When Reb Shmuel Schmelke Rubin (c1840-1901) became a Rebbe in his own right, he employed the spiritual healing powers that he had learned from his maternal grandfather, the Sar Shalom of Belz. His other mentors include his father, Reb Yitzchok Rubin of Brod of the Ropschitz dynasty, and his father-in-law, Reb Yosef Alter Hager of Kosov-Radovitz. Jews throughout the province of Bukovina would converge on Siret, then known as Seret, to be enriched by his blessings and teachings.

By 2007, the original Ohel that housed the graves of  the Rebbe Reb Schmelke and some of his relatives, though quaint and picturesque, was in disrepair. Geder Avos and Oholei Tzadikim then rebuilt the Ohel into a simple but dignified structure that incorporates and preserves the original inscriptions.

The Rebbe Reb Schmelke was the paternal grandfather of Rabbi Moses Josef Rubin, our founder.

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