Rabbi Yaakov Eskolsky
יעקב ב"ר דוב בער
Rav, Bialystoker Synagogue, Lower East SideDate of Death:
Tue. February 17, 1931 -
Shevat 30 5691
Rosh Codesh
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Directions to Kever: Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Queens maintains computerized records and will provide a detailed location map upon request. Location: Block: C, Section: 15, Line: 4 Grave: 17, Society: BIALYSTOCK, along Main Road towards the back on the left side
Name Listed on Cemetery Database: ESKOLSKY, JACOB
Biographical Notes:
Photo Credit: Rabbi Yaakov Eskolsky, Credit: Michael Escott
Photo Caption: Chag HaSmicha, Kovno Kollel, c.1900, Credit: Michael Escott
1. Unknown, 2. Unknown, 3. Rabbi Yaakov Eskolsky
Credit: Michael Escott
Credit: Asher Lowy, Brooklyn, NY
Credit: Asher Lowy, Brooklyn, NY
Credit: Asher Lowy, Brooklyn, NY
Credit: Location Map: At the top of the hill on the left side
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Rabbi Eskolsky was also the president of the Degel HaRabonim organization.
Rabbi Eskolsky was Rabbi in Scranton prior to his coming to NY, besides his many Seforim he edited the Journal ‘Hamitzpah’ which can be found at Hebrew Books.
http://www.hebrewbooks.org/23654
Rabbi Eskolsky wrote only one full length sefer – Taryag Mitzvos vol. 1 (1926) containing the first 13 mitzvos of Sefer HaMitzvos of the Rambam. The portion that he wrote of Sefer HaBris (1915) was really the length of an article. According to the hakdama of Taryag Mitzvos, he had 20 years of notebooks full of his shiurim on ALL of the 613 mitzvos and they were only waiting to be printed. He passed away before he could release a vol. 2. A cousin of mine has two mitzvos (tzitzis and mezuza) in typeset form that were slated for vol. 2. Unfortunately, I have not as of yet been able to track down any relevant kisvei yad for Taryag Mitzvos.
It seems that Rabbi Eskolsky did serve as editor of two other books (not really “seforim”). Ezras Torah published Sefer HaZikaron (1919) and Zichron B’Sefer (1922). In his role as mazkir of Ezras Torah he wrote the hakdamos and sofei davar to these two books. His words there imply that he was the editor of these books.
http://web.archive.org/web/20060921074050/http://hebrewbooks.org/eskolsky.html
I think it’s fitting for me to clarify issues raised in recent Yiddish language postings discussing Rav Eskolsky that I have seen at http://www.yiddishworld.com/forum/index.php?f=31&t=8289&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&rb_v=viewtopic&start=40
I know that many of the people posting there also commonly view this web site and post to it. And so since my English is better than my Yiddish 🙂 …………
Rav Eskolsky served as a rav in Europe for a few years (first in Rublie and then in Kazhan-Hardok) at the turn of the last century. He then came to the USA in late 1906 and became the Rav of the Beis Midrash HaGadol (aka the Penn Avenue shul) in Scranton, PA. Afterwards (around 1909 or 1910) he became the Rav of the Slutzker shul on Pike street in the lower east side of NY. In 1918, he became the Rav of the Bialystoker shul on Willet Street in the lower east side.
He was also a co-founder of the Ezras Torah fund in 1915 and served as its first mazkir until about 1925. In 1926 He founded the Degel HaRabbanim organization and would serve as its leader.
Rav Eskolsky’s paternal grandmother was a sister of Rav Meir Myrim Shafit (mechaber of Sefer Nir on the Yerushalmi). This is stated in R. Shmuel Noach Gottlieb’s Oholei Shem and in R. Benzion Eisenstadt’s Doros HaAcharonim in their entries on R. Eskolsky. Additionally an older brother of R. Eskolsky, (Meir) Myrim Eskolsky, was named after R. Shafit according to an article by Zalman Shazar in Sefer Mir (the Mir yizkor book). Rav Avraham Aharon Yudelovitch’s mother Sasha was also a sister of R. Shafit. This made R. Yudelovitch a first cousin of R. Eskolsky’s father Dov Ber. There are a couple of instances in R. Yudelovitch’s Beis Av that refer to R. Eskolsky as She’er Besari which indicate a familial relationship. Additionally I have a copy of a letter written by R. Eskolsky to R. Yudelovitch which refers to the latter in the same way. Also the same phrasing appears on a personal semicha given by R. Yudelovitch in the late 1920s to R. Eskolsky’s son Rabbi Mitchel Eskolsky.
