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Rabbis, Cantors and Kehila
Chief Rabbis and Spiritual Leaders
The Piotrkow Chevra Kadisha (burial society) was founded in 1720.
 | GETZ, Rabbi Meir ben Elyakum (1685-1732), first chief rabbi of Piotrkow
in 1726; also simultaneously rabbi of Lask. |
| GETZ, Rabbi R. Eliakim (1705-1738), dayan for seven years;
replaced his father as chief rabbi in 1735. |
| PIOTRKOWER, Rabbi Nathan Neta, chief rabbi 1763-1766; died
at a young age; son of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh. |
| MEISELS, Rabbi Hanania Lipman (?-1811), chief rabbi and a great scholar; died without children. |
| PACANOWSKI, Rabbi Abraham Tzvi (1777-1819), chief rabbi for
seven years, author of Beit Abraham; son of well-known speaker, Rabbi
Eliezer, from Pocarow; descendant of famous rabbis; great-grandson of Rabbi
Tzvi Hersh PIOTRKOWER. |
| BROMBERG, Rabbi David Isaac (?-1827), chief rabbi and
well-known lamdan; called "The Sharp One"; author of Beth David
and Chidushai HaRadak; son of Rabbi Reuven; later moved to Ujazd. |
| PIOTRKOWSKI, Rabbi Moshe (?-1814), chief rabbi and
well-known lamdan. |
| PIOTRKOWSKI, Rabbi Aharon (?-1831), kabbalist,
mathematician and known as very sharp; was a dayan in Lask; student of Rabbi Fishel
of Strikov; son of Rabbi Moshe. |
| PIOTRKOWSKI, Rabbi Itzak, followed his father, Rabbi
Aharon, as rabbi. |
| KARO, Rabbi Yakov (1771-?), served briefly as chief rabbi,
then left for Silesia; son of Gaon Rabbi Arieh Leib of Krotechin. |
| BUCHNER, Rabbi David Isaac (?-1827), famous rabbi; author
of Beit David; later served as rabbi in Czestochowa. |
| EDELSTEIN, Rabbi Dov Berish (?-1831), chief rabbi for two
years; died in the cholera epidemic of 1831. |
| MEISELS, Rabbi Aaron Yehuda Jacob (Leibush) (?-1848), chief
rabbi for a short time, also was rabbi of Kilikov and Zamosc; removed as rabbi in 1846
because of a misunderstanding between the Chassidim and Mitnagdim;
son of Naftali Hertz MEISELS, father of Gaon Rabbi David of Nashelsk. |
| MORGENSTERN, Rabbi Eleazar Shalom, chief rabbi (1858-1867),
formerly the Rav of Cichow and Shedletz (which gave up their chief rabbi only with the
intervention of the police); son of Simcha Zev MORGENSTERN. |
| ROSENBLUM, Rabbi Baruch Tzvi Hirsh (?-1883), elected chief rabbi in
1868, following the death of Rabbi MORGENSTERN; formerly the Rav of Radzin
(1863) and Wegrow. |
| KACZKA, Rabbi Isaac, known as "Yitzhakel Charif"; famous
rabbi and great lamdan; chairman of the Beth Din after Rabbi PACANOWSKI's
death; grandfather of Rabbi Hanoch KACZKA, publisher of Rabbi Isaac's
writings. |
| WAKS, Rabbi Chayim Elozor (?-1889), elected chief rabbi in
1884, following the death of Rabbi ROSENBLUM; in 1886, he, his father-in-law
Rabbi Yehoshua TRUNK of Kutno, the head of the Kehila, wealthy
Pinchas HOROWITZ and Moshe WALD (sexton of the Bet Hadin) established a colony
in Eretz Israel called Chitin, near Tiberias; published the first Hebrew seyfer
in Piotrkow, Nefesh Chaya.; born in Tarnogrod near Lublin, died of a
stroke in Kuzmitz, buried in Kalisz; one son, seven daughters, who married
wealthy Chassidim; second wife died in Piotrkow in 1910; grandson Rabbi
Isaac KALISH and a great-grandson Rabbi Menachem ZINGER survived the Shoah
and lived in the U.S.; some descendants live in Israel as followers of Rabbi
Chayim Elozor ALTER (grandson of Rabbi WAKS and nephew of the Gerrer Rebbe); grandson Rabbi Israel Yehoshua AIBESHITZ lived in
Israel. |
| ROSENFELD, Rabbi Simcha Yair (1831-1911), elected chief
rabbi in 1890 and served until his death; a great and famous rabbi and
