Ephraim Yolles
Ephraim Eliezer Yolles
Ephraim Eliezer HaKohen Yolles (also spelled Yales in Yiddish; 5 Shevat 5651 – 25 Cheshvan 5749 / January 5, 1890 – November 25, 1988) was the rabbi of Sambor and later the Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox Jewish community of Philadelphia.
Biography
He was born in Sambor, Galicia, to Rabbi Shalom HaKohen, the rabbi of the city of Stry, and Esther Sheindel. He was a descendant of Rabbi Uri of Sambor. He was educated by his father, who was a disciple of the She'elot u'Meshivot, Rabbi Yosef Shaul Natanzon.
In 5673 (1913), he was ordained by Rabbi David HaLevi Horowitz of Stanislav and Rabbi Natan Levin of Rzeszów. From 5676 (1916) onward, he served as a dayan (rabbinical judge) on the rabbinical court of Stry.
In 5681 (1921), he immigrated with his family to the United States and was appointed rabbi of the Kerem Yisrael congregation in Philadelphia. In 5708 (1948), he was appointed head of the rabbis of the Orthodox community of Philadelphia.
In his later years he was known as the Gaavad (head of the rabbinical court) of Sambor, or the Admor of Sambor, and served as honorary president of the Agudath HaRabbanim of the United States and Canada. The leadership of the Sambor Chassidic dynasty is continued by his grandson, Rabbi Uri Geldzahler.
His Connection to the Rebbe
After the arrival of the Frierdiker Rebbe (the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn) in the United States, R' Yolles asked him to teach him Kabbalah and Chassidus. The Frierdiker Rebbe directed him to his son-in-law, the Rebbe (Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson).
After the passing of the Frierdiker Rebbe in 5710 (1950), R' Yolles urged the Rebbe to accept the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch.[1] From that time on, R' Yolles attended the Rebbe's farbrengens (Chassidic gatherings) regularly. He accepted the Rebbe as his personal rabbi and would come to see him several times a year. The volumes of Igros Kodesh (the Rebbe's published correspondence) reflect hundreds of letters exchanged between the two, covering both Talmudic topics and Kabbalah.
When R' Yolles was asked a question at the intersection of science and Torah — a contradiction between the size of the sun as recorded in Jewish texts and its size according to modern science — he referred the question to the Rebbe. His deep bond and sense of bitul (selfless devotion) to the Rebbe were widely known.
On Yud-Tes Kislev — the Chassidic holiday celebrating the release of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad — when the Rebbe would designate which tractate of the Talmud he would take in the annual Chalukas HaShas (distribution of the Talmud's tractates for study), R' Yolles would hand the Rebbe his own pen for the writing. The Rebbe would return it, thank him, and sometimes add a further remark.
In Cheshvan 5716 (1955), the Rebbe recited a maamar (a formal Chassidic discourse) for R' Yolles privately during a yechidus (private audience with the Rebbe), on the occasion of his grandson's bris. The maamar began with the verse Ashrei tivchar ("Fortunate is the one You choose").
At the farbrengen of Yud Shevat 5736 (1976) — the anniversary of the Frierdiker Rebbe's passing and the date on which the Rebbe formally accepted the leadership of Chabad — when the Rebbe called upon rabbis to rule that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people, R' Yolles was among those who rose to speak.
At the farbrengen of Yud-Alef Nissan 5743 (April 1983), as the Rebbe was departing, R' Yolles approached and spoke with him briefly. When he finished, he took the Rebbe's hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it warmly before the entire assembled crowd.
His Annual Visits on Chol HaMoed
R' Yolles made it his custom to travel to 770 Eastern Parkway — the Rebbe's headquarters in Brooklyn, New York — every Chol HaMoed (the intermediate days of a Jewish festival) of Passover and Sukkos, citing the principle that a person is obligated to appear before his rabbi on the festival. He would attend the morning prayers, receive an aliyah to the Torah, and afterward enter for what amounted to a private audience with the Rebbe.[2]
Chol HaMoed Passover 5742 (1982)
From a diary entry dated 18 Nissan 5742:
R' Yolles, wearing a shtreimel (a fur-trimmed Chassidic hat) and tallis, approached the Rebbe, who smiled at him and spoke with him for several minutes. R' Yolles then followed the Rebbe and rode with him in the elevator; when they emerged, the Rebbe was smiling — apparently they had continued speaking inside. R' Yolles then entered Gan Eden HaTachton together with the Rebbe, along with his son-in-law and three grandchildren. The Rebbe smiled at him and went to the table at the head of the room, where a padded chair had been set for him.
R' Yolles sat on a small bench nearby while the others stood. The conversation covered several topics: the Rebbe asked about R' Yolles's forthcoming book and whether it would be ready in bound form; he remarked that they would need to count the Omer before it would be finished. R' Yolles then asked why the Rambam (Maimonides) does not explicitly record the obligation to appear before one's rabbi on the festival — which was, he noted, his own reason for coming each year. He then asked whether it is necessary to conquer the Land of Israel in preparation for the coming of Mashiach (the Messiah).
