By Dovid Zaklikowski for COLlive and Hasidic Archives
It was June 10, 1939, a sunny Shabbos afternoon, and members of the Bronx congregation Anshei Tefillah had gathered to hear their beloved rabbi, Shmuel Pesach Bogomilsky, deliver his weekly sermon.
“Mild in manner, cheerful in tone, and emanating the wisdom of ages, he was friends with everybody,” congregant Hymie Cohen wrote of the thirty-four-year-old rabbi. “A greater genius, scholar and self-sacrificing man cannot be found.”
As always, the crowd was transfixed by the young rabbi’s eloquence. Though he had only recently arrived from Poland, his English was excellent. The talk focused on the details of that week’s Torah reading. That Shabbos was the portion of Shelach, which describes the ill-fated expedition of the spies that Moses sent to the land of Israel.
Suddenly, in the middle of his speech, Rabbi Bogomilsky collapsed on the podium, suffering a stroke.
“An ambulance was quickly called,” reported the Yiddish paper Der Tog. “However, by the time the rabbi arrived at the hospital, he had passed away.”
“In deep mourning, yesterday, thousands of Bronx Jews escorted the young rabbi to his eternal rest,” the article continued, estimating that close to 4,000 had gathered for the funeral that Sunday. “During the eulogies, many tears rolled down the faces of the attendees.”
Mr. Cohen described the funeral in his diary: “Various other rabbis spoke eulogies in the shul, and were overcome with grief at such a great loss. Indeed, the community, city, state and nation lost a man that the world could be proud of. He gave his life unto death to the Jewish people.”
After the funeral, the local rabbinical committee gathered for an emergency meeting. They were worried about Rabbi Bogomilsky’s wife and two-year-old son. Hadassah Bogomilsky, a widow at the age of twenty-eight, was expecting her second child.
The council decided that they would continue paying the rabbi’s salary to his family for a period of two years, and that during that time no rabbi would take Rabbi Bogomilsky’s place; instead, a local rabbi would deliver a weekly sermon in the shul.
But Mrs. Bogomilsky refused the offer.
“What will the community do without a rabbi?” she asked. “A shul needs a rabbi!”
Without hesitation, she gave up a secure livelihood for the sake of the congregation’s spiritual welfare.
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Beautiful story !! True mesiras nefesh!
Anyone know who the first girl named after her is? Im sure there are plenty named after her since the bogomilskys are a big family bh.
Who is the second child born after the father died?
Shmuel pesach ben shmuel pesach
(shliach in Maplewood, nj)
The second child is Rabbi Shmuel Pesach Bogomilsky of Maplewood, NJ (named for his father).
Yes, BH there are a lot of Hadassa’s named for our special Bubby.
What an amazing story, and character of the Rebbetzin.
Having worked with and admired Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky for years, he and the entire family are a true sign of their mothers mesiras nefesh and chinuch. May both parents be maylitzer Yosher for the whole family and they should’ve Zoche to greet them with Moshiach Speedily. Gmar Chasima Tova