1920 - 9th of Kislev 5722/1961
By Rabbi Michoel Seligson
Horav Hachossid Reb Uriel Zimmer
was born in 1920 to Reb Avrohom
and Mrs. Gitel Zimmer in Vienna
Reb Uriel ’s Commitment to
Yiddishkeit
His sister, Mrs. Ruth Prochi recalled:
“In 1934 our family immigrated to
Israel and settled in Haifa. Our father
was offered a position to market farm
products in Ramat Hasharon and
therefore we relocated to Tel-Aviv.
This is where the turn began in the
life of the young Uriel. While studying at the gymnasium in Herzelia,
he learned Chaim Nachman Bialik’s
poem “Hamasmid”. This poem was
about a yeshiva bochur who studied
day and night. Uriel was basically
a curious person and he began
researching what it meant to be a
yeshiva bochur. He visited a yeshiva
in Tel-Aviv and he was touched to
the core of his Nshama. He then
began visiting different yeshivas
and shuls, and interested himself
in the fulfillment of Mitzvos, and
over the course of time he became a
full-fledged religious person.”
“His central problem was the gymnasium, which was a dignified place.
Suddenly Uriel , one of their students, began wearing a yarmulke and
peos. Despite the harassment and
embarrassing comments that Uriel
received from both students and
teachers, he stubbornly maintained
his religious tradition. Uriel stood
out in an obvious manner. When
the graduation picture was taken he
was the only student with a yarmulke
and peos.”
“This new phase stirred up a commotion at home. I remember when our
mother angrily screamed at him to
stop growing peos. Our parents were
concerned with what our friends,
relatives and neighbors would say,
but Uriel’s decision was final. At one
point, our mother threatened to cut
off his peos while he was sleeping. I
do not know if she really meant it but
for a long time he slept with a plastic
that covered his peos.”
“After he completed his secular
studies, he went on to study at the
university in Jerusalem where he
specialized in Asian studies and
languages. At the time he lived in
Meah Sheorim, Jerusalem, where
he became closer to Yiddishkeit
and to the ultra religious group, the
Neturei Karta, and to its leader Reb
Moshe Blau.”
At eighteen, he became engaged to
Miss Raizel Zeidel, who was then
fourteen-years old and one of the
children who had come from Iran
to Israel. Their wedding was to
take place in four years. After they
married they lived in the Shaarei
Chesed neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Mrs. Zimmer was a generous and
a talented person who assisted her
husband in his work.
E d i t o r o f t h e J e r u s a l e m
Newspaper
His sister discussed his work. “I
remember it as vividly as if it just
happened. This was in 1948 during
the battle to take Jerusalem. Uriel
was the editor of the newspaper
“Hakol” and felt a
responsibility to publish, though
there was a battle raging. This was
the only newspaper that was published during the fighting. There was
no electricity and the entire layout
of the paper was done manually.
He would return home with a black
shirt. There was a limited amount of
water at that time and therefore they
were unable to clean his shirts.”
At this time Reb Uriel’s father
became closer to the lifestyle of
Torah and Mitzvos.
Although Reb Uriel conducted himself as a religious Yerushalmi with
all its adherent stringent customs,
he began attending Tanya shiurim
and Chassidish Farbrengens in the
Lubavitch shul in Meah Sheorim,
Jerusalem.
A Visit at the Refugee Camps
At the end of WWII, many Jews
remained in refugee camps throughout Europe, lonely thorns rescued
from a fire. Various organizations
came to their assistance and sent
agents to help them resettle. The
economic condition in Israel did not
permit the dispatch of many such
envoys. Reb Uriel, who had a warm
and sensitive Jewish heart, traveled
to Europe with his own money as
a representative of Agudas Yisroel.
By Hashgacha Protis, he came to a
refugee camp in Poking, Germany
which had a large group of Chabad
chassidim. Reb Uriel, who was
already acquainted with Chabad
Chassidim, rejoiced when he met
this new group of chassidim and
participated in their Farbrengens
and the shiurim of Chassidus.
When he returned to Israel, he
published his impressions of
chassidei Chabad in a number of
religious publications. In many of
his articles he would use the name
“A. Gitel” as a pen name.
