fbpx
| Magazine Feature |

Crowning Glory: The Lost Empire of Radomsk 

The Radomsker Rebbe’s wealth could never be measured in worldly currency

Photo Credits: Malchus Bais Radomsk, Besser Family, National Digital Archives in Warsaw, National Library of Israel, Kiddush Hashem Archives, Yad Vashem, Ghetto Fighters Museum, Rabbi Avraham Frischman,  DMS Yeshiva Archives,, US Holocaust Museum, Orthodox Jewish Archives of Agudath Israel, Rabbi Dovid A. Mandelbaum, Mishpacha Archives, Belz Archives, Kedem Auctions, Winners Auctions, Wikipedia, Yair Borochov

With additional research by Moshe Dembitzer

Judging by material standards, virtually nothing is left today of the magnificent Radomsker chassidus. The aristocratic and affluent court — one of Poland’s three largest — is gone. With most of its chassidim eradicated by the Nazis, Radomsk’s famed network of yeshivos — a trailblazing enterprise that counted 36 institutions and more students than all the famed Lithuanian yeshivos combined — is no longer. Gone, too, is the financial empire that supported chassidim, rebbeim, and multiple yeshivah satellites.
No one can calculate the full influence of his personal piety, and no one can fathom the cosmic impact of the yeshivah network he built, administered, and financed. What we can do is remember — and marvel at — the story of a chassidic monarch who utilized every one of his Divinely-gifted crown jewels for the betterment of his people.
During the fraught interwar years, he toiled to fill a dangerous vacuum in Poland’s spiritual landscape, and succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams in bringing high-level yeshivah learning to the youth of a ravaged country.
But the spiritual impact wielded by the last Radomsker Rebbe, Rav Shlomo Chanoch HaKohen Rabinowitz, was never one that could be measured in worldly currency.

 

Motzaei Shabbos, 12 Elul 5703,  September 11, 1944.

The leaders of American Orthodoxy had just spent a Shabbos of elevation and inspiration in Schechter’s Empire Hotel in Ferndale, New York, as part of the fourth convention of Agudath Israel of America. The hotel was filled with the greatest Torah leaders of the generation; the chassidic rebbes Rav Nachum Mordechai Perlow of Novominsk (1896-1976) and Rav Mordechai Shlomo Friedman of Boyan (1891-1971) stood at the forefront, alongside two of the era’s most towering litvish Torah giants, Rav Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986) and Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin (1881-1973). On the dais sat gedolim who had narrowly escaped the European inferno, their eyes haunted by scenes of a shattered world.

After the last serene strains of Shabbos faded away, Rav Eliezer Silver (1882-1968), the convention’s chairman, rose to address the gathering. From his very first statement, a chill passed through the room. The news he shared was all too appropriate for the new week’s parshah, parshas Ki Savo — a parshah filled with blistering curses and punishments.

A messenger from the Jewish underground had arrived from Poland, Rav Leizer told his fellow rabbanim, and he had brought tidings that cut to the bone. Jews across Europe were being herded to their deaths across the blood-soaked continent. Rav Silver recounted the most recent losses to be reported: Rav Menachem Ziemba (1883—1943), the holy Rebbes of Sochatchov and Aleksander. And then he delivered the heart-wrenching words: “The holy Rebbe of Radomsk has been murdered, along with his entire family.”

The weight of the announcement was crushing, the sense of devastation palpable. As if in one voice, the gedolei Yisrael erupted into bitter weeping. For those with deep ties to Radomsk, the pain was especially acute. As they mourned the Rebbe, they also grieved his holy son-in-law, Rav Moshele, who had been handpicked by the Rebbe to perpetuate not just his family line, but also the network of yeshivos that was his lifework and greatest pride.

But even those without any overt connection to Radomsk mourned the tragedy — because the Rebbe’s impact had rippled in circles far wider and more diverse than his own particular chassidus. In his own demeanor and perspective, the Rebbe had never taken a sectarian, exclusionary approach: Despite his privileged place as Rebbe of an immense chassidus, he humbled himself before other leaders, demonstrating diffidence, respect, and a genuine desire to learn from their ways. His Kesser Torah network of yeshivos took that attitude further, opening the gates of Torah learning to aspiring young bochurim outside the court of Radomsk.

Just as his life was devoted to a vision that encompassed so much more than his own court, his passing evoked genuine mourning in Jews with no obvious connection to Radomsk. Here was a man who devoted his every resource — his privileged station, his prodigious Torah knowledge, his delicate health, and his personal fortune — to ensuring a strong future for Polish Jewry.

It’s no wonder the leaders in that hotel cried genuine tears when they heard he was gone. And it’s no wonder that so many decades later, his loss is still mourned as a blow not just to Radomsk, but to the entire Jewish people.

