Ethical Will “Found in the Briefcase of a Tsaddik”, Warsaw, 1845, described in this article. Courtesy of the National Library of Israel:

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Ethical wills are the culmination of a person’s spiritual heritage which he or she wishes to leave to those who stay in the land of the living, and to those who are yet to be born. It is the wisdom of a lifetime passed on to coming generations. Ethical wills are not wills that leave mundane treasures to the family or part out the property to the heirs.

[Ed. Note: This article was originally published in Toledot, The Journal of Jewish Genealogy, Spring 1979, which may be found in the permanent archives of Avotaynu Online at http://adam.learnpress.esy.es/journal-archives]

The April 1979 issue of Hadassah Magazine contained the article “What Will You Leave Your Children?” by Rabbi Jack Riemer which gave a general description of ethical wills. He pointed out that the first ethical wills are found in the Bible, starting with Jacob’s charge to his children at his deathbed as described in Parashat Vayechi (Genesis 49:1-27)

What has this to do with genealogy? Ethical wills, especially those of rabbis and persons of note in Jewish life, were often published by the children of the writer and frequently republished in following generations. In some cases, the publishers would show the names of the sons, occasionally other family members, and might list the descendants who gathered together to republish the will a generation or two later.

Such was the case with an ethical will of special interest to my husband, Alexander Siskind Kohanski. When we were first on the trail of a particular ancestor — known to us only as the Tsadik of Lazday — we knew nothing of an ethical will left by this Lithuanian scholar. We did not even have his name. Our only hint was that my husband had been told by his grandmother that he had been named after her grandfather, who was the youngest son of the Tsadik of Lazday (Lazdijei).

The piety of this Tsadik apparently was a legend known to all in the area and to the generations that came later, though little is recalled in this current generation. Alex remembers his uncle going to pray on the grave of the Tsadik, and even some of the gentiles in the area did the same. But getting more information seemed impossible.

However, the paths one takes in tracking down ancestors are often strange and unexpected. With the assistance of Dr. Neil Rosenstein, author of The Unbroken Chain, pub. 1990 [Ed. Note: as of 2015, the book is being revised], I contacted another person who was also looking for the Tsadik of Lazday. This researcher, Dr. Richard Plotz of Providence, Rhode Island, had some definite information: that the name of the Tsadik was Rabbi Joseph Moses Abraham ben Aryeh, that he died in 1823, and that he had left an ethical will! Dr. Plotz was unable to get to New York just then and wondered if someone could look at the will which, he said, was at the Jewish Division of the New York Public Library in two Hebrew editions: one published in 1845 in Warsaw, and the other in 1910 in New York. (fn 1)

Armed with this information, Alex and I headed for the New York Public Library and were thrilled to find both editions there. But marvel of marvels, the 1910 edition listed, in Hebrew, the names of the Tsadik’s wife, his seven sons, his brother, his wife’s father, his own father, and the names of the son and daughter of his youngest son, Alexander Siskind, my husband’s great-great-grandfather! (fn 2)

The 1910 edition, published in New York with genealogical material.

The 1910 edition also gave the names of the 26 descendants in America who contributed to the new publication. (fn3) The will itself did not contain much genealogical data. Sons-in-law were alluded to but not mentioned by name. However, the will was of immense interest in revealing the personality of this noble ancestor. Undoubtedly, it was felt that his words were worth preserving. The following is a section of the introduction, translated by my husband:

THE ETHICAL WILL that was found in the brief case of the Tsadik, the Rabbi, the great, pious, truthful man, perfectly righteous in his deeds, whose entire behavior was for the sake of heaven. By this will, every creature will understand the purpose of his being created and be mindful of the day when he returns to his dust and may go forth from this world clean, without a blemish or sin, and have the privilege to be among those who return to Him with complete repentance to find proper rest in the light of the world everlasting, and may come there holy and pure, the same as was yearned by the soul of this Tsadik, the pious and famous Joseph Moses Abraham, the memory of the righteous is in life everlasting … speaker of truth and teacher of justice in the holy community of Lazday, as explained in the text. Let the living take this to heart.

Obviously, tradition had been handed down to the 1910 descendants that this was an ancestor to admire and to emulate, as may be seen from the following statement by the publisher:

We who are named below, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the Tsadik, Rabbi Joseph Moses Abraham [Lewinski], of blessed memory, from Lazday, Province of Suwalk in the land of Russia, have consulted with each other and establish a memorial here in the new land for all to whom the name and memory of the Tsadik is dear, so that the “memory” shall not cease even, among their children and so that when l’after generations are born and settled on the soil of this new land, they shall know what this Tsadik of blessed memory has done and accomplished.

Therefore we have found it necessary to publish this Testament which shines forth in the glory of holiness.

This Testament, newly published, will bring together and unite all the Tsadik’s relatives who are scattered in various towns here in America, especially those who have heard the wonderful, heartwarming stories which crown the name of the Tsadik and adorn him with a wreath of glory. Perhaps this will help them not to forget, but know who they are: the issue of a holy seed: so that they may not forsake the pure, lofty principles which the Tsadik, of blessed memory, before he died, had enjoined his descendants to observe; perhaps they will learn a moral lesson to follow their forefather’s example, and to raise the banner of Judaism with pride, as befits an illustrious family, the descendants of the Tsadik, of blessed memory.

These are the words of the publisher, Yair, son of R. Meir Aryeh HaKohen, a native of Lazday.

