The Letter That Brought a Soul Back to Jerusalem

At the foot of the Prophets’ section on the Mount of Olives stands a simple gravestone. Its inscription reads: “Here lies the magnificent, pious rabbi, who gave generously to the poor, Rabbi Yechezkel Radiner of blessed memory (known in the Holy City as ‘Yechezkel Bachur’), passed away on the 15th of Shevat 5694.

This short message hints at a deep and moving story, a story that connects the poverty of old Jerusalem with the spiritual journey of a wealthy Jew in the Diaspora.

Ephraim Nachman Radiner, Yechezkel’s father, was a devoted student of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter in Kovno. One day, an American businessman visited the yeshiva and was so impressed with young Ephraim Nachman that he chose him as a son-in-law. That’s how the young yeshiva student found himself in America, the land of opportunity. There, he built a successful business and became extremely wealthy through his own hard work.

Later in life, Ephraim Nachman fell seriously ill. With no cure in sight, he decided to travel to the Holy Land to pray at the Kotel, the last remnant of the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple), hoping to awaken divine mercy. During his stay in Jerusalem, he became close to great Torah sages, including Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin and Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger.

Miraculously, Ephraim Nachman recovered. Deeply grateful, he returned to America and continued supporting the Jews of Jerusalem with generous donations. Among other acts of kindness, he gave eighteen thousand rubles to help purchase the land where the “Diskin” orphanage was later built.

When he passed away, his son Yechezkel initially followed his father’s path. He kept mitzvot, supported Torah causes, and sent generous funds to the Jews of Jerusalem. But after marrying a woman from a non-observant family, his path began to shift. Bit by bit, Yechezkel left behind his father’s traditions. He changed his style of dress, moved to a neighborhood where no one knew him, left his synagogue, and slowly cut ties with his spiritual roots. His support for Jerusalem’s poor stopped as well.

In 1914, when World War I broke out, the Jews of Jerusalem faced terrible poverty. Communication with the outside world was cut off, and funds stopped arriving. The heads of several kollels (Torah study groups) joined forces to create a communal soup kitchen called “Beit Lechem V’Teh” (House of Bread and Tea). But they struggled to keep it running.

In desperation, the charity collectors went through old donor lists, hoping someone would come to their aid. One name stood out, Yechezkel Radiner. “What happened to this generous donor, son of a generous donor?” they wondered. No one had an answer.

They wrote an emotional letter describing the painful state of Jerusalem’s poor and the hunger they faced daily. One of the collectors, Rabbi Shlomo Rata, brought the letter to Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger, who had known Ephraim Nachman personally, and asked him to sign it. Then R’ Shlomo traveled to Beirut, where he paid a non-Jewish traveler a generous sum to deliver the letter overseas.

The letter arrived at Yechezkel Radiner’s home on a Shabbat morning. By then, Yechezkel no longer observed Shabbat, and his family was preparing to leave for a theater performance. He picked up the envelope, opened it halfway, and froze when he saw the names of the senders. A deep tremor passed through him. He didn’t continue reading. The envelope lay on the table, unopened, as the hours of Shabbat passed. But inside him, something had already begun to stir.

As soon as Shabbat ended, Yechezkel rushed to read the letter. The opening words alone shook him to the core: “To the honorable rabbi, who gave generously to the poor, Rabbi Yechezkel, son of our beloved friend Ephraim Nachman Radiner of blessed memory…”

He locked himself in his room, sat down heavily, and tears began to flow. The short letter took him a long time to read and each line brought deep sighs and fresh tears. When he reached the names at the bottom, he whispered, “Oh, how many times my father spoke of these righteous men...”

A few months later, a quiet, unknown man arrived in Jerusalem. He brought with him a large sum of money and gave most of it to Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger, asking him to keep his identity secret. That money supported many poor families in the Holy City.

This man, who now lived alone in a dark, poor basement, was none other than Yechezkel Radiner. From that point until his death, he lived a life of simplicity and spiritual repair. He became known by a humble nickname and stayed out of the spotlight. Only a few close to Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger knew his full story, a story of return, sparked by a single letter from Jerusalem. A letter that awakened the heart of a wandering soul.