CHAPTER ONE // Born to Lead

Service of the Mind

W

hen Rav Shlomo Chanoch HaKohein Rabinowitz was born in 1882 (5642), thousands of Jews throughout Poland rejoiced at the news: The kingdom of Radomsk now had a crown prince.

Radomsk was a town located in south-central Poland in the province of Lodz — but the chassidus extended far beyond the town that was its namesake. By the turn of the century, Radomsk had grown to become one of the largest and influential chassidic dynasties in Poland, along with Gur and Aleksander. It counted hundreds of shtiblach in Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, Sosnowiec, and in smaller towns dotting the countryside.

Rav Shlomo Chanoch was the direct descendant of the first rebbe and founder of the Radomsk dynasty, Rav Shlomo (1803-1866), known by his timeless work, the Tiferes Shlomo. His father, Rav Yechezkel Rabinowitz (1862-1910), author of the Knesses Yechezkel, was the son of Rav Avraham Yissachar (1843-1892), author of the Chesed L’Avraham, and grandson of the Tiferes Shlomo.

As the Tiferes Shlomo’s young descendant and namesake, Shlomo Chanoch was shaped by the legacy of his illustrious forebear. His initial chinuch took place in the chassidic court that was his home; it was an all-encompassing environment where he was raised and educated among four generations of the Radomsk dynasty.

Rav Shlomo Chanoch absorbed stories of his esteemed forebears from his great-grandmother Gitele, the wife of the Tiferes Shlomo, who lived into her 90s while continuing her custom of fasting each Monday and Thursday. She regaled her great-grandson with tales dating back to their esteemed ancestors, going back as far as the Megaleh Amukos and ultimately Rashi. (It is told that Rebbetzin Gitele once became ill nearly a half century earlier, during the lifetime of the Tiferes Shlomo. He prayed for her health, pleading, “Tatte in Himmel (Father in Heaven), so many nobles have large giter (estates) and You leave them alone. I have only a small Gitele, so please leave her alone.”)

When Shlomo Chanoch was around ten, his grandfather, the Chesed L’Avraham, the second Rebbe of Radomsk, passed away and his father, Rav Yechezkel, inherited the role of Rebbe. Soon thereafter, it was decided that young Shlomo Chanoch would be sent to the nearby town of Amstov (Mstów, Poland) to study in one of Poland’s earliest semi-formal yeshivos under Rav Ephraim Tzvi Einhorn (1854-1901), the Gaon of Amstov.

One of the oft-overlooked Torah giants of the 19th century, Rav Ephraim Tzvi was a student of Rav Yehoshua’le Trunk of Kutno (1820-1893) and Rav Chaim Halberstam, the Divrei Chaim of Sanz (1797-1876). Soon after becoming rav at just 22 years old, he began to gain a reputation as a Talmudic master and students flocked to hear his sharp, analytical shiurim. Among his other students were his son and successor Rav Dov Berish Einhorn (1877-1942), and Rav Zvi Aryeh Fromer, the Kozhiglover Gaon (1884-1943).

As a student in Amstov, Rav Shlomo Chanoch was quickly recognized for his remarkable talents, including a phenomenal memory and acuity. For him, Torah was not a mere intellectual pursuit — it was an avodah, as much a form of Divine service as tefillah. When he was just 18 years old, his rebbi wrote a letter and addressed him with multiple accolades, including “a Kohein with a beautiful mind,” “my beloved disciple,” and “keen and insightful.”

Further in his letter, he wrote: “I was greatly delighted to see your outstanding skill in the Talmudic topics (sugyos), like one of the sharpest and sweetest minds. I pronounced the blessing for enjoyment (Bircas Hanehenin) upon them and gave thanks to G-d that wherever you wander, the Divine Presence is with you to learn and teach [the Torah].”

Growing Assets

When Rav Shlomo Chanoch reached marriageable age, a shidduch awaited: his cousin Esther, the daughter of his father’s elder brother, Rav Moshe Elimelech Rabinowitz (1860-1891). Tragically, Rav Moshe Elimelech had passed away at a young age several years earlier, leaving his widow with a store that served as her primary source of livelihood. The young chassan assumed the management of the store, ensuring that his widowed mother-in-law would have a stable income.

It is told that when the Rebbe was still a child, his mother once approached her husband, the Knesses Yechezkel, and complained to him that young Shlomo Chanoch did not even recognize the letters of the Polish language. She worried for his future. Her husband calmed her and told her that she need not worry about his livelihood. His prediction was proven correct, many times over.

From managing a single store, Rav Shlomo Chanoch steadily gained the connections, experience, and resources to build a vastly successful business empire. Both Jewish and non-Jewish merchants and industrialists placed immense trust in the young businessman, drawn by his reputation for integrity and upright conduct. These qualities opened doors to valuable relationships and substantial credit, which allowed him to steadily expand his holdings.