In this way it can easily be understood how Rabbis Eskolsky and Yudelovitch were involved together with various endeavors over the years eg. HaMitzpe, Agudas HaRabbanim V’haMatifim, Degel HaRabbanim, etc.
It can also be understood how it was fitting that R. Eskolsky was the head of the American organization that raised funds for Yeshivas Ohr Torah of Teveria, the first yeshiva for Slonimer Chassidim ever created. That yeshiva’s original menahel was Rav Mattes Sandberg who married a daughter of R. Meir Myrim Shafit. It also probably didn’t hurt that R. Eskolsky was born to a family of staunch Slonimer Chassidim and that R. Eskolsky had significant personal contact with Rav Shmuel Weinberg (the second Slonimer rebbe) while learning in the famed misnagdishe yeshiva in Slonim.
R. Eskolsky was also related to Rav Menachem Risikoff who also appears on this site. While the existence of the relation is well documented, the living descendants on each side of the family have yet to figure out the exact relation as of this writing.
If anyone has other questions please send an e-mail to eskolskyinfo@yahoo.com
http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=13154&pgnum=45
A notice on the engagement of his daughter.
The engagement of my great uncle and great aunt: Dr. Harry Goldin a”h and Mrs. Anna (Eskolsky) Goldin a”h
Their youngest child is Jay Goldin, comptroller of NYC from 1974 to 1989.
and see these:
tenaim : http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?&req=13154&pgnum=37
chasuna : http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=13154&pgnum=92
more mazal tovs : http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?sits=1&req=13154&pgnum=104
and an article by Anna as Chana Esther Eskolsky at p29 of this PDF : http://www.bialystoker.org/bialystoker_1878_1928.pdf
Thanks Moshe, great stuff!
I see now that Rabbi Eskolsky had a son-in-law Rabbi Israel Tabak, he was from an Hassidic decsent, came to the US 1924 where he abtained Semicha in YU.
Married the daughter of Reb Yaakov Eskolski and sevred as rabbi in a few Shuls in NY before going to Baltimore in the Shaari Tzion shul.
He authored a few books in english, later went to E. Yisroel where he died 1991 at the age of 86.
YD, What is your source to the fact that he was the Rav’s son in law?
Correct.
Rabbi Tabak z”l grew up as a Belzer chassid and was a descendant of the Sar Shalom of Belz.
He married Rav Yaakov Eskolsky z”l’s fourth child Lilian (Leah) in the Spring of 1931 a few months after R. Eskolsky passed away. They had been engaged while R. Eskolsky was still alive. In early 1931, R. Tabak succeeded his brother-in-law and RIETS classmate Rabbi Mitchel Eskolsky z”l at Shaarei Zion in Baltimore as the younger R. Eskolsky was selected to replace his father at the Bilaystoker shul in NYC. R. Tabak served at Shaarei Zion until 1976 when he retired and moved to Yerushalayim. He also served as the president of the RCA from 1948 to 1950.
In 1988, he published an autobiography called “Three Worlds” which also contains an appendix with a short bio on his father in law.
Moshe,
Do you know his lineage to the sar sholom of Belz?
Farshlufen,
I guess now that Moshe confirmed it you don’t need my source, but here it is:
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=3153&pgnum=594
In “Three Worlds” it says that R. Tabak’s father was a descendant of the Sar Sholom, but it doesn’t mention the exact lineage. I e-mailed my cousin a link to this page so perhaps he will provide that info.
Where is Rabbi Mitchel Eskolsky buried?
(see the Note section at the top of this page)
He was originally buried right next to his father. There is a matzeiva there that says that his kever was moved to Yerushalayim on ו’ אלול, תשל”ב. Not sure whether to הר הזיתים or הר המנוחות. This was around the time that his wife Mildred passed away.
Reb YD – I got some answers from my cousin Yacov Tabak who is a son of R. Israel Tabak.
The Sar Sholom’s bechor was Rav Elazar Rokeach. Among R. Elazar’s several daughters were Sarah Devorah and Malka.
Now lets work backwards…..
Rabbi Tabak’s parents were Rav David Tabak of Czernowitz and Tzirl Pesi Tabak (nee Wahrman). They were second cousins. One of them was the grandchild of Sarah Devorah and the other one was the grandchild of Malka but my cousin is not 100% sure which one descended from which.
Also, I was informed that R. Mitchel Eskolsky was reinterred at Har HaMenuchos.
Thanks Moshe, will try to locate the path.
I found another brother Reb Avraham b”r Dov Ber Iskolsky, in Montefiore Cemetary, in the Stoliner Brownsville chelka. He was the Baal Korei in the Stoliner Shul on Watkins St.