This statement was followed by the list of the 26 American descendants. (fn 3)

We began to hunt for living relatives who might have information about the connecting links. For instance, we knew that the first of the known Alexander Siskinds (the youngest son of the Tsadik) was the great-great-grandfather of my husband. But which of his two children — Zecharia or Rivkah — was the link? Last names were not yet in common use in that part of the Jewish world. Many Rivkahs are on my husband’s tree, but no Zechariahs are in his direct line. It seemed reasonable to assume, therefore, that his line came through the daughter.

But we were anxious to find the other links and eventually to confirm our assumption. This hunt has led to many interesting friendships among the far-flung cousins, near cousins, and off-the-track-almost-cousins.

At first we turned to our initial contact, Dr. Plotz, and joined him in the search. We checked the microfilm of records of Lazdijei held by the Mormons but without much success. (fn 4)

A more fruitful source was The New York Times obituaries. It turned out that several of the descendants were well enough known to deserve lengthy obituaries. These articles gave the survivors, and a search of Who’s Who in American Jewry editions during the 1920s and 1930s added further information. Thus we tracked down some interesting persons listed in the 1910 Edition of the Tsadik’s ethical will and have met a few of their descendants, some of whom also share traditions in their families regarding the Tsadik.

As the 1910 Edition indicated only the area in Lithuania from which the Tsadik’s descendants originated, but, with a few exceptions, not their American city of residence, the U.S. census of 1900 seemed a futile source. (One of the exceptions was Passaic, New Jersey, where we have been living for the past seven years!) Likewise, last names were not always provided, particularly of the women, so city directories have been of little use.

Nevertheless, one descendant led us to another, so that gradually the picture became filled out. Perhaps the numerous descendants of the 19th century Tsadik, Rabbi Joseph Moses Abraham, may yet find their ties to him and perhaps renew his ethical vision in our own day.

NOTES

 

l The title of both editions is:

Tsaṿaʼah: ha-nimtsa be-tarmilo shel oto tsadiḳ byYosefMosheh Avraham de-ḳ. ḳ. Lauzdey; in English: The Ethical Will [Tzava’uh] that was found in the briefcase of the Tsadik.”

The 1845 Edition can be found online as eBooks-937734 at the website of the National Library of Israel at http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=1079279

2 In translation as follows: In Everlasting Memory — The Rabbi, the Tsadik, our Master Reb Joseph Moses Abraham, son of Reb Aryeh, deceased on the 14th of Iyar, 5583 [1823]. The lady Rivkah, daughter of our Master Reb Zecharyah, the Tsadik’s wife; His son the Rabbi, R’Mordecai; His son the Rabbi, R’Shlomo Zalman; His son the Rabbi, R’Hayim; His son the Rabbi, R’David; His son the Rabbi, R’Eliyahu; His son the Rabbi, R’Yaakov; His son the Rabbi, R’Alexander Siskind; R’Shmuel, son of R’Aryeh, the Tsadik’s brother; R’Zecharyah, son of Rabbi Alexander Siskind; The lady Rivkah, daughter of Rabbi Alexander Siskind.

3 In translation as follows: These are the names of the people who have supported and helped me with financial contributions, so that I could publish this Testament: R’Alexander Siskind son of R’Zecharyah Lewin, a native of Lazday, a great-grandson of the Tsadik, of blessed memory; R’Yair son of R’Meir Aryeh Hakohen, a native of Lazday; R’Abraham son of R’Pesah [Myers], a native of Dushniza District of Lazday; R’Yehudah son of Rabbi Moshe Abraham Goldstein from Suwalk; R’Isaac son of Rabbi Moses Abraham, his brother; R’Abraham Israel son of R’Hayyim, known as Dr. Hymansohn; R’Mordecai Ozer son of R’Abraham Moses from Serheia; Hanna daughter of R’Hayyim from Seini [probably Bluestone]; Rivkah daughter of R’Hayyim from Seini [probably Bluestone]; R’Isser Mend1 son of R’Dov from Pittsburgh, a native of Lazday; His son Moses A. Berman from Pittsburgh, a native of Lazday; R’Shlomo Eliezer son of R’Meir Zvi Abrams from Suvalk; R’Zecharyah son of R’Meir Aryeh Hakohen, a native of Lazday; R’Bezalel Nisan son of RtMeir Aryeh Hakohen; RtYehu- dah son of R’Jacob Bromberg, a native of Passaic, America; The lady Eni Nelle daughter of R’Zecharyah, Passaic; The lady Malka daughter of R’Jacob, Passaic, a native of Lazday; The lady Eigeh daughter of R’Zecharyah Randwit, a native of Lazday; The lady Rachel daughter of R’Meir Aryeh Hakohen, a native of Lazday; Joseph Eliyahu son of R’Fishl Eron from Kalvarija; Dr. Joseph Isaac son of R’Hayyim Bloshtein [Bluestone] from Kalwarija; Aaron Pinhos son of R’Hayyim Bloshtein [Bluest-one] from Kalwarija; The lady Malka daughter of R’Isaac Ezekiel Shklonberg from Kalwarija; The lady Sheine Feigl daughter of R’Zalman Hakohen from Suvalk; R’Abraham Mordecai son of R’Meir Aryeh Hakohen, a native of Lazday; R’David Mordecai son of R’Siskind.

4 Birth, marriage, and death records, 1827- 1854, of Cozdzieje, Poland — now known as Lazdijai, Kaunas, Lithuania — film no. 746,680. [Ed. Note: in the 25 years since this article was published, over 2,500 records from Lazdijei have been indexed by LitvakSIG and can be searched on its website at http://www.litvaksig.org/component/litvaksearch/.]

Selected Bibliography

The reader in search of further specimens of ethical wills is directed to: