Rav Dovid Halberstam of Chrzanow zt"l
הרב דוד בן חיים הלברשטאם זצ"ל
Elul 25 , 5653
Rav Dovid Halberstam of Chrzanow zt"l
(Based on Melitzei Aish vol Av-Elul p. 72 entry 193 HebrewBooks volume 29096 and Encyclopedia Chassidus Alfasi vol 1 p. 463)
Rav Dovid Halberstam was a descendant of the Chacham Tzvi, Rav Meir Tiktin and the Maharshal.
He was born in Rudnick in the year, תקע"ח (1818), but others say תקפ"א, and was named after his ancestor, Rav Dovid of Tronograd who was a grandson of the Chacham Tzvi. He married Echseh Gittel, the daughter of Rav Yosef Zev of Tronograd who were descendants of the Arizal. His second wife was from Tzintz family.
He was a disciple of his father but also of Rav Tzvi Hirsch of Rymanow, Rav Yissacher Dov of Radoshitz, and the Tiferes Shlomo of Radomsk.
In תרי"א, he was appointed rav in Kshanov (Chrzanow, Poland) and his father arrived at his inauguration to crown him as rav. He exchanged Shu”t (responsa), with his father who described him as “a great luminary-- sharp and a master, a pious chassid.”
From the year, תרל"ו, Rav Dovid tried to hide his greatness, but Chassidim flocked to him from far and wide and he had no choice but to accede and serve as their leader. He was a gaon and such a diligent masmid, that they used to his quip that he studied 25 hours a day!
His elder brother Rav Yechezkel of Shinuva once remarked that when he wished to fulfill the dictum: “make for yourself a rav,” he goes to Kshanov to Rav Dovid. He was master of both revealed and hidden Torah.
All his descendants were gedolim and tzaddikim. He was the first of the Divrei Chaim’s sons to pass away (1893). His nephew Rav Sinai of Zhemigrod remarked, “he lacks nothing from the tzelem Elokim of Adam Harishon.”
His sons from his first wife were: Rav Yosef Zev Keshanov and Rav Aryeh Leibush of Dukla and from his second wife: Rav Moshe of Keshanov and Rav Naphtali of Keshanov.
All his daughters were from his second wife: Breindel, the wife of Rav Elazar Weissblum of Reisha; Miriam, the wife of Rav Yechiel Horowitz of Pukshbintza; Hinda the wife of Rav Moshe Yosef Teitelbaum of Uhjel; the wife of Rav Sholom Shapira of Pishtik; and Sarah Gittel, the wife of Rav Shimon Alter Frankel-Teomim, Av Beis Din, Podgorza.