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 the Nazis were closing in to kill him. Rabbi Yechezkel immersed himself in a frozen mikvah and began praying for his soul and the souls of the Jewish people who were in dire straits. At the community house where the Rebbe was hiding, Jews from Czuzmir gathered to plea for mercy, reciting supplications and Psalms.

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

At nine 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 were prepared to sacrifice their lives for the Rebbe, asking the Nazi oppressor to kill them instead.

(Illustrative Photo: Shutterstock)

Braun agreed to kill the twenty Jews, but contrary to their request, he did so along with the Rebbe. He commanded the Nazi officers to arrest the twenty Jews 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 began to loudly proclaim: "Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad!" Braun shot the Rebbe six times, and the Nazis loaded his body onto a cart headed for the cemetery.

The twenty arrested Jews were forced to dig a large communal grave. They entered the pit, and the Nazis shot them all.

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 considered separation. It is known that our holy and pure matriarchs were barren because Hashem yearns for the prayers of the righteous. Ultimately, Rabbi Shmuel and Reizel decided to stay together, praying fervently from the heart to be blessed with sons.

The years passed, and the poor Reizel was already 36 years old. 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 answered in the heavens and that Reizel would conceive the next day, after the fast of the 10th of Tevet.

Indeed, on the night after the fast of the 10th of Tevet, Reizel conceived their first son, Moshe—the illustrious Chasam Sofer himself. During her pregnancy, Reizel prayed for her son to be a great Torah scholar, a true servant of Hashem.

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

Thanks to Reizel's righteousness, she was blessed with Rabbi Moshe Sofer, known as the 'Chasam Sofer' after his sefer, Chidushei Torat Moshe. The Chasam Sofer became a prominent yeshiva head and one of the greatest rabbinic authorities of recent generations. In addition to the Chasam Sofer, Reizel was blessed with more children.