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27 Ellul 5766 - September 20, 2006 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Admor of Bergszaz zt"l

By A. Cohen

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.

 

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