death by carrying on in his ways: he was charitable, and they too will be charitable. When Rabbi Avraham Yochanan Blumenthal heard that Rabbi Shmuel Huminer [reb Shmuel’s grandson ] published several books, he went to him and asked to buy them immediately. He said: it is my great fortune that I got to see with my own eyes how the grandson of Shmuel Huminer, who is named after him, continues in his ways and writes books to educate the masses. He was accorded a great honor after his death. Here is what the article published in the Jerusalem weekly Chavatselet said: 23

This Tuesday, one of Jerusalem’s dearest and most respected was buried, Shmuel Biarezener, an accomplished scholar of Torah. The deceased worked tirelessly for the orphanage established by Rabbi Diskin, and he stood guard and worked piously until his very last day. He was escorted to his resting place with great honor, and all of the students of the orphanage and their mentors walked before his body. May his soul be bundled in the bundle of the living.

On the thirty day anniversary of his death, his son the genius Rabbi Mordechai Zeev eulogized him, and here is the announcement that was posted in Jerusalem’s streets:

A son shall honor his father

The community of Mea Shearim will be summoned to commemorate and mourn that a kosher and God-fearing man was taken from its midst, the renowned and accomplished seeker of justice and charity

Shmuel Huminer of Biarezen

On Wednesday, June 19 the thirty day anniversary since his passing, at 10:30 in the evening, he will be eulogized by his son

Reb Mordechai Zeev

in the Beit Yaakov Synagogue in Mea Shearim

Death permanently devoured and God wiped away the tears from all men’s faces, and may salvation come to Zion

And here is what is written on his tombstone in the Mount of Olives cemetery in holy Jerusalem:

Here lies A dear and honorable man

23 Volume 37, number 31, (11 Sivan 5667 [May 24th,1907]) From the stock of our wise elders Active in mitzvot all of his days

Reb Shmuel Son of the genius Yeshiayahu Huminer of Biarezen Passed on Sivan 8 5667 May his soul be bound with the bundle of living Let me add: I associate the following about my righteous grandfather reb Shmuel: strength and honor are his clothing, and he will be joyous until his very last day , since his days were full of Torah and mitzvah and good deeds. And here is what his son, my father and mentor, taught me: son, do not envy a man for his greatness, do not envy him for his wealth, do not envy him for the respect he commands. The envious should envy this: to understand and know the Lord. For King Solomon had said of he who works in the service of the Lord: strength and honor are his clothing, and he will be joyous until his very last day (Psalms, 31:25). Because on his final day a man sees his memoirs, each day recorded on a separate page. Woe to the man whose pages are filled with inanity and emptiness, and fortunate is the man whose pages are filled with Torah and mitzvot and good deeds, for strength and honor are his clothing and he will be joyous until his very last day, and he shall be happy with his lot and all of his work in this world which is like a hallway leading into the great chamber that is the world to come.

Reb Shmuel would begin his day In the middle of the night by saying the Tikkun Chatsot prayer while weeping at how God’s presence and the community of Israel were scattered from the holy land , praying and pleading for our redemption and salvation; and he would continue to study Torah until sunrise,24 when he would finish by reciting the shacharit prayer. 25 And from the time he finished his prayer until the time he would go to sleep, he wasted not even a minute in idleness, but he kept himself busy with Torah, hard work, and benevolent deeds.

Also worthy of mention is my grandmother, reb Shmuel’s learned and righteous wife Breine Rivka, of the famous and wealthy Zeldovich family that funded the Volozhyn Yeshiva and others. She stood by him and supported him as his counterpart by taking upon herself the duty of managing the household and educating their children, and through this she kept her righteous husband free from worry, so that he could devote himself to Torah and work.

