In Tribute: Rav Yekusiel Yehuda Meislish, The Seagate Rov, zt”l

YS Gold 

Klal Yisroel received the sad news of the passing of Rav Meislish with deep sorrow. The Ruv was a true link to the past, a bridge to the bygone generations of which he was a product, and with his passing, we have lost a remaining paradigm of an old-fashioned godol who lived, led, and inspired with mesirus nefesh and deep yiras Shomayim. 

He left this world Sunday evening at the age of 94 years old. 

He was the son of the Veitzener Rov, Rav Tzvi Hirsch Meislish, zt”l, and was a descendant of great luminaries and Rabbonim from the dynasties of Uhel, Sighet, Sanz, Bobov, and many more. 

The Ruv was born to his father, the Veitzener Ruv, in the town of Veitzen, where his father served as a rov, in the year 1930. He was given the name Yekusiel Yehuda after his illustrious ancestor the Yetev Lev of Sighet. As a bachur, he learned in the yeshiva in Uhel, until the terrible Holocaust came and wiped away the beautiful Jewish life that thrived there. 

He endured the worst gehinom during the war years, spending some years in Auschwitz under the worst imaginable conditions. For this rest of his life, he would give thanks for the incredible miracles that he experienced surviving the inferno—living to establish beautiful generations anew. 

Arriving in America, the ruv lived in Crown Heights at first. He stood out for his chassidishe levush and conduct, never forgetting who he was and from where he came. 

For decades, he served as the rov of Khal Yereim in Sea Gate. There, he inspired so many through his shiurim which were always delivered beautifully, peppered with sipurei tzaddikim and anecdotes from the places and personalities that he saw and remembered. 

In recent years, the ruv was weakened, and Klal Yisroel stormed the Heavens for his refuah sheleimah. Alas, he returned his soul to its Maker Sunday evening, leaving behind an increasingly-orphaned generations which has very few such personalities remaining. 

The ruv leaves behind beautiful generations, among them esteemed Admorim and Rabbonim. 

The Levaye of the Rov zt"l will take place this morning at 10:00am, at the Rav's Shul in Seagate. He will be laid to rest near his parents on the Satmar Beis Hachaim in New Jersey.