Shmuel Shlomo Leiner

Grand Rabbi Shmuel Shlomo Leiner (1909–1942) was the Radziner Rebbe (the fifth Rebbe of the Izhbitza – Radzin Hasidic dynasty).

Rabbi Shmuel Shlomo Leiner
Grand Rabbi Shmuel Shlomo Leiner of Radzin (on the left) with the Kolbialer Rav (one of the teachers at the famous Lubliner Yeshiva)
Title	Radziner Rebbe
Personal
Born	1909
Died	1942 Wladawa, Poland
Religion	Judaism
Spouse	Shifra Mirel Kalish
Parents	Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Elazar Leiner (father)
Jewish leader
Predecessor	Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Elazar Leiner
Successor	Rabbi Avrohom Yissochor Englard
Yahrtzeit	29 Iyar
Dynasty	Radzin

Grand Rabbi Shmuel Shlomo Leiner of Radzin (second from left - with black beard) with a group of Radziner Hasidim in pre-war Europe

Early Years

Rabbi Shmuel Shlomo Leiner was born in 1909.[1][2] He was the son of Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Elazar Leiner, who was the Radziner Rebbe and author of Tiferes Yosef.[1][2] In 1928 he married Shifra Mirel Kalish,[1] the daughter of Grand Rabbi Yosef Kalish of Amshinov[1] who was also the Rabbi of Ostrów Mazowiecka. After his marriage, he lived near his father-in-law.

Radziner Rebbe

In 1929, Rabbi Leiner's father died and he reluctantly agreed to succeed his father as Radziner Rebbe.[1] The Rebbe was greatly respected for his great knowledge of Torah, by many Litvishe Gedolim, even being at such a young age. Initially, he settled in Warsaw where his father had lived. In 1934 he moved to Radzyń Podlaski where he established the Radziner Yeshiva Sod Y'sharim and appointed his brother-in-law (and future sucessor) Rabbi Avrohom Yissochor Englard to oversee it. Prior to World War 2, the Sod Y'sharim-Radzin yeshiva grew into a network consisting of 7 yeshivos which were located in various cities throughout Poland.

During the Holocaust

The Rebbe was known for encouraging resistance to the orders of the Nazis[3] and the Judenrat and for urging people to break out of the ghettos, flee to the forests and take up arms.[4] (Although he never made it to the woods himself, his brother-in-law, Rabbi Avraham Yissachor Englard, fled to the woods and joined the partisans with a group of Radziner Chasidim.) The story goes that in his last moments, the Rebbe was wrapped in his father's tallis as a Nazi soldier took him into the Wladawa cemetery at gunpoint. At one point, the Nazi pushed him. The Rebbe turned around, slapped him across the face, and kicked him.[4] This obviously degraded the Nazi greatly, thus stunning him by showing the inner power of the Jewish people. The Rebbe was immediately shot to death on that day, 29 Iyar 5702 (1942).[3] Buried in Wladawa.

See also

Izhbitza - Radzin (Hasidic dynasty)

References

1. "This Day in History – 29 Iyar/June 3". Hamodia. June 2, 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
2. "Izhbits-Radzin Hasidic Dynasty". The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. YIVO. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
3. "History". radzin.org. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
4. "The Liniage of Izhbitza-Radin". mimaayanhashiloach. Retrieved 25 January 2021.