Table of Contents
📅 Today in Jewish History
📅 Year 5703 (1943) — Fall of the Warsaw Ghetto
In the year 5703, during the days of Iyar, the Warsaw Ghetto—the largest Jewish ghetto in Nazi‑occupied Europe—was destroyed and brought to its end. The ghetto, which had been sealed by the German authorities in late 1940, imprisoned hundreds of thousands of Jews under conditions of extreme overcrowding, starvation, disease, and terror. Beginning in the summer of 1942, the majority of the ghetto’s population was deported to the Treblinka extermination camp and murdered.
When German forces entered the ghetto on 19 April 1943 (14 Nisan 5703) to carry out its final liquidation, they were met with armed Jewish resistance, marking the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Jewish fighters, together with thousands of civilians hiding in underground bunkers, resisted the vastly superior German forces for nearly a month. Although the uprising had no possibility of military success, it constituted the largest act of Jewish armed resistance during the Holocaust and the first major urban revolt against Nazi occupation in Europe.
On 16 May 1943, corresponding to the month of Iyar 5703, the German commander announced the suppression of the uprising and ordered the systematic destruction of the ghetto, burning it block by block until nothing remained but ruins. Thousands of Jews were killed during the fighting and in hiding; the surviving residents were deported to Treblinka, Majdanek, and forced‑labor camps, where most were later murdered. The fall of the Warsaw Ghetto thus marked not only the physical annihilation of a centuries‑old Jewish community, but also a moment of profound moral defiance and sanctification of life in the face of certain destruction.
📅 Today’s Yahrzeits
🕯️ Passing of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Zinz of Płock
🕯️ Passing of Rabbi Yissachar of Aradast‑St. Georg
🕯️ Rabbi Yeshayahu Steiner of Kerestir
👤Their Background[1]
🕯️ Year 5485 — Passing of Rabbi Yehuda of Postinner
Rabbi Yehuda of Postinner, of Kolomyia, a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, passed away. In Toldot Yaakov Yosef (Parashat Kedoshim), he is eulogized as having stood as a spiritual shield for many thousands of Jews, protecting them through his righteousness.
🕯️ Year 5593 — Passing of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Zinz of Płock
Rabbi Aryeh Leib, son of Rabbi Moshe Zinz, Av Beit Din of Płock and later Warsaw, passed away. He promised that anyone who exerted himself to print and disseminate his works would have him as an advocate in Heaven.
🕯️ Year 5683 — Passing of Rabbi Yissachar of Aradast‑St. Georg
Rabbi Yissachar, son of Rabbi Yaakov Kohn, served as Av Beit Din of Aradast‑St. Georg and was the author of Binas Yissachar and Likutei Mussar Ya’arot Devash. His works reflect ethical depth combined with Torah scholarship.
🕯️ Year 5685 — Passing of Rabbi Yeshayahu Steiner of Kerestir
Rabbi Yeshayahu Steiner, widely known as Reb Shayeleh of Kerestir, was among the most beloved Hasidic leaders of late‑19th and early‑20th‑century Hungary. The son of Rabbi Moshe Steiner, he was born in 1851 in the region that is today Slovakia and was orphaned of his father at a young age. From his youth he was raised in an atmosphere of Torah, devotion, and humility, eventually becoming a disciple of great Hasidic masters including Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh of Liska, Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz, and Rabbi Mordechai of Nadvorna. At the urging of his teachers, he settled in the town of Bodrogkeresztúr (Kerestir), where he emerged as a Hasidic Rebbe and spiritual guide to multitudes.
Reb Shayeleh became renowned not primarily for public sermons or formal scholarship, but for his extraordinary compassion and boundless hospitality. Contemporary accounts and later biographies consistently emphasize that his home was open to every Jew—rich or poor, local resident or wandering traveler—and that food was distributed without limit to all who came. His hospitality was not occasional but institutional in scale, forming the core of his avodat Hashem. This devotion to hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests) became so central to his identity that even after his passing, large hospitality initiatives continue in Kerestir in his name, consciously modeled on his example.
He was also widely regarded as a tzaddik and miracle‑worker, with many turning to him for blessings, prayer, and spiritual counsel. Among the folk traditions associated with him is the belief that his likeness offers protection from harm—particularly against mice—an association noted in multiple historical and ethnographic sources. While such customs belong to the realm of popular devotion rather than formal doctrine, they reflect the deep trust and affection with which he was held by the Jewish masses.
Rabbi Yeshayahu Steiner passed away on 3 Iyar 5685 (27 April 1925) and was buried in Kerestir. He was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Avraham Steiner, and the Kerestirer dynasty continued through his descendants in Europe, Israel, and the United States. To this day, tens of thousands visit his gravesite annually, especially on his yahrzeit, drawn by the enduring power of his legacy—a life defined by kindness, selflessness, and unconditional care for others. His memory continues to inspire acts of generosity and compassion across generations.
[1] Please not that these historical notes were prepared with the assistance of Copilot Pro, an AI Research Agent, and have not been independently verified.
