First a question: Can anyone share the story of why in the family he is known as "Reb Shmayala Chusid"? Surely there were other chassidim in his time. What stood out that lead to that name?
I would like to propose two corrections to his profile: that he dies much later and therefore he was never married to Zlata Deutsch (meaning the Reichman connection is at least one generation further back) since he was still married to Perel Rivka Sicherman, so he could never have been married to Zlata.The Reichman connection via Simon Reichman can be either as a sibling of Reb Shmayala or much older son of Reb Shmayala.
At the high level, what I think happened is that between the original matzeyva and the current one (which is the third), something got lost. I have Reb Shmayala's death record (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS87-9963-3) from 26 Nov. 1878 in the town where his son r' Yehuda was living: Tiszavasvári-Büdszentmihály (aka Semi-hal). I theorize that he died at night, which was
ב' דר"ח כסלו
2nd day or Rosh Chodesh
Which is how I think the 2nd and third matzeyvos came to have
ב' כסלו
The דר"ח got lost.
Today is ב' דר"ח כסלו, his real yahrtzeit.
What do I base this on?
His tombstone shows his date of death as 2 Kislev 5600 which is 9 November 1839. The problem is that numerous records contradict both directly and indirectly this early death. These are:
• Why would Shmaya be buried in Tiszavasvári-Büdszentmihály (aka Semi-hal) in 1839, rather than Sátoraljaújhely? His son Yehuda was only just born and did not live there at birth.
• There is a 4 February 1843 Sátoraljaújhely birth record for Jakab as son of Samuel, three years after his father’s supposed death [For birth, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS87-L9M6-1 : accessed 12 Dec. 2023); Israelitische Kirche [Jewish synagogue], Komitat [county] Zemplén, kirchengemeinde [parish] Sátoraljaújhely, book ISR 417/13, book of births 1841–1846, 1843, p. 16, line 8, Jakob Grünfeld.]
• There is an 1852 marriage of his daughter Fani and her parents are recorded alive with Samuel as a wirtshäuser [innkeeper or restaurant owner], [FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89G7-F9BQ-X : accessed 12 Dec. 2023); Israelitische Kirche [Jewish synagogue], Komitat [county] Zemplén, kirchengemeinde [parish] Sátoraljaújhely, book ISR 417/4, book of marriages 1851–1874, 1852, p. 3, line 25, Weisz to Grünfeld.] living at the same house number (369) in Sátoraljaújhely as shown in the 1869 census cited below
• 1862 marriage of his 20 year-old daughter Mali implies a birth of 1842 (5602), three years after Shmaya supposedly died [FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS87-L1PV : accessed 1 Jan. 2025); Israelitische Kirche [Jewish synagogue], Komitat [county] Zemplén, kirchengemeinde [parish] Sátoraljaújhely, book ISR 417/16, book of marriages 1851–1874, 1862, p. 22, line 216, Perlstein to Grünfeld.] living at the same house number (369) in Sátoraljaújhely as shown in the 1869 census cited below
• 1869 census of his daughter Mali confirms her birth year as 1842 [FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS54-R7YH-J : accessed 1 Jan. 2025), Dámócz (Dámóc), Bodrogkoz, Zemplén, cover page numbered 116, házszám [house no.] 58, family II, lines 1–5 (spans two pages), Marton Perlstein (1839); Mali Grunfeld (1842); Herman (1864); Juli (1866); Samuel (1868)
]
• 1869 census shows both Shmaya (Samuel, born 1794, from Abaúj-Szina, occupation tavern keeper, and he was “haszonbérló”, i.e. he leased the tavern, not owned it) and his wife (Terezia, born 1795, from Zsadány) as still living in Sátoraljaújhely [FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSK8-NZJN-K : accessed 1 Jan. 2025), Sátoraljaújhely, Zemplén, cover page numbered 159, házszám [house no.] 369, family III, lines 1–3, Samuel Grunfeld (1794); Terezia Zicherman (1795).]
• These are the same civil given names (Samuel and Terezia) used in the 1852 marriage of their daughter Fani (cited above)
• A 1877 Sátoraljaújhely death record for his wife Terizia indicates Samuel was still alive, as under the column heading of neve a hátramaradt házastársnak (name of surviving spouse), he is listed, meaning he was alive [FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C955-TQQY-D : accessed 13 Apr. 2023); Israelitische Kirche [Jewish synagogue], Komitat [county] Zemplén, kirchengemeinde [parish] Sátoraljaújhely, book ISR 417/7, book of deaths 1873–1886, 1877, lap. 19, line 26, Samuné Grünfeld / Teréz Sicherman, age 76, born in Zsadány]
• A 1878 (5639) death record for Samuel, age 82, indicates he died in Tiszavasvári-Büdszentmihály (aka Semi-hal), where his son, Juda, was Rabbi. The Heberw conversion is 30 Mar Cheshvan, but if it was after sunset, then 1 Kislev, which in that year was 2nd day of Rosh Chodesh Kislev [ב' דר"ח כסלו], and given the poor condition of the original monument, may have been confused with 2 Kislev [ב' כסלו]. See FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS87-9963-3 : accessed 31 Dec. 2024); Israelitische Kirche [Jewish synagogue], Komitat [county] Szabolcs, kirchengemeinde [parish] Tiszavasvári, book ISR 346/5, book of deaths 1862–1886, 1878, p. 6, line 24, Samuel Grünfeld, inner part of page ripped. An older copy in author’s files, has the page less clear, but intact, with his age of 82.
• 1914 death of Jakab Mesilem (son of Grunfeld Samu and Sichermann Perl Rifke), age 71, implies a birth of 1843 (matching his birth record), three years after his father supposedly died [For death, “Subcarpathia Jewish Deaths,” JewishGen (https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/all/ : accessed 1 Jan. 2025); Khust area deaths 1913–1918, fund 1606, opus 13, delo 320, rec. no. 72-250, Jakab Mesilem Grunfeld of Huszt, age 71, son of Samu and Perl Rifke (Sichermann) Grunfeld, Widower of Regina Heinfeld.]
• Samuel’s son Moshe Avrohom did not name any of his eight children Shmaya. If the reason was because Shmaya died young, something an 1839 death would imply, then Moshe Avrohom’s children (my ggg-gf) should not have named after him either. Yet, five of his children did name after him, mostly a first son:
o Szali Grünfeld and Leopold Friedman named their first son Szami in 1881
o Simon Grünfeld and Pepi Steinmetz named their first son Smeja in 1886
o Lidi Grünfeld and Sámuel Salamon named their first son Zsiga in 1886
o Farkas Grünfeld and Ida Jeremias named a son Shmaya in 1892
o Saul Grünfeld and Léni Günszler named their first son Zsigmond in 1900
o Hani Grünfeld and Leopold Káhán did not have sons
