Koson (Hasidic dynasty)

Rabbi Yehosef Rottenberg was born in Halych in 1853 to Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh and Chaya Dreizya Rottenberg.[3] He studied under Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz and Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum of Siget. Rabbi Yehosef married Rebbetzin Sara Yittel, the daughter of Rabbi Meshulim Feish Segal-Lowy I of Tosh and authored the sefer Bnei Shileishem (and is therefore sometimes referred to by its name).[3][1] He settled in Koson in 1897 where he served as rebbe. After his death in 1911, he was succeeded as rebbe in Koson by his son, Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Rottenberg.[1]

Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Rottenberg married Raitze, daughter of Rabbi Asher Yashaya Rubin [YI] of Kolbuszowa, Poland, and authored the sefer Shmuah Tovah.[3] In 1920 however, nine years after assuming the position of rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Shlomo died, and was succeeded by his younger brother (and son-in-law), Rabbi Yisrael Tzvi Rottenberg, known by the name of his sefer, Ohr Moleh.[1]

As Rebbe, the Ohr Moleh established a hasidic yeshiva, Yeshiva Ateres Tzvi, in Koson that attracted over a hundred students from throughout the region who came to study Torah for a year or more.[2][1] For the Yamim Tovim, many more chassidim would come to Koson to be with the rebbe.[2] During World War II in 1944, the entire Jewish community of Koson was taken to the Beregszasz brick factory in nearby Berehove, and soon after, they were deported to Auschwitz.[2] The Ohr Moleh and all his children, save for one son-in-law, perished there.[1]

The Koson community came under the spotlight when an anti-Semitic machete attack occurred on Hanukkah, December 28, 2019, in the home of Rabbi Chaim Leibish Rottenberg, the Kossoner Rebbe of Monsey, New York. After the attack, Then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, standing outside Rabbi Rottenberg's home, "This is an intolerant time in our country. We see anger. We see hatred exploding. It is an American cancer on the body politic."[5] Then-President Donald Trump called the attack "horrific" and said that "we must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism."[6]

Rabbi Meir Yehosef Rottenberg, a son of Rabbi Menachem Yisrael Rottenberg, served as Kossoner Rebbe in Borough Park, Brooklyn before relocating his congregation to Linden, New Jersey. Although the community had started out very small, it grew quickly and currently includes families living in nearby Roselle, Cranford, Clark, and Rahway. After the opening of the Kosonner congregation, other Hasidic communities sprouted in Linden as well, including Bobov, Rachmastrivka, Pupa, and Satmar communities.[7]

Rabbi Asher Yeshayahu Rottenberg of Koson (left) with his son-in-law, Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Schick of Breslov

The son of the Shmuah Tovah, Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Rottenberg (also the first cousin of Rabbi Pinchas Shalom Rottenberg, Kosoner Rebbe of New York), served as a rabbi in Debrecen. He later emigrated to New York, where he became recognized as the Kozova Rebbe[8] and in 1961, to Bnei Brak, Israel. His son, Rabbi Asher Rottenberg, continued the Kosoner dynasty in Bnei Brak[1] (two of his other sons, Rabbis Yechiel Mechel and Chaim Shlomo Rottenberg, succeeded him as Kozova Rebbe).[8]