Reb Zushe Wilmowsky: Difference between revisions

Youth Rabbi Zusha Wilmowsky was born on the 4th of Nissan 5682, to his father Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak and his mother Rebbetzin Mariesha (Miriam). His father served as rabbi of Izyum, Russia, and in 1924, when R' Zusha was two years old, the family moved to Poland, where his father was appointed as rabbi and head of the rabbinical court in Seltz.

In his youth, he studied in yeshivas in his area of residence. With the outbreak of World War II, when the Soviet Union conquered the region, the yeshivas throughout the country were closed, and he smuggled himself across the border to Lithuania, which was then under independent government. There he studied at the Baranovitch Yeshiva under the leadership of Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman. In the yeshiva, he studied with Rabbi David Gershowitz as his study partner. The paths of the good friends met and parted several times until they both settled in Kfar Chabad. When the Germans conquered Lithuania, the yeshiva wandered from place to place until it reached the town of Samilishok, where the students were hosted in the homes of the town's Jews. R' Zusha found lodging in the home of a family from the Jewish community. After some time, information reached R' Zusha that the Nazis were approaching the city. R' Zusha ensured this information reached all the town's Jews and then fled himself, thus saving many.