His relationship with Chabad
chassidim gave him the encouragement to connect to chassidus
Chabad. On a regular basis he
began participating in shiurim
and farbrengens and in time
learned how to say L’chaim on
vodka. Reb Uriel loved Chabad nigunim that touched the
strings of the Nshama. In 1949,
through his connections, Reb
Uriel assisted with the establishment of Kfar Chabad.
In later years, he served as the secretary of the board that distributed
German reparations to Jewish victims of the Nazi persecution and
concentration camps in WWII.
Reb Uriel Connects to the Rebbe
After the histalkus of the Previous Rebbe in 1950, Reb Uriel was
hesitant to connect to the Rebbe
because of different false rumors
that he heard. It was many years
after his marriage and he did not yet
have any children. He and his wife
came to New York for treatment.
On one occasion, he visited with the
Rebbe in Yechidus and asked many
questions regarding Chabad. The
Rebbe responded to his questions
during a Yechidus which lasted more
than four hours. After the Yechidus
he wrote to a dear friend, “It is not
what we thought or figured. He has
clear answers to all the topics that
are on the agenda.”
As a result of this Yechidus, he
became very close to the Rebbe
and merited many Yechidusen and
numerous letters from the Rebbe.
Reb Uriel lived in Williamsburg,
and when the Rebbe would farbreng at the close of a Yom Tov, he
would immediately travel to Crown
Heights after Yom Tov to at least be
there during the latter part of the
Farbrengen.
In one of his letters he wrote that the
Rebbe had advised him to utilize
his talent in writing and he told the
Rebbe, “I will do what the Rebbe
will instruct me”.
Reb Uriel’s Talents
Over the course of the next ten years,
from 1952 till 1962, with his heart
and soul he was a committed chossid
of the Rebbe. During these years he
worked as a translator in the United
Nations. The many languages that
he knew opened up doors to people
who worked at the U.N., including
the Russian ambassador.
Working for the Rebbe
His talents were also mobilized for
the Rebbe’s holy work. For many
years, he was included in the Rebbe’s
secretariat. Rabbi Leibel Groner
recalled, “He had a talent in writing, speaking and understanding.
He was a linguist and was familiar
with 15 languages, as well as being
a discrete individual. These were
the qualities that were necessary
to work in the secretariat, where he
worked as a translator of the Rebbe’s
correspondence.”
Rabbi Tuvia Blau of Jerusalem
recalled. “The Rebbe wrote annual
messages to the Jewish nation for
the forthcoming Rosh Hashana and
Pesach holidays. The letters would
be translated by Reb Uriel who
transmitted them to Reb Tuvia Blau
to be published in Israeli newspapers
and in centers of Anash.
Rabbi Groner continued. “He spoke
with great excitement. His opinions
were extreme. He considered himself a Chabad chossid but his opinions were the same as the Neturei
Karta. Since he didn’t live in Crown
Heights, he would stay with us over
Shabbos in order to participate in
the Rebbe’s Farbrengens.”
The Rebbe wrote his responses
in Hebrew and Reb Uriel would
translate the letters into the various
languages in which the original
letters to the Rebbe were written.
On one occasion when Reb Uriel
translated a letter into Portuguese
and then showed it to the Rebbe, the
Rebbe made some corrections. For
Reb Uriel this was a total surprise,
since he assumed that the Rebbe did
not read Portuguese.
Multi Functional Tasks
In the late 1950’s, Reb Uriel translated the Tanya in Yiddish, assisted
in preparing the Rebbe’s Sichos
“Likutei Sichos” for publishing,
wrote an essay about Judaism and
Chassidus in Arabic, and an English
booklet on Mezuza. He also participated in the publication of the various Yiddish and English Lubavitch
periodicals. In his last months, he
was instructed by the Rebbe to write
a book about tznius.
Reb Tuvia Blau related that Reb
Uriel, although older than him,
would correspond with him and
sent him his diaries in which he
described the Farbrengens and
Yechidusen with the Rebbe. This
relationship continued for six years.
Reb Tuvia Blau learned then that this
relationship had been initiated at the
personal directive of the Rebbe.
