One of the greatest Geonim and Poskim of the last generation, R' Meshulam Roth z"tl, was most modest in his ways and avoided any form of public notice.
R' Meshulam was born in 1875 in Horodanka, located in Eastern Galicia. As a young child, his name became legendary among the great rabbonim of the time. For example, when the greatest of that era - R' Avrohom Mendel Steinberg - Rav of Brod, R' Meir Arik - Rav of Butshatz, and R' Yosef Engel - head of the Bais Din in Cracow - would meet together, they would speak of the "genius of Horodanka"; about his breadth of knowledge and sharp insights. And this genius, Meshulam, was only 12 years old at the time! Once the great and famous Rav of Zalishitziki, R' Leibel Berenfeld, tested Meshulam. He said of him: "This child can be compared to one who not only reviews the mishna 101 times, but reviews it 1,001 times. That is how well-arranged the mishna is in Meshulam!"
When he was only 12 years old, the rich and famous R' Shimon Steinholtz took him as a husband for his daughter. R' Meshulam's father in law committed to support R' Meshulam for his entire life, thus allowing him to devote himself to learning Torah without any financial concerns. Both the kallah's and chosson's families agreed that until the wedding, R' Meshulam would learn under R' Meir Arik, who became his primary Rebbi and from whom he learned most of his knowledge. (R' Meshulam's teachers in Talmud and halachah also included: R' Yaakov Weidenfeld - rabbi of Grimaylov and father of the Tschebiner Rav, R' Dov Berish Weidenfeld; R' Avraham Mendel Steinberg - rabbi of Brody; and R' Yehuda Modern of Sighet, from whom he gained a strong attachment to the works of the Chatam Sofer.)
During the time period between his engagement and marriage, R' Meshulam once visited Tshort'kov. At the time one of the wealthiest men of Russia was visiting there. When this man heard how the Tshort'kov'er chassidim were praising R' Meshulam, he approached R' Shimon Steinholtz and offered to pay him ten thousand rubles to "buy" R' Meshulam as a "chosson" for his own daughter. R' Shimon rejected his offer saying, "All the wealthy men in Russia put together would not be able to pay me the worth of such a chosson."
Whenever he learned a sefer, the contents would remain in this memory forever. Even when he was young, he was knowledgeable in many branches of the Torah, i.e. the philosophy of the Kuzari, and the difficult words of the Ibn Ezra.
At only 25 he became the Rav of Chorost'kov, where he spread Torah and established a yeshiva that became known for its carefully planned program of learning . R' Meir Shapira of Lublin asked R' Meshulam to share his program of learning with him to use in the Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin. When Poland gained independence, R' Meshulam was chosen as a member of the Polish Sejm, where he defended the rights of the Jewish people.
R' Meshulam's study of kabbalah led him to see the developing Zionist movement as a harbinger of messianic times. He held to this view strongly, and even when he was offered some of Galicia's most prestigious rabbinic positions on the condition he renounce his views (or, at least, keep them to himself), he refused to abandon his beliefs.
After serving as Rav in Chorost'kov for 30 years, R' Meshulam became Rav of Shatz, and finally Rav of Tchernovitz - where he served until the outbreak of WWII. Only through a miracle was he saved. He went up to Eretz Yisroel in 1944 when he was 70 years old. The greatest of Yerushalayim came out to greet R' Meshulam. R' Herzog, Chief Rav of Israel, would bring every difficulty to R' Meshulam and would rely on his halachic decisions. R' Herzog would say, "If R' Meshulam will decide on a halacha, I will agree to it with both hands, for every one of his halachic decisions is like from the early codifiers of halacha upon whose foundations all halacha rests."
From the manuscripts left to him of his halachic decisions after the war, he published his two-volume sefer "Kol Me'vasr". Most of his writings "Raglei Me'vasser" on Rambam and "Me'vaseres Yerushalayim" on Talmud Yerushalmi, were lost during his tumultuous escape from Europe.
He merited to live 18 years in Eretz Yisroel, until his petirah at 88 years of age. He was buried in the section of Rabbonim in the Sanhedria cemetery in Yerushalayim. The yahrzeit of R' Meshulam Roth z"tl is on 16 Kislev (1963). May his merit protect us.
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