YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira of the Biala Rebbe ZT”L, HaGaon HaRav Betzalel Simcha Menachem Bentzion Rabinowitz at the age of 89.

The Rebbe was the oldest member of the Motzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel, which represents the Chasidic community in Israel. He led his Chasidus for decades from his Bais Medrash on Yaakovson Street in Yerushalayim.

The Rebbe had been ill in recent months and was niftar on Erev Shabbos in Hadassa Ein Kerem Hospital.

The levaya is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Friday at the Biala Bais Mesrash on Rechov Yaakovson 5 in Jerusalem, with the kevurah on Har Hazeisim.

Boruch Dayan HaEmmes.

The Rebbe, z’tl, was born in Shedlitz, Poland as the youngest son of the Ba’al Chelkas Yehoshua, HaRav Yechiel Yehoshua of Biala, z’tl. When the Nazis invaded Poland, Rebbe Ben-Tzion, who was then six years old, escaped with his parents and siblings to Baranowitz, which was then under Russian rule. The family was later exiled to Siberia.

In 1942, the Rebbe and his siblings traveled to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, not far from the Iranian border, where he joined the group of children later known as “Yaldei Tehran” who were sent to Eretz Yisrael via Tehran.

When he reached Eretz Yisrael in 1943, HaGaon HaRav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman took him and other children under his care, saving them from the secular influence of the State. The Rebbe first lived in the orphanage founded by HaRav Kahaneman and afterward by his uncle in Bnei Brak, Rav Yosef Tzvi Kalish of Skierniewic. When he was 12, his father, the Chelkas Yehoshua, who had been stuck in Russia, finally reached Eretz Yisrael and reunited with his children in Eretz Yisrael.

As a bochur, he learned in Ponevezh Yeshivah and was soon recognized as an illui. He became the talmid muvhak of HaGaon HaRav Shach, Ztl, and also attended the shiurim of HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Rozovsky, z’tl and HaGaon HaRav Dovid Povarsky, z’tl.

In 1957, he married in London –  to Baila Bracha, the daughter of HaGaon HaRav Avraham Moshe Babad, z’tl, the Rav of Sunderland and the chairman of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah in Europe. After his marriage, he moved to Gateshead and learned in the Gateshead Kollel, where he soon became known for his gadlus in Torah. In 1978, he was chosen to serve as the Rav of Lugano, Switzerland. In 1981, his father passed away and he succeeded him as Rebbe.

The Rebbe authored over 100 sefarim under the name Mevaseir Tov which are characterized by their immense depth and scope in Torah. He was constantly learning, writing chiddushim and delivering deep and lengthy shiurim, and focused on infusing his chassidim with tremendous ahavas haTorah.

One of the special areas of the Rebbe’s avodas hakodesh was chinuch and he served as a guide for countless educators and parents from all walks of life, especially in the area of “dropout youth.”

וכל בית ישראל יבכו את השריפה אשר שרף ה

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)