🗓️ Today in Jewish History – 8th Tishreiy
🕯️ The First Ascent to Har HaMoriah
According to the opinion that the Akeidah took place on Yom Kippur, Avraham Avinu and Yitzchak Avinu set out for Har HaMoriah on 8 Tishrei.
Thus, this day marked the beginning of their journey toward the Akeidah, the supreme test of faith and devotion. Some later authorities note that, according to this reckoning, it was the first journey undertaken specifically for Divine service on Har HaMoriah, the future site of the Beis HaMikdash.
🕯️ The three-day journey of Avraham and Yitzchak remains one of the most powerful expressions of obedience to Hashem in all of Jewish history.
🕯️ The Seven-Day Dedication of the Mizbe’ach in the Days of Shlomo HaMelech
During the dedication of the First Beis HaMikdash, Shlomo HaMelech celebrated a seven-day festival of inauguration that included Yom Kippur.
Chazal relate that the people ate and rejoiced during those days, despite the fact that Yom Kippur fell within the celebration. Afterwards a Heavenly voice declared that they had acted correctly and were forgiven.
🕯️ The inauguration of the Beis HaMikdash became one of the greatest moments of national joy in Jewish history.
🕯️ The Prayer of Shlomo HaMelech
On this day many have the custom to study and recite the prayer offered by Shlomo HaMelech at the dedication of the Beis HaMikdash (I Kings 8:22-61).
In that prayer, Shlomo asked that the Beis HaMikdash forever remain a place where Jewish prayers would be accepted with mercy and favor.
🕯️ Even today, Jews turn toward the place of the Beis HaMikdash with the hope that all sincere prayers ascend before Hashem.
🕯️ 1941 – The Massacre at Babi Yar
On the days of 8-10 Tishrei 5702 (September 1941), more than 33,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis at Babi Yar, outside Kiev.
In one of the largest mass shootings of the Holocaust, Jewish men, women, and children were gathered, marched to the ravine of Babi Yar, and brutally murdered.
The massacre became one of the most infamous atrocities of the Holocaust and symbolized the destruction of the great Jewish communities of Ukraine.
🕯️ The martyrs of Babi Yar are remembered among the millions of קדושי ישראל murdered during the Holocaust, and their memory remains a call to preserve Jewish life, faith, and memory for generations to come.
🗓️ Today’s Yartzites – 8th Tishreiy
🕯️ 1006 – The Passing of Rav Sherira Gaon
In the year ד’תשס”ו (1006) passed away Rav Sherira Gaon, one of the greatest Geonim of Babylonia.
Serving as Gaon of the yeshivah of Pumbedisa, he was among the final leaders of the Geonic era. His most famous work, the Iggeres Rav Sherira Gaon, is one of the most important historical documents in all of rabbinic literature, preserving the chain of transmission of the Oral Torah from the Talmudic sages through the Geonim.
🕯️ Through his writings, vast portions of Jewish history were preserved for future generations.
🕯️ 1833 – The Passing of Rabbi Noach of Lechovitch
In the year תקצ”ג (1833) passed away the holy Rabbi Noach ben Rabbi Mordechai of Lechovitch, זצ”ל.
A leading Chassidic master of White Russia, Rabbi Noach was famed for his simplicity, fervent prayer, and love of every Jew. He carried forward the teachings of the early Chassidic movement and inspired countless followers.
🕯️ His name remains revered among the Chassidim of Lechovitch and Karlin.
🕯️ 1855 – The Passing of Rabbi Elazar Nissen Teitelbaum
In the year תרט”ו (1855) passed away the holy Rabbi Elazar Nissen ben Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum of Drohobych, זצ”ל.
A descendant of the illustrious Teitelbaum family, he was known for scholarship, piety, and devotion to the welfare of his community.
🕯️ He belonged to the generation that spread the influence of Hungarian and Galician Chassidus throughout Eastern Europe.
🕯️ 1931 – The Passing of Rabbi Shimon Sofer
In the year תרצ”א (1931) passed away the gaon Rabbi Shimon Sofer, son of Rabbi Eliezer Zusman Sofer, Av Beis Din of Sándorfalva and Paks, זצ”ל.
