The chassid whose children distribute Judaism from China to Alaska passed away

Baruch Dayan Haemes: In Bnei Brak died today (Tuesday) the chassid Rabbi Moshe Greenberg z"l, who was director of Chabad in the city for many years.

The deceased was born in the town late at Chisinau. His father was a general chassid, did not belong to a certain chassidus. He learned Torah underground for fear of the Communist regime, until the age of 14 - so his father sent him to study at Yeshivat Tomchei Temimim of Chabad operating in Tashkent.

Aא t the yeshiva he first heard the Lubavitcher Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak zt"l and his dedication for the survival of Judaism in Russia. "I conquered and became a follower of Chabad with all my heart," he recalled.

Testimonies of those days say that the late Rabbi Greenberg took every moment to study Torah. After World War II learned that he can move stealthily through the border from Russia to Poland. He and some friends tried to do so - but he was caught and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

At the labor camp which he was sent to work he found that the only food that is not treif is 500 grams of bread, a dash of sugar and a slice of herring. The prisoners were employed in hard labor under the supervision of guards who supervised the work will be done at the desired pace.

On Shabbos he refused to work. He was sentenced to five days of solitary confinement, and the amount of food dropped by half. The following Thursday he released from solitary confinement and returned to work, but again refused to work on Shabbos and sentenced to solitary confinement for another five days.

This continued for two years until he became ill and was hospitalized. Jews who took pity on him bribed the local commander, and came to an agreement with him that when he left the hospital he will come to the work area on Shabbos, but will not have to work. And so it was.

Many years later he said: "I would come and mutter to myself, "Shabbos, Shabbos, because everyone was working around me and it was easy to forget the sanctity of Shabbos."

For six and a half years he was in prison. After Stalin's death, he was released in the general amnesty. A short time later he married his wife Mrs. Devorah - daughter of Rabbi Aharon Chazan zt"l, one of the majestic figures in Russia, who operated and did much for Judaism.

"My father in law had 13 children and none of them studied on Shabbos. Our children also didn’t go to government schools, and minyanim took place in our home underground."

Miraculously the Greenberg family was able to immigrate to Israel and settle in Bnei Brak, where he established the Chabad Talmud Torah and served as director of Chabad of the city.

He left behind a generation of 17 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Almost all his children and son in laws serve as emissaries of the Rebbe of Lubavitch worldwide.

Rabbi Chaim Greenberg from Beitar, Rabbi Naftali Greenberg from Lod, Rabbi Baruch Greenberg from California, Rabbi Shneur Greenberg from Michigan, Rabbi Avraham Wolf from Odessa, Rabbi Shimon Shaikevitz from Kfar Chabad, Rabbi Benny Wolf of Germany, Rabbi Yisrael Greenberg from Texas, Rabbi Zushe Greenberg from Ohio, Rabbi Yosel Levertov fromTexas, Rabbi Yosef Greenberg from Alaska, Rabbi Shalom Greenberg from China, Rabbi Avraham Greenberg from China, Rabbi Gedaliah Shem Tov - Shluchim Office manager in New York, Rabbi Levi Azimov from France, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kastel from Bnei Brak and Rabbi Shmulik Greenberg from Vancouver, Canada.

The funeral will leave his house tonight at 19:00 on 17 Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim Street in Bnei Brak. All his children managed to get to Israel and were at his bedside at his death.
ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.

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