tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-341747502024-02-20T01:26:59.595-08:00Torah BiographiesReprints of Biographies of well-known and some lesser known Torah Giants.
Thease articles were printed originally in the Yated Neeman and authored by Rabbi Mordechai KamenetzkyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34174750.post-6161095653904844812008-12-30T17:26:00.000-08:002020-04-30T15:07:00.729-07:00Majesty of Man<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols2/rav_pam.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 221px;" src="http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols2/rav_pam.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /> RAV AVROHOM YAAKOV HACOHEIN PAM ZT"L<br /><br />By RABBI MORDECHAI KAMENETSKY<br /><br />Rav Pam. The very mention of his name evokes an image of majestic presence, of an aura that enveloped one and all with a mixture of love and awe and then love again. Who can ever forget his vast wisdom, his awe inspiring gentleness and the unending patience that so successfully served as his vehicles for transmitting his message of unwavering commitment to Torah and Klal Yisroel. His constant words of Mussar and chizuk gave us renewed strength to perform as we know we should, "because" they came from a heart that Rav Pam couldn't help but wear on his sleeve; "because" the soft spoken humility with which they were said somehow highlighted the roaring strength from where they emanated; "because" they were "durch'gevaikt" saturated with love. "Tocho rotzuf ahava."<br /><br />We all know that any and every attempt to capture this giant's greatness in an article will fail to do him justice.<br /><br />How do you capture the essence of an elderly man, stricken with a devastating and ultimately fatal disease, who insists on attending a fund raising event, having to be brought by ambulance and stretcher? With every last ounce of his failing strength he dressed in bigdei Shabbos and left his home for the sake of ten thousand children he had never seen with his eyes but had touched with his heart and soul.<br /><br />How do you write believable stories of a man who would cry bitter tears when hearing the plight of individuals in need? How does one convey the essence of a person whose mesiras nefesh for Torah transcended the constraints of his aged and stricken body, a man whose ruchniyus extended light years beyond his gashmiyus?<br /><br />No one who was privileged to meet him will ever forget the warm smile that sparkled for every yid, strong or weak, rich or poor, observant or searching to find the correct derech. Ashrei Ayin Ruasah Zos.<br /><br />Rav Pam asked that no hespedim be delivered at the levaya. How can one write even the briefest history of this Gadol HaDor without every word being filled with the praise he so desperately shunned?<br /><br />The premise of this undertaking is based on the tradition established by Rav Chaim Berlin when he overruled an identical request made by Rav Itzel Peterburger in his last will and testament. Rav Berlin relied on the distinction the posuk makes between "hesped" (relating the niftar's praises) and "b'chi" (crying for our own loss). The Mishna in Avos often uses the phrase: "hu haya omer" (he used to say). Mefarshim understand this not as being a record of an often repeated verbal statement but as a message, a lesson that the Tanna taught by his very essence, "Mitten gantzen zich", with every fiber of his being.<br /><br />Klal Yisroel weeps because it no longer has this Gadol baTorah to teach us by his example "kulo omer kavod." Our words, our "b'chi" is merely an attempt to gather morsels of "seudas havra'ah", a small fraction of those "hu haya omer's" so that those lessons of Rav Pam will never be forgotten.<br /><br />In the words of the Novominsker Rebbe at the Shuvu Dinner held in Rav Pam's honor, this past February,<br /><br />"Chessed v'emes nifgashu; tzedek v'sholom nashaku. The fusion of truth and unbounded chesed, of clear vision and Ahavas Hasholom, have made the Rosh Yeshiva to all of us a paradigm of an ish Tzadik whose heart ticks only with the rhythm of the sacred midos contained in the mitzvah of V' halachta b'drachav".<br /><br />His unending concern for Jewish children and their right to receive a true Torah chinuch, his fiery forcefulness against any perversion of emes, his meticulous approach to time and its use, his empowering B'nai Torah to realize both their potential and their responsibilities will remain ingrained in the spirit of an orphaned community.