Posted on: Wednesday, 9 July 2008, 18:00 CDT
By Isi Leibler
Australian Jewry has lost one of its noblest personalities. History will record that Rabbi Yitzchak Groner was beyond doubt the greatest Australian Jewish leader of the past century.
His towering achievements and charismatic presence at all communal levels played a major role in transforming Australian Jewry into one of the finest communities in the Diaspora. The extraordinary expansion of Chabad educational institutions positively influenced the growth of Torah education and day schools throughout the entire Jewish community.
Although unyielding on halachic principles, he exemplified the best traditions of Chabad outreach and compassion. Despite his towering presence and erudition, Ha'Rav Groner was a modest man who spurned materialism and inspired a love and respect by all sections of the community, non-observant as well as religious.
His life represents a role model of spiritual leadership. May he be a Melitz Yashar to be emulated by rabbis all over the world, including Eretz Yisrael.
On a personal note I always enjoyed a special kesher, connection with him, regarding him as among the greatest Jewish personalities I was privileged to respect and love. He brought me on a number of occasions to meet the Rebbe, and I appreciated the high regard in which the Rebbe viewed him.
May Hashem comfort his rebbetzen, children and family among the mourners of Zion.
Yehi Zichro Baruch,
May his memory be blessed.
Originally published by Isi Leibler.
(c) 2008 The Jerusalem Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Showing posts with label OBIT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OBIT. Show all posts
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Monday, July 07, 2008
Australia's Chabad rabbi dies
Australia’s most senior Orthodox rabbi has died.
Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner, the chief rabbi of Melbourne’s Chabad-Lubavitch community, died Monday following a long illness. He was 83.
The brother of Leib Groner, a personal secretary to the former Lubavitcher rebbe, he will be buried in Jerusalem -- alongside his parents -- later this week. A memorial service is currently being planned in Melbourne with Chabad officials scrambling to find a venue large enough for the thousands expected to mourn the spiritual giant described as the person who “put Chabad on the map in Australia.”
Michael Danby, a Jewish member of the Australian government and Groner’s local lawmaker, said: “No spiritual leader of the Australian Jewish community has had a bigger effect on the postwar generation, both in terms of the restoration of spiritual life and educational institutions.”
Over the last half-century, Groner built an Orthodox community of thousands of Lubavitchers and a network of institutions in Melbourne: two schools -- Yeshivah College and Beth Rivkah Ladies' College -- educating more than 1,500 pupils; a men’s kollel; a women’s seminary; several mikvehs; and a cluster of Chabad houses throughout the city, three of which are run by the rabbi’s sons or sons-in-law.
Born in Brownsville, N.Y., in 1925, Groner was first sent to Australia and New Zealand by the Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in 1947. He returned in 1953 before the rebbe requested he become his emissary to Australia in 1958.
Wheelchair-bound in the twilight of his life, the rabbi was renowned for his booming sermons. His flock would line up outside his door to ask religious question of their spiritual leader.
Groner is survived by his wife, Devorah, his brother Leib, his eight children and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner, the chief rabbi of Melbourne’s Chabad-Lubavitch community, died Monday following a long illness. He was 83.
The brother of Leib Groner, a personal secretary to the former Lubavitcher rebbe, he will be buried in Jerusalem -- alongside his parents -- later this week. A memorial service is currently being planned in Melbourne with Chabad officials scrambling to find a venue large enough for the thousands expected to mourn the spiritual giant described as the person who “put Chabad on the map in Australia.”
Michael Danby, a Jewish member of the Australian government and Groner’s local lawmaker, said: “No spiritual leader of the Australian Jewish community has had a bigger effect on the postwar generation, both in terms of the restoration of spiritual life and educational institutions.”
Over the last half-century, Groner built an Orthodox community of thousands of Lubavitchers and a network of institutions in Melbourne: two schools -- Yeshivah College and Beth Rivkah Ladies' College -- educating more than 1,500 pupils; a men’s kollel; a women’s seminary; several mikvehs; and a cluster of Chabad houses throughout the city, three of which are run by the rabbi’s sons or sons-in-law.
Born in Brownsville, N.Y., in 1925, Groner was first sent to Australia and New Zealand by the Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in 1947. He returned in 1953 before the rebbe requested he become his emissary to Australia in 1958.
Wheelchair-bound in the twilight of his life, the rabbi was renowned for his booming sermons. His flock would line up outside his door to ask religious question of their spiritual leader.
Groner is survived by his wife, Devorah, his brother Leib, his eight children and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Shlomo Matusof, rabbi in Morocco
NEW YORK -
Rabbi Shlomo Matusof, a leader of Chabad-Lubavitch educational activities in Morocco for decades, died Saturday during a visit to New York, according to the Jewish movement's website.
Rabbi Matusof, who was 91, died of liver failure, a Chabad spokesman said. He was buried Sunday in Queens.
Rabbi Matusof and his sons were among thousands attending the five-day International Conference of Chabad Lubavitch Emissaries in Brooklyn. The annual conference features workshops and discussions.
The Russian native spent time in Germany and France before he was assigned in late 1950 to go to Morocco by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the website said.
Rabbi Matusof leaves his wife, seven rabbi sons, and two daughters.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
more stories like this
Rabbi Shlomo Matusof, a leader of Chabad-Lubavitch educational activities in Morocco for decades, died Saturday during a visit to New York, according to the Jewish movement's website.
Rabbi Matusof, who was 91, died of liver failure, a Chabad spokesman said. He was buried Sunday in Queens.
Rabbi Matusof and his sons were among thousands attending the five-day International Conference of Chabad Lubavitch Emissaries in Brooklyn. The annual conference features workshops and discussions.
The Russian native spent time in Germany and France before he was assigned in late 1950 to go to Morocco by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the website said.
Rabbi Matusof leaves his wife, seven rabbi sons, and two daughters.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
more stories like this
Friday, January 12, 2007
Lubavitch bubbe
SURVIVED SOVIETS, NAZIS; LIVED TO 106
Established girls’ school in Paris
Established girls’ school in Paris
NEW YORK – They called her Bubbe Maryasha – a 106-year-old Jewish grandmother who survived the pogroms of czarist Russia, Soviet anti-Semitism and Nazi terror.
Members of the Lubavitch Jewish community yesterday announced the death of Maryasha Garelik, the grandmother – “bubbe” in Yiddish – who survived milestone moments of the 20th century, including the Soviet execution of her husband for helping to keep Judaism alive.
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