View source for Meshulam Gross

{{hatnote|"Ateres Tzvi" redirects here. It may also refer to an earlier work by [[Tzvi Hirsh of Zidichov]].}}
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'''Meshulam Fayish Tzvi (Herman) Gross''' or '''Grosz''' ({{langx|he|משולם פייש צבי גראס}}{{ltr}}) (1863–1947) was a businessman, inventor and learned layman, author of two ''[[Sefer (Hebrew)|sefarim]]'' of [[Torah]] novellae, ''Nachlas Tzvi'' and ''Ateres Tzvi''.

==Early life==
Herman Grosz (as his name was then spelled) was born in [[Debrecen]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)|Hungary]], in 1863. Soon after, his family moved to [[Nyírbátor]], where he was raised. His father, Reuven, was engaged in business, possibly as a [[Horse breeding|breeder]] or trader of horses. As a young man, Meshulam reportedly was involved in "breaking" horses for his father.

It is not known which [[yeshiva]]s he attended, although it is believed {{by whom|date=October 2017}} that much of his Torah learning was self acquired. In 1890 he married Leah Billiczer, daughter of Rabbi Amram Yishai Halevi Billiczer, [[Beth din#Officers of a beth din|Av Beth Din]] of [[Szerencs]], Hungary, and a descendant of a long line of rabbis. The family originally came from Spain and reportedly were descendants of Rabbi [[Isaiah Horowitz]] (the ''Shelah HaKadosh'', whose ancestry has been traced to [[Rashi]] and Rabbi [[Yochanan Hasandlar]].

==Religious American businessman==
Gross emigrated to the United States in 1893 and settled in New York's [[Lower East Side]]. After World War I, the family moved to [[Borough Park, Brooklyn]].

After engaging in a variety of business ventures, he settled in the women's blouse business, which, after his retirement, was carried on by his sons into the 1950s. He viewed his business solely as a means of subsistence, for his true passion was Torah. He retired from business at a relatively young age to devote himself to [[Torah study]] and was supported by his sons.

He is remembered as sitting at his desk, in a book-lined study, with a "shivisi" sign in front of him and a number of ''sefarim'' opened before him. He rose many hours before dawn each day to learn and write. He was attentive and meticulous to beautifying religious observance, and paid particular attention to the selection of an [[etrog]], the purchase of a beautiful etrog box, and the decoration of his [[sukkah]], arguably one of the first in the country that had canvas walls. Although his son Moshe was the [[Hazzan|chazan]] of a large [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] [[synagogue]] only a block away, he refrained from going there because the Torah was not read from a central [[Bema#Judaism|bimah]].

==Torah works==
His two ''sefarim'', ''Nachlas Tzvi'' and ''Ateres Tzvi'', contain original Torah thoughts on the [[Chumash (Judaism)|Chumash]]. The profundity of his knowledge of Chumash, [[Nevi'im|Navi]], [[Talmud]], [[Rishonim]] and [[Acharonim]] are readily apparent throughout. He combined an encyclopedic knowledge with an inventive and creative mind to develop highly original and novel interpretations of the Chumash. A student of the [[Zohar]], he had a weekly ''chavrusa'' (learning partnership) to study [[Kabbalah]] with Rabbi [[Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn]], the [[Chabad|Lubavitcher]] [[Rebbe]], and he used this source liberally in his works.

His primary work, ''Nachlas Tzvi'', although not widely known, includes approbations from exceptionally great and famous Torah luminaries, including Rabbi [[Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky (first Dushinsky rebbe)|Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky]], Av Beth Din of the [[Edah HaChareidis]] of Jerusalem;  the [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)|Satmar]] Rebbe, Rabbi [[Joel Teitelbaum|Yoel Teitelbaum]]; Rabbi Nachum Wiedenfeld of Dombrova, Poland (brother of the [[Tchebin (Hasidic dynasty)|Tchebiner]] Rav); and Rabbi [[Avrohom Elyashiv]] (father of Rabbi [[Yosef Shalom Eliashiv]]).

==Inventions==
He invented one of the first vending machines. For a penny it dispensed candy and a fortune card, and a monkey tipped his hat. He also developed a [[Parve#Classification of foods|parve]] shortening made of [[coconut oil]], and a device to keep food from burning.<ref>{{cite patent|url=http://www.google.com/patents?id=xPF4AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract|title=Burner Guard for Cooking Utensils|inventor-first=Herman|inventor-last=Gross|country-code = US|patent-number=2003773|issue-date=1933-07-19}}</ref> Patents were issued for many of his inventions. After World War II began, recognizing that lice was a serious problem for soldiers, he performed scientific experiments with mice, experimental and control groups, and developed a lice repellent which he offered to the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]; they opted, instead, for [[DDT]].

==Death and legacy==
He died on September 20, 1947 (6 [[Cheshvan]] 5708) and was buried in Mount Hebron Cemetery in [[Queens]], [[New York (state)|New York]]. His family offers free copies of ''Nachlas Tzvi'' to anyone who commits to learning from it.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=3243&pgnum=1 ''Sefer Nachlas Tzvi'' online]

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[[Category:1863 births]]
[[Category:1947 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Debrecen]]
[[Category:Hungarian Orthodox Jews]]
[[Category:American Orthodox Jews]]