Living Legacy: Rebbe Avrohom Yehoshua Heschel of Skver
Yehuda Alter
The third of Kislev marks the yohrztzeit of the great
tzaddik, Rebbe Avrohom Yehoshua Heschel of Skvyra, the eldest son of Rebbe
Itzik’l of Skver—the founder of the Chassidus—who was the son Rebbe Mordechai
of Chernobyl, a son of the Me’or Einayim, zy”a. His mother was Rebbetzin
Yocheved, a descendant of the Apter Rov and the Zlochiver Maggid.
He was born in the town of Skver in the year 1826, a year
after the passing of his illustrious zeide, the Apter Rov, and he was named for
him.
He was a great tzaddik and kadosh, and a great lamdan who
sat and learned literally day and night with great diligence (his father would
lovingly call him “my wild lamdan,” and testified that his son truly learns
Torah lishmah). Even in his youth, in the lifetime of his father, he was known
for his incredible avodas Hashem, his ahavas Yisroel, and he became known as a
great ba’al mofes who would effect yeshu’os for his fellow Yidden.
The Rebbe once needed to be in Odessa for medical reasons
for an extended period of time. The Yidden there were so enamored by his avodas
Hashem and his great fervor that they became his ardent chassidim. So much so,
that when his father, Rebbe Itzik’l, came to visit, they exclaimed: “Let us go
out and greet the Rebbe’s father!”
As noted, he was a tremendous masmid. He would sit and learn
for hours on end, and this was seen on a fast day, when he would learn from
Shachris until mincha without a break, and purim night, from after the megillah
until Shachris in the morning, without breaking his fast from the previous
day.”
He was also a great ba’al mofes, and his father would send Yidden
whom he could not assure a yeshu’ah to his son, who would bench them, and they
would see great salvation.
In the year 1885, his father Rav Itzik’l left this world, and he was appointed Rebbe in his stead. Out of his tremendous humility, he insisted on leading the chassidus together with his two brothers, Rebbe Dovid and Rebbe Yisroel. He was niftar eighteen months later, leaving behind holy and illustrious children. He was laid to rest in the ohel of his father, in the town of Skver.
