page_title: Biala (Hasidic dynasty)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Biala (Hasidic dynasty) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Grand Rabbi Wolf Kornreich of Shidlovtza during a visit to Miami I took this picture עברית: רבי זאב וולף קורנרייך שידלובצא (שידלוביץ)
context_page_description: Biala Hasidic dynasty has its roots in Poland. The Rebbes of Biala are descended from Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowicz, known as the Yid Hakodosh.
context_section_description: The Biala dynasty is part of the Prshiskhe dynasty whose first rebbe was Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok (the Holy Jew) of Prshiskhe (today Przysucha, Poland), a disciple of Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin (the Seer of Lublin). The Seer was a disciple of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, who was a disciple of Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch (the Maggid of Mezritch), the leading disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism.
  Rabbi Yechiel Yehoshua was six years old when his father, the Rebbe of Siedlce, died as a young man. The Hasidim, bereft of their rebbe, mostly became followers of their late rebbe's brother, the Mezritsher Rebbe. It was he who educated his young nephew Yechiel Yehoshua in the ways of Torah and Hasidus. In 1924 the surviving Shedlitser Hasidim accepted Rabbi Yechiel Yehoshua as their rebbe. In time his name spread over Poland and the numbers of his Hasidim grew.
  With the outbreak of World War II, the Germans overran Poland. Rabbi Yechiel Yehoshua managed to escape to the Russian-controlled zone, from which he was exiled to Siberia. Jews who survived the Siberian work camps testified that the Rebbe was the one who kept their spirit alive. In 1947 he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv. He was in the forefront of activity to maintain adherence to traditional Judaism amongst the masses. He was one of the founders of the Chinuch Atzmai educational network, and he served on the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. He died on the 21st of Shvat 1982 and was buried in the Polish admorim section on the Mount of Olives.
  Grand Rabbi Yerachmiel Tzvi Yehudah Rabinowicz was known as the Biala-Peshischa Rebbe (1923–2003). Born in 1923, he was the first-born son of the previous Biala Rebbe, known as the Chelkas Yehoshua. He became Rebbe after his father died in 1982 and opened his yeshiva in the Har Nof section of Jerusalem. He was succeeded by his sons.
  Following the death of Yerachmiel Tzvi, one of his sons, Rabbi M. Rabinowicz, became Biala-Prshiskhe Rav of Har Nof. His eldest son, Rabbi Elimelech Rabinowicz, became the Biala Prshiskhe Rebbe of Haifa. One of his sons is Rabbi Simchah Ben Zion Isaac Rabinowicz, the author of Piskei Tshuvos, a popular commentary on the Jewish legal classic Mishneh Brurah.
  Rabbi David Matisyahu Rabinowicz was Biala Rebbe in Bnei Brak, Israel. He authored Lehavas Dovid. He was well known for his warm prayers and his self-sacrifice for serving God. He travelled around the world to spread Hassidic teachings. He was commissioned by his father to open yeshivot around the Holy Land. His father called him "nekudas libi", the "focus of my heart". He died in 1997.
  Rabbi Dovid Matisyahu of Biala had two daughters from his first wife, the daughter of Rabbi Shedrowitzsky, who died at a young age, and five sons from his second wife, the daughter of Rabbi Berkowitz, who survives him and presently resides in Bnei Brak. One of his sons-in-law and four of his sons succeeded him as Rebbe.
  Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowicz, son of Rabbi Yechiel Yehoshua Rabinowicz, was the Biala Rebbe of the Ramat Aharon section of Bnei Brak, Israel. He died in 2010 and was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Tzvi Rabinowicz, the present Biala Rebbe of Ramat Aharon.
  Rabbi Ben-Zion Rabinowicz of Biala was born in Poland on January 30, 1935. He is the youngest son of Rabbi Yechiel Yehoshua of Biala. During the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, his father who was not yet the Rebbe, was caught whilst trying to escape to his brother in London and was sent to Siberia by the Russians. Ben-zion and his sister escaped with many other children across Europe eastwards into Russia and then down into Iran (Persia). They were eventually brought to the Holy Land by Zionists, who were saving Jewish children from starvation and disease in Iran, and bringing them to the Holy Land. The Ponevezher Rov — Rabbi Yosef Kahaneman — heard that there were some special children in this group from Poland, descended from famous Rebbes. He removed the young Rebbe-to-be and his sister from the care of the secular Zionists. After the war their father made it to 
caption: Grand Rabbi Wolf Kornreich of Shidlovtza
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