IN TRIBUTE: The Skulener Rebbe, Zecher Tzaddik Livrachah

YS Gold 

With pain-filled hearts, we report upon the untimely petirah of the Skulener Rebbe, zecher tzaddik v’kadosh livrachah—a leader in Klal Yisroel, a shepherd to thousands, and a true successor to his illustrious father and grandfather, the Admorim of Skulen, and he had assumed the leadership of the Skulener chassidus only five years ago, with the passing of his father, the previous Rebbe, zt”l. 

The Rebbe— Rav Yeshaya Yaakov ben Rav Yisroel Avraham, zt”l—was only 68 years of age at his passing in Cornell Hospital late on Motzei Shabbos. 

The Rebbe was known for his holiness from a very young age. He spent his childhood in the glow of his holy and illustrious grandfather, the Skulener Rebbe, Rav Eliezer Zusia Portugal who was known for his mesirus nefesh for Yiddishkeit under Communist rule in Romania. 

The Rebbe was sent by his father to learn in the Satmar Yeshiva. He learned in the famed Sands Street yeshiva, where he heard shiurim from the Divrei Yoel of Satmar, and became especially close to him. Even as a young bachur, the Rebbe was known by all the talmidim as the most ehrlich and devout boy.  

Following his marriage, the Rebbe became a rov in Montreal for many years, and the people of Montreal retain the most holy and fond memories of this giant of Torah and avodah who lived in their midst. 

With the passing of his father, the previous Skulener Rebbe, five-and-a-half years ago, the Rebbe assumed the leadership of the chassidus, bringing consolation and leadership to a bereft chassidus. The Rebbe barely ate or slept… devoting his entire life to serving his Creator with utter mesirus nefesh, and to carrying the suffering of his fellow Yidden. 

All the Rebbe wanted was to uplift and strengthen Yidden, wherever and whoever… With his loving and fatherly smile, he was mekarev thousands of Yidden to their Father in Heaven. 

Like his father and grandfather, the Rebbe carried the weight of the generation in both spiritual and material matters. He fought the spiritual battles of the generation, exhorting Yidden to remain far away from the technological dangers. 

The Rebbe was an incredible orator, and he spoke frequently at many events and occasions—always bringing his unique brand of ahavas Yisroel, and a desire to uplift, culled from his encyclopedic knowledge in chassidishe seforim. In his utter humility, the Rebbe would constantly repeat the Torah of his father, at nearly every tisch… making nothing of himself. 

Like his predecessors, the Rebbe was a ba’al menagen, using the medium of music in the service of Hashem, and like them, he composed a number of niggunim that will live on in the hearts of the chassidim. 

The Rebbe experienced many health challenges which intensified in recent years. Klal Yisroel davened fervently for his recovery. Alas, to the heartbreak of so many, the Rebbe returned his pure neshamah to its Creator late on Motzei Shabbos. 

The Levaya will draw many thousands of mourners onto the streets of Boro Park at 12:00 this afternoon. They will mourn a great leader in Klal Yisroel who dedicated his life to his Creator and to his fellow Yid, a leader who was taken from our midst in the prime of his life, leaving a gaping void in the hearts of all those connected to him. 

As he arrives to the kisei hakovod, may the Rebbe storm the Heavens on all of our behalf—just as he did in his lifetime on This World—and bring about an end to the bitter galus.