Rav Shlomo Binyomin Ashlag zt"l
הרב שלמה בנימין בן יהודה לייב אשלג זצ"ל
Kislev 7 , 5744
Father's Name: Yehuda Leib Ashlag
Relatives: Rav Yehuda Leib Ashlag
Rav Shlomo Binyomin Ashlag zt"l
Reb Shlomo was the son of the Ba’al Hasulam, Rav Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag. Already as a child he excelled in Torah and chassidus and the Gerrer Rebbe, the Bais Yisrael, remarked, “Der Alter Kotzker Rebbe would have been proud to have a hasid like him because there have hardly been any like him in recent generations.”
In 5695, Reb Shlomo Binyamin married Ahuva Liba, the daughter of Rebbe David Aharon Haza, one of the important hasidim of Sochatchov.
After his marriage, Rebbe Shlomo Binyamin, at the behest of his father, began to give public shiurim in Zohar and the writings of the Arizal. While the war was going on, crowds flocked to attend. At one point, a delegation from the community of Haifa approached the Ba’al Hasulam and asked him to send his son to Haifa where he would become a guiding light.
The Ba’al Hasulam agreed. Son and father went together and the Ba’al Hasulam in the presence of his son, delivered a shiur to a welcoming audience. After the shiur, the Ba’al Hasulam told his audience: “Although my son acts like a ‘simple Jew’ and hides himself completely, all the same he is a colossal genius in every area of the Torah. And no secret is hidden from him. And the place where my son teaches Torah will have great blessing and his positive influence will not go without results.”
The audience then pronounced Rebbe Shlomo Binyamin a Rebbe, and the Ba’al Hasulam added that the community should regard the shiurim and guidance of Rebbe Shlomo Binyamin as his personally, and finally that his son is more capable than he is.
Assisting The Ba’al Hasulam
The Ba’al Hasulam soon commenced his Sulam commentary, asking Rebbe Shlomo Binyamin to see to the costs of the printing. Despite the poverty in Eretz Yisroel at this time, he succeeded in printing and distributing an edition with the latest layout and printing techniques. The Ba’al Hasulam said that when the first edition comes out, the holocaust will come to an end; and the day copies were bound by Bookbinders, Tel Aviv, holocaust activity stopped.
Rebbe Shlomo Binyamin presented himself as a simple person with no airs and graces whatever, and treated every Jew with equal love.