1 Iyar · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi - Chacham Tzvi
Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch ben Yaakov Ashkenazi (1656 - 1718), the Chacham Tzvi, served for a time as the rabbi of Amsterdam.
Yahrzeit - 1 Iyar
Resting place -
He was the son of Rabbi Yaakov Ashkenazi, son of Rabbi Binyamin Zev Zak of Vilna.
He was a rebel, and his career was checkered due to his independent character. He traveled to many countries, including England, where he had great influence. His responsa are held in great esteem. He was the grandson of Elijah Baal Shem of Chelm.
It is said that the Baal Shem Tov stated that there are three famous families of Israel that are pure, generation after generation: Horowitz, Margolioth, and Shapiro.
Rabbi Yaakov Ashkenazi was married to Nechama, daughter of Rabbi Ephraim HaCohen of Vilna, author of "Shaarei Ephraim."
Several books claim that Binyamin Zak's wife was the daughter of Rabbi Yaakov of Lublin, father of Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel, known as "Reb Heschel of Krakow."
Rabbi Shlomo Englard (Bnei Brak, Israel), a specialist in rabbinic genealogy who focuses on identifying errors in published genealogies, disputes the claim that the Chacham Tzvi's paternal grandmother was the daughter of Yaakov of Lublin. Englard presents compelling and decisive arguments in support of his position.
Another claim that could provide the Chacham Tzvi with a lineage from David is that his maternal grandfather, Ephraim HaCohen, descended from Ephraim Fischel, son-in-law of Rabbi Shlomo Luria, the "Maharshal," who was a descendant of Rashi. Englard denies this connection.
The Chacham Tzvi's wife, Sarah, was the daughter of Rabbi Meshulam Zalman Mirels Neumark. A mistaken claim made by several genealogists was that a female ancestor of Meshulam Zalman was the daughter of Rabbi Ephraim Zalman Shor, whose wife was a Katzenellenbogen and therefore descended from Rashi and David. Englard provides evidence refuting this claim.
One source, "Elef Margaliot" by Rabbi Meir Wunder, includes a genealogical table of the Mirels-Neumark-Teomim-Frankel family indicating descent from Rashi. However, no evidence for this claim is presented.
Englard published his arguments in "Tzfunot" No. 13 and in a collection of his articles published by the Tzfunot Yuchsin Institute in the summer of 2004.
Of course, it is quite likely that all Ashkenazi Jews descend from Rashi, as do all Jews who lived in Germany and France in Rashi's time. This is based on mathematical probability calculations.
Descendants of the Chacham Tzvi can take comfort in what the Baal Shem Tov is said to have stated about the family: that they are one of the three families that remain "pure" from generation to generation. ("Binyan Ariel" by P. Meyers, The Hague, Netherlands, published in Jerusalem in 2005).
Pilgrimage site:
Grave: Tzvi Hirsh of Rimanov