Descendants of Gur Rebbe Restore and Honor Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Lomaz's Tomb in Warsaw

This week, descendants and sons-in-law of the Gur Rebbe gathered in Warsaw to mark the restoration of the tomb of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Lomaz, a revered Polish Hasidic leader and grandson of the Kotzk and Radzin Rebbes. The modest ceremony took place at the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Rabbi Lomaz's passing. Known as a righteous figure and a father-in-law to many Polish Rebbes, including the Shafat Emet of Gur and the Divrei Shmuel of Slonim, Rabbi Lomaz's original gravesite was destroyed during the Holocaust and remained lost for decades.

In 1985, the Gur Rebbe initiated a search for his ancestors' graves, but Rabbi Lomaz's tomb was only rediscovered by Rabbi Mendel Tsishinsky, leading to the reconstruction of the ohel (grave structure) in 1989. Twenty years later, further renovations were needed, undertaken by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Morgenstern, a descendant of Rabbi Lomaz. Recently, the ohel's condition deteriorated again, prompting a thorough restoration led by Rabbi Shlomo Kopolovitz, with support from the descendants, including Rabbi Mendel Morgenstern's family from New York, and the Polish Cultural Heritage Foundation under Michał Łaczkowski, facilitated by Warsaw-based Gur Hasid Rabbi Yitzchak Pinchas Etzioni.

The event featured prayers at the ohel, lighting of the eternal flame by Rabbi Nehemia Alter, and a ceremony on the cemetery's main street. Speakers expressed gratitude to the Jewish community of Warsaw, cemetery management, and the foundation for their roles in the project. The Morgenstern family presented a certificate of appreciation to Michał Łaczkowski for his active involvement. Over Shabbat, the descendants and Gur Hasidim also gathered at the historic Gur synagogue in Poland, where participants received a newly published edition of Rabbi Lomaz's work "Zera Emes," sponsored by Rabbi Yosef Aryeh Feldman of Montreal, a descendant of the author.