The Toldos Aharon kehillah is mourning the petirah of one of its most revered elder chassidim, Rav Michoel Brizel z”l, at the age of 86.
Just days ago, Rav Michoel had shared joyous news with his fellow chassidim: the birth of a great-great-grandchild, marking the arrival of a fifth generation.
Rav Michoel, known fondly within the community as a dedicated member of “dem Rebbin’s minyan”—the daily Shacharis minyan held at the main Toldos Aharon beis medrash in Meah Shearim—was a fixture in the Tolsod Aharon beis medrash.
Born on Asarah B’Teves in 1938, he was a son of Rav Pinchos Brizel zt”l, and his mother, Rebbetzin Chana Yuta a”h, who was a daughter of Rav Chaim Hy”d, a dayan in Kleinwardein who was murdered in the Holocaust.
Rav Michoel married Rebbetzin Malka, a daughter of Rav Naftali Rosenfeld zt”l, a renowned askan who founded Bayis Laplaitos, a home for orphans and refugee children in Yerushalayim following World War II.
A lifelong avreich, Rav Michoel devoted himself fully to Torah study and avodas Hashem. His life was marked by simplicity, humility, and an unwavering commitment to his rebbeim—first the Divrei Emunah of Toldos Aharon zt”l and later his successor, the current Toldos Aharon Rebbe, to whom he was deeply attached.
Despite his advanced age, Rav Michoel never wavered in his daily routine of tefillah and learning. He attended the famed – and long – Toldos Aharon minyan each morning and continued his full participation in learning and avodah with the same intensity and hislahavus that characterized him throughout the decades.
Known as an “Ish Meron,” Rav Michoel had a deep, emotional connection to Rashbi, Rabi Shimon bar Yochai. He maintained a regular sleeping spot in the rooms above the tziyon of Rashbi in Meron and would spend extended periods there.
He merited to raise an outstanding family, rich in Torah, avodah, and yiras Shamayim, with descendants spread across the Toldos Aharon and Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok communities.
The levayah is scheduled for this evening, at approximately 9:00 p.m., departing from the Toldos Aharon Beis Medrash on Rechov Meah Shearim. The levayah was delayed to allow the arrival of his only son, the noted baal menagen R’ Chaim Aharon Brizel, who is traveling from the United States.
Yehi zichro boruch.
{Matzav.com Israel}