The Rebbe replied that conquest is not the path — that can only come through Mashiach himself, with a functioning Sanhedrin. What is at stake now, the Rebbe explained, is not a matter of conquest but of Jewish law as codified in the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law), in the laws of Shabbos (section 329): if non-Jews besiege Jewish towns — even over matters as minor as straw and hay — it is permitted to violate Shabbos to defend them, and this would apply even in Brooklyn. The issue here, the Rebbe said, is one of saving lives. Even if one argues that Yamit and the Sinai settlements are not technically part of the Land of Israel — by withdrawing them, the border moves ten kilometers closer to Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, and Kfar Chabad, and that constitutes a direct threat to life. The Rebbe said pointedly: Have you heard of such foolishness? — referring to those who would return the territories. He also addressed the agreement signed by Prime Minister Begin, warning of its consequences five years hence, and commented on the involvement of Chabad Chassidim with Begin regarding a Torah scroll, and on those willing to compromise on matters of saving lives in exchange for government funding for yeshivos. (When speaking about the situation in the Land of Israel, the Rebbe spoke with great force and emphasis, making a dismissive gesture with his holy hand.)
R' Yolles then asked about the order of events described by the Rambam regarding the coming of Mashiach. The Rebbe explained that the Rambam writes that a man from the house of David will arise, compel all of Israel, and prevail — and yet even with all these achievements, he remains an ordinary person. Only after he actually rebuilds the Beis HaMikdash (the Holy Temple) does he attain the status of Mashiach with certainty.
The Rebbe then spoke about the phrase We Want Mashiach Now, noting that the word now (nu) has the numerical value of 56, which corresponds to the concept of zan — the one who nourishes and sustains the entire world in His goodness — and is related to the verse Open your mouth wide and I will fill it (Psalms 81:11), encompassing both material and spiritual sustenance.
R' Yolles then said to the Rebbe that he is a man elevated above all the people — above the entire nation — a universal soul and the head of Israel. The Rebbe also thanked him for the fact that in the Mi Shebeirach (the synagogue prayer for the congregation's welfare) recited in R' Yolles's synagogue, the phrase the beginning of the Redemption was not included.
The visit lasted approximately forty minutes. As they rose to leave, the Rebbe spoke with R' Yolles a little more and smiled at him. The Rebbe escorted him to the entrance of Gan Eden HaTachton and watched him with a penetrating gaze until he disappeared among the students. The Rebbe then went to take his siddur (prayerbook) from the table — for they had sat down immediately after prayers and the Rebbe was still wrapped in his tallis — and entered his room.
His Final Visit — Passover 5748 (1988)
From a diary entry of 5748:
On the morning of Tuesday, 18 Nissan 5748, following Shacharis (the morning prayer service), R' Yolles arrived at 770 as was his annual custom, accompanied by his sons and grandchildren.
He waited at the entrance to Gan Eden HaTachton. When the Rebbe came up from the main hall and noticed him, he shook his hand warmly, and they entered Gan Eden HaTachton together with R' Yolles's family. After a time, the family members left, and the Rebbe spoke with R' Yolles privately.
The visit lasted approximately half an hour. When R' Yolles took his leave, the Rebbe accompanied him out — while R' Yolles walked backward, supported by two of his grandchildren, unwilling to turn his back to the Rebbe. A chair was brought, and R' Yolles sat to wait for his car.
The Rebbe said to him the words Yireh Kohen b'Tzion ("May a Kohen be seen in Zion") — a blessing expressing the hope that R' Yolles, a Kohen, would live to see the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem — and then added that since it was Yom Tov (a festival day), they should sing a joyful song. Those gathered broke into V'Samachta b'Chagecha ("And you shall rejoice on your festival"), with the Rebbe encouraging the singing with his hands, his face radiant as he looked at R' Yolles and those around him.
The Rebbe remained there for several long minutes, until the car carrying R' Yolles had driven away.
Works
- Divrei Ephraim Eliezer. Philadelphia, 5743 (1983).
- Kesavim Achiezer — halachic discussions, appended to the work of his brother Rabbi Yeshayah Asher Yolles, Shemen HaRosh. Stry, 5693 (1933).
Notes
- ↑ He sent the Rebbe a formal letter of commitment and wrote to the Rebbe's family and close associates, urging them to accept the Rebbe as the new Nasi (leader) of Chabad and to work toward that end.
- ↑ In the earlier years this took place in the Rebbe's private office; later it moved to Gan Eden HaTachton (the Rebbe's anteroom on the main floor of 770).
Further Reading
- Shemen Sasson Mechaveirecha, pp. 158–171.
- B'Sod Siach, pp. 189–191.
- Siach Sorfei Kodesh, pp. 194–197.
- "HaGaon HaAdir Rabbi Ephraim Eliezer HaKohen Yolles", Kfar Chabad Weekly, issue 356, p. 31ff.
- Menachem Bronfman, "HaMekubalim v'HaRebbe," Kfar Chabad Weekly, issue 1926, p. 123ff.
- Mendy Kortes, "Achoz b'Gartel Sheli," supplement Orchim, issue 2081, p. 4ff (Sukkos 5785).