31 Facts About Menachem Ziemba

Rabbi Menachem Ziemba was a distinguished pre-World War II Rabbi, known as a Talmudic genius and prodigy.

Menachem Ziemba is known to be fluent in all of Talmud as well as many of the works of the later Rabbis such as Rabbi Joseph Rosen and Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk.

Menachem Ziemba was gunned down by the Germans in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Rabbi Ziemba was born in Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, in 1883.

Rabbi Menachem Ziemba was brought up in the Gerrer chasidus by his grandfather and remained a loyal chasid his entire life.

Menachem Ziemba maintained a unique correspondence with the Gaon of Rogatchov, a fiery individual not known for his tolerance of mediocrity, nor tolerance of younger students.

At the age of eighteen, Rabbi Menachem Ziemba married the daughter of a wealthy local merchant.

Menachem Ziemba was thus able to learn Torah unhindered for the next twenty years, a time remembered by him as the happiest years of his life.

Menachem Ziemba's fame spread further afield, attracting the attention of Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk and others.

Menachem Ziemba once confided that he authored more than 10,000 pages of Torah novellae during this golden period.

When his father-in-law died, Rabbi Menachem Ziemba found it necessary to help out in the former's store in order to continue supporting his family.

Menachem Ziemba rejected numerous offers to serve as rabbi in many towns and cities, including Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem and Rabbi of Lublin, saying that he had more time to study while working than as a communal rabbi.

However, at the request of his beloved Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Ziemba entered communal affairs.

Menachem Ziemba was appointed the representative of Praga to the Kehilla Council in Warsaw in 1935.

Menachem Ziemba was offered the prestigious position of Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, but turned it down.

Rabbi Menachem Ziemba took an active role in the Agudas Yisroel at an early stage.

At the second Knessia Gedola, Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski agreed to serve as chairman of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah only if Rabbi Menachem Ziemba would continue in his position, while the forty-five-year-old Rabbi Menachem Ziemba felt himself to be too young and sought to stay in the background.

At the third Knessiah Gedolah in 1937 in Marienbad, Austria, which played witness to the last massive gathering of European Orthodoxy before the Holocaust, Rabbi Menachem Ziemba was at the height of his fame.

Menachem Ziemba spoke twice to the full assemblage and each time was greeted with hushed silence and awe.

In January 1943, in a meeting of the Warsaw Jewish leadership, Rabbi Menachem Ziemba proclaimed that traditional martyrdom was no longer an option as a response to German persecution.

Menachem Ziemba stated that "sanctification of the Divine Name" must be done through resistance to the enemy.

Menachem Ziemba set up secret locations for the study of Torah, and at great personal risk, constantly visited these clandestine places to strengthen those who studied there.

Rabbi Menachem Ziemba was one of the few rabbinic leader who called for armed resistance.

Menachem Ziemba redefined traditional martyrdom "Kiddush HaShem" as "Kiddush Ha'Chaim", the sanctification of life.

Rabbi Menachem Ziemba was given two opportunities to escape from the ghetto.

Rabbi Menachem Ziemba established a committee to provide Pesach supplies for the Ghetto inhabitants.

Menachem Ziemba was under constant surveillance by the authorities, and as such, could not become personally involved with the Ghetto underground.

Menachem Ziemba was one of the last three remaining rabbis in the Warsaw Ghetto with Rabbi Shimshon Sztokhamer and Rabbi David Shapiro.

Menachem Ziemba fell to the floor; the others retreated under the ferocious assault.

Menachem Ziemba's body was flown to Israel and after a funeral attended by all the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah and tens of thousands of people, he was finally laid to rest on Har HaMenuchot.

Tens of thousands of pages of works authored by Rabbi Menachem Ziemba were destroyed in the burning of the Warsaw Ghetto.