Rav Shlomo Chanoch’s growing involvement in commerce did not interrupt his avodas Hashem. He continued to devote himself to Torah learning, chassidus, and refining his character through noble acts of prishus.

In this, Rav Shlomo Chanoch followed the historic example of many gedolei Yisrael who balanced their dedication to Torah with success in business: ranging from Rav David Oppenheim (1664-1736), Rav Ephraim Zalman Margolios (1760-1828), and Rav Shmuel Shtrashun, the Rashash (1794-1872) — towering Torah scholars who were also wealthy merchants and property owners — to gedolim of Rav Shlomo Chanoch’s own era, such as some of the admorim of Ger, Rav Menachem Ziemba (1883-1943), and the Tchebiner Rav (1881-1965), all of whom engaged in commerce before assuming rabbinical positions.

In truth, Rav Shlomo Chanoch did not need to look that far for examples of leaders who fused Torah greatness with business ventures. His own father, the Knesses Yechezkel, owned a brick factory. His beloved rebbe, Rav Ephraim Tzvi Einhorn, sold wine before joining the rabbinate.

Unlike some of those leaders, however, Rav Shlomo Chanoch never left the world of commerce. Even after he became rebbe of chassidus of Radomsk — a consuming position that saddled him with myriad new communal responsibilities and concerns — he maintained his businesses, seeing them as a means to sustain the spiritual empire he was building.

Eventually, he would tap his financial resources for perhaps the greatest spiritual purpose of all: to implement an ambitious revolution in Torah learning for Poland’s Jews.

Destined Role

When the revered Knesses Yechezkel returned his pure soul to his Maker on the 18th of Cheshvan 5671 (1910), at the young age of 46, Radomsker chassidim turned their eyes toward his eldest son, Rav Shlomo Chanoch, then only 29 years old. For a considerable time, however, Rav Shlomo Chanoch resisted accepting the yoke of leadership. “I am unworthy of such a prestigious mantle,” he told his close associates.

This reluctance was likely rooted not only in his innate humility, but also in the knowledge of his own fragile health. Rav Shlomo Chanoch suffered from diabetes, the same illness that had prematurely claimed the lives of both his father and grandfather. He may have feared that assuming the mantle of leadership would further endanger his health.

Nevertheless, the devoted chassidim steadily implored him to take up the role for which they believed he was destined. As their entreaties intensified, Rav Shlomo Chanoch traveled to consult with two of the generation’s great tzaddikim — Rav Yissachar Dov of Belz (1851-1926) and Rav Yisrael of Tchortkov (1854-1933). Both rebbes encouraged him to accept the role of Rebbe.

Legend has it that one morning, one of the chassidim switched Rav Shlomo Chanoch’s regular hat with a rabbinic hat. With no alternative but to don the hat, Rav Shlomo Chanoch embraced his role as the leader of the community. From that moment, he accepted the yoke of leadership and was recognized by all as the Rebbe of Radomsk — a leader whose followers were so devoted that they immediately translated to action even his subtlest hint or slightest gesture.

The Rebbe resided in Radomsk for three transformative years of elevation in Torah, avodah, and chesed, during which the Radomsker dynasty flourished and blossomed.

The beis medrash was filled with the sound of Torah, and the chassidim, inspired by the Rebbe’s fiery devotion, deepened their commitment to loving and fearing Hashem.

But in 1914, World War I erupted and shattered the tranquility of the Radomsker court. The Rebbe, who had traveled to Hamburg for medical treatment, found himself stranded behind the closed border. Forced to remain in Berlin, he faced a challenging and uncertain period. As a foreign citizen, he became the target of anti-Semites who falsely accused him of engaging in espionage, and therefore was at risk of arrest by German authorities.

Salvation came through the assistance of the Rebbe of Aleksander, Rav Shmuel Danziger (1860-1923), author of Tiferes Shmuel. The Aleksander Rebbe arranged for a chassid with significant connections within German governmental circles to testify on Rav Shlomo Chanoch’s behalf. He explained that Rav Shlomo Chanoch was no political figure, merely a Jew caught far from home. Thanks to this intervention, the accusations were dropped.

When Rav Shlomo Chanoch returned to Poland after the war, he found a world that had been utterly transformed. The devastation of war had left Europe in chaos — borders had shifted, families were torn apart, and once-thriving Jewish communities now lay in ruins. In this moment of darkness, chassidim looked to their Rebbes for strength and direction. For the Radomsker chassidim, Rav Shlomo Chanoch stood as a beacon of hope, ready to lead them in rebuilding their shattered world.

