🗓️ Today in Jewish History – 13 th Tishreiy
🕯️ 🕯️ Destruction of Sodom and the Cities of the Plain
According to one opinion, the destruction of Sodom, Amorah, Admah, Tzevoyim, and the other cities of the plain occurred on 13 Tishrei.
Because various traditions differ regarding the exact date, some sources place the event on 11 Tishrei, while others associate it with 12 Tishrei.
The destruction of Sodom stands as one of the Torah’s strongest examples of Divine judgment against corruption, cruelty, and moral depravity. At the same time, the rescue of Lot demonstrates Hashem’s care for the righteous even in times of judgment.
🕯️ “Let No Man or Woman Bring Any More Donations”
Following Yom Kippur and the command to build the Mishkan, the Jewish people contributed so generously that the craftsmen informed Moshe Rabbeinu that there was already more than enough material.
A proclamation was therefore issued throughout the camp:
“Let no man or woman do any more work for the contribution of the Sanctuary.”
The Torah records that the people immediately ceased bringing additional donations.
🕯️ This was perhaps the only fundraising campaign in Jewish history that had to be stopped because too much had been given.
🗓️ Today’s Yartzite – 13 th Tishreiy
🕯️ 1740 – The Passing of Rabbi Chagai Chanoch HaLevi Frankel
In the year תק”נ, passed away the gaon Rabbi Chagai Chanoch HaLevi Frankel, Av Beis Din of Hanau, זצ”ל.
A distinguished rabbinic leader of Germany, he was known for his scholarship, piety, and leadership of one of the important Ashkenazic communities of his era.
🕯️ His Torah teachings and communal service earned him lasting respect among the sages of his generation.
🕯️ 1806 – The Passing of the Rishon LeTzion Rabbi Moshe Yosef Mordechai Meyuchas
In the year תקס”ו (1806) passed away Rabbi Moshe Yosef Mordechai Meyuchas, Rishon LeTzion and one of the foremost Sephardic sages of Jerusalem.
Among his works are:
- שער המים
- Other important Torah writings
He served as a leading rabbinic authority in Eretz Yisrael during a difficult period and played a significant role in strengthening the Torah life of Jerusalem.
🕯️ He is remembered among the great Sephardic leaders of the Old Yishuv.
🕯️ 1837 – The Passing of Rabbi Akiva Eiger
In the year תקצ”ח (1837) passed away the gaon Rabbi Akiva Eiger of Posen, one of the greatest Torah giants of the Acharonic era.
Among his most famous works are:
- שו”ת רבי עקיבא איגר
- דרוש וחידוש
- His celebrated glosses on Shas and Shulchan Aruch
Rabbi Akiva Eiger was universally regarded as one of the outstanding halachic authorities of the last several centuries. His brilliance, depth, and precision influenced virtually every area of Torah scholarship.
In his will, he requested that news of his passing be publicized and asked his students, colleagues, and all who studied his works to learn Mishnayos during the first year following his passing, and specifically to study a chapter of Mishnah on his yahrzeit.
🕯️ To this day, Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s writings remain among the most studied and respected works in the Torah world.
🕯️ 1885 – The Passing of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Paneth of Dés
In the year תרמ”ה (1885) passed away the gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Menachem Mendel Paneth, Av Beis Din of Dés (Dej) and one of the leading rabbinic authorities of Hungarian Jewry.
Among his most celebrated works are:
- אבני צדק
- מעגלי צדק
Rabbi Paneth was born into a distinguished rabbinic family. His father, Rabbi Yechezkel Paneth, author of מראה יחזקאל, was one of the foremost Torah leaders of Hungary, and Rabbi Menachem Mendel continued that illustrious legacy.
As Rav of Dés, he became renowned for his vast Torah knowledge, exceptional sharpness in halachic analysis, and profound righteousness. Rabbanim and community leaders from across Hungary corresponded with him on complex halachic matters, and his responsa became accepted as authoritative throughout the region.
His monumental responsa work:
אבני צדק
is considered one of the classic responsa collections of nineteenth-century Hungarian Jewry. It addresses a wide range of practical halachic issues with remarkable depth, clarity, and mastery of the sources.
His second major work:
מעגלי צדק
contains Torah insights and novellae that reveal both his brilliance in learning and his broad command of Torah literature.
In addition to his scholarship, Rabbi Paneth was beloved for his humility, kindness, and concern for the spiritual and physical welfare of his community. He devoted himself entirely to strengthening Torah observance and Jewish education during a period of significant social and religious upheaval.
🕯️ Rabbi Menachem Mendel Paneth is remembered as one of the great poskim of Hungary, and his sefarim remain an important part of the Torah libraries of rabbanim and תלמידי חכמים throughout the world.
🕯️ 1907 – The Passing of Rabbi Yisrael of Sadigura
In the year תרס”ז (1907) passed away the holy Rabbi Yisrael Friedman of Sadigura, son of Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Friedman, author of:
אור ישראל
Rabbi Yisrael was a grandson of the holy Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin and one of the most respected leaders of the Ruzhin-Sadigura dynasty.
Following the passing of his father, he assumed leadership of the Sadigura court and guided thousands of chassidim with dignity, wisdom, and deep spiritual insight. Like the Rebbes of Ruzhin before him, he combined royal bearing with exceptional humility and compassion.
His sefer:
אור ישראל
contains Torah teachings and Chassidic insights that reflect the unique path of the Ruzhin dynasty, emphasizing emunah, dignity in Divine service, and the inner greatness of every Jew.
Rabbi Yisrael was widely revered not only by his own followers but by many of the leading rabbanim and admorim of his generation. His court became an important center of Torah, prayer, and Chassidic inspiration in Galicia.
