Ish Ha’Elokim Ba La’Ir [“Man of God is Coming to Town”] … Admo”r Chaim Elazar Shapira.

Broadside announcing the impending arrival of the Grand Rebbe R. Chaim Elazar Shapira in Jerusalem. Known for his work ‘Minchas Elazar,’ the fiery leader of Munkatcz Chassidim visited the Land of Israel for some two weeks in the spring of 1930. The main focus of his trip was to meet the Sephardic Kabbalist R. Shlomo Eliezer Alfandari, known as the Sabba Kaddisha. The two rabbis had been in communication since 1925 and accounts state that the Minchas Elazar believed the Sabba Kaddisha to be the Messiah himself. The two met together, alone, on several occasions during R. Shapira’s visit and reportedly spoke about the hastening of the Messianic redemption. However, shortly after their discussions, the aged R. Alfandari passed away. Upon hearing the news, R. Shapira fell into a deep depression, believing that his mission had failed, foiled by the sins of his generation. A detailed account of the trip was published by R. Shapira’s student, Moshe Goldstein and was most recently adapted into English: ‘Journey to Jerusalem’ (Artscroll). For more on R. Shapira’s messianic aspirations, see Motti Inbari’s essay in Kathedra 149 (Tishrei, 2013) pp. 77-104.