This past 27 Teves was a significant yahrtzeit for family and admirers of Montreal’s beloved former chief rabbi Rav Pinchas Hirschprung, renewing their connection through his previously unknown Yiddish memoir
BELOVED BY ALL “It would have been worth opening the yeshivah just for Pinchas from Dukla” said Rav Meir Shapiro ztz”l referring to his prized student who knew all 2711 pages of Gemara by heart when he was yet a teenager. A young Reb Pinchas (left) with two friends Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin late 1920s; the Hirschprung study in Montreal (Photos: Moishy Spira Montreal)
N ineteen years ago the Montreal Jewish community mourned the passing of its much loved and esteemed chief rabbi the venerated Rav Pinchas Hirschprung. He was a man renowned for his Talmudic brilliance and eidetic memory; he was leader of a Bais Yaakov and a rosh yeshivah and the rebbi of his younger years — Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin founder Rav Meir Shapiro ztz”l — once remarked that “it would have been worth opening the yeshivah… just for Pinchas from Dukla.” He enjoyed a special relationship with the gedolim of the previous generation and especially with the Lubavitcher Rebbe who had his own talmidim forward their sh’eilos to the gaon of Montreal.
But most of all he was known for his sterling character and purity of soul — his humility kindness and compassion were legendary. “You never have to ask me to do a favor. Just tell me what to do for you ” he would often remark.
Nineteen might not be one of those round landmark numbers but this year 27 Teves was a significant yahrtzeit for family members and admirers who were able to connect to Rav Hirschprung’s special persona on a new level. Thanks to a largely unknown Yiddish memoir Rav Hirschprung wrote as a young man his unique voice still reverberates — and now that the manuscript has been translated into English and released as a book called The Vale of Tears that voice is accessible to everyone.
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