excellent speaker. |
| TEMKIN, Rabbi Menachem David (1861-?), elected chief rabbi
in 1913, following the death of Rabbi ROSENFELD; led the Jewish community
during WWI; son of Rabbi Michael TEMKIN, grandson of Rabbi David TEMKIN, a
leading rabbi of Warsaw; married daughter of wealthy Moshe Natan HALBER of
Warsaw;
son-in-law was Avraham KOHN, brother of Lodz industrialist, Asher KOHN. |
| SHAPIRA, Rabbi Yehuda Meir, chief rabbi from 1924-1931; a
member of the Polish parliament (Agudas Israel Party); became rabbi of
Lublin in 1931 and was founder and head of
the Yeshivat Hakhemai Lublin (Yeshiva of the Sages of Lublin). |
| LAU,
Rabbi Moshe Chaim (1893-1942), the last chief rabbi of Piotrkow,
1935-1942; educator, established a yeshiva in Prishkov, Czechoslovakia;
supporter of the Poalei Agudas Yisroel Party; member of the Piotrkow Judenrat
for a time; father of Naftali LAU-LAVIE and Rabbi Yisrael Meir LAU;
according to witnesses, prior to deportation to Treblinka
in October 1942, Rabbi Lau delivered
a sermon on Kiddush Ha-Shem, stating: "Better a living death, than a dead
life. Everyone who is killed as a Jew is a saint. I
call upon all of you to realize the will of God to die for him with dignity";
then he said his Vidoi --his affirmation of faith--and
the crowd repeated after him crying out "Shema Israel". |
| BELCHATOWSKI, Rabbi Tovye Fabl, helped to set up the first print shop in
Piotrkow and became its owner in 1894; the shop became one of the largest print
shops in Poland. |
| DREZNER, Rabbi Raphael (1795-1859), Av Beit Din of
Piotrkow; buried in old Lodz cemetery; son of Meir. |
| Feiner,
Rabbi Yosef (1866-1943), Aleksanderer
rebbe; chief assistant to Eliasz Chaim Majzel, chief rabbi of Lodz, from 1901 and arbitrator
in the Lodz rabbinic court; born in Piotrkow Trybunalski;
killed in September 1943. |
| FRENKEL, Rabbi Chaim, helped set up first print shop in Piotrkow. |
| GLAZER, Rabbi Jakob (d. 1939), a leading rabbi of Piotrkow;
killed with his family in Sulejow on September 4. |
| HUBERBAND, Rabbi Shimon (1909-1942); born in Checiny, lived in Piotrkow
Trybunalski; Holocaust diarist; wrote Kiddush
Hashem; see also, "The Destruction of the Synagogues of
Lodz"; joined the inner circle
of the Oneg
Shabbat Archive in Warsaw; his writings, apparently from 1941, were
found in the hidden archive material discovered after the war in the area
that had been the ghetto. |
| LUBLINER, Rabbi Simcha Ozer, rabbi during the 1930s;
father of Dr.
Michael Lubliner. |
| PIOTRKOWER, Rabbi Hirsh, wealthy founder of the Bet Hamidrash
in 1765; great-grandfather of Rabbi Abraham Tzvi PACANOWSKI. |
| ROTBAJN, Rabbi Icek (HG"R Yitskhak of Piotrykov)
(1834- ca. 1920), born in Gora Kalwaria; owned an ironworks factory in the 19th
century; The
Rotbajn Family of Poland. |
| HILLEL, Cantor Moshe, cantor in the Piotrkower Shul in 1804 |
| MARCUS, Cantor Joseph, cantor in the Bet Midrash in 1804 |
| PERLMUTTER, Cantor Lazar, cantor from 1836; from Stawski. |
Kehila Structure in 1804
- Rabbi: Rabbi Lipman Meisels
- Intercessor and translator: Shmelke (Shlomo) Rappoport
- Two teachers
- Cantors: Moshe Hillel and Joseph Marcus; Jacob Isaac Flatow, first
bass
- Sexton
- Helper of the shul
- Night watchmen: Shmuel Feivelovitch and Gershon Brandeis (and two
Gentile watchmen)
- Sarah, the midwife
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Kehila Heads in 1808
- Chaim Segal
- Leyb Berliner
- Reb Josef, son of Jacob
- Reb Zachariah
- Reb Nakhum
- Reb Hirsh Piotrkower
- Avram, son of Mordechai
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