Mission: Rebuild

Instead of reestablishing his court in Radomsk, Rav Shlomo Chanoch chose to settle 120 kilometers to the south in Sosnowiec, a larger city with over 100,000 residents, nearly 30 percent of whom were Jewish. Positioned near the growing industrial hub of Katowice and the significant Jewish community in Będzin, where many Radomsker chassidim lived, Sosnowiec was a strategic location.

Renowned Agudah activist and diplomat Reb Chaskel Besser (1923-2010), a descendant of the Koschitzky family, became one of the Rebbe’s closest followers. He suggested that the Rebbe chose to base his court in Sosnowiec because it was located between Congress Poland and Galicia; this ensured it would be accessible to chassidim from both regions.

The move to Sosnowiec also mirrored a broader trend of urbanization that had accelerated since the turn of the century, and even more so after World War I, as many chassidic rebbes relocated their courts to major urban centers such as Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, and Vienna. By choosing Sosnowiec, the Rebbe aligned himself with this shift, positioning Radomsk chassidus to thrive in an evolving and increasingly urban Polish Jewish landscape. In Sosnowiec, Rav Shlomo Chanoch reestablished his beis medrash on Targowa Street. Thousands of chassidim from across Poland and Galicia flocked to his new residence, transforming Sosnowiec into a vibrant center of Torah and chassidus. The Rebbe traveled to Radomsk only occasionally for yahrtzeits of family members.

During this period of transplanting and rebuilding, the Rebbe expanded his extensive business dealings. His business acumen was evident in the diversity and success of his ventures. During the war years in Germany, the Rebbe had displayed remarkable foresight by investing in the German real estate market, which was then in distress. Following the Treaty of Versailles, the properties he purchased vastly increased in value, generating substantial profits and forming the cornerstone of what became a significant real estate portfolio, which included multiple properties across Poland.

The Rebbe’s business interests, however, extended far beyond real estate. In Poland, he established a veritable textile empire. The crown jewel of his business holdings was Lodzka Manfaktura, a large textile business with branches in Lodz and Warsaw. This enterprise was a major player in the Polish textile industry, and the Rebbe expanded its reach by establishing branches in Sosnowiec and Będzin.

But that wasn’t all. Rav Shlomo Chanoch also owned a glass factory and brick factories in several Polish cities, which brought him significant profits.

His financial stature didn’t go unnoticed by the wider world. The Rebbe’s wealth was so extraordinary that he became a target for anti-Semitic propaganda. In 1933, he was singled out in the newspaper of the National Socialist Workers’ Party in Poland, Błyskawica, which seized on his prosperity to propagate their narrative of Jewish greed and control. “A Polish Jew, Rabinowicz from Sosnowiec, a mirror manufacturer,” they wrote, “owns over 50 residential houses in Berlin alone.” Despite the vast scope of his business interests, Rav Shlomo Chanoch never lost sight of his primary identity as a leader of Klal Yisrael. He entrusted the day-to-day operations of his businesses to his loyal chassidim. Lodzka Manufaktura was managed by Reb David Stahl, who served as CEO and was among the Rebbe’s closest confidants. All of the clerks, workers, and managers in the Rebbe’s businesses were chosen from among his chassidim, and they reaped ample livelihoods from the arrangement.

Though the Rebbe’s involvement in his businesses was limited, his mastery of the business world was undisputed. His sharp mind and excellent memory allowed him to understand complex business problems thoroughly, even when presented to him in brief. His was a ready address for chassidim seeking counseling on material matters and livelihood issues.

Yet when it came to his own lifestyle, the immensely wealthy Rav Shlomo Chanoch lived frugally, dedicating his life to Torah and tefillah. He viewed the vast riches channeled his way not as a personal gift, but as the means to solve one of the most crying spiritual problems of the era.

The Origins of Radomsk: By the People, For the People

The Radomsk chassidus was renowned as one of the largest and most influential chassidic communities of prewar Poland during the time of its last leader Rav Shlomo Chanoch, but it was born out of a quirk of history in the mid-19th century.

Its founder Rav Shlomo Rabinowitz (c.1803-1866), the Tiferes Shlomo, was one of the closest followers of Rav Meir of Apta (1760-1831), the Ohr La’Shamayim, who in turn was a close student of the Chozeh of Lublin (1745-1815). The Tiferes Shlomo’s father himself was a student of both the Chozeh and of the Yid Hakadosh of Peshis’cha (1766-1813). On occasion he’d bring his young child on his pilgrimages to these great tzaddikim, and upon hearing the sweet voice of the young child reciting Shir Hashirim on Erev Shabbos in Peshis’cha, the Yid Hakadosh remarked, “Shir Hashirim asher Lishlomo! The young Shlomo is blessed with the capability of singing to Hashem.” Composing and singing would become hallmarks of the avodah of Radomsk, and in particular of the Tiferes Shlomo.

