Rav Dovid Borenstein of Sokotshuv zt"l
הרב דוד בן שמואל בורנשטיין זצ"ל
Kislev 8 , 5703
Rav Dovid Borenstein of Sokotshuv zt"l
Rav Dovid, born Rosh Chodesh Elul 5637/1877 in Nashlask, was the son of Rav Shmuel of Sokotshuv, mechaber of the Shem MiShmuel. He was also the son-in-law of Rav Mottel Weingot of Zdonskwalla.
Rav Dovid was a talmid muvhok of his grandfather Rav Avrohom, mechaber of Avnei Nezer, who testified regarding his grandson, “My grandson has a sechel makif – an intellect that surrounds all from one edge to the other.”
In 5668, he was appointed as Rav of Vishagrod and did wonders for that town. He opened and established a Yeshiva according to the methodology of Sokotshuv. When WWI broke out, he left for Lodz. He refused to return to Vishagrod since there were too many askonim there who had their hand in communal affairs. Instead he moved to Tomashuv – Mozavczek.
In 5686, he was crowned Rebbe by the Sokotshuver Chassidim to succeed his father. He left his position in the Tomashuv rabbinate and moved to Otwaczek and later to Favayanitz, Kolomna, and finally back to Lodz.
There in Lodz he guided the Chassidim and Chassidic court of Sokotshuv, one of the finest and greatest courts in all Poland.
He established a Yeshiva named after his grandfather – Bais Avrohom – and at its head he appointed Rav Arye Leib Fromer, Av Bais Din of Koziglov as Rosh Yeshiva. The Yeshiva was established in Lodz, the new center of the Sokotshuver Yeshivos, whose network stretched out to other cities throughout Poland. The Yeshivos had their own newsletter, also named Bais Avrohom.
Among his Chassidim and followers were several great Rabbonim and Gedolei Yisrael, among them Rav Avrohom Weinberg, mechaber of Reishis Bikkurim; Rav Arye Leib Fromer of Koziglov, mechaber of Shu”t Eretz HaTzvi; Rav Eliyohu Laskovski, Av Bais Din of Dvahrt; Rav Walfish Bornstein of Tshenstachov; Rav Boruch Laznovski, Av Bais Din of Oyazd; Rav Chaim, Av Bais Din of Konstantin; and Rav Eliezer Lipman Leventhal, Av Bais Din of Tzildaz, as well as the Rabbonim of Feshaitsh, Piontik, Walli, Radomsk and others.
He took an active role in Polish community affairs and was a member of Agudas HoRabbonim and Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, and among the leaders of the Polish branch of Agudas Yisrael.
He was easygoing and pleasant, receiving everyone with a smile, and was known for his true Ahavas Yisrael. His attitude toward Eretz Yisrael was positive and he tied in her praises in all his Shabbos deroshos. He called to settle the Land and invest money in its development. He visited twice in the years 5684 and 5695. In 5694, during the Agudas Yisrael conference, he called for active work in Eretz Yisrael because “from there a revival and renewal will come forth until the days of Moshiach.”
When the Germans entered Lodz they went seeking him and after they tortured and publicly humiliated him in the streets of Lodz he succeeded in escaping to Warsaw. On Shavuos of 5700, he conducted a tisch for Chassidim in Warsaw.
Before Rosh HaShana of 5701, he published a Kol Koreh distributed to the Chassidim calling for strength in the face of the difficulties and trials and to revive their spirits and give them chizuk.
He was among the first to call for mass escape rather than acquiesce and comply with Nazi demands. Eyewitness accounts say that the Warsaw ghetto uprising meetings began in his home.
He fled from place to place, fearing that the Nazis were searching for him. He spent time in Otwaczek and during the expulsions from Warsaw he hid in the Gensa street until he escaped the Nazis forever, suffering a heart attack rather than dying at their defiled hands.
His levaya was conducted en masse and made its way to the ohel of Rav Shlomo Zalman, the first Rav of Warsaw, mechaber of Chemdas Shlomo. They were unable to label the place of burial and so it is unknown till this day.
Some of his Divrei Torah were printed in Volume 2 of Neos Deshe. His commentary to Haggoda Shel Pesach Chasdei Dovid is printed with the Shem MiShmuel of his father.
His son Rav Avrohom survived and moved to Eretz Yisrael.