Sholom Schwadron

Sholom Mordechai Hakohen Schwadron (Hebrew: הרב שלום מרדכי הכהן שבדרון‎) (1912–21 December 1997) was a Haredi rabbi and orator. He was known as the "Maggid of Jerusalem" for his fiery, inspirational mussar talks. Some of the stories he told about the character and conduct of Torah leaders and tzadikim of previous generations were incorporated in the "Maggid" series of books by Rabbi Paysach Krohn, whom Schwadron mentored.

Early life

Schwadron was born in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem to Rabbi Yitzchak and Freida Schwadron. His father was formerly the av beis din (head of the rabbinical court) of Khotymyr . He was the son of Rabbi Sholom Mordechai Schwadron, a leading halachic authority known by the Hebrew acronym Maharsham.

This was his father's second marriage. Yitzchak Schwadron was widowed of his first wife, Chaya Leah, in 1898, leaving him with nine children. In 1903 he immigrated to Palestine with four of his children and remarried Freida, who raised the orphans as her own. Yitzchak and Freida Schwadron had six more children together. Their son Sholom, born a year and a half after the death of the Maharsham, was named after his illustrious grandfather.