Aside from his great knowledge of Torah, reb Shmuel was renowned as a righteous person, whose prayers are received before the Blessed One, and many came to his threshold to receive his blessing. His appearance was like an angel sent from heaven, and he radiated an awe of God. He never envied

24 He would walk to and fro in his bedroom reciting verses by heart, until it was time to say the Shema for shacharit [morning prayer ] (according to Rabbi Abraham Yochanan Blumenthal). 25 He would pray from the Tikkun Shabbat siddur by Rabbi Moshe ben Gershon from Działoszyn [ located in present day Poland ] (according to his grandson the genius Rabbi Mordechai Harris). another. He had no regard for money. He sufficed with little, gave much to the needy, and was eternally charitable.

In January 1945, on the 75th anniversary of his arrival in Israel, we held a gathering in his memory 26 at the home of my father and mentor and the righteous reb Shlomo Huminer. On this occasion we received many letters from some of the community’s eldest members, writers and public activists, and they all lavished praise on reb Shmuel Huminer and his great activities.

In addition to these, I also learned about my grandfather from the words and writings of some of Jerusalem’s elders 27 , whom I was fortunate to meet in their final years before they passed on to the world to come. And if by God’s will I shall be fortunate enough to publish a book about the history of our family, I will quote these men directly. Here I must be brief, but I cannot help myself from writing at least some of his wonderful insights, his charitable ways and his lessons on Torah, as I have transcribed them down from those who knew him or knew of him, so that his last descendants can follow in his path of holiness, and this shall be the compensation for my effort.

Torah

Rabbi Baruch Yehuda Blau of Jerusalem told me the following: It is hard to find as outstanding a person as reb Shmuel: a wise student who had author itative command of both early and late religious scholars, a diligent pupil of Torah and a great public activist. He would use every free minute to recite Mishna by heart. His awe for God preceded his wisdom. He had no rival in following all commandmen ts. All of his acquaintances were aware that before them stood a holy man who was willing to sacrifice himself for Israel at any time and occasion.

From his brother, Rabbi Yitzhak Shlomo Blau, I heard the following: Reb Shmuel’s world view was complete, consistent, and unquestionable. Settling Israel was for him the embodiment of the tradition established by his forefathers 28 and rabbis back in Lithuanian diaspora. During holidays, family members and guests would gather at his home, and they would celebrate with song and dance as if at a wedding, and he would regale them with the beautiful words of the Torah. 29

26 An article about the gathering was published in several papers in Israel (Kol Yisrael, February 1, 1945; HaTsofe, February 7; HaBoker, February 8). An article praising him was also published in the paper HaBoker on July 3, 1945). See also the book Mea Shearim by Prof. Yosef Yoel Rivlin, “The Encyclopedia for the Yishuv Pioneers and Its Builders by David Tidhar, Sefer HaYishuv by Pinchas Gravesky, and the Der Morgen Journal from July 9, 1944. 27 Once I entered the home of one of the early new settler of Jerusalem, Rabbi Yitzhak Shlomo Blau, and I found him lying on his bed weak from age, and in the room was his brother, Rabbi Baruch Yehuda Blau. When I introduced myself as the grandson of reb Shmuel Huminer, Yitzhak sat up in his bed with great excitement and told me: I have a lot of interesting material about your grandfather, but it is difficult for me to speak. Still, I will try to tell you something of his great deeds and stature. 28 His maternal grandmother, Rodil, daughter of the genius Rabbi Eliyahu Yosef Epstein, also arrived in Jerusalem around 1856. 29 His son, my father and mentor, continued in the ways of his righteous father. I still remember the holiday of Simchat Torah in 1945, when seventy of Jerusalem’s most esteemed men gathered in our home. This was the last

Worship

Reb Shmuel was quick to perform mitzvot so as not to miss the opportunity to perform them . He would wake up at sunrise to pray the morning shacharit prayer, and he would pray the evening aravim prayer as soon as stars appeared in the sky. When reb Shmuel would bless the moon in Mea Shearim, his voice could be heard all the way to the Warsaw Houses [ a neighborhood at the edge of Mea Shearim] given the great zeal with which he prayed. 30

