Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinowicz

Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinowicz
Munkacser Rebbe
Rabbi Baruch Rabinovich (right)
Term	1937–1946
Full name	Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinovich/wicz/wich [var.]
Main work	Binas Nevonim
Born	September 25, 1914 Siedlce, Poland
Died	December 26, 1997 Petah Tikva, Israel
Buried	Petah Tikva, Israel
Dynasty	Munkacs
Predecessor	Chaim Elazar Spira
Successor	Moshe Leib Rabinovich, Yizchok Yakov Rabinovich
Father	Noson Dovid Rabinovich of Parczew
Mother	Yitta Spira of Stryzow
Wife 1	Chaya Frima Rivka daughter of Chaim Elazar Spira
Children 1	Tzvi Nosson Dovid Rabinovich (dec.) Chaim Elazar Rabinovich (dec.) Moshe Leib Rabinovich Yitzchok Yakov Rabinovich Yita Wilamowsky
Wife 2	Yehudis Wallhaus
Children 2	Rachel L'via Grossman (dec.) Meir Betzalel Yair Rabinovich

Grand Rabbi Baruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel Rabinovich, (1914–1997), was born into a distinguished chassidic dynasty, and succeeded to the title Munkacser Rebbe.

According to his sole surviving sibling, Boruch Yehoshua Yerachmiel was born in Russia in 1914 to his parents, Rabbi Nosson Dovid Rabinovich (1868–1930), the Partzever Rebbe, and Yitta Spira. His father was the eldest son of Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov of Biala (1847–1905). His mother was the daughter of Rabbi Moshe Leib Spira of Stryzow (1850–1916), of the Munkacs dynasty. He was engaged to his intended bride at the age of 11. When he was 16, his father-in-law-to-be, Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira of Munkacs, took him on a visit to the Holy Land.

In 1933 Rabbi Boruch married Frima Chaya Rivka, the only daughter of his mother's first cousin, Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira (1872–1937), Munkacser Rebbe and Chief Rabbi of Munkacs, also known as the 'Minchas Elazar'. This union set him on course to succeed his father-in-law as rabbi and 'Admor' of Munkacs. His wedding – attended by some 20-30,000 guests - was one of the grandest and most celebrated chassidic weddings of 1933 and film footage of the wedding, shot by news teams who were there to record the event, was seen widely across the world. It is also searchable on the web site of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and is on display at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City.

Rabbi Boruch's elevation to the position as rav and rebbe of Munkacs in 1937 following the death of his father-in-law was rudely disrupted by the beginning of World War II, when he was unceremoniously deported to Poland. He was miraculously released soon afterwards and he promptly moved with his family from Munkacs to Budapest, where he managed to obtain visas and escape to Palestine. There he endeavoured to rebuild his shattered life but, as well as having to deal with the tragedy of the Holocaust and the deaths and disruption it had caused, his wife - always of frail health - died in April 1945.