Though Rav Shlomo Rabinowitz traveled to Pshischa on his own accord as well during the years of leadership of Rav Simcha Bunim of Peshis’cha, he ultimately found his place as a student of the Ohr La’Shamayim of Apta. The message his mentor carried from the Chozeh resonated with his young protégé: The Rebbe’s mission is to live for the people, for the huddled masses who seek guidance and assistance with the mundane challenges of everyday life. The simple, the downtrodden, the illiterate, as well as the middle-class businessman, elite talmid chacham, and everyone else in between was welcome in Lublin, Apta, and later Radomsk.

This form of folk chassidus would become a hallmark of Radomsk, and would serve as somewhat of a counterbalance to Peshis’cha and its many subsidiaries in central Poland which catered to or at least preached a more elitist approach to chassidic avodah.

Alongside his chassidic education, the Tiferes Shlomo studied in some of the great Polish yeshivos of the era. First in the yeshivah in Piotrkow as a student of Rav Avraham Tzvi Pachnovski, author of the Bris Avraham, and Rav David Charif, author of the Bais David. He later studied in Kutno under Rav Moshe Yehuda Leib Zilberberg (1794-1865).

The early seforim authored by Rav Shlomo Rabinowitz were commentaries on Shas. He was known in particular for his mastery of Urim VTumim of Rav Yonasan Eybschutz, which he knew in its entirety by heart. He published seforim on Masechtos Kesubos and Avodah Zarah, and on Shev Shmatsa along with other Torah topics.

He later became most immortalized by his classic sefer on chassidus, Tiferes Shlomo. It was one of the most important seforim of chassidus published in the 19th century, and remains a beloved classic until today. His Torah enshrined his status well beyond the confines of his court of Radomsk, and was influential in the entire chassidic world and beyond.

In 1834 Rav Shlomo Rabinowitz was appointed rav of the town of Radomsk. As an accomplished talmid chacham and emerging posek, he entered the Polish rabbinate without any pretensions of serving as a chassidic leader in any sort of capacity. Beloved by his community, he served as its rav for over three decades. But the 1840s were a time of generational change for Polish chassidus, and by the end of the decade a series of events led to the Tiferes Shlomo being compelled to assume a leadership role in the wider chassidic world, culminating in the establishment of the dynasty of Radomsk.

In 1839 Rav Menachem Mendel Morgenstern of Kotzk (1787-1859) commenced his long years of seclusion, partially isolating himself from the throngs of his followers. 1843 saw the passing of Rav Yissachar Ber, the Saba Kaddisha of Radoshytz (1765-1843), and five years later of Rav Yitzchak of Vorka (1779-1848). The gaping void of leadership of chassidus in central Poland was completed when Rav Moshe Biderman of Lelov (1776-1850) immigrated to Eretz Yisrael in 1850.

In response to his chassidim’s entreaties as to who they should turn to for leadership and guidance with his departure, the Lelover Rebbe responded, “Go to Radomsk!” Thus was born the Radomsk court, which drew thousands of followers across the region in the ensuing years.

A prolific baal menagen, the Tiferes Shlomo had served as the chazzan in the court of his rebbe the Ohr La’Shamayim for decades. He instituted a custom of reciting the words of a special prayer composed by his rebbe on a daily basis. This beautiful tefillah of “Ribbon ha’olamim yadati ki hineni b’yadcha levad,” has gained popularity in recent years through a melody composed by Pinchas Breyer and sung by Avraham Fried.

At home in Radomsk, the Tiferes Shlomo would serve as the baal tefillah on Yamim Noraim, and would compose new melodies to be sung in his court every year. He organized an accompanying choir to sing along with him as well. Such was the renown of the Tiferes Shlomo for his avodah of prayer and song, that when he passed away on Friday 29 Adar 1866, mere days after the Chiddushei HaRim of Ger, it was said that he was required as the premier baal tefillah in Heaven that Friday night, in honor of the large crowd assembling to hear a shiur from the Chiddushei HaRim.

With his, the Chiddushei HaRim, and the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch's passing two weeks later, the chassidic world sustained a decisive blow within three weeks’ time.

Consistent with the Radomsk emphasis on maintaining peace, the transfer of leadership to his offspring was split between his son Rav Tzvi Meir (1841-1902) who succeeded him as communal rabbi of the town of Radomsk, whereas his son Rav Avraham Yissachar succeeded him as leader of the Radomsk chassidim.

