22 Iyar · Yahrzeit

Rabbi Mordechai Shraga Feivish Friedman of Husiatyn

Rabbi Mordechai Shraga Feivish Friedman of Husiatyn (1835-1894) was the 6th, youngest son of Rav Yisrael Friedman of Ruzhin. Yahrzeit - 22 Iyar Resting place - (Ukraine) The Rebbe Mordechai Shraga Feivish was born on 20 Iyar in Ruzhin, Ukraine. He was the sixth of the six sons of his father, Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin, and his 6 sons became the founders of chassidic dynasties; Rabbi Yisrael said of them that his sons corresponded to the 6 orders of the Mishnah:

Rabbi Sholom Yosef - the eldest son - led his father's chassidim together with his brothers for 1 year, until his passing in 1851;

Rabbi Avraham Yaakov (1819–1883) - founder of the Sadigura dynasty;

Rabbi Menachem Nochum (1823–1868), first Rebbe of Stefanesti;

Rabbi David Moshe (1828–1903), first Rebbe of Chortkov;

Rabbi Dov Ber (1822–1876), first Rebbe of Leova;

Rabbi Mordechai Shraga Feivish was 16 years old when his renowned father, Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin, passed away. In 1850 he married Rebbetzin Bracha Dina Kovlansky, the daughter of his mother's sister. Four months after the wedding, his father passed away. In 1857, his eldest son and successor, Rebbe Yisrael of Husiatyn, was born, named after his late grandfather.

In 1865, at the age of 30, Mordechai Shraga Feivish Friedman settled in Galician Husiatyn (an urban-type settlement in the Ternopil region of Ukraine), where he established his court. In 1870, Rebbe Mordechai Shraga Feivish acquired the old castle in Husiatyn, dismantled its remains, and built his residence and a new synagogue on its site.

At first, Rebbe Mordechai Shraga lived together with his brothers at the estate in Potik, but he was the first of them to leave it and settle in the town of Miklashev, where he led his chassidim for three years. In 1855 he moved to the city of Strusov, and in 1865, at the age of thirty, he relocated to Husiatyn together with his chassidim and family. Before Rebbe Mordechai Shraga's arrival in Husiatyn, there was a very small Jewish community there, but with his arrival the community began to grow and the town to develop. He built mikvehs, synagogues, educational institutions, and other necessary infrastructure in the town for his court. His eldest son and successor, Rebbe Yisrael of Husiatyn, was born in 1857. His second son, Rebbe Sholom Yosef of Husiatyn, was born in 1860. In 1875 he married Chaya, daughter of Rebbe Ephraim Margolis of Maciejów. He died at a young age, 23, on 7 Tevet 5643 (1882), leaving behind three orphans: Sarah Sheindel, wife of Rebbe Aharon Friedman of Sadigura, author of the book "Or Yisrael." Rebbe Menachem Nachum of Husiatyn, later son-in-law of Rebbe Yisrael of Husiatyn. Rebbe Moshe Friedman of Boyan-Krakow, who perished in the Holocaust, author of the book "Shu"t Daat Moshe."

After the passing of Rebbe Mordechai Shraga in 1894, the Husiatyn chassidim were led by his son Yisrael Friedman. With the outbreak of World War I, he, together with other Ruzhin Rebbes, moved to Vienna, where he subsequently settled. From time to time he traveled to visit his chassidim who remained in Galicia. Thanks to him, Husiatyn became one of the largest centers of Chassidism, which led to the economic flourishing of both the Jewish community and the town as a whole.

May the merit of the Tzadik protect Am Yisrael! https://www.geni.com/people/Mordechai-Friedman-1st-Husyatiner-Rebbe/4883870030250048030