RABBI YIRMIYAHU AND ELLA LEAH BLAU

From an article written in 2003

My mother's paternal grandfather, Rabbi Yirmiyahu Hacohen Blau, was born in Hungary on the 26th of Tamuz, 1877. His wife, Ella Leah was born in Pozen on the 22nd of Nissan 1888.

My great-grandfather was very learned in both Torah and intellectual matters. He was a teacher of languages in the Talmud Torah School and was very involved in various חםד activities. He excelled in Mitzvos .בין אדם לחברו He made great efforts to raise money for the Mirrer Yeshiva in Poland. At that time in Germany the inflation was very high; sometimes the price of an item could double from one day to the next, making the financial situation very difficult and uncertain. Although he lived on a tight budget himself he was extremely generous with הכנםת אורחים. On Friday night his table was always filled with lonely single people who needed a Shabbos meal. He treated guest with utmost respect and generosity, giving them the most comfortable accommodations he had. On the Seder nights his dining room was packed with needy people who felt wanted and comfortable in his home.

His wife, Ella Leah was a very intelligent, self educated woman with a quiet modest manner about her. She helped out her husband with פרנםה by giving piano lessons and tutoring French. She was a big בעלת חסד and had a very strong love for ארץ ישראל. She would go around from house to house to ask people if they had used clothing to donate. She would then take the clothes home, wash it and pack it into neat packages which she would ship to ארץ ישראל. This was often a humiliating task as she would frequently meet with rudeness and rejection. Nevertheless she persisted.

They had three children: My Zaidy, Horav Moshe Yehuda Hacohen Blau, Shlita, Rivka Marmorstein, who lives in London and a Binyamin Zev, הי"ד. He had fled to Holland before the war but was transported to a concentration camp in Romania, and was then killed by the Nazis, at age 23.

As the Nazis took over Germany, my great grandfather feared that he would share the fate of his brethren. He wrote in a letter which he sent to my Zaidy, who was then in Poland with the Mirrer Yeshiva, "we will soon belong to the "מתי מדבר". This was a concealed way of saying "our end is near". However, Hashem helped and they were able to get British visas, since as a Rabbi and teacher they were able to claim that his services were needed in England. Her sister, Lilly Koppel, with whom they initially stayed, helped them out. Later, both of them taught privately, both Hebrew and English

My great grandfather was Niftar on the 13th of Tishrei, 1946 at the age of 69. His widow then moved to Tel-Aviv to live with her sister. She was Niftar on the 22nd of Nissan, on the day of her birth in 1950.