Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira – Piaseczner Rebbe

Born: May 20, 1889 (5649), Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland
Died: November 3, 1943 (5704), Trawniki concentration camp, Poland

Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira was born in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland to the Imrei Elimelech of Grodzhisk. Named after his maternal great-grandfather, the renowned Maor VaShemesh, he was a scion of a distinguished family, which included Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, the Chozeh of Lublin, and the Maggid of Kozhnitz.

The Rebbe was born on the day after Lag BOmer, 19 Iyar 5649, and his bris was on Yesod SheBeYesod of the Omer.

At the age of three, he was orphaned by the death of his father. In 1905, he married Rachel Chaya Miriam, daughter of his nephew Grand Rabbi Yerachmiel Moshe of Kozhnitz. She helped him prepare his lectures and books, even adding pertinent insights of her own. The couple had two children: a son, Elimelech Ben Zion, and a daughter, Rachel Yehudis, both of whom perished in the Holocaust.

In 1909, he was appointed rabbi of Piaseczno near Warsaw, and subsequently attracted many chassidim. He was deeply focused on the education of children and young men, establishing the yeshiva Da’as Moshe in 1923, which became one of the largest chassidic yeshivot in Warsaw between the wars.

Educational Theories

In his work as a teacher, Rabbi Shapira attempted to reverse the trend toward secularization, which swept the Jewish community in Poland between the wars. The vibrant cultural life of the city, as well as the attractions of political movements such as Zionism eroded the number of students wishing to pursue a yeshiva education. These trends, Rabbi Shapira argued, would only be exacerbated by archaic educational methods, harsh discipline, and rote learning, such as were often the practice of the day in yeshivot.

According to Rabbi Nehemia Polen (a noted expert on Rabbi Shapira’s work) in his most important work, Chovas haTalmidim (“The Students’ Responsibility”), Rabbi Shapira argued that a child must be imbued “with a vision of his own potential greatness” and be enlisted “as an active participant in his own development.” Likewise, teachers “must learn to speak the language of the student, and graphically convey the delights of a life of closeness to God.” Rabbi Shapira argued for positive, psychologically sensitive, joyous educational methods.

Some similarity had been pointed out between these ideas and the educational ideas set out on a non-religious basis, in much the same years, by Janusz Korczak.

War Years

Rabbi Shapira’s only son, his daughter-in-law and his sister-in-law were killed during the Nazi aerial bombing of Warsaw in September, 1939. After the invasion of Poland, Rabbi Shapira was interned with a few of his chassidim in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he ran a secret synagogue. He invested enormous efforts in maintaining Jewish life in the ghetto, including arranging for mikveh immersions and kosher marriages. Rabbi Shapira was able to survive in the ghetto until its liquidation, avoiding the tragic deportations to Treblinka in the summer of 1942, because of the support of the Judenrat. Like other notables, he was given work at Schultz’s shoe factory—a path to ongoing survival.

Rabbi Shapira is well known because of a book he wrote while in the ghetto. The book, which is a compilation of weekly sermons to his students, contends with complex questions of faith in the face of the mounting suffering of the Jews in the ghetto. When it became apparent to Rabbi Shapira that the end of the ghetto and all its inhabitants was near, he buried the book in a canister. This canister was found by a construction worker after the end of the war. The book was published in Israel in 1960 under the title Eish Kodesh.

After the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was crushed in 1943, Rabbi Shapira was taken to the Trawniki work camp near Lublin. Although offered the opportunity to escape from the concentration camp, he apparently refused. Following the Jewish uprising in the Treblinka death camp (August 2, 1943) and in the Sobibor extermination camp (October 14, 1943), there was increasing concern among the Nazi authorities that there would be further outbreaks of violence at other concentration camps. For this reason, Aktion Erntefest (Operation Harvest Festival) was launched. During this operation, carried out on November 3, 1943, all the remaining Jews in Trawniki, including Rabbi Shapira, were shot to death.

Ideas

Rabbi Shapira’s memory is revered, and he is held as an example of faith under enormous duress. Orthodox Jewish thinkers, however, have not always been comfortable with his opinions. In his article about this issue, Amos Goldberg states that other, more traditional portrayals of the Holocaust in Orthodox writings tend to dwell on the miraculous survival of famous rabbis and on the strength of the faith of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe despite their suffering.

In contrast, Shapira does not shy away from describing the deterioration of faith in the ghetto. He also wrestles with the difficulty in continued faith in God’s justice under such circumstances, drawing answers from Kabbalah and other Jewish sources. It is important to note, however, that despite these intellectual and emotional struggles, Rabbi Shapira’s faith remained strong and unwavering and he continued to inspire others to the end of his life.

Works

• Chovas haTalmidim (“The Students’ Responsibility”) – a collection of essays aimed at teenagers which has become a standard textbook in yeshivos.
• Hachshoras HaAvreichim (Preparation of Young Men) – a work written for young married men.
• Mevo haSheorim – Intended to be the introduction to Chovas HaAvreichim, the last published book in the series of education. Only Mevo HaSheorim survived from this manuscript.
• Tzav V’Ziruz – Rabbi Shapira’s personal diary.
• Bnei Machshava Tova (Conscious Community: A Guide to Inner Work) is based on the manuscripts recovered from the rubble in the Warsaw ghetto. The book is a guide to attaining spirituality despite adversity and physical needs. Translated and with an introduction by Rabbi Andre Cohen-Kiener. This book has also been translated as Experiencing the Divine: A Practical Jewish Guide by Yaacov David Shulman.
  
• Derech HaMelech (The Way of the King — also, idiomatically, “The High Road” in modern Hebrew) – Torah discourses that were spoken on the Sabbath and festivals (1889–1943).
• Esh Kodesh (Holy Fire) – his inspirational speeches given during the Holocaust period.
  

May the merit of the tzaddik Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira protect us all. Amen

Editor’s Addition:

• Breslev Store has the books A Fire in the Darkness: Guidance for Growth When Life Hurts and Chovas haTalmidim (“The Students’ Responsibility”).
• See Dr. Ballen’s article Faith in the Face of Pain about using the Piaseczner Rebbe’s example of re-framing negative meanings into positive meanings to help us with our own daily battles with pain and despair.

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