Reb Moshe Hornstein

Rabbi Moshe HaCohen Hornstein (1869 - 28 Adar 5701/1941) was the son-in-law of the Rebbe Maharash.

Life History

He was born to the wealthy Reb Zalman Shaul Hornstein, a prominent Boyaner chassid, and his mother Mrs. Esther Hinda from the Ortenberg family. His mother was a descendant of the Alter Rebbe.

On 8 Tammuz 5651/1891, the engagement was arranged, and on 10 Elul 5652/1892, he married Mrs. Chaya Mushka, daughter of the Rebbe Maharash. The wedding is described in detail by the Rebbe Rayatz, who was then a young boy. (On the Shabbos Sheva Brachos of the wedding, Parshas Tavo, 18 Elul 5652/1892, the seven Torah teachings that the Baal Shem Tov said in Gan Eden to the Rebbe Rashab were revealed).

Initially, the couple lived in Russia under the care of his brother-in-law and brother, the Rebbe Rashab. Reb Moshe managed a wood-cutting factory in the Yelnaya station in the Smolensk province, near which was an estate where his family lived. During this period, Reb Moshe was deeply involved in the study of Chassidus, as the Rebbe Rayatz writes in his diary:

"The year 5654/1894 was a blessed year in Chassidus... At that time, my honorable uncles Reb M.M. and my father-in-law Rabbi Moshe (Hornstein) were very engaged in the study of Chassidus, which greatly influenced several young men with great talents, who were educated in worldly sciences and were distant from Chassidus, and through regular study of Chassidus they became closer. From time to time they would enter my father's room to ask and discuss various matters they were studying. Such meetings often lasted several hours."

The Rebbe Rayatz also relates in his talks about visits he made to their family at their estate, and in another diary excerpt describes Reb Moshe's arrest:

"At that time, it happened that the lumber cutting factory and lumber storage of my uncle Rabbi Moshe Hornstein, which were at Yelnaya station in Smolensk province, went up in flames. The factory and storage were not insured against fire, so there was no reason to suspect the owners of starting the fire. But one gentleman who also had a storage facility at that station, who was a friend of the anti-Semitic lawyer Shmakov (may his name be erased), although he suffered no damage from the fire, found a way to falsely accuse Mr. Hornstein the Hebrew of setting fire to his storage to burn the non-Jewish owner's storage.

The antisemite Shmakov found an opportunity to build a case against Mr. Hornstein in particular and all Jews living outside the Pale of Settlement in general. And by order of the prosecutor from Smolensk, a friend of Shmakov, my uncle was imprisoned, and no bail was effective."

After some time, he moved to live in Anopol, Volhynia, and in 5682/1922 moved to Warsaw, Poland. In 5689/1929, the wedding of the Rebbe and Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka was held in Warsaw, and since the Rebbe's parents could not attend the wedding, Reb Moshe and his wife Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Hornstein had the merit to be the escorts from the Rebbe's side. Years later, he moved to Otwock. In 5695/1935, the city of Otwock became the capital of the Chabad kingdom when the Rebbe Rayatz established his residence there.

His family was among the important families in Otwock and was known as a family of kindness and hospitality.

When World War II began, he was ill and bedridden, and thus he spent the war days until his passing on 28 Adar 5701/1941 in the city of Otwock. (For this reason, his son Reb Menachem Mendel - son-in-law of the Rebbe Rayatz - did not leave Poland despite having the opportunity to leave at the beginning of the war, because he did not want to leave his sick father alone).

He was buried in the cemetery in Otwock, Poland.

His Family

His son Reb Shmuel Hornstein - married Brina from the family of Rabbi Yaakov Gezundheit (Rabbi and Av Beis Din of Warsaw, author of Tiferes Yaakov on tractates Gittin and Chulin, and more), was a department manager in the Jewish community in Warsaw. Reb Shmuel and his wife perished in the Warsaw Ghetto in 5703/1943. Reb Shmuel was murdered al kiddush Hashem in the Warsaw Ghetto exactly on his birthday.

Their children:

• Uri - perished in 5703/1943 in the Treblinka camp.
• Miriam - Yuval (Teichman) immigrated to Israel.

His son Reb Menachem Mendel Hornstein - married Rebbetzin Sheina, the youngest daughter of the Rebbe Rayatz.

His daughter Sarah Lis - married (first to Reb Shmuel Rubinstein, and secondly) to Kalman Lis, who was an educator of Jewish children and youth and a well-known poet.

Zalman David Landa Their children:

• Yekutiel Yaakov Yosef - his mother Sarah died when he was young, after her passing Yaakov Yosef grew up with his uncle Reb Menachem Mendel Hornstein and Rebbetzin Sheina, he was murdered in the Holocaust.
• His daughter Mrs. Rachel Landa - married Reb Pinchas Leib Landa. They immigrated and lived in Jerusalem.

Their children:

• Zalman David Landa - born on 15 Teves 5691/1931 in Jerusalem. Killed in the battle for Jerusalem during the War of Independence on 11 Tammuz 5708/1948.
• Tzvik Landa - 1958

His daughter Leah Hornstein - died in her youth.

His uncle Rabbi Yoel Hornstein, a wealthy man and chassid who was also related by marriage to the Rebbe's family.

His cousin Rabbi Shlomo Hornstein, who married the granddaughter of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Avrutch, grandfather of the Rebbe Rayatz, and had a close and special relationship with the Rebbe Nasi Doreinu who even traveled to his funeral in Manhattan.

His cousin Rabbi Yaakov Hornstein, a prominent chassid in Kiev and Moscow.