The Jewish Eye
Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank - He Bought Lots Of Chickens But He Surely Wasn't One
Rav
Tzvi Pesach Frank was born in Kovno in 1873. As a child he had the
privilege of hearing a drasha from Rav Yisroel Salanter. When he was
little boy his mother once gave him some spending money. Later his
mother asked him what he bought with the money and he said that he put
it in the tzedoka box and davened that in the merit of his tzedoka he
should succeed in his torah study.
At age 20 after learning in
Lithuania under Rav Eliezer Gordon and others, he moved to Eretz
Yisroel. In Eretz Yisroel he learned by Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin and
was a Ben Bayis by Rav Shmuel Salant the venerated Rov of Yerushalayim .
Recognizing his enormous talents despite his young age, Rav Shmuel Salant appointed him to
the Bais Din of the Eida HaChareidis
on which he served for over 60 years, eventually becoming the Av Bais
Din and Rov of Yerushalayim. He was a key figure in setting up the
Chief Rabbinate in Eretz Yisroel and he was instrumental in recruiting
Rav Avrohom Yitzchok HaKohen Kook to be the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi.
Rav
Tzvi Pesach possessed the courage of a lion as he fearlessly paskened
Halacha the way he saw it, despite giving the utmost respect to
preceding poskim. He earned the titles Posek HaDor, Gaon HaHora'ah, an
Mara D'Ara D'Yisroel. Yet when it came to dealing with the Hamon Am,
Rav Tzvi Pesach had a heart of soft gold.
When a poor person
would bring to him a treif chicken to check, he would take money out of
his pocket and tell them to buy another one. One time a poor woman
came with a treif chicken. He knew this woman would be insulted if he
gave her money. Rav Tzvi Pesach took the chicken to his kitchen and
disposed of it. He then asked his daughter if they had any uncooked
freshly slaughtered chickens, which they did. He then brought it out
to the woman, gave it to her, and told her that after examining her
chicken, he paskened that was Kosher L'Mehadrim. (Orach Tzadikkim)
Rav Tzvi Pesach was Niftar 21 Kislev 5721/1960 as he finished saying the pasuk Shema Yisroel. Yehi Zichro Boruch!
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