Heichal HaNegina

Today is Daled [the 4th of] MarCheshvan, and the 64th yahrzeit of the holy Rebbe of Piaseczno, Rebbe Klonymus Kalman Shapira. He was born in Grodzisk, Poland to his father, Rebbe Elimelech of Grodzisk. Named after his maternal great-grandfather, the renowned Maor VaShemesh, he was a scion of a distinguished family, which included the Rebbe Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk, the Chozeh of Lublin and the Maggid of Kozhnitz. At the age of three, he was orphaned by the death of his father. In 1905 he married Rachel Chaya Miriam, daughter of his nephew Rebbe Yerachmiel Moshe of Kozhnitz.

My previous posts on him are:
A Niggun Made from a Golden Mitzva
The Piaseczno Rebbe: Suggestology
A Song of "Holy Fire"
Please refer to them for more. This year, I’d just like to share an awesome teaching of his:

Rebbe Klonymus Kalman Shapiro z"l (the "Piaseczno Rebbe," also called "the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto") wrote upon turning forty years old: "What resolution can I make - to learn more Torah? I think that I already waste very little time. To control my desires? Thank G-d I am not subjugated to them. What am I lacking? To be a Jew."

This is an awesome lesson, writes Rebbe Shalom Noach Brazovsky, the previous Slonimer Rebbe. One can be fully devoted to Torah study and to acting in a holy manner, yet he can lack "Jewishness." This is something a person must work on separately. (Nesivos Shalom)


Zechuso yagein Aleinu v’al Kol Yisrael – may the Piaseczno’s merits protect us all!