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About R' Zev Wolf Gintzler
http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Fehergyarmat/feh003.html#Page10
The Great Scholar Rav Zev Wolf Gintzler, the Rabbi of the Fehérgyarmat community, was a rising star among the rabbis of Hungary. Although he was young in years, he has become one of the most respected teachers of Torah during the period before the Holocaust. As a young man, neither a son nor a son-in-law of a rabbi, who had not studied in one of the famous Yeshivas, he was ordained as rabbi. This was a rare event at that time in Hungary, where most of the communities were led by known and famous rabbinic families connected with the great Schools of Learning.
Rabbi Zev Wolf Gintzler came from a poor family in Ujhely. He was the son of a Hasidic Jew, R'Israel, and the son-in-law of a leather merchant, R'Asher Lemel Schwartz. He studied diligently at the school [Bet Midrash] of the scholar and Hasid Rabbi David Dov Meisels, the rabbi of the Hasidic community and the author of the book of Responsa Binyan David.
In 1928 he founded a Yeshiva in Salgotarián, where the officiating rabbi was the elderly scholar Rav Moshe Deutch, of blessed memory. A Yeshiva had not existed there before. Soon the new Yeshiva expanded and students from all over the country and from beyond the borders began to gather to learn Torah. The number of students was close to three hundred.
His talents, diligence, energy and good humor soon placed him in the first line of Torah teachers of his generation and the Yeshiva became the most important in Hungary. The name of the young and talented rabbi became known, and after the death of the old rabbi R'Moshe Deutch it was only natural that R'Zev Wolf Gintzler replaces him. Several other communities offered him the post as well, but since he was so gentle and sensitive and many communities were troubled by disagreements and disputes, he had a hard time choosing a place. Finally, in 1934, he accepted the post of rabbi in Fehérgyarmat.
Rabi Gintzler brought a breath of fresh air to the Fehérgyarmat community. His students were so attached to him that all the students from the Salgotarián Yeshiva followed him to the new place. The Fehérgyarmat people were proud of their new rabbi and loved and respected him. They made every effort to fill all the needs of their great Yeshiva, even though it entailed a great deal of financial support, a challenge that was almost beyond the means of this not so rich community. They opened at the Yeshiva a students' restaurant, but the most worthy students would eat their meals at the homes of the notable members of the community, who considered it a privilege to have the students in their homes. The Torah study and good manners that the students would bring to the house had a good spiritual influence on the members of the family, and the host family would do anything in their power to make their stay pleasant, whether on weekdays or on Shabat. Romance was not absent either, and often the Yeshiva student would marry the daughter of the family.
The rabbi had a very impressive appearance as well. His face radiated goodness and beauty of the soul, he was always in a good mood and his speech was calm and pleasant. His Hasidic rabbi and mentor had been the great scholar, Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapira from Munkács and he visited him often. But his way was special and independent.
His soul was fashioned from kindness and love. All his acquaintances loved him deeply, even those who had departed from the ways of religion and observance of the commandments [mitzvot]. We witnessed many instances when people returned to Judaism following their connection with the rabbi.
However, his greatest love was his Yeshiva. Young men from all corners of the Jewish world came to study Torah with him. He was a Hasid, but not one of the “stormy” Hasidim; he was gentle and kind. The long list of students who came to him from many places to seek knowledge and wisdom is witness to his reputation.
He was an extraordinary speaker. His lectures and sermons attracted a large audience on any regular Shabat. On a special Shabat, as the Shabat before Pesah and the Shabat before Yom Kipur, or on holidays, as well as on the opening of the school year at the Yeshiva, not only local people came to hear his addresses, but many persons from the surroundings, near and far. These days were regarded as very special events in the life of the community. His speeches, profound but seasoned with humor, would penetrate to the very souls of his listeners and fill them with enthusiasm and inspiration.
His moral qualities were exceptional. He honored every person, and addressed even his youngest students politely and respectfully.
His teaching was always clear and understandable to all listeners. He would compose his sermon around a verse or a topic from the weekly reading portion of the Torah, and his sharp and at the same time profound explanations were taken from the topics studied at the time in the Yeshiva. As with an artist's brush, he would blend law and history, morals and legend, into a lecture that was understood by all his listeners, even those who came from the simplest families of the Jewish society. All would wait with impatience for his talks.
A small part of his lectures and teachings can be found in his book Toldot Israel, about the book of Genesis, printed in Kleinwardein [Kissv%C3%A1rda] in 1937 (53 pages). However, this little book does not reflect the entire spectrum of his personality and talents, because it was written not by him but by his students, and not all of them were blessed with the necessary literary talents to be able to compose and publish such an important book.
The Holocaust came when he was at the prime of his life and at the peak of his extensive and versatile activity in all areas of Torah teaching, rabbinic work and community endeavors. Together with the finest members of the European Jewry our great rabbi was taken away, first to the Mátéjszalka ghetto where he went through great suffering, then to Auschwitz, where he perished, together with his wife Lea and his sons and daughters: Yosl, Sheindl, Chaia, Chava, Ben-Zion, Chaim and Zvi, as well as the members of his community and his students whom he loved so much. He died on 15 Sivan 5704 [1944]. May God avenge their blood.
Those of his students who survived the terrible times are now dispersed in many countries and occupy important positions in the rabbinate, in business, finance and other areas. They are preserving the great spiritual treasure that they had received from their beloved rabbi – to pass on to the future generations.
Rav Nathan Zvi Friedman Benei Brak
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R' Zev Wolf Gintzler's Timeline
| 1893 |
1893
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Sátoraljaújhely, Hungary
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| 1944 |
June 6, 1944
Age 51
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