Even during difficult times for European Jewry, he encouraged Jews to strengthen their trust in Hashem and remain steadfast in Torah observance.
🕯️ With his passing, the Chassidic world lost one of its most respected leaders, but his teachings and influence continued through future generations of the Sadigura dynasty and through his sefer Or Yisrael, which remains studied to this day.
🕯️ 1912 – The Passing of Rabbi Chaim Berlin
In the year תרע”ג (1912) passed away the gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin, son of the illustrious Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin (the Netziv of Volozhin), זצ”ל.
Rabbi Chaim Berlin was one of the outstanding rabbinic leaders of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He served as Rav in several major communities and ultimately settled in Jerusalem, where he became one of the most respected Torah authorities of the Old Yishuv.
Among his best-known works is:
שו”ת נשמת חיים
a collection of responsa displaying his vast Torah knowledge, sharp analysis, and practical halachic leadership.
Although the son of the famed Netziv, Rabbi Chaim established his own reputation as a brilliant talmid chacham and communal leader. His correspondence with many of the leading rabbanim of his generation constitutes an important chapter in modern halachic literature.
In his later years he became one of the central Torah personalities in Jerusalem, helping strengthen Torah institutions and serving as a bridge between the world of Volozhin and the growing Torah community of Eretz Yisrael.
🕯️ With his passing, the Jewish world lost one of the last great figures directly connected to the golden age of the Volozhin Yeshivah and the Lithuanian Torah tradition.
🕯️ 1940 – The Martyrdom of Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter הי”ד
In the year ת”ש (1940) was murdered al kiddush Hashem Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, son of Rabbi Moshe Betzalel Alter, הי”ד, in Warsaw.
A member of the illustrious Gur dynasty, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir was among the promising younger leaders of Polish Jewry before the Holocaust.
He perished during the terrible destruction that befell the Jews of Warsaw in the early years of the Nazi occupation. Like countless other rabbanim, chassidim, and Torah scholars, he sanctified Hashem’s Name through his martyrdom.
The Alter family suffered devastating losses during the Holocaust, yet the dynasty rebuilt itself after the war and continued to flourish. The memory of Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter remains among the many holy martyrs of the Gur family who gave their lives during that tragic period.
🕯️ His martyrdom serves as a reminder of the immense spiritual treasures that were lost in the destruction of European Jewry and of the faith and courage with which so many Jews faced those dark years.
🗓️ Today in Chabad History – 13 th Tishreiy
🕯️ 13 Tishrei, 5643 (1882) – The Histalkus of the Rebbe Maharash
On 13 Tishrei 5643 (1882), the fourth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn, known as the Rebbe Maharash, passed away in Lubavitch.
The Rebbe Maharash endured severe physical suffering throughout much of his life. Despite his illness, those around him constantly saw a pleasant countenance and a sense of inner strength and serenity. His famous approach of:
“לכתחילה אריבער“
“From the outset, go over”
became a defining principle of Chabad thought and continues to inspire generations.
🕯️ His Final Hours
The Frierdiker Rebbe related that shortly before his passing, the Rebbe Maharash took out his pocket watch and removed it from its chain. He then inserted a small piece of paper into the mechanism so that it would stop at a specific time.
Afterwards, he requested that his sons be called to him so that he could speak with each of them privately.
First entered his eldest son, Rabbi Zalman Aharon. After speaking with him, he left the room.
Next entered Rabbi Shalom DovBer Schneersohn, the future Rebbe Rashab. Their conversation was deeply emotional, and the Rashab emerged in tears.
Finally, his youngest son, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, entered and spoke with his father.
A short time later, the Rebbe Maharash passed away while seated in his chair.
🕯️ His Blessing to His Daughter
Another tradition relates that before his passing, the Rebbe Maharash asked that his young daughter Chayah Mushka be brought to him.
When she entered, he told her:
“I should have led you to your wedding together with your mother, but since the Holy One, blessed be He, wills otherwise…”
He then placed his hands upon her head and blessed her.
This scene remained etched in the memory of the family for generations.
🕯️ “Go Home to Lubavitch”
Near the end of his life, the Rebbe Maharash visited a professor for medical consultation.
After examining him, the professor said:
“Go, go. You may travel home to Lubavitch.”
The Rebbe Maharash later commented:
“From this world to the Next World there is also an ‘Go, go.'”
Those around him later understood that he had perceived in the doctor’s words an allusion to his impending departure from this world.
🕯️ “Thirty-Two Steps Upward”
Before his passing, the Rebbe Maharash once made a cryptic remark concerning his daughter:
“I will ascend thirty-two steps upward, and you will descend thirty-two steps downward.”
The Frierdiker Rebbe later explained that the “thirty-two steps upward” referred to the thirty-two discourses in Likkutei Torah on three parshiyos that had then been published, while the “thirty-two steps downward” referred to the thirty-two years that his daughter would continue living after his passing, until the year 5674.
🕯️ A Life of Strength Amid Suffering
At a farbrengen on 13 Tishrei 5712, the Rebbe explained that although the Rebbe Maharash was a great sufferer physically, he never allowed his pain to define him.
The Tzemach Tzedek once remarked that had he known sooner how severe his son’s illness was, he could have drawn down for him at least fifty-two additional years, like the years of Shmuel HaNavi.
Yet despite years of suffering, the Rebbe Maharash continued to lead, teach, farbreng, and inspire Chassidim with unshakable strength and joy.
🕯️ The Rebbe Maharash is buried in Lubavitch, and his teachings continue to illuminate Chabad Chassidus. More than any other saying associated with him, his guiding principle remains:
“לכתחילה אריבער“
When confronted with an obstacle, do not go around it, do not go under it, but from the outset rise above it.