Harav Tuvia Blau, a prominent Chabad author, educator, askan, and longtime rov of the Chabad community in Neve Yaakov, Yerushalayim, passed away on 23 Tammuz.

He was 90 years old.

His passing comes just three weeks after the passing of his wife, Rebbetzin Chana Frumat Blau, who passed away on 2 Tammuz.

Rabbi Blau was born in Yerushalayim on 16 Iyar to Rabbi Baruch Yehuda Blau, one of the heads of Pagi in Yerushalayim. He was a grandson of Rabbi Moshe Blau, chairman of Agudas Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel.

Raised in Yerushalayim’s chareidi circles, Rabbi Blau was drawn in his youth to the Chassidishe world, including Belz and Ger, and would attend the tishen of the Gerrer Rebbe, the Beis Yisroel. While learning in Yeshivas Hamasmidim in Yerushalayim, he began drawing close to Chabad through Rabbi Avrohom Leib Klein, a Chabad chossid who stood at the head of the yeshiva.

His connection to Chabad soon spread further in the family, and his brothers, Rabbi Yosef Yisroel Blau and Rabbi Amram Blau, also became close to Chabad.

As a young man, Rabbi Blau was involved in the Chabad Yeshivas Erev activities in the neighborhoods of Yerushalayim, under the leadership of Rabbi Shmuel Elazar Heilperin, rosh yeshiva of Toras Emes. In 5715, he married Chana Frumet, daughter of Rabbi Chaim Uri Rosenberg.

After his marriage, Rabbi Blau became active in spreading the Rebbe’s Torah among the chareidi public in Yerushalayim, working through Tzeirei Agudas Chabad of Yerushalayim. Following a reorganization of the organization, he was appointed to the hanhala together with Rabbi Yehoshafat Alpert and Rabbi Tzvi Eisenbach, and he served in that role for close to 30 years.

He later headed the activities division of Tzeirei Agudas Chabad in Eretz Yisroel, a position to which he was appointed by Rabbi Yisroel Leibov, chairman of Tzach. In that capacity, he was involved in Chabad activities and mivtzoim across Eretz Yisroel.

Rabbi Blau was also among the leading activists in the Vaad L’maan Shleimus Ha’am, where he served as deputy chairman, and was appointed by the Rebbe as a member of the Vaad L’kiyum Hamosdos, headed by Rabbi Azriel Zelig Slonim.

Alongside his public work, Rabbi Blau held leading chinuch positions in Yerushalayim. He was among the founders of the Talmud Torah Toras Emes and Beis Chana, and he was later appointed principal of the Beis Chana girls’ high school. In later years, he served as chairman of Beis Chana in Yerushalayim and as the rov and mashpia of the Chabad community in Neve Yaakov.

In a yechidus in Tishrei 5728, the Rebbe told him, “Every shul must have a shiur Torah on a daily basis. And a shul which has a connection to our Rebbeim is obligated to also have a shiur in Chassidus every day.”

Rabbi Blau was especially known for his literary work and for his role in making the Rebbe’s Torah accessible to the Hebrew-speaking public, particularly to readers from the broader chareidi world.

During his first visit to the Rebbe, he raised the need for Chabad literature that would present Chassidus and the Rebbe’s teachings in a way suited for that audience. The Rebbe told him that if he would take responsibility for the translations, Bit’on Chabad could be renewed. Rabbi Blau accepted the task, and the publication resumed.

During that same visit, after the passing of Rabbi Uriel Zimmer, the Rebbe asked Rabbi Blau to translate the Rebbe’s michtovim kloli’im from Yiddish into Hebrew. He went on to translate many of the Rebbe’s public letters and sichos, as well as other important Chabad works.

Rabbi Blau would later relate that the Rebbe instructed that translations should not be word-for-word, but should convey the content faithfully in the language and style of the intended reader. That approach became one of the defining features of his decades of work in translating and presenting the Rebbe’s Torah.

Rabbi Blau also related how the Rebbe personally guided and encouraged his family. After he once told the Rebbe of his hope to bring his wife and children to spend Tishrei by the Rebbe, the Rebbe told him that the following year would be a Hakhel year and that it would be good for them all to come. When the family came, the Rebbe later told him in yechidus that he wanted to participate in the costs of the trip, and money was given to cover nearly all the travel expenses.

Rabbi Blau developed a special focus on the Rebbe’s approach to Rashi. After publishing an article on the Rebbe’s method in Rashi, he received a directive from the Rebbe, through Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov, to prepare a kuntres on ‘Klalei Rashi.’

After years of work, the first edition of ‘Klalei Rashi’ was published in honor of Yud Alef Nissan. After sending the sefer to the Rebbe, he received a letter of encouragement, in which the Rebbe wrote that the work was not just a collection but a “chochma,” and expressed the hope for a second and third edition. A second edition was indeed published, followed by a greatly expanded third edition containing hundreds of principles drawn from the Rebbe’s sichos on Rashi.

In 5740, Rabbi Blau began writing for Kfar Chabad magazine, where he published a popular series “Da Ma Shetashiv.” Rabbi Binyomin Klein, one of the Rebbe’s mazkirim, related that the Rebbe once described Rabbi Blau’s writing as impactful articles.

He later edited the journal Pardes Chabad for a number of years and continued to publish on Chassidus, minhagei Chabad, and the Rebbe’s Torah.

Rabbi Blau authored and edited numerous seforim and booklets, including “Klalei Rashi,” “Ner L’Meshichi,” “Al Minhagim U’Mekoroseihem,” “Nachal Adanim,” “Igros Chossid,” and the multi-part “Leket U’Perat” series. He also translated many works into Lashon Hakodesh, including “Sefer Hazichronos” and “Sefer Hasichos Toras Shalom.”

He is survived by his children, Mrs. Leah Laufer, Rabbi Peretz Uriel Blau, Mrs. Reizel Shoshana Halperin, Mrs. Sheina Tziporah Wilhelm, Rabbi Baruch Yehuda Blau, Rabbi Yitzchok Blau, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Blau, Mrs. Chana Greenwald, and Mrs. Sarah Karasik, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Yehi zichro baruch.