Kiruvim from the Rebbe
From Reb Uriel’s letters we learn
the special kiruvim that he merited
from the Rebbe. Reb Uriel recalled
two experiences. In 1956, at the
farbrengen on the last day of Pesach,
the Rebbe instructed Reb Uriel to
say L’chaim on a full cup. First for
himself and then for the newspaper
“Der Yid” of which Reb Uriel was
an editor.
In Tishrei 5717, prior to the Shabbos
Breishis Farbrengen, Rabbi Hodakov
approached Reb Uriel. He informed
him that when the Rebbe heard
the Gan Israel campers singing
the Jerusalem version of Hoaderes
Vhoemuna - tzu vemen tzu vemen
in Hebrew, English, and other languages, he was delighted. The Rebbe
asked if it was possible for Reb Uriel
who was multilingual, to sing this
nigun with the children in different
languages at the Farbrengen.
Reb Uriel wrote, “You can imagine
how uncomfortable it was for me to
make kuntzen, perform tricks, in the
presence of thousands of people and
the Rebbe Shlita. I had no choice, I
had been commanded. I know how
much you are interested in details.
I can tell you from memory the
languages that we sang in; Hebrew,
English, French, Russian, German,
Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Polish,
Arabic, Turkish, Italian, Dutch and
Hungarian.”
Reb Tuvia Blau characterized Reb
Uriel. “He was a colorful and talented individual. Primarily, he was
very knowledgeable. He was a brilliant person combined with a very
wonderful and sensitive personality.
He was literary in many languages,
as well as being a great Torah scholar.
In his articles he would include
numerous quotes from our sages.
He edited the newspaper for Agudas
Yisroel but his opinions were as
extreme as Satmar chassidim.”
The Rebbe’s Shluchim
In 1949, Reb Uriel was editing the
newspaper “Hakol” and began a
campaign against Zionism. In the
late 1940’s, Reb Uriel needed to relocate to the United States and began
writing for the religious newspapers
connected
to Satmar.
The Satmar
Rebbe did
not always
a g r e e i n
policy with
Lubavitch,
but t he re
were except i o n s . I n
one of his
conversations with
the Satmar
Rebbe, the
Satmar complimented
Lubavitch.
“When I need to send a shochet to
a distant city, I hope and wait to see
him return with his Yiddishkeit
and chassidus intact, but when
the Lubavitcher Rebbe sends his
shluchim to the most distant areas,
not only do they remain G-d fearing
and complete, but they also add
more baalei tshuva to Torah and
Mitzvos.’”
Reb Uriel’s relationship with Chabad did not sit well with some of
his acquaintances. They would ask
him why the Rebbe who was against
the Zionist ideology, did not take
a public stand against Zionism. At
a Yud Tes Kislev Farbrengen, the
Rebbe instructed many chassidim
to say L’chaim. Then he turned to
Reb Uriel and said, “Horav Uriel is
probably now thinking, why I don’t
speak about the topic which he holds
that I need to speak about. Let him
say L’chaim and rinse this down.”
“When I reached the Rebbe he told
me, ‘I wanted to speak about it, but
they don’t allow me.’ He then blessed
me with unusual brochos.”
In 1956, Reb Uriel visited Israel. In
response to Reb Tuvia Blau’s letter to
the Rebbe that there was a potential
for Reb Uriel to spread chassidus
there, the Rebbe wrote “It is my hope
that there be no need for someone
else to urge him to do so. During his
visit, everyone should utilize all the
potentials to spread chassidus not
only in Jerusalem but everywhere
and in all circles.”
The Rebbe instructed Mrs. Zimmer,
to establish contact with Nshei Chabad branches in Israel and through
them, establish chassidus shiurim
in other circles.
At that time, a sharp letter was published in Jerusalem against the study
of chassidus Chabad. The Rebbe sent
Reb Uriel to meet with the leader of
the Neturei Karta, Horav Amram
Blau, with a successful outcome. The
Rebbe wanted to implement chassidus in a practical sense and begin
a new Tanya shiur. When Reb Uriel
returned from Israel and entered
into Yechidus with the Rebbe, the
Rebbe told him to that he wanted a
Chassidus shiur in the Neturei Karta
shul which would be accepted by the
Neturei Karta. A shiur was started
with Rabbi Avrohom Hersh Cohen,
as the maggid shiur.
