R. Dovid Meir Rabinowitz (5623-5703) was a chossid of the Rebbe Rashab and Frierdiker Rebbe. In his youth, he was a talmid of R. Peretz Chein and his son R. Dovid Tzvi (Radatz) Chein, the Rabbonim of Chernigov. In 5656 (1896), he moved to the United States and served as a Rov in Boston for almost 50 years.

*

One of the early Lubavitcher Chassidim in America, R. Dovid Meir raised money for the Frierdiker Rebbe’s mosdos in Poland, Eretz Yisrael, and later in the U.S. He merited a very close relationship with the Frierdiker Rebbe, and he received many lengthy letters from him about Lubavitch financial affairs, the Frierdiker Rebbe’s personal health, and matters of askanus in the U.S.

R. Dovid Meir’s son Asher was a well-connected lawyer, and the father and son played a key role in obtaining the visa for the Rebbe to come to America during the war.

*

While visiting the Frierdiker Rebbe in Otvotzk in the summer of 5696, R. Dovid Meir visited the local branch of Tomchei Temimim. R. Yuda Eber described the scene in a letter:

“Last week, we were visited by R. Dovid Meir, his son Peretz and some other guests from America. Without exaggeration, when he entered the zal and saw it filled with 70 senior bochurim learning, he sat down in faint from great emotion. For some time, he could not even get a word out of his mouth. He then visited the younger classes and spent some time there.

“At the goodbye gathering, he stood up and literally began shouting at us, ‘Batlanim that you are! Why are you silent? Do you appreciate the value of these gems here? I never imagined that today there is a Tomchei Temimim yeshiva at such a level!'”