Shalom Shakhna de Prhobitsh

Rabbi Sholom Shachne of Prohobisht , also known as Rabbi Sholom the Great (1769 – 1802) was a Ukrainian rabbi and father of Rabbi Yisroel Friedman of Ruzhin.

Biography Sholom was born in Velyki Mezhyrichi to Rabbi Avraham HaMalach, son of Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch (the most prominent disciple of the Baal Shem Tov). He was named after his maternal grandfather, Shalom Shachne of Tortshin. He also claimed descent from the Royal line of David. His father died when he was eight years old. He and his older brother Israel Chaim were sent by their mother to live with their father's friend and grandfather's student, Rabbi Solomon of Karlin, in order for them to be raised in a household that taught them Hasidic values, having chosen the disciple of her father-in-law as the best choice.

When he was young, he married his wife Chava, the daughter of Abraham of Korostychiv and the granddaughter of Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl. He and Chava had four children. Rabbi Yisroel, Avraham, Dov Ber (who died in childhood), and Chaya Ita.

His grandfather-in-law, Menachem, moved to serve as Maggid in the city of Chernobyl, and the role of Maggid in Prohobisht was given to him. As Maggid, he taught students from all over Ukraine, among who was Rabbi Nathan of Breslov, who even mentions Sholom in his writings, Sholom's brother-in-law, Yisrael ben Shlomo Charif, and his son-in-law, Rabbi Aryeh Leib of Bandar, brother of Rabbi Moshe Zvi of Savran. Sholom was considered unique in presentation, wearing fashionable clothes accented with actual gold, and also lived in an expensive house with a manicured garden.

Family tree