A newly published brief biography of Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov contained rare pictures from his youth and his 1939 wedding to Ettel Tzerna Schochet.
By Anash.org reporter
A newly published brief biography of Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov contained rare pictures from his youth and his 1939 wedding to Ettel Tzerna Schochet.
The photos show Rabbi Hodakov, who later became the Rebbe’s ‘Chief of Staff‘, as a child, a young activist, and at his wedding when he was 39 years old.
The wedding took place in the month of Adar, 5699 (1939), in Riga. At the time, Rabbi Hodakov was one of the leaders of Tze’irei Agudas Yisroel in Riga, and was the head of the official government-run office for Jewish education for all of Latvia. He stood at the forefront of the fight for Torah observance, using his government position to strengthen Torah learning and observance even in the non-observant community. (The effectiveness of his work can be evidenced by the hatred with which they wrote about him in their newspapers).
His kallah was also involved in chinuch, having taught and directed Mosdos Chinuch in Lithuania, gave shiurim in Yiddishkeit to adults and children in Austria, and was active in the ladies’ organization in Riga.
A certificate from the Yavneh Institute of Lithuania in Kovno dated the 15th of Tamuz 5697 (1937) testifies that for two years she directed a Jewish kindergarten in Ponivesh, for a few years she taught in a school in Kelm, and for three years she was the Judaic principal of the girls’ orphanage in Kovno, where she also taught Limudei Kodesh and Ivrit. The certificate praises her pedagogic skills, her exceptional personality, and her faithful devotion to her holy work that benefited her students and brought joy to their parents.
In one of the photos, Rabbi Hodakov is posing with Rabbi Dov Yehuda Schochet, older brother of the kallah, who later was niskarev to Chabad and the Rebbe through his brother-in-law.
The photos were first printed in a booklet titled ‘Harav Hodakov’, published as an addition to the Pesach edition of the Kfar Chabad magazine. The booklet of 64 pages was authored by author and writer Mendy Cortas, who is working on a full biography of Rabbi Hodakov.
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