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R. Solomon Shapira (1831-1893), founder of the Munkacs dynasty - He was born on the seventh day of Hanukkah, the eldest son of R. Elazar of Lancut. In his youth, he was betrothed to Frimet Rivkah, daughter of R. Yekutiel Shmelke Rubin of Kolomyja, whom he married in Sasov in 1846. He lived there in the home of his father-in-law and eventually became dayan there in 1849. He was ordained by R. Joseph Saul Nathanson of Lvov and R. Mordecai Zeev Ettinger of Cracow. When R. Solomon's father accepted the position of rabbi of Lancut in 1857, R. Solomon succeeded him as rabbi of Strzyzov and was then rabbi in Munkacs. He visited many hasidic rebbes but regarded himself as a disciple of R. Naftali of Ropczyce. During this time he corresponded with many of the great halakhists of Poland and Galicia.
He was concerned about the problems affecting Hungarian Jews, and he was active in the work of the Orthodoxe Landes Kanzlei, the headquarters of Hungarian Orthodox Jewry. On his frequent visits to Budapest, he was in close touch with the leading rabbis, such as R. Simhah Bunem Schreiner, and the lay leader Ignaz Reich. He would observe Tikkun Hatzot every night. He was a great bibliophile and diligently sought old manuscripts and early Hebrew books.
He wrote a number of books: Shem Torah Shem Shlomoh, commentaries on the lesser tractates of the Talmud, and on Psalms; many responsa on halakhic problems. In his will, he expressed the wish none of his works should be published. But his descendants reinterpreted his wishes. He was survived by two sons, R. Tzvi Hirsch and R. Moses Leib of Strzyzov.
R. Menahem Mendel Eichenstein, Admor of Zydaczov (1840-1901)The fifth son of R. Isaac of Zydaczov. He was named after R. Menahem Mendel of Rymanov. He married Friah, the daughter of his teacher R. Hayyim Abraham of Mikolayev, a descendant of Przemyshlan, whom he succeeded as rabbi. From 1884 he was rabbi in Zydaczov. He was a prolific writer who wrote on Talmud, Midrash, and Kabbalah. His work Adam VeHavah VeToldoteihem U'Menahem Tzedek, a kabbalistic commentary, was published in Lvov in 1881. Another work, Menahem Tzedek, a commentary on Sefer Yetzirah, was published in Lvov in 1887. His only son was R. Abraham Hayyim.
R. Barukh Rubin, Admor of Szamosujaar (1864-1936) - Son of R. Meir of Glogov, he was born in Dombrova, Galicia. He married Sarah Shlornze, the daughter of R. Menahem Mendel Eichenstein. He lived with his in-laws in Nikolayev. In 1894, he became rabbi of Brzozdowce, Galicia, and afterward lived in Kolomyja. During the First World War he moved to Gherla, Transylvania, where he lived for eighteen years.
He had a fine hasidic library and was a prolific writer, but all his manuscripts were destroyed in the Holocaust. He is, however, mentioned in the responsa of R. S. Engel and R. A. N. Steinberg. Only one volume survived: She'erit Barukh on the Pentateuch, printed in Or Yishai (New York, 1974). His erudite wife settled in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, where she accepted kvittlech and delivered learned discourses to pious women. She was a frequent visitor to the grave of Rachel. She died on 20 Tishri 1946 and was buried on the Mount of Olives.
Their children were R. Jacob Israel Yeshurun of Szaszregen and R. Meir Joseph of Szamosujaar; the latter's daughter, Mirel Gala, married R. Tzvi Hirsch Kahana of Spinka.
