Rabbi Yitzchak ("Itzik") Isaac Eisenstadt z"l

Photo (c) Dovid Sears

We are saddened to learn of the recent passing of Reb Itzik Eisenstadt, zikhrono livrakha, prominent Modzitzer chassid and also lifelong friend and follower of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. Like his mentor, Reb Itzik had a warm relationship with Breslover Chassidim both in America and Eretz Yisrael -- but he had that kind of relationship with virtually everyone he met. As Rabbi Meir Fund said during his hesped, "Reb Itzik was a friend to every kind of Jew, from the extremely Chassidic to the "yeshivishe" ben Torah, from the religious Zionist to the staunch secularist; he befriended the non-Jew who was exploring Judaism, as well as the non-Jew who had no interest whatever in Judaism. He was a friend to all..."

In Modzitz, he was renowned for his devotion to the Rebbes he knew so well: the Nachalas Dan, zatzal, and his son, the present Rebbe, shlit"a. In the Carlebach community he was familiar to all as Reb Shlomo's frequent traveling companion and also as a repository of Chassidic neginah. He leaves behind a daughter, Mrs. Mishket Glassman of Borough Park, and her family. May he have a "lechtiger Gan Eden" and be a meilitz yosher, an eloquent intercessor, for all Klal Yisrael.