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RABBI MORDECHAI ROSENBLATT VEITZEL (1836-1916)

CHIEF RABBI OF ASHMINA & SLONIM, TALMUDIC GIANT, AND RENOWNED AS "LITVISH" MIRACLE WORKER

Rabbi Mordechai Rosenblatt Veitzel was born in the city of Antipolia (Antapoli) near Grodna. Although his father Rabbi Avrohom Menachem Mendel had rabbinical ordination and was invited to serve as Rabbi in various cities, he preferred to make a living by engaging in the business of grinding wheat kernels, as his ancestors before him. This branch of the Rosenblatt family was therefore nicknamed "Veitzel", which in Yiddish means kernel of wheat.

Rabbi Mordechai Rosenblatt was a great rabbi and scholar. At an early age he studied under Rabbi Isaac Hirsch, the Rabbi of Siatitz. After his marriage he moved to Pinsk and studied under the renowned Rabbi of Pinsk, Mordechai Zakheim who ordained him as a Rabbi. He then returned home to Antipolia to become assistant rabbi to the Chief Rabbi Pinchas Michoel Rokeach Grosleit, author of "Leket Hakotzrim", and "Divrei Pinchas", who cherished and loved Rabbi Mordechai Rosenblatt dearly as a son.

In 1870 Rabbi Mordechai Rosenblatt was appointed Chief Rabbi of Boten (near Grodno). There he led a totally ascetic and abstinent lifestyle, and soon became known as a Pious and Sagacious Tzaddik, and Miracle Worker. Multitudes of people, Jew and non-Jew alike including the nobility, flocked to him from near and far, to seek advice and receive a blessing. His photo hung in many homes throughout Lithuania as a Talisman. This was a remarkable and unique phenomenon, since Lithuanian Jewry was not as carried away by the concept of "miracle workers" as were the Polish, Russian, and Hungarian Chasidim.

In 1887 Rabbi Mordechai Rosenblatt was appointed Chief Rabbi of Korelitz (Pinsk District), and four years later, in 1891, as Chief Rabbi of Oshmana, a city near Vilna. He is remembered best as Chief Rabbi of Ashmina, although his last Rabbinical position was as Chief Rabbi of Slonim.

Rabbi Mordechai Rosenblatt had two sons and two daughters. His oldest born Rabbi Asher Rosenblatt Veitzel was the Rabbi of Drohichyn, and one of the Rabbinical Board Members of Yeshiva Etz Chaim which was established by Rabbi Shmuel Salant. His second son, Rabbi Shmuel Yoshua Rosenblatt Veitzel was a great scholar but rejected all rabbinical offers and instead engaged in business in Slonim.

His sons-in-law were also great rabbis; one the Chief Rabbi of the Goldlieve Congregation (Sobelsk District), the other Rabbi Eliyahu David Epstein, an older brother of Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein the famed Rosh Yeshiva of Slobodka-Hebron, was Chief Rabbi of Boten (Grodno District).

Rabbi Mordechai Rosenblatt wrote hundreds of brilliant halachic decisions which were published by his students under the name "Hadras Mordechai" in 1899.

Rabbi Mordechai Rosenblatt Veitzel corresponded frequently with Rabbi Shmuel Salant, the Chief Rabbi of Jerusaem, and was instrumental in ensuring that the funds collected on behalf of Rabbi Meir Baal Haneis Salant reached their destination. In 1902 Rabbi Mordechai Rosenblatt wrote a strong letter on behalf of Rabbi Meir Baal Haneis Salant which was printed in "Gvul Olam" Jerusalem 1903.

Rabbi Mordechai Rosenblatt Veitzel passed away in 1916. The titles that were engraved on Rabbi Mordechai Rosenblatt's gravestone speak volumes of the reverence and awe that he commanded. It reads: "Here Lies the Holy Ark, the Prince of Torah, the Storehouse of Fear of G-D, the Teacher & Light of Israel" May his memory be a blessing.