<br /><br />Roots of Holiness<br /><br />Rav Avraham Yaakov HaCohen Pam was born in Tamuz 5673 (1913) in the city of Vidz, Lithuania.<br /><br />His father Rav Meir, was a Gaon in Torah whose entire life evolved around limud HaTorah.<br /><br />Rav Pam often told his talmidim and especially his grandson R' Meir, who is named after his great grandfather, that Rav Meir never stopped learning in order to go to sleep. He would concentrate on either a Ketzos or Reb Akiva Eiger until finally dozing off to the strains of their svaros, often waking up in the middle of the night to find the seforim still lying open beside him.<br /><br />Rav Meir Pam was renown for his fiery pilpul chaveirim, and the Torah friendships he forged that impacted his life and that of his talmidim.<br /><br />As a bochur Rav Meir learned in Yeshivas Slabodka. He was a prominent member of the chabura and his hasmada was legendary. One story that Rav Pam told was how Shabbos in Slobodka saw a twenty four hour hasmada vigil. The Yeshiva was divided in to two halves to ensure a continuous 'kol Torah' in the Bais Medrash. The first group would learn until the middle of the night, eating the Seuda upon their return to their stanzia at midnight. The second group resumed where the first had left off, beginning to learn at midnight and extending their limud until well into the Shabbos day.<br /><br />Rav Meir was in the first chaburah, a fact he often impressed upon his young son. He told of when the Rav of Vidz once came to visit him in Slobodka and wept with compassion when he joined Rav Meir for the midnight Shabbos Seudah and saw that it was merely a bowl of beans. It was this message of mesiras nefesh that was so deeply absorbed by his son, the future Manhig Hador.<br /><br />Later, Rav Meir learned in Telshe and in the Chofetz Chaim's Kollel Kodshim together with Rav Elchonon Wasserman, and Rav Yosef Kahaneman, the Ponovezer Rav. Rav Kahaneman later served as Rav of Vidz and established a yeshiva there. He invited Rav Meir Pam to serve as a Rosh Yeshiva together with Rav Eliyahu Dushnitzer.<br /><br />Rav Meir was married to Rachel Leah, the daughter of Rav Shimon Dov Analek, the Shedlitzer Rav and a Talmid muvhak of Rav Eizel Charif. Born in 1848, Rav Shimon Dov was of dark complexion and, as a young man, his beloved rebbe, would affectionately call him, the Shvartze Iluy.<br /><br />Rav Shimon Dov was also the father in law of the Rav of Nadajin, Rav Laizer, a son of Rav Naftali Amsterdam. He was the mechaber of the Sefer Orach Mishpat, among other numerous seforim that were lost in the Warsaw Ghetto's destruction.<br /><br />Rav Pam's zaide, Rav Shimon Dov, served as the Rav of Tiktin and later in the Chassidic community of Shedlitz. Rav Shimon was of Lithuanian origin, and though his minhagim differed from those of his kehilla, he made every effort to afford kovod to the members of the kehilla and their customs.<br /><br />Rav Pam's tremendous respect for all Yidden and Minhagim were surely ingrained from the extreme sensitivity and pure midos of his forebears. Once during a Friday shmuez on Parshas Vaierah, Rav Pam expounded on Moshe Rabbeinu saying, "It is not proper for us to offer the god of the Egyptians before their eyes will they not stone us?" (Shmos 8:21 22). Rav Pam asked, "Was Moshe afraid that the Mitzriyim would harm the Yidden? This occurred after four makkos where the Yad Hashem had clearly and decisively ruled out any such concerns. Surely Moshe did not fear them!"<br /><br />Rav Pam quoted the Chasam Sofer as saying, "True the Mitzriyim would be powerless, but their pain in wanting to stop the Yidden and their inability to do so, would bring additional, unwarranted pain upon the Mitzriyim, perhaps even more distress than Hashem had planned for them, at this point."<br /><br />He cited his zaide's custom in Shedlitz, explaining that though Rav Shimon Dov himself ate gebrokts,on Pesach, he made sure to eat it in private so as not to offend those who didn't. Rav Pam contrasted that humble approach to that of a previous Rav in that town, who felt that gebrokts had no halachic basis and was a totally unnecessary stringency that detracted from the joy of Yom Tov. That Rav would put his knaidlach in the windows to show one and all that the Rav ate gebrokts.