The Admor of Bergszaz, HaRav Avrohom Alter Pollak
zt"l, the son of the Admor of Bergszaz HaRav Yosef
Meir Hy"d and the stepson of the Admor of Belz, was
laid to rest on 20 Elul. For decades he served as a central
spiritual figure in the halls of Torah and Chassidus in
Petach Tikva, Eretz Hakodesh and the entire Jewish
world.
For the past several years the Admor continued his holy
engagement in Torah and tefilloh despite a prolonged
disease which required him to be hospitalized several times.
Seven months ago his oldest son, HaRav Yehoshua Pollak, the
rov of the Kalbasov beis medrash in Jerusalem, passed
away at the age of 50. The bereaved Admor delivered a heart-
rending eulogy filled with powerful articulations of faith
and acknowledgement of Divine Justice.
In recent weeks his health further deteriorated, posing a
threat to his life. Prayers and Tehillim were recited
by admorim and their followers, at the holy yeshivas
and at botei knesses and botei medrash.
Days before the histalkus, his condition took a turn
for the worse. Doctors at the Laniado Medical Center in
Netanya did everything in their power to save his life and
Jews around the world pleaded for his recovery, but at 5:00
am last Wednesday 30 Elul he returned his pure soul to his
Maker in the presence of his sons-in-law, his offspring and
numerous Chassidim reciting Krias Shema.
Avrohom Alter Pollak was born in Bergszaz, Czechoslovakia on
5 Kislev 5695 (1934) to the Admor of Bergszaz and his mother
tlc"a, who later married the Admor of Belz. He
survived the Holocaust through chasdei Shomayim and
came to Eretz Hakodesh, where he lived in the home of
the Admor of Makva.
In Jerusalem he studied at the yeshiva of the Maharitz
Dushinsky zt"l, where he learned with great
hasmodoh and rose higher and higher in Torah. After
marrying his mother, the Belzer Rebbe raised him and his
brother like a father.
Following his wedding he spent the next 26 years living in
Jerusalem before moving to Petach Tikva, where he opened Beis
Aharon, a beis medrash named after the Belzer
Rebbe.
Soon after the petiroh, the mittoh was brought
to the Belzer Rebbe's home in Tel Aviv where a eulogy was
delivered by the deceased's brother-in-law, HaRav Moshe
Weber, a dayan and moreh tzedek for Belz of
Bnei Brak, HaRav Avrohom Direnfeld, also a dayan, and
the deceased's son, HaRav Yosef Meir.
The levaya then went to Petach Tikva where many more
joined the procession, including the Admor of Vishnitz,
roshei yeshivos, admorim and rabbonim.
Hespeidim were given by HaRav Shmuel Halevi Wosner,
HaRav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz and the moro de'asra
HaRav B.S. Salomon, who announced that his son, HaRav Aharon,
would take his place as admor. Other hespeidim
were given by the Admor of Tzanz, the Admor of Machnovka, his
brother-in-law HaRav Menachem Mendel Mendelson, the
gavad of Komemiyus, and his son HaRav Aharon.
In Jerusalem the funeral procession set out from the home of
the Belzer Rebbe on Rechov Agrippas, where he was eulogized
by his uncle, the brother-in-law of the Belzer Rebbe, HaRav
Yosef Lieberman, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Kollel Shomrei
Hachomos, followed by his mechuton, the Admor of
Chust, and then the gavad of Akava.
Thousands stood waiting when the large procession arrived at
the enormous beis medrash in Kiryat Belz, where the
Belzer Rebbe joined the levaya until the covering of
the grave, located beside the gravesite of the Admor of Belz
zt"l at Har Hamenuchos Cemetery.
HaRav Avrohom Alter Pollak zt"l is survived by his
mother, his devoted wife, his sons, HaRav Aharon, HaRav
Avigdor Yosef Meir, HaRav Mordechai, HaRav Sholom, HaRav
Yoel, HaRav Moshe and HaRav Binyomin Yechezkel Dovid; his
sons-in-law, HaRav Dovid Twersky, dayan and moreh
tzedek of the Rachmastrivka kehilloh in Jerusalem,
HaRav Yeshayohu Tzvi Briyef, the av beis din of
Yaruslav and Williamsburg, HaRav Yissochor Bertzi Leifer, rov
and rosh kollel of Kollel Temshvar in Bnei Brak, HaRav
Yisroel Leifer, rov of the Chust kehilloh in Elad; his
grandson, HaRav Mordechai Dovid Dov, the son of his eldest
son, HaRav Yehoshua zt"l, rov of the Kalbasov
kehilloh in Jerusalem, as well as other grandchildren
and great-grandchildren engaged in Torah and mitzvos.
