Reb Yochenen Beck A”H - Part I of II

By Menasche Scharf - Part I

Reb Yochenen Beck A”H- son of Reb Mordechai Elyokim (Getzel Beck) – on his Sh’loshim, 11 Iyar 5778. 

Just days before Pesach, Golders Green lost one of its longstanding Ba’alei Battim, R’ Yochenen Beck Z”L, who lived locally for over four decades. 

R’ Yochenen Beck Z"L

Reb Yochenen was born in Vienna in 1935 and lived in the shadows of the Holocaust as a child refugee, never settling down for prolonged periods of time.  Always on the run, the family outpaced the bloodthirsty soldiers who were everywhere and managed to stay together.  At the tender age of five, young Yochenen walked, ran and hid alongside his parents and older siblings until one day while hiding on a farm in France, three German soldiers appeared and prepared the adult men to be shot in front of the women and children - only to be stopped by a high-ranking general who appeared from nowhere and sent them on their way saying “we could use their muscle power for the war effort”. 

This and other open Nissim were constantly on his mind, as he used to repeat to the younger generation what his Rebbe the previous Belzer Rov - Rabbi Aron ZT”L stated: “every Jewish soul who BeChasdey Hashem was saved during this infamous period had two Malochim (lit. protective angels) at their side”. 

From the Anschluss in 1938 – when Austria was annexed to the German third Reich until the end of the war (when the allied forces marched through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, August 1944), he had trekked through half of western Europe, passing through Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, eventually entering into Switzerland illegally on a snowy Friday night. 

As soon as the tide turned against the barbarian Germans, the family picked up their meagre belongings and headed back to liberated France and arrived to Paris, father, mother and – by now - six children, which was unheard of in those dreadful days.  Understandably, during this harrowing period there was no real schooling to be had for a Jewish boy his age never mind a child in hiding.  Arriving in Paris they started life anew, opening one of the first Mehadrin Kosher restaurants, which became the meeting point for the many refugees who started arriving to the Pletzl from across the continent. 

His father Reb Mordche Elyokim Beck A”H realised that his three boys will need to catch up on their Torah learning, a luxury that was non-existent in the French capital so he took the boys over to London where they enrolled in Torah-true Mosdos: the oldest son R’ Berel Shlit”a currently in Bene Beraq joined the famous Yeshivah in Staines, headed by Rav Weingarten - the Liege Rov ZT”L and our R’ Yochenen and his younger brother R’ Dovid entered the Ahavas Torah boarding school, which was headed Reb Gedalyah Schneider - a son of Rabbi Moshe Schneider ZT”L, where they spent the next couple of years alongside other refugee and local children. 

For Shabbos they occasionally went to Staines to join their eldest brother and were influenced by the warm Chassidic atmosphere that permeated the whole Yeshivah.

During their stay in London, they were privileged to be in the company of the Rebbe’s of Shatz, Stanislav and others who lived or passed through London. 

When they came home for Yomtef, they Davened in the Shuls of Rabbi Rubinstein ZT”L, Rabbi Feder ZT”L and in other Shuls where many of the generation’s Rabbis and Rebbes were Davening. 

Reb Yochenen fondly recalled the days when he joined his father to be in the company of the Gedolim who were passing by, staying or living in Paris.  Amongst them were Reb Itzikel of Psheworsk and his son in law Reb Yankele, whose son YL”T Reb Leibush - the current Psheworsk Rebbe - was amongst his best friends, and later shared a room in Belz Yeshivah in Katamon and kept their friendship until this day.