Reb Shmuel would tell a story of a God-fearing Jew in Slutsk [ in Belarus ] who held a loaf of bread in his two hands and said: if this loaf of bread had a mind and the ability to speak, it would dance and jump for joy for its great fortune in that we pray over it to a great and powerful God. And when he told this story, reb Shmuel’s face would turn fire-red and he would move with his entire body b ack and forth and would repeat this last sentence several times: it would jump for joy that we pray over it to God. 31

When Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Jerusalem, in 1898, many people in Jerusalem woke up early that morning to find a good spot from which to view the Kaiser’s procession. Reb Shmuel’s children also wanted to go and witness the emperor. Their father told them: I promise you that you will have plenty of time to see the emperor even after you pray and eat the morning meal, and so it was. After they reached the spot, hardly an hour had passed when the emperor passed in front of them with all of his procession. They blessed the emperor with a special blessing reserved for kings, then came back home and told their father that he was right. Reb Shmuel told them: I knew and understood from the start that the emperor’s journey would take a long time, and he would not arrive in the city at such an early hour. And let me add this: by praying shacharit in public and praying over the food you ate, you received an additional blessing. 32

Charity

Reb Shmuel donated from his own money to help the needy. And it was his great satisfaction when his assistance went to those who needed it. He would also donate his time, visiting the forgotten old and sick, and he would cheer them up with his visits, these who had no kin or savior.

Reb Yitzhak Shlomo Blau told me the following: Not once or twice, but many times, reb Shmuel disclosed to me his great joy in cheering up those who are lonely. Even when he himself was sick and needed rest, he would spare no effort and would w alk on occasion in which this custom was observed, since to our great dismay on Channukah that same year my dear brother reb Pinchas was killed (as he walked past the Bikur Holim hospital, British so ldiers shot him and he died on the spot), and from that day on there was no joy in our home and we stopped observing this custom. May God make us happy with eternal happiness in Jerusalem the site of his temple. 30 According to the genius Rabbi Yosef Salant. 31 According to reb Alter Mendelsen, head meat inspector in Jerusalem. 32 According to his grandson, the righteous Rabbi Shmuel Huminer, quoting his genius father reb Mordehcai. over to visit this old man and that sick man, saying: this is my rest, my soul can rest in knowing that I made these lonely people feel better.

And from his brother, Rabbi Baruch Yehuda Blau, I heard the following: Reb Shmuel was very careful not to let money for charity accumulate in his home, and would hasten to distribute it to the needy. He was never late to pay his obligations, and would always repay his debts on time. In general, reb Shmuel was very organized in all of his affairs. The list of charitable works he did, both in private and in public, is too long to be described. He never let a man who came to him for help leave empty handed.

Reb Shmuel’s house was always open to others, and men and women would come in and out of it throughout the day, even during evening hours; this one came to ask for help, that one to get some advice about a shidduch [ matchmaking ], this one seeking charity, that one needs help to start a business. 33

On Passover eve, reb Shmuel’s house was like a public gathering point. Any person who went there, be they a local from Jerusalem or from another city, would receive matzot, wine, and some money to buy things for the holiday. He did not forget even those who were too embarrassed to come to his house, and he would send his sons to their homes bearing generous sums of money in sealed envelopes. At times, he himself would go to the house of a person and generously and respectfully gave him supplies for the holiday in person.34

And just as he donated from his own pocket, he would also encourage others to donate their money, and he did this all modestly without any publicity, and reb Chaim Dov, the butcher from Zichron Yaakov 35 , wrote to me in his letter on June 17, 1942: I remember that (reb Shmuel Biarezener Huminer) would come from time to time to the home of the righteous Rabbi Meir Lutziner, who was in charge of the Kolel Minsk, and he would treat him with great honor. I knew that his wealthy family in the diaspora were generous contributors, especially to needy people in the Land of Israel, and he would sometimes donate large sums anonymously.

