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m1817
Rabbi Mordechai Eliashberg, son of R. Yosef Rumsisker, was born in Cekiske (Chikishok/Chaikishok), near Kovno, in 1817.
In 1823 (at the age of 6 years old) he attended a Yeshiva and became a disciple of Rabbi Eliahu of Ragula, near Kovno.
In 1826 (at the age of 9 years old) R. Mordechai and his father Yosef went to Slobodka (near Kovno) and stayed at the house of the "Gvir" (a wealthy man) Markil Kadison.
In 1830 (at the age of 13 years old) Rabbi Mordechai married Ester, daughter of Markil Kadison. Rabbi Mordechai and his wife Ester stayed one year in Slobodka together with Makil's family. A year later Markil moved to Kovno.
In 1831 (at the age of 14 years old) R. Mordechai went to Volozhin (now in Byel). R. Mordechai and his friend Naftali Tzvi Berlin (known as Ha' Natziv) both attended the Yeshiva in Volozhin and became diciples of Rabbi Itzchak (Itzale) (1780-1847) ben Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin.
A few years later R. Mordechai and his family left Volozhin and went to Riga, Latvia, where he became a trader of wheats and he also had a shop of perfumes and sweets. Presumably R. Mordechai went to Riga where he had family relatives (a brother or an uncle?). According to my calculation the family stayed in Riga from ca. 1841 to ca. 1850.
From ca. 1851 to ca. 1858 R. Mordechai served as a Rabbi of Ziezmarai (Zezmer).
R. Mordechai and his wife Ester had three (or four) sons and two daughters.
In the 1851 Kaunas Jewish community alphabetical list and in 1868 list of Kaunas military district Jewish families, it is listed that Mordkhel, son of Yosel Eliashberg, had three sons: Itzko Leib ( Ruth's great-grandfather, b. about 1834), Movsha-David (b.about 1835) and Yonathan (b. about 1847). The daughters are not listed. Judging from Hamelitz (#63, 1895) data base, the names of R. Mordechai's sons were: Avraham and Yonothan, and the names of the daughters were: Yocheved-Beila and Sarah Peshil. It should be noted that the name of the son Avraham is not mentioned in the 1851 Kaunas Jewish community or in 1868 list of Kaunas military district Jewish families (was Avraham born after 1868?).
Moreover, the names of Itzko Leib and Movsh-David are not mentioned in Hamelitz (#63, 1895) (not living in Lithuania ot Latvia?).
In 1858 R. Mordechai's wife, Ester, became ill and due to her illness they ruturned to Kovno.
In 1860 Mordechai's wife Ester passed away. R. Mordechai was 43 years old when his wife died and he was left with his youngest son Yonathan who was about 10 years old when his mother died. The other two sons (Itzko-Leib and Movsha-David) and two daughters were already married and lived with their families.
In 1861 (at the age of 44 years old) R. Mordechai married a second wife whose name was M' Hadas, a daughter of Rabbi Leib, Av Bet Din (ABD) of Mikaliskis (Michaelshik), Lith.
In 1862 R. Mordechai, his second wife and his son Yonathan moved to Bauska (near Riga) where he became ABD of Bauska. It is possible that the son Avraham of Lotzin ("Hamelitz #63"; 1895) was born to Mordechai and his second wife in Bauska.
In 1875 Rabbi Mordechai published part of a book "Trumat Yad" that he had written. Mordechai was among the founders of the Orthodox Zionism movement.
Rabbi Mordechai Eliashberg died in Bausk in 1889. There are streets in Tel Aviv and in Jerusalem that were named after him.
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