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Boruch Dayan Hoemes: Reb Meilach Zwiebel, 75, OBM

With sadness we inform you of the passing of Rabbi Elimelech Zwiebel OBM, the much beloved Mashpia in the Chabad Yeshiva in Morristown, New Jersey and one of the leading Chabad scholars. He was 75 years old.

Hailing from a family of Bobover Chassidim in Tel Aviv, Israel, Reb Meilach – as he was affectionately known – as a Bochur went to study in a Chabad Yeshiva in Lod, Israel under the tutelage of Reb Shlomo Chaim Kesselman.

He was among Chabad’s most influential thinkers. He joined the staff of the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, New Jersey some 50 years ago when the Yeshiva was still based in Newark.

In earlier years, Rabbi Zwiebel was one the Rebbe’s Chozrim, which is a group of individuals who initially looked over the discourses of the Rebbe before they went for official editing to the Rebbe himself.

He is one of the major contributors to this generation’s leading works on Chassidic philosophy.

he was a member of the Vaad Rabbonim Lubavitch and served on the editorial board for the production of the Chassidus Mevueres (Chassidus Explained) series.

He is survived by his wife Mrs. Libby (nee Blesofsky) Zweibel and children Moshe Zweibel (Crown Heights), Dina Gurary (Sydney, Australia), Yossi Zweibel (Crown Heights), Zeldy Oster (Los Angeles, CA), Chani Goldberg (Morristown, NJ), Avi Zweibel (Ashland, Oregon) and Mendy Zweibel (Chico, California) along with many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

He is also survived by his siblings Moishe Zweibel (London, England), Devorah Goldberg (Montreal, Canada), Zushe Zweibel (Jerusalem, Israel), Shoshana Plesser (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Sara Halperin (Netanaya, Israel).

The Levaya will take place Monday, 2:00 pm at Shomrei Hadas and passing by 770 at 3:00pm.

Boruch Dayan Hoemes

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9 Comments

  • R' Meilech

    BD”E
    R’ Meilech was chavrusah in yeshivah in Israel with Harav Landau the Ruv of Bnei Brak.
    His parents lost a brilliant child named Chaim Duvid in a bomb attack in Tel Aviv, and they couldn’t get over their loss.
    Until a Rabbi who lived in Tel Aviv, a Ruzhiner einikel called the Shatener Rebbe promised him that he’ll have a son that’ll be known worldwide for his torah!
    Heard the above from his sister in Montreal.

  • a great lose to Chabad and the world !!!!

    one of a kind
    chaval al deabdin VELO mishtakchin
    unlikely he can be replaced
    and such an onov
    one sweet man

    last time i saw him at a chupa – i told him who i was …thinking he hadn’t seen me in 2 decades etc. he says: I know who u r – a student of mine I always remember…so i apologized for thinking he wouldn’t recognize me….he was so sweet.

    may he sit and frabreng with the Rebbe in Gan Eden and very fast down here in 770….

    MBA

  • שלמה נפרסטק

    המשפיע שלעולם חקוק בליבנו
    קשה לכתוב על ר מיילך בלשון עבראבל זוהי המציאות הגענו קבוצה של כמה בחורים ישראליים לישיבה בסוף שנת תשמא ור מיילך קיבל אותנו ודאג לנו בגשמיות וברוחניות כמו אבא מסור ואוהב ןצורת הלימוד וההשפעה עלינו היתה בצורה שאי אפשר לתאר אותה הוא לא נתן אף פעם לבחור להרגיש שקשה לו להבין ענין בחסידות או בניגלה הוא תמיד סיבב את זה והסביר בצורה יותר קלה והעיקר שהבחור לא התבייש ןלפילו אם הי לו הערה הוא תמיד עשה את זה כמו אבא לבן ואני אישית מעיד שאפילו אחרי שהתחתנו הוא תמיד התעניין ובאמת רצה לדעת מה קורה ומה שלום הילדים ואיך מסתדרים עם פרנסה
    חבל על האבידה הגדולה שנעלמה מאיתנו
    תלמידו שלא ישכח אותו לעולם
    שלמה נפרסטק

  • Binyomin Gordon

    BDE. He was a great chossid and a great person. The only one in yeshiva who cared about each and every bochur and had an impact on all of our lives. I am grateful to have known him and the opportunity to have learned from him. He will be greatly missed!

  • Mendy H

    I spent a few years in Morristown and had the merit of learning with him and talking to him dozens of times! This man was a Goan olam yet he was able to sit and talk to is bochurim each on his own level!

    I’ll never forget his list of bochurim that he would call in every few weeks and ask us how we are? What we are learning? He once asked me if I understood a certain tosafos to which I replied yes. After learning that particular tosafos with him he so gently opened my eyes to depth within a tosafos and how you can peel away many layers with a certain approach, all the while making me feel that I understood the tosafos when in reality after learning it with reb meilich I realized I didn’t.

    I never heard him speak loshon hora or idle chatter. It was always about learning or Darchai hachasidus. His שיחת חולין was one of Talmid chochom which was צריכה לימוד.

    When I was reviewing for our basar becholov test we got stuck on a difficult pri Migadim. This was at 10 pm and reb meilich was still there we approached and asked for clarity and all he did was just take a look at the page heard the question and out came a clear and concise answer!

    Most of all he was extremely humble he treated everyone with respect. Perhaps we can say on him what the Gemara says about rabbi yochanan Ben zakai (sukkah 28) ״אמרו עליו שלא הניח מקרא משנה וגמרא מעשה מרכבה והוויות אביי ורבא ״ he truly had knowledge of every area in Torah in a clear and Concise way! He was a סיני ועוקר הרים!

    Any question posed to him in shiur or in private was taken seriously. Every question was always a good one and he always dressed it up to make it even a stronger question. Never did a shame us or shrug off a question or give you that derogatory look.

    He was the definition of a Chossid, yorei shomayim and lamden! The impression he made on us will stay forever!
    חבל על דאבדין ולא משתכחין

  • Hindy & Simcha Lewis, Israel

    What a loss to Chabad worldwide, and to the Yeshiva in particular. Rabbi Zweibel was a brilliant man, much respected by his talmidim and all who knew him.

    Dear Libby, Yossi, Zeldy and Chani, as well as the other family we don’t know personally… we are so sorry. May you only know from simchos.

    Hamokem yenachem eschem b’soch shaar avaylei Tzion v”Yerushalayim.