Reflecting on History: Events of the 10th of Tevet

The Martyrdom of the Rebbe of Ostrowiec During the Holocaust

Rabbi Yechezkel Halevi Halstock was the second Rebbe of Ostrowiec. On the night of the 10th of Tevet in 1943, he sensed that the Nazis were closing in to murder him. Rabbi Yechezkel immersed himself in a frozen mikvah and began praying for his soul and for the souls of the Jewish people, who were in dire straits. At the communal house where the Rebbe was hiding, Jews from Czuzmir gathered to plead for mercy, reciting supplications and Psalms.

As dawn broke, the Rebbe donned a white kittel and began to pray with tears, reciting Selichot and heartfelt supplications. It was an intensely emotional scene that left no eye dry, and the entire ghetto burst into tears.

At nine o’clock in the morning on the fast day, Braun, the head of the Gestapo, arrived with his entourage at the house where the Rebbe was staying. Twenty Jews from the ghetto stood ready to sacrifice their lives for the Rebbe, pleading with the Nazi oppressor to kill them instead.

Braun agreed to kill the twenty Jews, but contrary to their request, he ordered that they be executed together with the Rebbe. He commanded the Nazi officers to arrest the twenty men and line them up with the Rebbe in the square in front of the synagogue, facing the wall.

The Nazi oppressor aimed his rifle at the Rebbe, who cried out loudly, “Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad!” Braun shot the Rebbe six times, and the Nazis loaded his body onto a cart and transported it to the cemetery.

The twenty arrested Jews were then forced to dig a large communal grave. After entering the pit, they were all shot by the Nazis.

The Chasam Sofer’s Beginnings: A Day of Hope

For many years, Rabbi Shmuel and Reizel Sofer were childless. After ten years without children, they even considered separation. It is well known that our holy matriarchs were barren because Hashem yearns for the prayers of the righteous. Ultimately, Rabbi Shmuel and Reizel chose to remain together, praying fervently and wholeheartedly to be blessed with children.

The years passed, and Reizel had reached the age of 36. On the 9th of Tevet of that year, a relative of Reizel, Rabbi Zeligman, visited the Sofer home. Rabbi Zeligman was a righteous and holy man who studied Torah wrapped in tallit and tefillin. He informed the Sofers that their prayers had been accepted in Heaven and that Reizel would conceive the following day, after the fast of the 10th of Tevet.

Indeed, on the night following the fast of the 10th of Tevet, Reizel conceived their first son, Moshe, who would become the illustrious Chasam Sofer. Throughout her pregnancy, Reizel prayed that her son would grow to be a great Torah scholar and a true servant of Hashem.

When little Moshe was born, Reizel ensured that he was raised in purity and holiness. Each day, when she accompanied him to the teacher at the cheder, she shielded him so that his eyes would not see anything impure.

Through Reizel’s righteousness, she was blessed with Rabbi Moshe Sofer, known as the Chasam Sofer, named after his work Chidushei Torat Moshe. He went on to become a leading yeshiva head and one of the greatest rabbinic authorities of later generations. In addition to the Chasam Sofer, Reizel was blessed with other children as well.