The Tiferes Shlomo’s friend and contemporary, the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, would advise those seeking his blessing for their livelihood and financial security to request that the Tiferes Shlomo pray on their behalf. He continued to do so following the Tiferes Shlomo’s passing, recommending that one pray at his gravesite. “The keys to parnassah are to be found in Radomsk,” were the words of the Divrei Chaim.

Miraculously, the Tiferes Shlomo’s ohel in the Radomsk cemetery — where he and his descendents are buried — is likely the only prominent ohel in Poland that wasn’t destroyed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. It has been said that this can be attributed to the Tiferes Shlomo’s investing efforts and funds to construct the ohel in Lizhensk over the grave of the Noam Elimelech (which was destroyed during the war).

As a Kohein, the Radomsker Rebbe could not pray at the gravesite of the Rebbe Rav Meilech in Lizhensk, which he yearned to do. So at his own expense, he built a special ohel with a side room accessible to Kohanim. This enabled him and his descendents to join the masses in Lizhensk. Perhaps in that merit, his own ohel survived the carnage of the Nazi destruction.

Service of the Mind

W

hen Rav Shlomo Chanoch HaKohein Rabinowitz was born in 1882 (5642), thousands of Jews throughout Poland rejoiced at the news: The kingdom of Radomsk now had a crown prince.

Radomsk was a town located in south-central Poland in the province of Lodz — but the chassidus extended far beyond the town that was its namesake. By the turn of the century, Radomsk had grown to become one of the largest and influential chassidic dynasties in Poland, along with Gur and Aleksander. It counted hundreds of shtiblach in Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, Sosnowiec, and in smaller towns dotting the countryside.

Rav Shlomo Chanoch was the direct descendant of the first rebbe and founder of the Radomsk dynasty, Rav Shlomo (1803-1866), known by his timeless work, the Tiferes Shlomo. His father, Rav Yechezkel Rabinowitz (1862-1910), author of the Knesses Yechezkel, was the son of Rav Avraham Yissachar (1843-1892), author of the Chesed L’Avraham, and grandson of the Tiferes Shlomo.

As the Tiferes Shlomo’s young descendant and namesake, Shlomo Chanoch was shaped by the legacy of his illustrious forebear. His initial chinuch took place in the chassidic court that was his home; it was an all-encompassing environment where he was raised and educated among four generations of the Radomsk dynasty.

Rav Shlomo Chanoch absorbed stories of his esteemed forebears from his great-grandmother Gitele, the wife of the Tiferes Shlomo, who lived into her 90s while continuing her custom of fasting each Monday and Thursday. She regaled her great-grandson with tales dating back to their esteemed ancestors, going back as far as the Megaleh Amukos and ultimately Rashi. (It is told that Rebbetzin Gitele once became ill nearly a half century earlier, during the lifetime of the Tiferes Shlomo. He prayed for her health, pleading, “Tatte in Himmel (Father in Heaven), so many nobles have large giter (estates) and You leave them alone. I have only a small Gitele, so please leave her alone.”)

When Shlomo Chanoch was around ten, his grandfather, the Chesed L’Avraham, the second Rebbe of Radomsk, passed away and his father, Rav Yechezkel, inherited the role of Rebbe. Soon thereafter, it was decided that young Shlomo Chanoch would be sent to the nearby town of Amstov (Mstów, Poland) to study in one of Poland’s earliest semi-formal yeshivos under Rav Ephraim Tzvi Einhorn (1854-1901), the Gaon of Amstov.

One of the oft-overlooked Torah giants of the 19th century, Rav Ephraim Tzvi was a student of Rav Yehoshua’le Trunk of Kutno (1820-1893) and Rav Chaim Halberstam, the Divrei Chaim of Sanz (1797-1876). Soon after becoming rav at just 22 years old, he began to gain a reputation as a Talmudic master and students flocked to hear his sharp, analytical shiurim. Among his other students were his son and successor Rav Dov Berish Einhorn (1877-1942), and Rav Zvi Aryeh Fromer, the Kozhiglover Gaon (1884-1943).

As a student in Amstov, Rav Shlomo Chanoch was quickly recognized for his remarkable talents, including a phenomenal memory and acuity. For him, Torah was not a mere intellectual pursuit — it was an avodah, as much a form of Divine service as tefillah. When he was just 18 years old, his rebbi wrote a letter and addressed him with multiple accolades, including “a Kohein with a beautiful mind,” “my beloved disciple,” and “keen and insightful.”

Further in his letter, he wrote: “I was greatly delighted to see your outstanding skill in the Talmudic topics (sugyos), like one of the sharpest and sweetest minds. I pronounced the blessing for enjoyment (Bircas Hanehenin) upon them and gave thanks to G-d that wherever you wander, the Divine Presence is with you to learn and teach [the Torah].”

