After the passing of Rabbi Yisroel Friedman of Ruzhin in 1851, his fourth son, Menachem Nuchem Friedman, born in 1823, settled in the town of Shtefanesht

Stefanesti, Botosani

Ştefăneşti is a small town in Botoşani County, Romania. It administers four villages: Bădiuţi, Bobuleşti, Stânca and Ştefăneşti-Sat.The painter Ştefan Luchian was born here, as well as Vlad Onicescu, the father of the mathematician Octav Onicescu...

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, and subsequently founded the Shtefanesht Hasidic dynasty. In 1869 he died and his only son, Avraham Mattisyahu succeeded him.

Reb Avraham Mattisyahu was born in 1847 in Sadigura

Sadhora

Sadhora is now a microraion of Chernivtsi city, which is located 6km from the city center. Previously, it was an independent town.-History:During the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in Moldavia and Wallachia took measures to enhance the economic and...

. At the behest of his grandfather he was named Avraham after Reb Avraham HaMalach his direct ancestor, and Mattisyahu after Mattathias Maccabee

Mattathias

Mattathias ben Johanan was a Jewish priest whose role in the Jewish revolt against the Syrian Greeks is related in the Books of the Maccabees...

 as he was born during the festival of Hanukkah

Hanukkah

Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...

.

In 1862 he married the daughter of Reb Yitzchok Reich. Eleven years past without her conceiving at which point they divorced and Reb Avraham Mattisyahu remarried his cousin Sarah Zipporah, a daughter of Reb Yosef Mansohn of Berdychiv

Berdychiv

Berdychiv is a historic city in the Zhytomyr Oblast of northern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Berdychiv Raion , the city itself is of direct oblast subordinance, and is located south of the oblast capital, Zhytomyr, at around .The current estimated population is around...

 who had been widowed by her husband Reb Aharon Schorr of Berdychiv. She brought three children into the marriage.

In 1869 aged 21, his father Reb Menachem Nuchem died and after much pleading and approval of his uncle Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Friedman, (1820-1883, the 1st Rebbe of Sadigura

Sadigura (Hasidic dynasty)

Sadigura is a Hasidic dynasty, one of the branches of the Ruzhiner dynasty.The dynasty began with Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Friedman of Sadigura now located in Ukraine, who was a son of Rabbi Israel Friedman of Ruzhin, the founder of the Ruzhiner dynasty....

), Reb Avraham Mattisyahu agreed to fill his fathers position, a role he held nearly 65 years.

He was considered to be one of the hidden tzaddikim of his generation. His influence over Romanian Jewry was immense and he had a large following which numbered in the thousands. Reb Avraham Mattisyahu died on the 21st Tammuz 1933 and his funeral was held in town of Iaşi

Iasi

Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...

. As he was never blessed with offspring, Reb Avraham Mattisyahu had invited Reb Menachem Nuchem of Itskani to Shtefanesht in order to succeed him. However, he died a few months before Reb Avraham Mattisyahu‘s own passing.

In 1969 his remains were transferred to the cemetery in the Nachalat Yitzhak neighborhood of Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

 for reburial in the Ruzhin

Ruzhin (Hasidic dynasty)

The Ruzhin Hasidic dynasty was founded by Rabbi Yisroel Friedman of Ruzhyn, . Today, Ruzhyn is an urban-type settlement in Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine. Rav Yisroel's father was the Rebbe Sholom Shachne of Prhobisht, who was a son of Rabbi Avrohom "HaMalach"...

 plot.

Sources

• Ner Yisrael, vol. 6, (Chaim Dov Stern), Bnei Brak, 1994.
• Encyclopedia Lechasidut, (Yitzchak Alfasi), Mossad Harav Kook
  Mossad Harav Kook
  Mossad Harav kook is a religious research foundation and notable publishing house, based in Jerusalem. Mossad Harav Kook is named after Abraham Isaac Kook and was founded by Yehuda Leib Maimon in 1937....
  
  , Jerusalem, 2005