Yisroel Avrum Portugal ^People

Son of Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal. After the war father and son went to Bucuresti, Romania. The senior Portugal wasarrested several times by the Soviets, who ruled Romania until 1968. In April 1959 the pair were arrested and accused of trea-son. After a big outcry and through the work of Rabbi Menachem Mendel SchneersonRabbi Eliezer Silver of Ohio and other world Jewish figures, United Nations officials facilitated their release. They were released in September 1959, and arrived in the U.S. in August 1960after the U.S State Department offered them U.S. citizenship.Rabbi Portugal lived primarily in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn but spent some time including about half of the Jewish holidays in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where his father lived. He was widely sought after for his blessings and ad- vice. He deprived himself of bodily pleasures by sleeping very little, not sleeping in a bed and eating no more than one meal a day. He was also known for his battles against modernities such as watching television and use of internet.He was a composer of Hasidic songs. He always (except on Shabbat and JewishHolidays) carried with him asmall tape recorder to record any new tune that wouldcome to his mind. He composed thousands of songs. Most of them were forgottenafter they were recorded, but many of them were sung at his tishen, and a handful of them have become classics in the Hasidic community.