In addition to the missions to other
circles of Chassidim that the Rebbe
sent Reb Uriel, he was also dispatched
by the Rebbe on various shlichusen,
some of which are known and some
which remain secret. Some related
to the United Nations, and some
were personal contacts with great
Torah personalities. An example of
a mission is when the Rebbe sent
Reb Uriel to verify the curriculum
of the Yeshivas Hamekubolim. To
this date, it is not known what was
the background of his mission to
this yeshiva.
On the list of the Reb Uriel’s shlichusen for the Rebbe, was his membership in the delegation which
visited the White House in support
of chinuch. On another occasion,
he traveled to a distant city in the
United States to inspire the Jewish
residents to Yiddishkeit.
Reb Uriel‘s Mesiras Nefesh
In late 1961 Reb Uriel was already
ill with the disease and was confined
to a wheelchair. One day he received
the news that his father had suffered
a massive stroke and the doctors were
not hopeful. Reb Uriel expressed his
wish to travel to Israel to visit with
his father one last time. After seeing
his father, his family assumed that
he would be returning to the United
States. But Reb Uriel surprisingly
informed them that he was on
the Rebbe’s mission and would be
stopping in Australia and Europe,
visiting different communities.
“You are traveling on a shlichus in
a wheelchair?!” The family could
not comprehend this. But Reb Uriel
remained firm despite all opposition.
Together with his wife he traveled to
Australia and Holland. The trip was
msiras nefesh for him.
With the assistance of the Chabad
representatives in Holland, his mission brought about a great awakening
in many Jews. On his last Shabbos
on this world, Reb Uriel Farbrenged
many hours with his audience. Not
in vain is it inscribed on his matzeva,
“He involved himself in spreading
chassidus with mesiras nefesh.”
On his way back home to United
States, he stopped in London where
he was nifter on Friday, the 9th of
Kislev 5722 at the age of 42. His
resting place is in Enfield, London.
Reb Uriel left no children but left a
great legacy. The Rebbe designated
a person to recite kaddish for Reb
Uriel and many children were named
after him.
His Jerusalem friends who greatly
revered him, eternalized his memory
by naming a shul, a street, Rechov
Ariel and a neighborhood, Shichun
Ariel after him. Bais HaKneset
Chabad in the shechuna of Agudas
Yisroel was built in his name with the
Rebbe’s personal involvement.
After his ptira, Rabbi Wineberg
reflected on Reb Uriel. “Reb Uriel
was a Chossid, a gaon and a talented
person who fought with vigor. When
one met him in person however,
his image was one of modesty and
humility.”
“How symbolic was the day of his
ptira! Reb Uriel was nifter on the
ninth of Kislev, the hilulo of the
Mitteler Rebbe and the eve of his
redemption. People who stood at
this bedside at his last moments
recalled that he was singing the
Mitteler Rebbe’s nigun and then
mentioned that it was the date of
the Mitteler Rebbe’s histalkus and
the eve of his redemption”.
“Here in 770 on that Shabbos morning, the Rebbe instructed that chassidim should sing the nigun Hoaderes
Vhoemuna.”
Reb Tuvia Blau recalled that in
Reb Uriel’s last hours, many times
the call, in which is hidden the true
chassidus, came from his mouth,
“Rebbe! Rebbe!”
Yehi Zichro Boruch!
May Reb Uriel, a legendary Chossid,
who as a young boy totally committed himself to Torah and Mitzvos
on his own despite the opposition
of those around him, who consistently grew and accelerated in the
standards of Torah and Mitzvos,
who utilized his knowledge and
multi-lingual talent to guide people
to Torah and Mitzvos, and merited
to translate the Rebbe’s letters and
teachings to people worldwide, in
addition to being dispatched by
the Rebbe on various missions, and
who with modesty and sensitivity
captured the hearts of many Jews;
inspire us to commit ourselves to
grow and improve, as well as guiding
others by utilizing all our talents, and
fulfilling the missions which we were
given by the Rebbe, and thereby
enhance the entire world and thus
bring the ultimate redemption
We should speedily witness “The
ones who dwell in the dust will
awaken and rejoice” with Horav
Hachossid Reb Uriel Zimmer among
them.
