Memory Lane: Rav Shmuel Hubner

The year was 1942, and in an attic in Nazi-occupied Antwerp sat a talmid chochom... writing Torah—as though the world around him was not engulfed in flames, firm in the belief that tomorrow would come, and thousands of Yidden would yet learn from his work. 

Rav Shmuel Hubner spent these years in hiding engaged in the project to translate Talmud Bavli to English, and would live to print and disseminate these volumes in later years. 

Following his years as a rov in Brownsville, he settled in Boro Park, where he lived for his remaining years. 

Beginnings in Galicia

Rav Shmuel was born to his father, Reb Yekusiel Zalman Chaim Hubner, in Nodvorva, then in eastern Galicia. He learned under Rav Pinchas Halevi Ish-Hurvitz in the yeshiva of Bohorodchany (Brodzhin, a tiny hamlet near Nadvorna), the first organized yeshiva in Galicia. 

When the Nazis came to power, in 1933, the Hubners were living in Berlin, and that is when they immediately returned to Vienna. When Austria was occupied they were able to escape to Belgium, an ordeal that entailed a harrowing journey that only ended well due to great miracles.  

But in 1940, the Germans came there too. The Jews, who had already learned of the true nature of the “labor camps” refused to board the trains. The German soldiers went house to house in search of them, and the Hubners went into hiding. The Red Cross placed their young son into care of a non-Jewish family, while Rav Shmuel and his wife went into hiding. It was 1942, and the war was at its most intense, and with it the danger to their very lives. 

In the Refuge of Torah

In the midst of the terror and the chaos, a most unlikely pairing was made. 

Nesanel Lefkowitz was an extremely wealthy businessman with many government connections, and he dedicated his vast resources to helping his fellow Jews save their lives. 

But this was not enough for him. Believing that better days would come, he sought to have Talmud Bavli translated into Yiddish. While the Germans were combing the streets of Brussels in search of Jews, Lefkowitz was searching for a Torah scholar to bring his project to fruition. 

Upon the advice of one Rabbi Rottenberg who thought Rav Hubner would be a good candidate for this job, the two met clandestinely. Lefkowitz offered to support him and his family in hiding while he sat and wrote. Rav Shmuel prepared a sample of a daf of Gemara, and Mr. Lefkowitz, pleased with the product, offered him the job. 

Despite having few resources, Rav Shmuel got down to work. He sat in attic, writing from morning till night, as the world around him burned. He would produce a few dapim each week, and then bring them to Lefkowitz. Thus, he completed masechtos of Berachos, Bava Metzia, and Bava Kamma during this time. 

Lefkowitz took the manuscript with him to Eretz Yisroel after the liberation, where they would be published years later. In one Gemara, donated to the Ichud Shivat Zion in Tel Aviv, it is inscribed as follows: “An everlasting memorial. This gemara Bava Kamma, translated during the years of the Holocaust, in the era of WWII, under the German occupation, in the year 1942 in Brussels, Belgium, published by the one signed below, in the year 1952… Nesanel Lefkowitz. 

The Hubners finally arrived in New York in the early 1950’s, and Rav Shmuel became the rov of Congregation Ein Yaakov and later Linas Hatzedek, both in Brownsville. He joined rabbinic organizations, where he held leadership positions, and wrote prolifically on Torah and halacha. When the neighborhood deteriorated, they moved to the great Jewish metropolis of Boro Park. 

A Life of Torah 

He would later compile his numerous essays in Torah and halachah into a volume named Nimukei Shmuel. Upon his publication of the sefer, Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, wrote: Haga’on Rav Hubner wrote many responsa on practical halachah in important areas, with great erudition and breadth. Now, he wishes to publish them, and I say that this is a wonderful thing…”  

Thus, Rav Hubner lived his sunset years in Boro Park, completely dedicated to learning, writing, and publishing Torah. The volumes of his Yiddish translation of Talmud Bavli also finally saw the light of day during these Boro Park years. 

He was niftar in the summer of 1983, leaving behind generations of Torah-true descendants and a remarkable story of dedication to Torah.