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Eliezer Shlomo Schick

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Rabbi
Eliezer Shlomo Schick
Personal
Born
Eliezer Shlomo Schick

May 29, 1940
Jerusalem, Mandatory Israel
DiedFebruary 6, 2015(2015-02-06) (aged 74)
New York City
ReligionJudaism
SpouseShifra Rotenberg
ChildrenNachman Alexander Zusia
Toba
Perel
Devora
Nussen Moshe Shmiel[1]
Parent(s)Rabbi Menachem Zev Schick
Malka
DenominationHasidic Judaism
Alma materMesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem
PositionFounder
OrganisationMesivta Heichal Hakodesh
Began1962
Ended2015
OtherFounder and leader of "Breslov City" in Yavne'el, Israel
BuriedYavne'el, Israel
ResidenceBrooklyn, New York

Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Schick (May 29, 1940 – February 6, 2015),[2] also known as Mohorosh (acronym for Moreinu HaRav Eliezer Shlomo, "Our teacher, our rabbi, Eliezer Shlomo", מוהרא"ש מברסלב[3]) was a Hasidic rabbi and prolific author and publisher of Breslov teachings. He wrote and disseminated approximately 1,000 different pamphlets based on the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. He was the founder and leader of the self-styled "Breslov City" in the Galilee town of Yavne'el, Israel, and had thousands of Hasidim around the world.

Early life

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Together with his father-in-law, Rabbi Asher Yeshaya Rottenberg of Koson

Eliezer Shlomo Schick was born in Jerusalem, Israel, to Rabbi Menachem Zev, the gaavad (head of the rabbinical court) of Tokaj, Hungary, and his wife Malka.[3][1] As a young boy, he learned in the Etz Chaim cheder.[1] When he was a youth, his family relocated to New York City, where he studied in the Kashau yeshiva and then in Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem under Rabbi Moshe Feinstein.[3]

At the age of 15, Schick came across the popular Breslov booklet Meshivat Nefesh by Rabbi Alter Tepliker, which attracted him to Rebbe Nachman's teachings.[3] He began to spend many hours each day in hitbodedut per Rebbe Nachman's instructions, and studied more Torah in accordance with Rebbe Nachman's system of learning.[4]

In 1962 he married Shifra Rotenberg, daughter of the Kossoner Rav, Rabbi Asher Yeshaya Halevi Rotenberg.[1][3]

Breslov teacher

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After his marriage, he began delivering shiurim in Hasidic thought to avreichim (married Torah students) and bochurim (unmarried men) in Boro Park, and began corresponding with students and others who sought his advice to strengthen their own religious observance.[3][1]

In the 1970s Schick began writing small pamphlets distilling the lessons and teachings of Rebbe Nachman. He eventually authored, printed, and distributed approximately 1,000 titles in Hebrew, hundreds of which were translated into English.[3][5] He also printed thousands of copies of Rebbe Nachman’s Likutei Moharan and Sippurei Maasiyos and sold them at cost price, popularizing Breslov teachings around the world.[3][6] Among present-day Breslov leaders who were introduced to Breslov teachings through Schick's pamphlets was Rabbi Shalom Arush.[3]

Additionally, Schick wrote dozens[1] of sefarim, among them Erech Apayim (on anger management), Ilan Hachaim (on not wasting time), and commentaries on Rebbe Nachman's works.[3]

Breslov leader

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Schick at an upsherin in Yavne'el

Beginning in the 1980s, Schick began visiting his Hasidim in Israel regularly, and established a synagogue in Safed.[3] In 1985[1] he founded the Heichal Hakodesh Breslov community – largely consisting of baalei teshuvah (newly religious adherents) – in the Lower Galilee town of Yavne'el, Israel. This community, which calls itself "Breslov City", numbered nearly 400 families as of 2015, representing 30 percent of the town's population.[1] The community maintains its own schools and civic organizations, including a Talmud Torah, girls' school, yeshiva ketana, yeshiva gedola, kollel,[7] and chesed and tzedaka organizations.[1] A large beis medrash (study/prayer hall) was completed in 2012.[1]

Schick divided his time between his homes in Yavne'el and Boro Park. He also established synagogues in Monsey, Monroe, and Williamsburg, and spoke at them frequently. He had thousands of Hasidim around the world.[3]

Schick also established a Yeshiva "Tifereth Hatorah"[8] in Williamsburg for Breslover students, led by Rabbi Yoel Roth.[9]

Final years

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In April 2012, Schick suffered a heart attack and underwent surgery, from which he recovered.[10][11] In 2015 he was treated for the final stages of leukemia at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, where he died on February 6, 2015.[2] He was buried in Yavne'el.[1]

Schick left more than 120 volumes of responsa, consisting of nearly 75,000 letters and other unpublished writings. The collection is known as Shailos U'teshuvos Asher B'Nachal.[3]

Legacy

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In 2023 the documentary In the Name of the Father [12] (A Hasidic Crime Story), directed by Bat Dor Ojalvo, was released about Rabbi Schick and the Yavne'el Community, which gave a close look at the scandal that erupted regarding eg. corruption, rape, violence, child marriages and sexual abuse. The documentary caused outrage in Israel and led to criminal investigations by the police.[13]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Harav Eliezer Shlomo Shick, zt"l, of Yavne'el". Hamodia, Israel news, February 12, 2015, p. 9.
  2. ^ a b "Rav Eliezer Shlomo Shick zt"l". Yeshiva World News. 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gantz, Nesanel. "Mohorosh – The Tzaddik of Yavne'el". Ami, February 11, 2015, pp. 30-31.
  4. ^ "About Mohorosh". mohorosh.com. 2008. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  5. ^ Shapiro, Gary (3 April 2012). "Rabbi Who Writes Too Much". The Forward. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  6. ^ Persico, Tomer (Winter 2014). "Hitbodedut for a New Age: Adaptation of Practices among the Followers of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav". Israel Studies Review. 29 (2): 99–117. doi:10.3167/isr.2014.290207.
  7. ^ Tzoren, Moshe Michael. "Away From the Hustle and Bustle of the Big City: Investors from Israel and abroad are buying up large lots in Yavniel, a quiet village in the Galilee, with an eye on building hundreds of housing units for the chareidi public". Hamodia Israel news, 23 December 2010, pp. A26-A27. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  8. ^ "Yeshiva Tifereth Hatorah Breslov". BreslevCity.co.il. 20 January 2017.
  9. ^ "the Tzaddik of Yavniel ZT"L". Yeshiva World News. 10 February 2015.
  10. ^ "Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Schick Improving After Surgery". Israel National News. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Breslov Rov's Miraculous Vision". COLLive. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  12. ^ "Be-Shem Ha-Av". IMDb.
  13. ^ "Sexual abuse, underage marriages and physical violence - Chasidic life in a remote corner of Israel". 24 May 2023.
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