Living Legacy: The Knesses Yechezkel of Radomsk

Yehuda Alter

The 18th of Cheshvan marks the yohrtzeit of Rav Yechezkel Rabinowitz, zy”a, the Knesses Yechezkel of Radomsk, who was the son of Rav Avrohom Yesoschor Ber, the Chesed l’Avrohom of Radomsk, who was the son of the Tiferes Shloime of Radomsk.

He was incredible in his holiness and his humility, a tremendous lamdan, and a master of the hidden as well as the revealed Torah—and was renowned as one of the great tzaddikim of his generation. His avodah in davening was otherworldly in its deveikus and sweetness, and people would stream from all over to hear him in davening.

All the while, he supported himself by working and refused to be supported by the Chassidim.

From a young age, he was extraordinary in his hasmodoh in learning; he would sit secluded in a room, learning for hours on end. He learned mostly from his illustrious father, who showered him with adoration, recognizing the caliber of his son. Following his wedding with Rebbetzin Pessel Tzivia, he opened a shop, earning his parnassah from sales.  

He would distribute large sums to the needy, and had a tremendous ahavas Yisroel—giving everything away to his fellow Yid in need—and his home was open to one and all.

A few years later, he reluctantly became a Rov in a small town. There, he continued to learn and daven with tremendous intensity. He also administered to the spiritual and material needs of the townspeople.

In 1892, when his father left This World, the Chassidim wanted to appoint him as the Rebbe in his place. He insisted that it should go to his younger brother, who likewise insisted that his brother was greater than him in stature. In the end, it was the Shinever Rov who declared the Knesses Yechezkel as the “Radomsker Rebbe,” and with that, it was sealed.

He suffered from diabetes throughout his life, and nevertheless managed it with great mesirus nefesh—and he had great deveikus in Hashem.

Under his leadership, the Chassidus grew to be one of the largest in Poland—and people came to him from far and wide, from brochos and yeshuos.

Upon his passing in 1911 at the age of 48, he was interred alongside his father and grandfather in the ohel in Radomsk, and left behind illustrious children—including his son, the Shivchei Kohen— and his sefer Knesses Yechezkel.