Jerusalem Synagogue Victim Descended From Storied Dynasty of Hasidic World

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Joseph Berger

Ultra-Orthodox Jews mourned during a eulogy ceremony before the funeral of the rabbi
Moshe Twersky on Tuesday in Jerusalem. Credit Abir Sultan/European Pressphoto Agency

ISRAEL---Rabbi Moshe Twersky, one of the four men killed on Tuesday at a Jerusalem synagogue, was a descendant of one of the oldest Hasidic dynasties of Europe — the Twerskys. He was also someone who bridged the three great traditions of the Orthodox world — the Hasidic branch, emphasizing fervor in the performance of the commandments; the Yeshivish branch, emphasizing learning; and modern Orthodoxy, with its emphasis on engagement in the modern world. Rabbi Twersky was the grandson of a Hasidic grand rabbi, Rabbi Meshullam Twersky, the Tolner rebbe of Boston, who settled in the United States two decades before the end of World War II, the period after which most European Hasidim immigrated to the United States. [link]