Iconic Williamsburg: Rav Yehoshua Baumol

He hailed from an illustrious rabbinic family in Galicia, and was a prominent and esteemed rov in Williamsburg of yore. Rav Yehoshua Baumol came to America in 1920, and proceeded to create an oasis of authentic Torah Yiddishkeit among the Jews of America at that time. 

He was a ga’on who corresponded with such illustrious European gedolim as the Rogatchover ga’on and others. We tell his story in the lines below. 

Rav Yehoshua was born in the town of Krościenko (pronounced Kroshtzinka), located about 50 kilometers from the shtetl of Sanz. His father was Rav Nochum, the rov of the town, who was a great ga’on in both the hidden and revealed Torah. Rav Nochum was appointed the rov of Krościenko at the age of nineteen, and he would serve in this capacity for half a century. 

It was in this milieu that Rav Yehoshua was raised, and he spent years learning together with his illustrious father. From there he went over to learn in Tarnów, and became known as the “Torna Iluy.”—despite this being a town filled with accomplished talmidei chachomim. At the tender age of thirteen, he encountered Rav Shmuel Engil of Radomishla who was stunned at the sheer grasp of the young bachur, and immediately granted him semicha. 

When he was a young man of twenty-one, he was invited by Rebbe Yisroel Hager, the Ahavas Yisroel of Viznitz, to serve as the Rosh Yeshiva of the Viznitzer yeshiva. This came after he encountered the young prodigy while on vacation in Szczawnica and was amazed by him. He shaped many talmidim in this capacity, and he was fondly remembered by many Viznitzer talmidim for decades to come. 

Williamsburg 

In 1920, he arrived in America with his Rebbetzin and children, and assumed the pulpit of Adas Yeshurun Anshei Sfard, at 199 South Second Street, one of Williamsburg’s most prominent congregations, situated in an imposing edifice.  

He immediately launched into the communal needs of his fellow Yidden, and around this time he was one of the founders of Agudath Israel of America, serving as its first president. He worked night and day to strengthen Yiddishkeit in America—in particular the state of chinuch in America. 

As we have noted in our article on his nephew and son-in-law, Rav Yosef Mordechai Baumol, the younger Rav Baumol established a full-day Yeshiva in Crown Heights, which shaped countless souls from the Crown Heights neighborhood and beyond. Perhaps this was due to the influence of his father-in-law, Rav Yehoshua, of whom he was an ardent admirer. 

In his droshos and in his meetings, he relentlessly espoused the need for Yidden who—beyond keeping mitzvos—would become talmidei chachomim and yirei Shomayim, quite an unpopular endeavor back in those days. 

But Rav Yehushua was not about making friends, nor did he look to promote himself. He was constantly striving to better the spiritual lot of the Yidden in America. At the same time, he was respectful and loving to everyone. 

Brilliance and Compassion 

In 1934, he published his teshuva sefer, Emek Halachah. In the 1970’s, his aforementioned son-in-law, Rav Yosef Mordechai, republished it, with an introduction that gives a glimpse into the author’s incredible life.   

“He possessed an eidele sense of humor,” he recalled, “always dispensing deep wisdom in all matters. He had the ability to tune out the whole world as he was sitting and learning and writing Torah.” 

“Due to his incredible talents and abilities, he was placed in prominent positions by the Yidden of America of all stripes and denominations. He stood out for his tremendous sharpness and erudition. Anyone who peruses the pages of his seforim will become amazed by the clarity and the revelations that he brings to all matters—and always seeking to conclude the practical implications from each sugyah. 

At the time of his passing, the Morgen Zhournal wrote: Rav Yehoshua Baumol, longtime vice president of Agudas Harabonim and one of the most prominent Rabbinic authorities in America, passed away at his home, 135 Rodney Street. 

When he arrived in America in 1921, he was already renowned as a ga’on in Torah. Already in his youth he gained fame as the ‘Torna Iluy.’ In America, he occupied one of the most prominent positions in the rabbinic world. He was the author of two important halochoh seforim, founder of Agudas Yisroel, president of Vaad Harabonim of Williamsburg, and was in general an oseik b’tzorchei tzibbur b’emunah. The Levaya will take place today at his home, 135 Rodney Street.”