Growing Assets

When Rav Shlomo Chanoch reached marriageable age, a shidduch awaited: his cousin Esther, the daughter of his father’s elder brother, Rav Moshe Elimelech Rabinowitz (1860-1891). Tragically, Rav Moshe Elimelech had passed away at a young age several years earlier, leaving his widow with a store that served as her primary source of livelihood. The young chassan assumed the management of the store, ensuring that his widowed mother-in-law would have a stable income.

It is told that when the Rebbe was still a child, his mother once approached her husband, the Knesses Yechezkel, and complained to him that young Shlomo Chanoch did not even recognize the letters of the Polish language. She worried for his future. Her husband calmed her and told her that she need not worry about his livelihood. His prediction was proven correct, many times over.

From managing a single store, Rav Shlomo Chanoch steadily gained the connections, experience, and resources to build a vastly successful business empire. Both Jewish and non-Jewish merchants and industrialists placed immense trust in the young businessman, drawn by his reputation for integrity and upright conduct. These qualities opened doors to valuable relationships and substantial credit, which allowed him to steadily expand his holdings.

Rav Shlomo Chanoch’s growing involvement in commerce did not interrupt his avodas Hashem. He continued to devote himself to Torah learning, chassidus, and refining his character through noble acts of prishus.

In this, Rav Shlomo Chanoch followed the historic example of many gedolei Yisrael who balanced their dedication to Torah with success in business: ranging from Rav David Oppenheim (1664-1736), Rav Ephraim Zalman Margolios (1760-1828), and Rav Shmuel Shtrashun, the Rashash (1794-1872) — towering Torah scholars who were also wealthy merchants and property owners — to gedolim of Rav Shlomo Chanoch’s own era, such as some of the admorim of Ger, Rav Menachem Ziemba (1883-1943), and the Tchebiner Rav (1881-1965), all of whom engaged in commerce before assuming rabbinical positions.

In truth, Rav Shlomo Chanoch did not need to look that far for examples of leaders who fused Torah greatness with business ventures. His own father, the Knesses Yechezkel, owned a brick factory. His beloved rebbe, Rav Ephraim Tzvi Einhorn, sold wine before joining the rabbinate.

Unlike some of those leaders, however, Rav Shlomo Chanoch never left the world of commerce. Even after he became rebbe of chassidus of Radomsk — a consuming position that saddled him with myriad new communal responsibilities and concerns — he maintained his businesses, seeing them as a means to sustain the spiritual empire he was building.

Eventually, he would tap his financial resources for perhaps the greatest spiritual purpose of all: to implement an ambitious revolution in Torah learning for Poland’s Jews.

Destined Role

When the revered Knesses Yechezkel returned his pure soul to his Maker on the 18th of Cheshvan 5671 (1910), at the young age of 46, Radomsker chassidim turned their eyes toward his eldest son, Rav Shlomo Chanoch, then only 29 years old. For a considerable time, however, Rav Shlomo Chanoch resisted accepting the yoke of leadership. “I am unworthy of such a prestigious mantle,” he told his close associates.

This reluctance was likely rooted not only in his innate humility, but also in the knowledge of his own fragile health. Rav Shlomo Chanoch suffered from diabetes, the same illness that had prematurely claimed the lives of both his father and grandfather. He may have feared that assuming the mantle of leadership would further endanger his health.

Nevertheless, the devoted chassidim steadily implored him to take up the role for which they believed he was destined. As their entreaties intensified, Rav Shlomo Chanoch traveled to consult with two of the generation’s great tzaddikim — Rav Yissachar Dov of Belz (1851-1926) and Rav Yisrael of Tchortkov (1854-1933). Both rebbes encouraged him to accept the role of Rebbe.

Legend has it that one morning, one of the chassidim switched Rav Shlomo Chanoch’s regular hat with a rabbinic hat. With no alternative but to don the hat, Rav Shlomo Chanoch embraced his role as the leader of the community. From that moment, he accepted the yoke of leadership and was recognized by all as the Rebbe of Radomsk — a leader whose followers were so devoted that they immediately translated to action even his subtlest hint or slightest gesture.

The Rebbe resided in Radomsk for three transformative years of elevation in Torah, avodah, and chesed, during which the Radomsker dynasty flourished and blossomed.

The beis medrash was filled with the sound of Torah, and the chassidim, inspired by the Rebbe’s fiery devotion, deepened their commitment to loving and fearing Hashem.

But in 1914, World War I erupted and shattered the tranquility of the Radomsker court. The Rebbe, who had traveled to Hamburg for medical treatment, found himself stranded behind the closed border. Forced to remain in Berlin, he faced a challenging and uncertain period. As a foreign citizen, he became the target of anti-Semites who falsely accused him of engaging in espionage, and therefore was at risk of arrest by German authorities.

