Moshe Teitelbaum (Ujhel)
Encyclopedia
Sátoraljaújhely
Sátoraljaújhely or אוהעלי ) is a town located in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county in northern Hungary near the Slovak border. It is east from the county capital Miskolc.- History :...
in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. According to Löw, he signed his name "Tamar", this being the equivalent of Teitelbaum, which is the Yiddish for "palm-tree" (compare German "Dattelbaum"). An adherent of the Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Hasidic Rebbe, the Chozeh of Lublin
Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin
Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin, also Jacob Isaac of Lublin, or Y. Y. Horowitz , known as "The Chozeh of Lublin" , or simply as the "Chozeh", was a Hasidic rebbe from Poland....
, Rabbi Teitelbaum was instrumental in bringing Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
to Hungary. Though initially opposed to Hassidism, after his son-in-law introduced him to the Chozeh of Lublin, he soon became an adherent to Hassidism. *(Dezsö Schön, 1997)
Teitelbaum first served as a rabbi in Przemyśl
Przemysl
Przemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....
, and later in Sátoralja-Ujhely, where he was called in 1808. In Ujhely he founded a Hassidic congregation which was independent of the Galician leaders. In 1822 Teitelbaum was suspected of having supplied amulets to certain Jewish culprits who had been cast into prison for libel, in order to assist them in escaping. When called upon to vindicate himself he declared that the amulets in question served only as substitutes for the mezuzah
Mezuzah
A mezuzah is usually a metal or wooden rectangular object that is fastened to a doorpost of a Jewish house. Inside it is a piece of parchment inscribed with specified Hebrew verses from the Torah...
and that their only purpose was to protect their bearers against demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s. Teitelbaum enjoyed an enviable reputation, with even Rabbi Moses Sofer
Moses Sofer
Moses Schreiber, known to his own community and Jewish posterity as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work Chasam Sofer, , , was one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the nineteenth century...
paying him homage.
Works
Teitelbaum authored three main works, Heishiv Moshe ("Moses Responded", a collection of responsa), Tefillah le-Mosheh, (a commentary on PsalmsPsalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
), and Yismach Moshe ("Moses Rejoiced", 1849; 2d ed. 1898, containing homilies on the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
), and he is commonly referred to by the title of the latter. He originally wrote a significant portion of his commentary on Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
on the backs of personal notes handed to him by petitioners seeking his aid and blessing. These notes were transmitted via a succession of prominent hasidic rabbis, until finally being edited and published for the first time n Krakow in 1880.
His descendants became leaders of the communities of Sighet and Satmar known as Satmar Hasidim
Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)
Satmar is a Hasidic movement comprising mostly Hungarian and Romanian Hasidic Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants. It was founded and led by the late Hungarian-born Grand Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum , who was the rabbi of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary...
. He was said to have identified his three prior gilgulim (incarnations in Judaism), saying that in his first gilgul he had been a sheep in Yaakov Avinu's
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
flock, in his second incarnation he lived in the time of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
, and in his third incarnation he lived during the time of the destruction of the First Temple
Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....
. In humility, he did not disclose the nature of the third incarnation, but his followers asked another Rebbe
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
, who identified it as the Biblical Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
. Regarding the first gilgul, he taught his followers the song, he said, that he recalled Jacob would sing as he tended the sheep.
He was once learning the story of Korach
Korach
Korach may refer to:* Ken Korach , play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics* Kórach, two Biblical villains* Korach , the 38th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading...
in the Torah with his young grandson the Yetev Lev and the Yetev Lev made a comment showing that he didn't think much of Korach, who rebelled against Moses. At that point the Yismach Moshe admonished him saying that we have no understanding of the greatness of Korach. In fact, added the Yismach Moshe, he himself was a gilgul
Gilgul
Gilgul/Gilgul neshamot/Gilgulei Ha Neshamot describes a Kabbalistic concept of reincarnation. In Hebrew, the word gilgul means "cycle" and neshamot is the plural for "souls." Souls are seen to "cycle" through "lives" or "incarnations", being attached to different human bodies over time...
from that "Dor HaMidbar" (generation of the desert) and had not been sure whom to follow, since this seemed to be a valid argument between the two greatest men of the generation. His grandson then asked him, "If so what did you do and how did you save yourself?" The Yismach Moshe said "Not wanting to be part of the machlokes (argument) I ran into my tent and closed the entrance tightly. I refused to come out until it was all over."
His followers would teach of his previous identification with Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
, and how this affected his present life. In his later days he yearned so much for the coming of the Jewish Messiah
Jewish Messiah
Messiah, ; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to describe priests and kings, who were traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22-25...
and the rebuilding of the Temple, that he wore his Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
clothing the entire week, anticipating the Messiah's arrival. He died on July 17, 1841.
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- Aaron WaldenAaron WaldenAaron Walden was a Polish Jewish Talmudist, editor, and author.Walden, who was an ardent adherent of Ḥasidism, is known especially for his "Shem ha-Gedolim he-Ḥadash" , a work of the same nature as Azulai's "Shem ha-Gedolim." Like the latter, it consists of two parts:* "Ma'areket Gedolim," being...
, Shem ha-Gedolim he-Ḥadash, p. 101; - Löw, Gesammelte Schriften, ii.76, 84, 91.
- Dezsö Schön, Istenkeresök a Kárpátok alatt (God-seekers under the Carpathians) , 97. Budapest, Múlt és Jövö