YWN regrets to inform you of the petira of the Komarna Rebbe of Manhattan, HaRav Yehoshua Safrin zt”l, a distinguished link to the prewar Komarna dynasty and one of the last surviving talmidim of HaRav Reuven Grozovsky zt”l at Bais Medrash Elyon. He was 91.

The Rebbe was niftar over Shabbos, leaving behind a family and a remarkable legacy deeply rooted in the Torah and Chassidic heritage of Komarna.

HaRav Yehoshua was the son of the Komarna Rebbe, HaRav Chaim Yaakov Safrin zt”l, an extraordinary talmid chacham and mekubal who served as the Komarna Rebbe in New York and later in Yerushalayim. HaRav Chaim Yaakov was renowned for his mastery of both nigleh and nistar and helped rebuild the Komarna dynasty following the devastation of the Holocaust.

The Safrin family arrived in the United States in 1938, after HaRav Chaim Yaakov recognized the growing danger facing European Jewry. His chassidim subsequently established Bnei Yaakov Anshei Komarno for him on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

It was in this environment that HaRav Yehoshua grew up, immersed in the distinctive Komarna mesorah of Torah, avodah and Toras hanistar.

The Komarna dynasty traces its roots to HaRav Alexander Sender Safrin and his son, HaRav Yitzchok Eizik Yehuda Yechiel Safrin of Komarna, the famed Heichal Habracha, one of the prominent Chassidic and kabbalistic figures of the 19th century.

HaRav Yehoshua was a son-in-law of Reb Moshe Menachem Razler zt”l.

In addition to carrying on his family’s Komarna mesorah, HaRav Yehoshua played an important role in preserving the Torah of his father. He worked to publish manuscripts left behind by HaRav Chaim Yaakov, including volumes of “Pri Chaim” and “Poras Yosef,” ensuring that his father’s Torah would remain available for future generations.

HaRav Yehoshua also had particularly close ties with Ger and was a major benefactor of Gerrer mosdos. Over the decades, he developed a close relationship with the Gerrer Rebbe and was frequently accorded honors at Gerrer family simchos, including being called upon to recite brachos under the chuppah.

He also devoted significant resources to preserving his father’s legacy in Eretz Yisroel, including renovating and restoring the historic Komarna Bais Medrash on Rechov Malchei Yisrael in Yerushalayim’s Geulah neighborhood.

Those who knew HaRav Yehoshua remembered him as a Yid of an earlier generation, known for his warmth, ready smile and ability to offer an encouraging word to those around him.

His petira marks the loss of another living connection to the generation that established Torah life in America before and after the Holocaust, as well as to nearly nine decades of Komarna history in New York.

The levaya will take place Sunday at 11:00 a.m. at Shomrei Hadas Chapels, 3803 14th Avenue in Boro Park.

Following the New York levaya, the aron is expected to be flown to Eretz Yisroel for kevurah. The family will be sitting shiva in Manhattan.

Yehi zichro baruch.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)