<br /><br />He cited another example of his zaide's tremendous appreciation and esteem towards the feelings of another Yid's minhag.<br /><br />One Pesach a man came to Ray Shimon Dov with a little package. It was wrapped in layers of paper. The man removed one layer, and then another and a third. Finally, the man got to the problem. He took out a piece of dampened matzo. "What is the problem?' asked the Rav. 'Rebbe,' replied the man in distress, the matzo fell in the hot soup and I want to know if now the bowl, the spoon and the soup have become treif?'<br /><br />Rav Shimon Dov looked at him and said, "My friend, only Chometz is forbidden on Pesach even in minute amounts, but matzo is not. You do not have to kasher the bowl and spoon.''<br /><br />Rav Pam noted the gentleness of this answer and how easy it would have been to respond otherwise in ways that could have been hurtful<br /><br />Another potent force in molding Rav Pam's fervent hashkafa was that of his mother, Rebbetzin Rachel Leah. A melumedes extraordinaire, she was proficient in the entire Tanach and infused the words of the Shoftim and Nevi'im into her every sentence. Her mussar was quotes from Mishlei and her words of consolation were those of Yirmiyahu and Yeshayahu. In fact, Rav Pam would often turn to those Divrei Nevi'im for a source of chizuk in times of despair.<br /><br />The Pam family had a set of Tanach with the commentary of the Malbim in their home in Europe. It was a rare and precious item and young Reb Avraham Yaakov seized the opportunity to learn Tanach and Malbim at every opportunity, soon mastering large portions of Tanach and eventually becoming fluent in its sacred entirety.<br /><br />Talmidim related that every year he would complete all of Tanach in time for the Yahrtzeit of his mother, a tribute to the love she instilled in him for the divrei haNevi'im.<br /><br />The Rebbitzin was a pillar of chesed who constantly set aside money for the impoverished. Once a man came crying to her that his father in law had duped him, refusing to fulfill the terms of the large dowry he had promised. She comforted him by explaining that the promise was not based upon any amount he possessed but rather on the great value his father in law had apprised him to be worth. Thus, it was not a matter of withholding funds but simply a case of being unable to afford to pay the full value!<br /><br />She would relate stories of gedolei yisroel to guide her children along a path of midos tovos, teaching them about emes, (truthfulness), self control and conquering their Yetzer Harah.<br /><br />Rav Pam would often relate a famous story that his mother told him as a child. Rav Mord'cha of Slonim had received as a gift a beautiful piece of material spun and woven in Eretz Yisrael.<br /><br />Rav Mord'cha sent it to a tailor to cut out a neck hole so as to turn the holy cloth into a talis kattan.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the cloth had been folded twice over before the tailor cut the hole, creating two holes instead of one.<br /><br />The humiliated tailor presented his irreparable blunder to Rav Mord'cha with dejection. Initially Rav Mord'cha was distraught, but he immediately regained his composure and exclaimed, "Two holes are wonderful! One is for the neck, and the other is to test Reb Mord'cha to see if he is easy to anger."<br /><br />Untainted Youth<br /><br />As a young man, Rav Pam already embodied remarkable grace with impeccably fine character and tremendous Yiras Shamayim. He told a Talmid, that at age five and a half his father took him to daven mincha in shul. After Mincha the Rav of the shul spoke for several minutes on the severity of speaking Lashon Harah.<br /><br />"I don't know, if I spoke Lashon Harah before that time," said Rav Pam, "but I am sure that since hearing those words, I could not allow myself to speak Lashon Harah!"<br /><br />His father, decided that it would be best to send him to the city of Rakaczik, where young Avraham Yaakov learned in Yeshiva Ketana Eitz Chaim for a year and a half.<br /><br />In fact, when he was a mere lad of nine and a half Rav Viner of Rakaczik wrote him an approbation to help him gain entry into a Yeshiva, citing: "This young man is destined to become a Gadol B'Yisrael".