Salvation came through the assistance of the Rebbe of Aleksander, Rav Shmuel Danziger (1860-1923), author of Tiferes Shmuel. The Aleksander Rebbe arranged for a chassid with significant connections within German governmental circles to testify on Rav Shlomo Chanoch’s behalf. He explained that Rav Shlomo Chanoch was no political figure, merely a Jew caught far from home. Thanks to this intervention, the accusations were dropped.

When Rav Shlomo Chanoch returned to Poland after the war, he found a world that had been utterly transformed. The devastation of war had left Europe in chaos — borders had shifted, families were torn apart, and once-thriving Jewish communities now lay in ruins. In this moment of darkness, chassidim looked to their Rebbes for strength and direction. For the Radomsker chassidim, Rav Shlomo Chanoch stood as a beacon of hope, ready to lead them in rebuilding their shattered world.

Mission: Rebuild

Instead of reestablishing his court in Radomsk, Rav Shlomo Chanoch chose to settle 120 kilometers to the south in Sosnowiec, a larger city with over 100,000 residents, nearly 30 percent of whom were Jewish. Positioned near the growing industrial hub of Katowice and the significant Jewish community in Będzin, where many Radomsker chassidim lived, Sosnowiec was a strategic location.

Renowned Agudah activist and diplomat Reb Chaskel Besser (1923-2010), a descendant of the Koschitzky family, became one of the Rebbe’s closest followers. He suggested that the Rebbe chose to base his court in Sosnowiec because it was located between Congress Poland and Galicia; this ensured it would be accessible to chassidim from both regions.

The move to Sosnowiec also mirrored a broader trend of urbanization that had accelerated since the turn of the century, and even more so after World War I, as many chassidic rebbes relocated their courts to major urban centers such as Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, and Vienna. By choosing Sosnowiec, the Rebbe aligned himself with this shift, positioning Radomsk chassidus to thrive in an evolving and increasingly urban Polish Jewish landscape. In Sosnowiec, Rav Shlomo Chanoch reestablished his beis medrash on Targowa Street. Thousands of chassidim from across Poland and Galicia flocked to his new residence, transforming Sosnowiec into a vibrant center of Torah and chassidus. The Rebbe traveled to Radomsk only occasionally for yahrtzeits of family members.

During this period of transplanting and rebuilding, the Rebbe expanded his extensive business dealings. His business acumen was evident in the diversity and success of his ventures. During the war years in Germany, the Rebbe had displayed remarkable foresight by investing in the German real estate market, which was then in distress. Following the Treaty of Versailles, the properties he purchased vastly increased in value, generating substantial profits and forming the cornerstone of what became a significant real estate portfolio, which included multiple properties across Poland.

The Rebbe’s business interests, however, extended far beyond real estate. In Poland, he established a veritable textile empire. The crown jewel of his business holdings was Lodzka Manfaktura, a large textile business with branches in Lodz and Warsaw. This enterprise was a major player in the Polish textile industry, and the Rebbe expanded its reach by establishing branches in Sosnowiec and Będzin.

But that wasn’t all. Rav Shlomo Chanoch also owned a glass factory and brick factories in several Polish cities, which brought him significant profits.

His financial stature didn’t go unnoticed by the wider world. The Rebbe’s wealth was so extraordinary that he became a target for anti-Semitic propaganda. In 1933, he was singled out in the newspaper of the National Socialist Workers’ Party in Poland, Błyskawica, which seized on his prosperity to propagate their narrative of Jewish greed and control. “A Polish Jew, Rabinowicz from Sosnowiec, a mirror manufacturer,” they wrote, “owns over 50 residential houses in Berlin alone.” Despite the vast scope of his business interests, Rav Shlomo Chanoch never lost sight of his primary identity as a leader of Klal Yisrael. He entrusted the day-to-day operations of his businesses to his loyal chassidim. Lodzka Manufaktura was managed by Reb David Stahl, who served as CEO and was among the Rebbe’s closest confidants. All of the clerks, workers, and managers in the Rebbe’s businesses were chosen from among his chassidim, and they reaped ample livelihoods from the arrangement.

Though the Rebbe’s involvement in his businesses was limited, his mastery of the business world was undisputed. His sharp mind and excellent memory allowed him to understand complex business problems thoroughly, even when presented to him in brief. His was a ready address for chassidim seeking counseling on material matters and livelihood issues.

Yet when it came to his own lifestyle, the immensely wealthy Rav Shlomo Chanoch lived frugally, dedicating his life to Torah and tefillah. He viewed the vast riches channeled his way not as a personal gift, but as the means to solve one of the most crying spiritual problems of the era.

Excerpted from Mishpacha Magazine. To view full version, SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE or LOG IN.

Oops! We could not locate your form.