Historic! - Torah Innovations Handwritten by Rebbe Yechezkel Panet, Author of Mareh Yechezkel

The ...

Historic! - Torah Innovations Handwritten by Rebbe Yechezkel Panet, Author of Mareh Yechezkel

The author of Mareh Yechezkel, R. Yechezkel Panet (1783-1845), leading disciple of R. Mendeli of Rymanów, in his youth was disciple of R. Baruch Frankel, author of Baruch Ta'am and of the great Prague Torah scholars R. Shmuel Landau and R. Elazar Fleckeles. After his marriage, he moved to Galicia and there became close to R. Mendeli. He is known to have written a letter to his father in 1905 explaining the essence of Chassidism and describing his teacher R. Menachem Mendel of Rymanów. This letter which has seen multiple printings is one of the most significant documents in the history of Chassidism. In 1807, R. Panet was appointed Rabbi of Ustrzyki Dolne and in 1813, he moved to serve in the Tarcal rabbinate in Hungary. In 1823, he was crowned Chief Rabbi of Carlsberg and of all of Transylvania. R. Yechezkel is considered the spiritual father of Transylvanian Jewry which was a spiritual desert until his coming. He brought teachers, shochtim and mikva'ot to the various towns and cities. In 1832, his position as Chief Rabbi of Transylvania was officially recognized by the government and he was given the authority to adjudicate monetary claims.

He was the father of the Chassidic movement in Transylvania. The first printed book of the teachings of Rebbe Mendel of Rymanów is Menachem Zion (Chernivtsi, 1851) containing Chassidic articles which R. Yechezkel heard from his holy teacher. His sons were disciples of the Chatam Sofer although they adhered to Chassidic customs. His eldest, R. Chaim Bezalel Panet was Rabbi of Tăşnad (1803-1874) and his second son R. Menachem Mendel Panet was Rabbi of Dej (Deysh) (1818-1884), ancestor of the Dej (Deyzh) chassidic dynasty.