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Letter by R. Hayyim Meir Hager, Admor of Vishnitz (1888-89-1972), founder of Kiryat Vishnitz. Second son of R. Israel, he was born in Vishnitz. He was ordained by R. Shalom Mordecai of Brzezany. He assisted his father in the yeshivah. In 1905 he married Margalit, the daughter of R. Zeev Twersky of Rotmistrovka. He divided his time between Vishnitz and Wilhowitz. In 1935 he visited the Holy Land, accompanied by his brothers, R. Barukh and Eliezer.
The yeshivah at Vishnitz was closed in 1940 when the Russians occupied the Bukovina. In September 1940 Grosswardein was overrun by the Hungarians, and a ghetto was established. R. Hayyim Meir worked in a labor camp. After the war he returned to Grosswardein and tried to rebuild the shattered community. Frustrated by Communist rule, he left Romania in 1947 and after a short stay in Antwerp, settled in Tel Aviv.
Acquiring thirty dunams of land in Bene Berak in 1949, he established the very first hasidic shikkun since the establishment of the State of Israel. He encouraged his followers to support the Six-Day War, which he called the beginning of the redemption. He was a staunch Agudist and one of the leaders of the Mo'etzet Gedolei HaTorah. He led the way to the polling station at election time. He and his brother R. Barukh issued a proclamation in 1961 urging their followers to vote for the Agudah. He was buried in Zikhron Meir. His discourses are to be found in Imrei Hayyim, published in Bene Berak in 1973. His son R. Moses Joshua succeeded him in Bene Berak, and his other son, R. Mordecai, is the rebbe of Vishnitz in Monsey in New York. His daughter, Hinda, married R. Naftali Hayyim Adler of Netanya. |
