Why the Rebbe of Bayan?
Many years ago, the Rebbe of Rozhin purchased the right to light the fire in Meron from the rabbis of Safed for full money. The one who would light the fire for many years was the rabbi of Safed, who was one of the followers of Rozhin. Thus, each year a letter and a special "mission letter" would be sent to him regarding the lighting.
The RebbesYou pay. Every year A sum of money for the right to lease the lighting, and a special messenger is appointed for the lighting.
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The first to receive the emissary was the late Rabbi Aharon Brandwin, zt"l, who was also the grandson of the sister of the Grandfather Kadisha of Rozin and lived in Safed. After his passing, the emissary was Rabbi Rafan Zilberman, the rabbi of Safed, who was appointed as the emissary of the old Rebbe of Sedigora, and later as the emissary of Rabbi Yitzhak of Bayan.
After his death, his grandson, the Reverend Rabbi Avraham Leib Silberman, served in the Safed rabbinate for years, and was the emissary of the Rebbe of Bayan-Czernowitz. The Silberman family was closely connected to the Rebbes of Beit Rozhin, especially to the Rebbe of Shtepinashet.
About thirty years ago, Rabbi Zilberman lit the traditional lamp. Years later, it was Rabbi Simcha Kaplan.
The first descendant of the Rozhin family in the light
However, from examining the dates, it becomes clear that more than 70 years have passed since the grandfather Kadisha of Rozhin acquired the right to light the fire, and until one of his descendants actually lit the fire.
From various recently discovered documents, it appears that the Rebbe, Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshil of Kapitsnitz, was the first to participate in the lighting of Meron. In 1916, while he was not yet serving as Rebbe, he decided to visit Eretz Israel. Rabbi Avraham arrived in Eretz Israel during the summer months and participated in the lighting of Meron.
When he returned to his home in Vienna, he immediately went to his cousin, the Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Bayan-Czernowitz, and told him about his exciting experiences from his visit to the Land of Israel, and especially what happened in Meron. He succeeded in moving him so much that he also decided to come to bless the land. Indeed, the following year, 1957, he arrived in the country at the beginning of the month of Iyar, and for the first time, a Rebbe from Bayan lit the lamp. Many descriptions, letters, and photographs remain from that historic visit.
Several years later, in 1933, his brother, the Rebbe of Bayan-Lemberg, immigrated to Israel, and he also lit the candle in Meron. Another brother, who served as Rebbe of Bayan in Leipzig, who immigrated and settled in Tel Aviv, lit the candle in 1959.
The Rebbe, Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo of Bayan, grandfather of the current Rebbe of Bayan, who lived in the United States, lit the lamp only twice - in 1959 and 1962. The Rebbe of Kapitsnitz zt"l visited the Land of Israel several more times, and on behalf of his cousin, the Rebbe of Bayan in the United States, lit the lamp in 1961 and 1968.
The Rebbe, Rabbi Mordechai Shalom Yosef of Sedigora, also lit a fire in one of the years.
In those years when there were no Bayan Rebbes in the country, other Rebbes did not want to light or touch the property belonging to the Bayan Rebbes. For example, the Rebbes of the House of Husiatin, as well as the author of the 'Abir Yaakov' from Sedigora, never agreed to light.
