world war i uprooted hundreds of thousands of eastern european jews and decimated established communities. thousands of "shtiebelach" (small houses of prayer and study) in which hasidic youth traditionally learned the customs and lore of their dynasties were destroyed. on lag baomer 1926, rabbi shlomo chanoch hakohen rabinowicz, the fourth radomsker rebbe and a prominent polish hasidic leader, announced his plan to innovate a new trend in hasidic education before a gathering of radomsker hasidim. he declared: