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Rav Tzvi Elimelech Shapira - From The Light Of Yisaschar
The year was
1783 and the daughter of the sister of the Noam Elimelech had lost all
her children r"l. When she became pregnant again she came pleading to
her great uncle for a bracha that this child will survive. The Rebbe
Reb Elimelech promised her that the child will survive and he will
light up the world with his Torah. He also told her to name the baby
after him. When the baby was born, since they were nervous about
naming the baby after their uncle who was still alive, they added the
name Tzvi to the baby who was destined to become the famous tzadik Rav
Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov, the Bnei Yisaschar.
When Rav Tzvi
Elimelech was drafted to the army a miracle happened. The wagon he was
being taken in, overturned on a bridge and all the passengers drowned
in the river. He was the lone survivor. In order to avoid being taken
again the family changed the name from Langsam to Shapira.
Rav
Tzvi Elimelech was zocheh to draw from the Torah of the great Admorim
of his day, including the Chozeh of Lublin, Rav Menachem Mendel of
Rimanov, the Kozhnitzer Maggid, and the Apta Rav, Rav Avrohom Yehoshua
Heschel. Rav Tzvi Elimelech from his youth for the rest of his life.
He started and ended his career in Dinov with other stations along the
way. Where he had many talmidim and chassidim.
Rav Tzvi
Elimelech was a prolific writer. The Klausenberger Rebbe was astounded
by the amount of Seforim he was able to write in his 58 year life,
especially considering how much time he needed to dedicate as a Rebbe
and Rov. His seforim include his most famous work on Shabbos and
Moadim the Bnei Yisaschar. The reason why it was so named is because
when he asked his great rebbe the Chozeh of Lublin why he has such a
strong inner connection to Chanukah, the Chozeh told him that his
neshama is from a member of the Bais Din of theChashmona'im who was
from Shevet Yisaschar. Other seforim he wrote were Derech Pikudecha on
Taryag Mitzvos, Rei'ach Duda'im, Chidushei Mahartz"e, Igra D'Kallah and
many others.
Rav Tzvi Elimelech was held in high esteem by the entire spectrum o Yiddishkeit
as his seforim were lauded by Rav Shlomo Kluger, The Sho'el U'Maishiv
of Lublin Rav Yosef Shaul Nathanson, and the Divrei Chaim. Rav Tzvi
Elimelech is the patriarch of the Chasidic dynasties of Dinov, Munkacs,
and Bluzhev. He was niftar at the age of 58 on 18 Teves 5601/1841 the
same year as the Yismach Moshe and just a year after the Chasam Sofer.
Yehi Zichro Boruch!
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