R' Alter Zeev Horowitz, A.B.D. and Admur Strzyzow

Rabbi Alter Zev Horowitz
by Shlomo Yahalomi

In the days when Rabbi Alter Zev Horowitz occupied the rabbinical chair in Strzyzow, people were not too generous to bestow unearned titles. When someone was called Rabbi, genius or righteous man, it had to be well–deserved. Therefore, I would like to tell something about our rabbi, Reb Alter Zev who was a man of G–d, righteous, honest and holy during his entire life.

Reb Shalom Schwartzman told me that once, when Rabbi Alter Zev was in Belz to visit the famous rabbi, the rabbi from Belz saw him passing by his window and he called his son asking him: “Would you like to see a truly G–d fearing man? If you do, look out the window”. Rabbi Alter Zev was only nineteen years old then and Reb Shalom added: “Now you know who our rabbi is!”

The rabbi from Sieniawa once said that Rabbi Alter Zev could have been one of the biggest rabbis in Galicia, and could have had a big Hassidic following. However, his humbleness prevented it.

In his childhood, he perplexed many with his behaviour and the following story will tell you how devoted he was in observing every rule and custom, be it large or small. Rabbi Alter Zev's father once became very upset when his son Alter Zev was only thirteen years old. It was on Purim when his father read the Megillah and Reb Alter Zev was not sure that he had absorbed every word as is required. So he asked his friend Hersh Ber to stay with him the Beit HaMidrash to read the Megillah again. Being afraid that somebody would disturb them, they barricaded the door with tables.

When Rabbi Alter Zev's father saw that his youngest son had not yet returned home after a day of fasting (the day before Purim is the fast of Esther), he went to look for him. The first place he went was the Beit HaMidrash. When he found the door locked he began to knock. Not knowing who was knocking, Her Ber told Alter Zev's father: “Go and knock your head against the wall”. The father became angry and demanded the door be opened immediately. Soon, Hersh Ber realized that this was the voice of Rabbi Alter Zev's father and removed the tables from the door then hurriedly jumped out of the window. Reb Alter Zev did

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not pay attention to what was happening around him. He continued the reading of the Megillah. The father angrily slapped his son's face, an act he regretted in later years.

The following year, Reb Alter Zev got smarter. He went home first to participate in the Purim meal and later secluded himself and read the Megillah a second time to make sure that he did not miss a word. When Rabbi Alter Zev became Bar Mitzva, he made a vow never to laugh in his life thus fulfilling the command of our sages that people should always be sombre. He never laughed thereafter!

When Rabbi Alter Zev was elected as the rabbi of Strzyzow, he was not even twenty years old. He was a good–looking man, especially when he matured and his beard turned the colour of salt and pepper. He had an angelic face. Even the gentiles admired this aristocratic figure. He had a very sweet voice and rumours were that in his youth, he composed a melody to the lyrics of a Sabbath song. It was well–known that all members of the Ropczyce Rabbinical Dynasty were blessed with musical talents.

Rabbi Alter Zev sang and led the prayers and was upset when his helpers sang off–tune. His prayers were always prolonged but people did not mind. It was a pleasure to listen to his chanting. He was truly G–d's servant and he studied the Torah day and night. His daily prayers lasted until later afternoon. He was very charitable and sometimes gave away his last penny. The Rebitzin knew better than anybody else what a righteous man he was and, therefore, she watched him closely since he was the apple of her eyes. She always put money in his pocket so he would not be embarrassed if somebody asked him for alms.

On more than one occasion and on a Friday, after his wife lit the candles, he declared that he was not going to shul because he pledged his Shtreime for charity. Since he was short in change to put in the charity boxes, he placed his shtreimel near the boxes as a pledge. In those days there were many charity boxes in every Jewish home and every Friday, before candle–lighting, people donated small change into the boxes. Rabbi Alter Zev's wife had to go to her neighbours to borrow money to put in the boxes so that the Rabbi would be able to go to shul. Meanwhile, the congregation were waiting for him, and grumbling that the Rabbi was burdening them unnecessarily.

And if all year–round he was so absorbed in serving G–d, imagine how he was on holidays. Let us begin first with Passover: They used to tell about the rabbi from Ropczyce that his soul was obsessed with the mitzva of Sukkoth because, all year round, he either talked about the Sukkah or did something for the Sukkah. His grandson, Rabbi Alter Zev was obsessed with Passover, especially with the importance of having kosher matzos.

Rabbi Alter Zev went to the field in person to oversee the harvesting of wheat. He then stored the wheat in an especially dry place to prevent any moisture from getting on to the wheat. He stood by when the wheat was ground with grinding stones and the matzos that he ate were the ones he baked on Erev Pesach, the day before the Seder night. To the baking of the matzos, the rabbi invited almost the entire town. Everyone was anxious to

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help in such a holy endeavour. During the baking of the matzos, the people sang and recited Psalms with the traditional melodies from Ropczyce. When the baking ended, everybody was rewarded with three matzos for the first Seder night. People carried these matzos home with pride. Rabbi Alter Zev also invited the young men who had participated in baking the matzos to be his guests for the second Seder night and many accepted his invitation.

Who could forget a Seder with Reb Alter Zev? There was no electricity in Strzyzow but when the rabbi sat at the head of the table surrounded by his family and guests, a brightness of light shone upon us all. It seemed like the angels from heaven provided a special heavenly light. His white gown had a special whiteness and the rabbi himself, with his majestic face, expressed only holiness. When he began reciting the Haggadah, silence fell upon the room. No one wanted to miss a word while he chanted the Haggadah. They used to say that if people knew how the rabbi conducted a Seder, everyone would leave his house and would come to the rabbi's Seder. The rabbi always added some interesting anecdotes about how his ancestors and other famous rabbis celebrated their Seder nights. Even in the way he ate was worth watching. He ate with a certain devotion and reverence, not just to fill his stomach. The rabbi used to tell jokes that had been told by his grandfather, the famous Rabbi Naphtali from Ropczyce who was known as an amusing man.

And how was Rabbi Alter Zev on the High Holidays? I don't know if anybody is able to describe Rabbi Alter Zev during the Silent Prayer on Rosh Hashanah when tears, the size of pearls, rolled down his face or, for that matter, his dancing on Simchat Torah during the Hakafot. I will never forget the Rabbi's last Rosh Hashanah when he was unable to walk and was carried to shul on a chair. Still he led the Mussaf prayers and when he reached the prayer: “Unesanei Tokef”, the verse where it says who shall live and who shall die, we realized that he knew that his end was near.

Like all other Jews, his family had its share in the Holocaust. His sons and daughters and their families all perished. Only a few of his family survived and they continue to serve G–d. Some live in the United States and some in Israel.