Once I was in the home of Rabbi Lutziner – during the week of Passover – as was reb Yehoshua Lutziner . Then Rabbi Lutziner told us how he received money from an anonymous donor to distribute to the needy as Rabbi Lutziner saw fit. Reb Yehoshua replied – so this donor probably sent a few hundred rubles, and Rabbi Lutziner said: not a few hundred, but a few thousand rubles . I used this money to help needy people throughout the winter – when grains were particularly expensive – and I still had

33 According to his neighbor, reb Chaim Shalom Horowitz. I also heard the same from Professor Yoel Rivlin, as we walked to the Western Wall about two months before he passed away. He promised to find me written material about my grandfather, but he was not able to fulfill his promise before he passed away on April 14, 1971. It is a shame about this loss. 34 According to reb Avraham Yochanan Blumenthal. 35 Related by marriage to the righteous genius Rabbi David Son of Reb Nachum. enough money to support them until the next harvest when the price of grains will fall. It is now known that this donor was one of reb Shmuel’s relatives.

Reb Avraham Yochanan Blumenthal, the founder of the Zion orphanage, told me that my grandfather raised him as his own son and even married him off, and he would call my grandfather “father.” And when he mentioned his name, it would be with the utmost respect, and he would say: you cannot find these days a public activist of such good measure as reb Shmuel Huminer. He was among the first to undertake any holy activity, to set up companies and societies and charitable foundations. He also worked diligently to clothe the needy, to help in welcoming a bride into her new home, to visit the sick and to bring peace between quarrelsome friends and between husband and wife.

When reb Shmuel would walk down the streets of Jerusalem, all would look his way and would say to one another: there goes reb Shmuel Biarezener Huminer. And people would delay him as he walked and asked him various favors, and he would always reply to them kindly and patiently, as was his demeanor, his speech heartfelt and full of love for others. 36

Once reb Shmuel was w alking through Mea Shearim and he saw a man standing and crying, and a crowd had assembled around him. They asked him: why do you cry? And he answ ered: I have lost a large sum of money. Reb Shmuel asked him: how much did you have in your bundle? The man replied: fifty rubles. He asked him: can you describe the money? And he replied: it was five ten ruble bills. Reb Shmuel told him: I have your money, for I passed by this street earlier and found a sum of money. Wait a little bit and I shall bring you the money, since it is locked up in my house. I am so fortunate to have found the person who lost it! Reb Shmuel went to his home and he brought the man five ten ruble bills. The man was happy that his lost money had been returned to him. But even ha ppier was reb Shmuel at this opportunity for the mitzvah of giving in secret, and no one knew that the source of the money was reb Shmuel’s own purse.

Hospitality

Reb Shmuel excelled in his hospitality, and would receive any person who came to him warmly. Each Shabbat several visitors would be guests at his table. He also arranged for visitors who were guests at other homes. He would also dole out meat and fish for Shabbat for those who were of modest means.

His seat in the Yeshuot Yaakov synagogue was on the eastern wall facing the entrance. And he would say: “If a guest were to enter, I shall see him and greet him.”

There is the story of a guest who was very common and would behave inappropriately during the meal. Reb Shmuel was a fastidious man, and decided that the following week he would send the man his meal to the synagogue. But when the following Shabbat arrived and reb Shmuel took the Kiddush cup in his hand and was about to say the blessing, he remembered that guest who stayed in the synagogue, and

36 According to Professor Yosef Yoel Rivlin. he said: how can I swallow this meal when our guest sits alone in the synagogue on this holy day? He laid down the cup and walked over to the synagogue, appeased his guest and brought him back to his house. And from thereon he was a regular guest at reb Shmuel’s table. 37

During Passover Seders reb Shmuel would host nearly a hundred people at his table. 38

Reb Yitzhak Shlomo Blau described to me the holy atmosphere at my grandfather’s house on Friday nights: Reb Shmuel would sit at the head of the table across from the radiating Shabbat candles, he and all present basking in soulful serenity, his family and roughly ten guests, and he would carry on with pearls of wisdom about the week’s Torah reading. Fortunate is the man who can live such a life.

