Shmuel Brudny

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Rabbi

Shmuel Brudny
Rabbi Shmuel Brudny.png
Personal
BornAugust 1915
Smarhon', Russian Empire
present-day Belarus
DiedFebruary 15, 1981
ReligionJudaism
Nationality United States
SpouseRochel Brudny (née Leshinsky)
ChildrenRabbi Elya Brudny
Rabbi Abba Brudny
Basya Ben-Menachem
ParentsRabbi Elya and Basya Brudny
DenominationHaredi Judaism
Alma materMir Yeshiva (Belarus)
PositionMaggid shiur
YeshivaMir Yeshiva (Brooklyn)
BuriedHar HaZeisim
ResidenceBorough Park, Brooklyn, NY

Rabbi Shmuel Brudny was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi in New York in the mid-twentieth century. He served as a maggid shiur in the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn.

Early life[]

Rabbi Brudny was born in August 1915 to Rabbi Elya and Basya Brudny in Smarhon', Russia (now in Belarus), during World War I.[1][2] As a child, he studied in the local cheder before going to study in the Ashminer Yeshiva (a branch of the Novardok Yeshiva), and at the age of fourteen, was accepted into the Rameilles Yeshiva of Vilna, which then under the leadership of Rabbi Shlomo Heiman and Rabbi Meir Bassin.[3] He remained in Rameilles for three years before transferring to the Mir Yeshiva in 1932, where he was referred to as "der iluy fun Smargan" (Yiddish for "the prodigy from Smarhon'). He was therefore given privileged treatment; besides for getting extra money from the rosh yeshiva (yeshiva dean), Rabbi Eliezer Yehudah Finkel, the rosh yeshiva also asked his own son-in-law, Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz, to keep an eye on Shmuel Brudny to make sure he was doing well.[2][3]

World War II[]

During World War II, the yeshiva was forced to flee to Vilna in Lithuania and later had to go into a hiding in the small town of Kėdainiai. With much outside help, notably from Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz as well as Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara, the Mir Yeshiva managed to leave Lithuania before the Nazi occupation and via Russia and Japan, resettled in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. When Rabbi Shlomo Heiman heard about the Mir Yeshiva's escape, he asked if the Smarganer iluy was among them. When he was told that Shmuel was indeed among those who escaped, he declared that he would be "a gadol b'Yisrael (leader of the Jews) one day."[2] During they yeshiva's tenure in Shanghai, Shmuel studied b'chavrusa with Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz and slept in the same room as Rabbi Leib Malin.[3] He was also known for his diligence in his Torah study, which he increased after hearing that most his family had been murdered by the Nazis.[a][2]

After World War II, the yeshiva relocated to the United States.

United States[]

Rabbi Brudny was among the first groups of students of the Mir Yeshiva to arrive in America, and was by default one of the first students in the Mir Yeshiva in the United States, which was founded by Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz and located at first in Far Rockaway, Queens.[3] The yeshiva later moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn and Rabbi Brudny was appointed by Rabbi Kalmanowitz to give one of the most advanced shiurim (classes) in the yeshiva. [4][3]

A short time after his arrival in the United States, Rabbi , the mashgiach ruchani of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, suggested that he'd be a good match for Rochel Leshinsky, a daughter of the Leshinsky family which resided in Williamsburg, Brooklyn but originated in Mir.[4] Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein attended the wedding and recited all seven wedding blessings under the chuppah (wedding canopy).[3]

Maggid shiur[]

Rabbi Brudny gave one of the most advanced shiurim in the yeshiva, second only to the class of Rabbi Efraim Mordechai Ginsburg. Among his first students there were Rabbi Shlomo Brevda and Rabbi Yisrael Kalmanowitz.[4] Later students of his included Yossi Friedman, Rabbi Dovid Trenk and Rabbi Yaakov Bender.[3][5] The shiur was the largest class in the Mir Yeshiva, sometimes with as many as ninety students. During this time, he became known for his patience and sensitivity with his students.[2] He was also known for his humbleness, and despite being one of the heads of the yeshiva, he sat in the back of the beis midrash.[3]

Agudah rabbi[]

In the last few months before his death, Rabbi Brudny served as the rabbi of an Aguda synagogue, today known as Agudas Yisrael Sniff Zichron Shmuel.[6]

Death and legacy[]

Rabbi Brudny died on February 15, 1981.[7] His son, Rabbi Elya Brudny, is currently a maggid shiur in the Mir Yeshiva and serves on the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America.[8] Another son, Rabbi Abba Brudny, served for 25 years as the principal of the Yeshiva Rabbi Jacob Joseph in Edison, New Jersey and later as rosh kollel (kollel head) of the Edison Community Kollel becoming one of the mashgichim of Beth Medrash Govoha.[9] His daughter Basya married Rabbi Menachem Ben-Menachem, a grandson of Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer who serves as the rosh yeshiva of the Tifrach Yeshiva.[3]

Rabbi Eliezer Ginsburg succeeded him as rabbi in the Agudah synagogue.[6]

Notes and references[]

  1. ^ In Orthodox Judaism, learning Torah and doing mitzvot in the memory of a deceased person is believed to elevate their soul in Heaven. This is called l'iluy nishmat. See Hebrew Wikipedia: עילוי נשמה
  1. ^ "Samuel Brudny In U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI)". myheritage.com. MyHeritage. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e Gottlieb, Shaya (February 19, 2021). "Rav Shmuel Brudny Zt"l Upon His Fortieth Yahrtzeit". Yated Ne'eman. 33 (8): 36–40.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Birnbaum, Avrohom (February 18, 2021). "Harav Shmuel Brudny, Zt"l". Flatbush Jewish Journal-FJJ. 12 (7): 110–114. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Borchardt, Faygie (December 15, 2019). "Rebbetzin Brudny Remembers...". Mir Yeshiva Annual Dinner Journal 2019.
  5. ^ Bender, Rav Yaakov (February 19, 2021). "Remembering My Rebbi". Yated Ne'eman. 33 (8): 40.
  6. ^ a b "Bichvodo Uveatzmo, R' Shmuel Brudny, ZT"L". Flatbush Jewish Journal-FJJ. 12 (9): 117. March 4, 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Rav Shmuel Brudny". geni.com. Geni.com. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Rav Elya Brudny". Mishpacha.com. Mishpacha Magazine. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Rav Abba Brudny Appointed as a Mashgiach at BMG". Matzav.com. October 31, 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
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