Memory Lane: Rav Yisroel Isser Friedman, zt”l, The Krenitzer Rov
‘Isser’l Der Masmid’
Meir Yisroel Isser was born in the year 1900 in the Galician town of Dubetzk, in southern Galicia. His father, Rav Benzion, was the rov of the town, a ga’on and a mekubal, and an ardent talmid of the Tzvi Latzadik of Bluzov, to whom he was a confidante. Although the Friedman’s were themselves kohanim meyuchasim—and the Bluzover Rebbeim honored them as kohanim for all firstborns in the family—on his mother’s side, he was a descendant of the famed Rapaport family of kohanim.
Rav Benzion hailed from a family who were connected to the greatest lights of the Chassidic movement throughout the generations, and he would take his young son along on his own travails to Bluzov, where he was a revered presence.
He was recognized as different from most children his age. His avodas Hashem, his hasmodoh b’Torah, and his mastery of many masechtos at a young age, earned him the title “Isser’l der masmid.”—none more than his revered Rebbe, the Bluzever Rebbe.
One of his most exceptional qualities for which he was known throughout his life was humility, and he spoke little about himself and the extent of his stature even as a young child. But the following inscription in one of his many manuscripts speaks volumes: “I transcribed following chiddushim of my Rebbe, through the elder chassidim, when I was a boy of twelve years old.”
His connection to Bluzov was a great part of his life, and after the passing of the Tzvi Latzadik, he traveled to his son, and later to his son, Rebbe Yisroel of Bluzov who was later in Boro Park.
Krenitz
He married the daughter of Reb Avrohom Shabsi Eber Feterfreund, the shochet of Krenitz, who provided him with all his needs so he could sit and learn all day and night.
Krenitz, or Krynica, remains a beautiful, mountainous resort town to this day. Due to its location, it attracted an unending stream of Gedolim from both the chassidishe and Litvish worlds, and the Friedman home would become a lodging place for so many of them, who enjoyed spending time with the young ga’on and speaking with him in learning.
He recalled the kedusha of Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz, zt”l, who stayed in his home; how a fly didn’t come near his table, and how he would lay down to rest with his two hands upon his heart, and his visage like that of an angel.
War and Refuge
With the outbreak of the war, they fled eastward, deep into Russia. They were at the mercy of the Russians, who sent them to various labor camps. They suffered greatly under harsh conditions, eventually making it to Tashkent. Here he encountered a group of elder Lubavitcher chassidim, great men of caliber in their own right... but they revered the Krenitzer Rov whose entire conduct and countenance exuded Torah, chassidus, and avodas Hashem.
Arriving in America, Rav Yisroel Isser did not appreciate the situation of the in America, and in his characteristically humble manner, he joined other Shuls around Brooklyn, until he settled in Boro Park, in the home of his granddaughter, where he was given his due reverence and honor by his family, and by the countless Admorim, Rabbonim, and regular folk who streamed to this repository of Torah and the traditions of the many tzaddikim that he knew (he once compiled a list of sixty tsaddikim who came through Krenitz, whom he was privileged to know).
Observers recall his regal bearing, his deep humility, and his unending learning and writing Torah. His chiddushim are brilliant, and encompass all areas of Torah, and have only begun being published after his passing.
He was a true demus of an old-Time Galicianer Rov, and left this world leaving behind an incredible legacy in his writings and in his family which follows in his ways.