Every new arrival in Jerusalem knew where to turn, since reb Shmuel was known in those days for his unrivaled hospitality . And anyone who entered his home hungry would leave full and with more to take home with him. 39

Rabbi Baruch Yehuda Blau told me the following: he who had not seen reb Shmuel and his generosity had never witnessed true hospitality in his life. Every day he had several visitors dine at his table. On Friday he hosted ten or more guests. If more guests had arrived than he could host in his home, he would pay for their meals in others’ homes. I shall never forget what I was once told by a Jew who came from Slutsk, and after a long and difficult voyage over three months he arrived in Jerusalem tired, broken, and ragged, not knowing a soul. Reb Shmuel ran into him, wished him peace and with great affection took his hand and brought him to his home in the Old City, fed him, and offered him something to drink and himself made his bed, and even prepared a pitcher of water and basin for the r itual washing of the hands for shacharit. He told me: after a mere hour I felt like a member of his family rather than a guest. Everything reb Shmuel did for me, he did with love and affection and gratitude for being able to bring a guest into his home, especially a Jew from the diaspora who came to fulfill the mitzvah of settling in Israel. In Reb Shmuel love for Israel was suffused with a love for the Land of Israel.

Truth

Let me add: I connect my grandfather with the verse “ Mercy and truth are met t ogether; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. “ (Psalms 85:11). He was a man of mercy and truth, a man of righteousness and peace. He would often give of his wealth and he never touched a penny that was not his. He loved the truth, without any compromise. He never demanded of others what he didn’t demand of himself, to never utter a lie.

Every word he said was moderate and deliberate. By his own account, since the time he was four years old and learned in class the verse “ Thou shalt keep far from the cause of falsehood ” (Exodus, 23:7), he

37 According to my uncle the genius reb Mordechai Huminer. 38 According to Avraham Yochanan Blumenthal. 39 According to Professor Yoel Rivlin. took upon himself the absolute vow to never speak falsely. And when he saw others who would lie, he would disprove them by pointing out: it is expressly written in the Torah: Thou shalt keep far from the cause of falsehood!

Rabbi Yitzhak Shlomo Blau told me the following: reb Shmuel was a man of truth. The truth of the Torah and Halacha never escaped him. He was a prodigy, a gifted student who was destined for greatness, but he did not want to enter the rabbinate or the world of theology, even though he would have been among the best, because he was a man of truth and he was not willing to sacrifice the truth of the Torah in order to make pronouncements on it.

And our wise sages have said: anyone who fulfills his promises gives off the spirit of wise men (the end of the seventh tractate). For this reason, reb Shmuel was admired by all. And he fulfilled the verse “The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity .” (Malachi 2:6)

Modesty

Reb Shmuel would shun public honor and publicity. He was opposed to his name appearing in newspapers. He even tried to keep his charity work hidden from members of his family. Only after his death did we learn that he was one of the founders of the Mea Shearim and Beit Yaakov neighborhoods.

My genius uncle and arbiter Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Halevy, the rabbi and first president of the rabbinic court of Jaffa and Tel Aviv (who wrote the famous books The Torah of the Land of Israel and others) heaped great praise on the deeds of my grandfather and his works in Jerusalem.

He told me the following: reb Shmuel was an honest man who loved charity, a great scholar who had great command in all of the midrashim, a famous public activist. A man like this, who is all Torah and awe, charity and piety, should set an example for many for his love for Israel which was expressed in his great and modest ways, as he sought to shun honor and publicity.

Nevertheless, we are commanded to retell of his greatness and publicize his great works, so that others may learn from his ways and follow them.

Respect for Others

Reb Shmuel would honor others and would call everyone “Rabbi” even not to their face. He placed his friend’s honor above his own. He was never condescending towards commoners, and would try to honor them.