A distinguished member of the famous Sofer rabbinic family, he devoted his life to Torah scholarship, communal leadership, and the preservation of Orthodox Judaism in Hungary.
🕯️ His leadership continued the legacy of the Chasam Sofer’s family for another generation.
🕯️ 1940 – The Passing of Rabbi Shlomo Bentzion of Chernobyl
In the year ת”ש (1940) passed away the holy Rabbi Shlomo Bentzion ben Rabbi Yeshaya Meshulam Zusha of the Chernobyl dynasty, זצ”ל, in Kiev.
He was known for his holiness, humility, and dedication to preserving the traditions of Chernobyl Chassidus during a time of severe upheaval for Eastern European Jewry.
🕯️ His passing marked the end of another link in one of the great Chassidic dynasties.
🗓️ Today in Chabad History – 8th Tishreiy
🕯️ 8 Tishrei, 5552 (1791) – The Passing of Rabbi Baruch, Father of the Alter Rebbe
On 8 Tishrei 5552 (1791) passed away the holy and hidden tzaddik Rabbi Baruch, father of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
Although known publicly as a simple member of the community, Rabbi Baruch was in truth a hidden tzaddik, an exceptional Torah scholar, and a man deeply devoted to acts of charity and kindness. The Frierdiker Rebbe writes that he concealed his greatness beneath a life of simplicity and humility.
🕯️ His Humility Before His Son
In his later years, Rabbi Baruch lived in Liadi near his illustrious son. However, he found it difficult to bear the tremendous honor the Alter Rebbe showed him.
He would protest:
“How can it be that a person through whom the Shechinah speaks should rise before me and honor me so greatly?”
Unable to tolerate this situation, he decided to leave Liadi and wander from town to town anonymously.
🕯️ His Wandering Years
For years Rabbi Baruch traveled throughout Eastern Europe.
Wherever he arrived, people sensed immediately that he was no ordinary traveler. He would enter the local synagogue, and before long members of the community would invite him into their homes.
Eventually he arrived in the town of Soleš (today Vynohradiv, Ukraine) near the Hungarian border.
One of the wealthy residents, whose livelihood came from distilling spirits, invited Rabbi Baruch to stay with him.
Soon afterward the businessman experienced extraordinary success in his affairs. Convinced that the blessing came in the merit of his saintly guest, he begged Rabbi Baruch to remain permanently in his home.
Rabbi Baruch agreed and spent the final years of his life there.
🕯️ “I Have Four Sons”
When Rabbi Baruch sensed that his end was approaching, the leading citizens and rabbis of the town gathered around him.
They asked whether he had children and where they lived so that they might be notified.
Rabbi Baruch replied:
“I have four sons in Russia. They are all rabbis.”
He then added:
“Two of them must be informed. To one it is sufficient merely to hint. To the fourth there is no need to inform at all, for he will know on his own.”
The listeners were astonished by the mysterious answer.
🕯️ After His Passing
After his passing, the townspeople accorded him great honor. He was buried in a prominent location, and the chevra kadisha erected a respectable monument over his grave.
When news of his father’s passing reached the Alter Rebbe, he dispatched a special messenger to Hungary carrying a substantial sum of money.
The funds were intended:
- For the family that had cared for his father during his final years.
- For the chevra kadisha.
- For the erection and maintenance of the monument.
Both the host and the chevra kadisha initially refused to accept the money, considering it a privilege to have cared for such a holy person.
A din Torah was eventually convened. The ruling determined that the chevra kadisha was required to accept the payment, while the host was permitted to decline compensation for the hospitality he had provided.
🕯️ Legacy
The life of Rabbi Baruch embodies the ideal of the hidden tzaddik: a giant in Torah and holiness who fled honor and preferred anonymity.
Yet from his home emerged four distinguished sons, foremost among them the Alter Rebbe, founder of Chabad Chassidus. Through his humility, piety, and devotion to hidden service of Hashem, Rabbi Baruch helped lay the foundation for one of the most influential movements in Jewish history.
🕯️ Today his resting place in Vynohradiv, Ukraine, has been restored, and an ohel has been erected over his grave, where visitors continue to remember the humble father of the Alter Rebbe and one of the hidden righteous men of his generation.