Memory Lane: The Bistricer Rov

Rav Moshe Spitz, zt”l, the Bistricer Rov of Boro Park, hailed from generations of Rabbonim who played a sizable role in communal life in prewar Europe. He was an esteemed rabbinic presence in Boro Park of yore, bringing some of that glory from a bygone world to the Boro Park of the postwar era, until his passing in the year 1999 at the age of 84. Today, we take a glimpse into his life. 

Bistritz 

The Bistritzer rov was born in the town of Bistritz, Romania, on the 27th of Cheshvan of the year 1915. His father was Rav Meir Spitz, the Av Beis Din of Bistritz, the son of Reb Tovia, the shochet of Dyermot, Hungary, and was the descendants of great Rabbonim of earlier generations, including the Nodah b’Yehuda. 

His mother was the daughter of the venerated Rav Shloime Zalman Ullmann, the rov of Bistritz, and the head of the Orthodox Council of Romania, and a descendant of great Rabbonim who traced their lineage to Rav Akiva Eiger. 

Rav Moshe was raised by his father and grandfather, and by spending time around his grandfather, the head of the council, he became acquainted with many of the great Rabbonim of that generation. He would go along to rabbinic meetings, and he witnessed his avodas haklal firsthand. 

Even as a young bochur, he was known for his erudition and his golden pen with which he wrote his own chiddushim, publishing in Torah journals of the time. He acquired a heter hora’ah from a number of prominent Rabbonim in Hungary of his time. 

Rabbinic Leadership 

In 1939, he married Rebbetzin Rivka Taube, a granddaughter of Rv Shmuel Zalman Weinberger ABD Margareten, a descendant of generations of Rabbonim in Margareten, and the couple settled in Margareten. After his wedding too, he continued to be close with the tzaddikim of his generation. He received a ksav rabbonus for the town of Bistritz, and assisted his father, Rav Meir, in all aspects of the town’s leadership.  

During the war, he was moser nefesh on behalf of the Jewish soldiers in the Romanian army. Bistritz was home to a military base, and Rav Moshe ensured that the Jewish soldiers would be given furlough for all Yomim Tovim. He once forwent spending the sedorim with his father in order to lead the sedorim for the Jewish soldiers in Bistritz. He also immersed himself in the work of helping other procure exit papers so they can escape to other countries.

While the rov spent the war years hiding in a nearby hamlet, the Rebbetzin endured the horrors of Auschwitz where they lost a young child. 

Following the war, the rov and Rebbetzin returned to Bistritz, where he picked up where his illustrious ancestors left off—tending to the brokenhearted Yidden who came back home having lost everything that was precious to them. He administered to these Yidden, and ruled for them on the most important and pressing halachic issues. He was a central figure in the region, resolving the 

The Bistritzer rov lived under the Communist rule in Romania for a number of years, and finally succeeded in leaving the country in 1959, settling in Vienna, and later in Antwerp. 

Boro Park 

They finally arrived in Boro Park in 1961, and the Bistritzer rov established his shul Khal Oholei Sheim which continues to serve as a center for Torah and avodah to this day. When he was reunited with his rebbi, the Satmar Rov, for the first time, the Rebbe was visibly overjoyed. 

The families that he had assisted in leaving Romania remained indebted to Rav Spitz for life, and they continued to come to him for his leadership once in America. He was for them like a loving father, ensuring that they had mosdos where to send their children, and ensuring that they were following the true path of Torah for themselves and their children. He also continued to care for those who remained behind, working with the Satmar Rov to send them care packages.

The rov spent his days and nights immersed in Torah and avodah. He was a man of few words, only focused on learning Torah with deep yiras Shomayim. Despite the many years that he lived in America, he always carried himself like the Rabbonim of yesteryear. America did not affect him at all. 

Throughout the years, people turned to him with complex queries, with interpersonal disputes, and with the daunting issues facing the klal. His beautiful droshos were often interspersed with emotional sobs. 

He was niftar at an advanced age following the Yomim Nora’im in the year 1999 following a lifetime of Torah leadership and many decades in Boro Park of yesteryear.