Rav Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum of Sighet
The Yetev Lev, Rav and Rebbe of Sighet, grandson and star talmid of the Yismach Moshe, known for his humility and for his seforim.
Biography
Early years
Rav Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum zy"a, the Yetev Lev, was born in Drubitsh in 1808 (5568), the son of Rav Elazar Nissan Teitelbaum, Rav of Drubitsh, and the grandson of the Yismach Moshe. He was known in Yiddish as Zalman Leib. The Yismach Moshe raised him in large part, and he became his grandfather's closest and most outstanding talmid.
By the age of seven he had already composed chiddushei Torah, which he recited before his zeide. By the time he was fifteen, the Yismach Moshe had written of him that he was a gadol in both the hidden and the revealed parts of Torah. He also visited other great rabbonim, among them Rav Tzvi Hirsch of Rymanov and Rav Yitzchok Aizekel of Zidichov.
Torah and leadership
At twenty-five, shortly after his marriage to Ruchel, daughter of Rav Moshe Dovid Ashkenazi, Av Beis Din of Toltshuva, the Yetev Lev was invited in 5593 (1833) to serve as Rav of Stropkov. Toward the end of 5601 (1841) he succeeded his grandfather, the Yismach Moshe, as Rav of Ujhely. After that, on the recommendation of his mechutan, the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, he was appointed Rav of Gorlitz. In 5617 (1857), after his father passed away on 9 Tishrei, the people of Drubitsh appointed him to fill his father's post.
In 5618 (1858) he was invited to be Rav of Sighet. He arrived on 18 Tammuz and led the kehillah ably until his last day. He founded a yeshiva in Sighet, being one of the first Hungarian Rebbes to do so, and many talmidim became his devoted chassidim. Among them were Rav Yehonasan Binyamin Kohen Klein of Selish, author of Nefesh Yehonasan, Rav Elimelech of Tosh and Rav Yaakov Yehuda Aryeh Leib Frenkel. The Sigheter Rav was extremely warm to his talmidim and looked after both their spiritual and their physical needs.
Rav Yekusiel Yehuda was a genius in both the revealed and the hidden Torah, and one of the foremost Chassidic leaders of his generation.
Teachings and seforim
The Yetev Lev wrote Yetev Lev on the Torah, which he first published without his name, Yetev Panim on the Moadim, Rav Tuv, and the responsa Avnei Tzedek on all four sections of the Shulchan Aruch. The name Yetev Lev is spelled with two yuds on his monument in Sighet, and many read it as Yitev Lev.
Later years and passing
The Yetev Lev passed away on 6 Elul 5643 (1883) in Sighet, where he is buried. His son Rav Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, author of Kedushas Yom Tov, succeeded him in Sighet. His other sons were Rav Avrohom Aharon of Kolbasov, Rav Moshe Yosef of Uhjel and Rav Eliyahu Betzalel, Av Beis Din of Tetsh. Three daughters also survived him. They married Rav Yisroel Yaakov of Volove, Rav Moshe of Rozhvadov, and Rav Baruch Halberstam, who was Rav of Gorlitz and a son of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz.
Legacy
Among the Yetev Lev's descendants was his grandson, Rav Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe, who rebuilt his Chassidus in America after the Holocaust. A great-grandson from Rav Baruch of Gorlitz's marriage into the family was Rav Yekusiel Yehuda Halberstam of Klausenberg. The Brooklyn shul Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar carries his name.
Stories
A Jew Who Fears Hashem
Rav Tzvi Hirsch of Rudnik often said that whoever had not known his grandfather, the Yetev Lev, had never seen a truly humble person. The Yetev Lev saw everyone as greater than himself.
“When my grandfather came into the beis medrash and passed a simple person putting on tefillin,” he would say, “he would stop and listen to the man's berachah and answer with a heartfelt Amen. Then he would look at him with admiration, tears flowing from his eyes, and whisper, ‘See how a Jew who fears Hashem says a berachah and puts on tefillin.’”
The Yetev Lev's son-in-law, the Rav of Gorlitz and a son of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, described his father-in-law in these words: “He is a tzubrochene Yid, a Jew with a broken heart.”
Eyes Closed, Ears Open
The Yetev Lev never spoke ill of any Jew. Every night he learned with his grandchildren from midnight to one o'clock, and again from three to four in the morning. In the middle of the shiur he would close his eyes for a while. Everyone thought that he had fallen asleep, but he was thinking deeply and taking in everything that was said.
Once, while his eyes were closed, the grandchildren began to talk about a very corrupt man who had caused great pain to the people of the town and had even spoken against the Yetev Lev in public. The Rav of Lafush, who was present, tried to defend the man, saying that the rumors about him were untrue. As proof he said that the Yetev Lev himself thought highly of the man.
The Yetev Lev had taken no part in the conversation. But when he heard this, a smile crossed his face, showing that although his eyes had been closed during the shiur, he had not been sleeping.
Seforim
- Yetev Lev: His Chassidic commentary on the Torah, which he first published anonymously.
- Yetev Panim: On the Moadim.
- Rav Tuv: One of his seforim.
- Avnei Tzedek: Responsa (She'eilos U'Teshuvos) on all four sections of the Shulchan Aruch.
Family & talmidim
Teachers: The Yismach Moshe (his grandfather)
Talmidim: Rav Yehonasan Binyamin Kohen Klein of Selish, author of Nefesh Yehonasan, Rav Elimelech of Tosh, Rav Yaakov Yehuda Aryeh Leib Frenkel
Children: Rav Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, author of Kedushas Yom Tov, who succeeded him in Sighet, Rav Avrohom Aharon of Kolbasov, Rav Moshe Yosef of Uhjel, Rav Eliyahu Betzalel, Av Beis Din of Tetsh, Three daughters, whose husbands were Rav Yisroel Yaakov of Volove, Rav Moshe of Rozhvadov and Rav Baruch Halberstam of Gorlitz, son of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz
Also on 6 Elul
All hilulos on 6 Elul ›Historical sources
- Wikipedia (Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum), used for facts only