When he was invited to celebrate the end of a reading of a tractate or religious work, he would make a point to praise and celebrate the person who conducted the lesson, and would invite him to eat with him. He would also often praise the gabbais [ synagogue managers ] in public. 40

When reb Shmuel attended a sermon or a public prayer, he would always be among the first to approach the teacher or chazzan afterwards to shake his hand in friendship and to bless him with a heartfelt “Yishar Koach” [ “Good job!” ]

Any person who came to teach Torah from outside of Jerusalem would stay with reb Shmuel at his house. Once, one of reb Shmuel’s grandchildren was engaged to be married. After the engagement, several people came to him and told him that the mother of the bride-to-be was mentally ill. Reb Shmuel told them: I would rather rip apart a book of the Torah than to speak ill of a daughter of Israel.

Reb Shmuel’s way was to draw in those who had strayed away with words of gentility and beauty, and often he would influence them to return to the religious life. He often repeated the verse “ Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace ” (Proverbs 3:17).

He would say

I have never envied another man for his material possessions, but I envy he who educates others to be wise In the Torah and in awe of the heavens.

A man needs to connect to those who are fearful of God, as it is written: “ I am a companion of all them that fear you “ (Psalms 119:63).

If you get an opportunity to perform a mitzvah, do not miss it, but get to it immediately and quickly. Even talking about the chance might delay it and prevent it from being carried out.

Nothing is more valuable than time. Every idle minute is wasted, for it can never be regained. The words of the sages heal (Ketubot) – an encouraging word can heal the sick.

One has to commit to settling the Land of Israel: build its homes, plant its trees and its grow its harvests, with the same enthusiasm of those who study the Torah outside of it.

An honest man never utters a lie in his life, and he who is not careful to heed this is even more suspect than the thief. For the liar is worse than the thief or embezzler. The thief steals in secret, while the liar deceives in secret as well as openly. The embezzler steals from the individual, while the liar deceives to the individual and to the many. 41

40 According to Rabbi Zalman Rivlin. 41 I have seen this quote attributed to the Magid from Kelme [ Rabbi Yitzhak son of Noach Darshan ]. Compare this also to what is written in the book The Prince and the Monk, by reb Avraham son of Shmuel Halevy Ibn Hasdai, (Tel

There are people who prefer to pray a lot, do kabblah, or bathe in cold water during the winter than study Gamara and religious rulings, but these are our lifeblood and sustain us, and without them it is not possible to achieve eternal life. 42

One must take care to observe the orders of our rabbis and the customs of piety , and not to violate that which is forbidden in the Torah: You shall not deceive, you shall not lie, you shall not covet , etc.

There are those who take care to pray in public, but do not then take care to avoid blasphemy towards God. It is better to pray in private and not cause blasphemy.

Three times a day we pray: Protect me from speaking evil and from uttering a lie, to those who curse me, let my soul be silent, and may my soul be to all as the dust . But we do not hear that which we say, for immediately after the end of the prayer we return to find fault with our friends and argue over trivial matters. 43

He would say that there is no exemption from that which is written in the Torah.

Rabbi Shmuel Moed told me about my grandfather: Everyone was charmed by the elegance of his speech, the charm of his noble lips , he was like Abraham who had a stone hanging on a chain that every sick man who saw it would immediately be cured, since any person who met him was moved to embrace the Torah and its commandments, he was absolved and absolved others, his home was wide open to all who were needy or whose heart was broken, he received all with love, he avoided th ings that could not be realized. When a charitable institution needed help, it would rush over to reb Shmuel’s home and come out encouraged. He was modest in his ways, he would say little but achieve much.

Translated by Gadi Barlevy

Aviv, 1951): and the wise men said: the liar is worse than the thief. For the thief will take your wealth, while the liar will take your thoughts. Similarly, Rabbi Shem Tov son of Yosef Ibn Falaquera in his Igeret ha’Musar [ Treatise on Ethics ] wrote: and the wise man said: The liar is a thief. For the thief shall steal your wealth, while the liar steals your thoughts. 42 See the book Mordechai’s Will, written by his son the genius reb Mordechai Huminer, Jerusalem, 1970, page 8. 43 According to Rabbi Shmuel Moed.