A champion of the poor and downtrodden, Rav Isaac Shapiro, known as Reb Izel Slonimer, was immensely popular with the Jewish masses but often at loggerheads with his wealthy balebatim. Drifting from one rabbinic post to another, he finally settled in Slonim where he proved himself a powerful foe against the haskala. With a sampling of the sharp quips that earned him the nickname “charif,” Rabbi Wein makes clear just why Reb Izel Slonimer is a rabbinic folk hero.