This R’ Yisrael Tabak was born in Bukovina. Is there any relation to the Hungarian Tabak family, Erech Shai etc.?
ישבב, while he might have been the Baal Korei on Watkins [ since he is buried in the B’ville chelka], he was definitely Baal Korei later in the Stoliner Shul in Williamsburg = Rodney Street.
Here is a picture of the kever of Rabbi Eskolsky’s daughter, Lilian Tabak, who passed away on the 4th night of Chanuka 5715. She was the first wife of Rabbi Israel Tabak. She is buried in the Shaarei Zion Cemetery in Rosedale, MD near Baltimore:
https://goo.gl/photos/PL7jtZbgh9hLPrwQ7
1) Regarding the Seforim Blog post above, please see the following two comments that I submitted there:
https://seforimblog.com/2019/12/apostates-and-more-part-2/#comment-7824
https://seforimblog.com/2019/12/apostates-and-more-part-2/#comment-7825
2) In the picture from the Kovno Kollel above, Rabbi Eskolsky is actually #1 (on the left) while #2 and #3 are unknown
Regarding the post by Moshe Escott on December 19, 2011 at 2:19 pm
with some info from his cousin Yaacov son of R. Yisroel Tabak, claiming two things.
1. The two sisters names were Sarah-Devora and Malka, daughters of Reb Eluzer mBelz ZYA.
2. R. Yisroel’s father and mother: Dovid Tabak of Czernowitz and Tzirl Pesi Tabak nee Wahrman (ואהרמן, sometimes spelled Wohrman or Wurman with umlaut) were 2nd cousins by being from these two grandmothers.
This info includes several problems:
1. There is no known daughter Malka of Reb Eluzer.
2. The single unknown named daughter of Reb Eluzer was the wife of Avi-Ezri Zelig Shapira of Kuznitz (usually listed after his birthplace Blendow, and with the mistaken name Avi-Ezra Zelig). R. Zelig is the grandson of Chaim Meir Yechiel (I’ll mark him as CMY) Shapira of Mogelnitza. This Zelig is sometimes mixed up with his uncle with the same name, son of CMY Shapira of Mogelnitza. The uncle Zelig was a Rebbe in Stryi. (or however that town is actually spelled).
But this daughter of unknown name had only sons, 4 of them. So she isn’t the grandmother of Dovid or Tzirel and does not have a connection to the Tabak family or the Wahrman family.
3. Sarah-Devorah Labin had a daughter Rivka-Henna Wurman (which I will mark as RHW). So that seems to be the connection. But this RHW had no daughter Tsirl or Pessia listed, till my father this morning on Geni.com connected RHW as the mother of Tzirl Pessia. Tzirl Pessia was listed in Geni.com without a mother or father. Besides this source of info, by Moshe Escott I did not find any other mention of this connection, in the vast records about the Labin family. But my father’s conclusion seems very plausible.
Just to complete this info, the known husband of this Sarah-Devorah was R. (Alexander) Sander Labin, son of R. Naftoli Hertzl Labin of Zidichov.
As a side remark, my grandfather Rebbe Dovid Flam of Montreal had a sister Rivka-Henna married to Rebbi Chaim Yankev Safrin, the Komarna Rebbi.
4. So we are left to solve the other sister, (one of the two daughters of Reb Eluzer mBelz who are the ancestors of the Tabak family).
We need to determine her name. She is the grandmother of Dovid Tabak of Czernowitz, and we must determine which known son-in-law of R. Eluzer mBelz was married to this daughter of his.
One daughter of R. Eluzer, named Rochel Hager (who’s tombstone exists) had a daughter Malka Tabak married to Mordechai, probably the source of Moshe Escott’s (or his source David Tabak’s) mistake.
And this Malka and Mordechai a son Dovid Tzvi Tabak, married to Tzirl Pesia.
So mystery solved. But sadly, we don’t have the missing of the daughter who was married to R. AviEzri Zelig Shapira.
Due to this post, and my father’s original hope that perhaps we found the lost name in Malka, and due to the research around it, we WERE able to conclude at least Avi Ezri Zelig’s family name שפירא Shapiro or Shapira, his place: Kuznitz and not Blendow, his father’s location, also who his ancesstors were: he was the grandson of CMY and not the son of CMY, he was the son of Yitzhak Yaakov (or Yaakov Yitzhok, depends which family tombstone you read) Shapira of Strii (or however you spell that town’s name).
My name is Moshe Flam from Bet Shemesh. I’m an einicle of rabbi Dovid Flam (perhaps mBelz or Olesko) who was married to another daughter of Reb Eluzer mBelz. This daughter’s name is also in dispute, and was the reason for my interest in the whole affair.