Sadigura Rebbe Passes Away

By COLlive reporter
Photos: COLlive archive and Yehuda Perkovitch – Kikar.net

The Admor of Sadigura, Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Friedman, one of the respected chassidic rebbes of the last generation who lived in Bnei Brak, passed away Tuesday, 19 Teves, 5773.

He was 84.

Thousands attended his funeral and he was laid to rest in the Nahalat Yitzhak cemetery in Givatayim, with many admorim and rabbis in attendance.

Sadigura, which has several hundred members in Israel and Europe, is a branch of the Rezhiner Hasidic dynasty, founded in what is now Ukraine about 170 years ago.

Although it is not one of the largest chassidic courts, Sadigura has always held an important place in the ultra-Orthodox leadership, Haaretz reported.

A member of Agudat Yisrael’s Council of Torah Sages, the Sadigurer Rebbe was a staunch proponent of the safety and security of Israel’s Jewish citizens.

Often meeting the Pikuach Nefesh Committee, he vehemently opposed ceding parts of the Land of Israel to the Arabs, in contrast to other chassidic leaders who stay mum on the issue.

Haaretz reported that he visited the settlements and actively opposed the Oslo Accords and the disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

In a statement following his passing, the SOS-Israel organization called him “the greatest of those fighting to save the Land of Israel.”

Born in Vienna, Austria, his parents moved to Poland in 1934. Shortly before the Holocaust, they immigrated to Israel and later moved to the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, NY.

The Admor later returned to Israel and established the Ruzhin Yeshiva at Ezra street in Bnei Brak.

In a visit to 770 Eastern Parkway on 4 Tammuz, 5740, the Lubavitcher Rebbe told him that the 7 Noahide Laws are applicable to Arabs as well and Jewish people have the obligation to promote them.

The Rebbe also encouraged him to support government allowances given to newborns – even if Arab children receive them as well.

He is survived by his only son, Rabbi Tzvi Yisrael Moshe Friedman, Av Beit Din of the Sadigura dynasty in London who was named the new admor, as well as his sons-in-law Rabbi Pinchas Shapira of Tel Aviv and Rabbi Shmuel Zaanvil Scharf of the U.S.

Baruch dayan haemes.