<br /><br />Arriving at the Yeshiva, the Rosh Yeshiva, was surprised to see this frail youngster ready to separate himself from his family and live the impoverished life of a European Yeshiva bochur.<br /><br />One of the Yeshiva's melamdim went so far as to ask if he brought along his crib. Young Avraham Yaakov was not fazed. Following the derech that his father paved, he too, showed remarkable mesiras nefesh, sleeping in the Bais Medrash. Sometimes, he would later recall, it was so cold that he would fall asleep next to the oven, only to wake up with blisters on his arms from leaning against the unprotected oven walls.<br /><br />At the age 10 and a half the young Avraham Yaakov traveled to Kovno to learn in a small chaburah led by a bochur from the Slabodka Yeshiva who had been forced due to an illness to leave the Yeshiva. Each day he would cross the bridge from Kovno to Slobodka to learn with the bochur. The bochur had agreed to learn with the younger charges, on his own terms, and thus at a young age Reb Avraham Yaakov was thrust into the complex sugyos of Ailu Treifus. This may have sparked a life long love for the sugyos in Chulin, the Chailek Hatorah, that Rav Pam would eventually be renown for mastering and imparting to scores of Talmidim.<br /><br />Rav Pam's stay in Slobodka, basking in the glow of the great gedolim whose presence illuminated the shtetl, though short, had a tremendous impact on his life.<br /><br />During his stay in Slobodka, he would eat each Shabbos meal by one of the distinguished yungeleit of the Kovno Kollel, a brilliant Talmid Chacham who would soon become the Rav of Tzitivyan, Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky. He would eat on Shabbosos by the Kamenetzky's who had three young children of their own. Despite their abject poverty, Rav Yaakov and his Rebbitzin would invite three bochurim to join them for their se'udah.<br /><br />Little did Rav Pam know that Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky would become his mentor years later, on foreign soil, after the devastation of European Jewry.<br /><br />Journey to America<br /><br />After World War I the Communists had begun their systematic dismantling of any semblance of Torah life. Their influence pervaded the communities of Poland and Lithuania and White Russia, and their officers and henchmen subjugated the Rabbanim to a life of harassment and cruelty. Rav Meir was forced to wander from town to town, and live a life of galus. In 1927 when Rav Meir Pam had the opportunity to come to America, he decided to make the journey. Later after establishing himself on those foreign shores he sent funds for the family to join him<br /><br />The trip was arduous. The family had to stop in Hamburg due to illness, and it was nearly two years from the onset of the journey until they finally arrived at their destination in the Brownsville section of New York. There Rav Meir was the Rav of Bais Medrash HaGadol and a maggid shiur in Mesivta Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin.<br /><br />Torah Voda'ath<br /><br />Young Avraham Yaakov applied to learn in Mesivta Torah Voda'ath where he grew in Torah and formed a close bond with Rav Dovid Leibowitz, the Rosh Yeshiva. In fact, when Rav Dovid left Mesivta Torah Voda'ath, Rav Pam thought he should join him, but Rav Leibowitz advised him to stay as he saw with prescient clarity that Rav Pam would have a bright future in Torah Voda 'ath.<br /><br />In 1942, within a year of Rav Dovid's untimely passing, Rav Pam wrote an appreciation in the Agudah journal, Orthodox Youth.<br /><br />"Rav Dovid's shiur was not a lecture, but rather an impassioned<br /><br />plea for a proposed solution to the complexities he found. He would take a single thought and toy with it for an hour analyzing it, dramatizing it, expanding it, at the risk of distortion, reexamining it again and again, at the risk of tedium ever fearful that the point was not yet fully appreciated, ever straining to enhance the beauty of the concept. He was particularly fond of Midrashim relating to personality traits(middos).<br /><br />To be a lamdan was an ideal he constantly glorified. To acquire a Torah outlook was the greatest of achievements. To be a maven (connoisseur) of Talmud was a source of justifiable pride. To be a marbitz Torah (a teacher of Torah) was the crowning achievement of a talmid Chacham."<br /><br />In pursuit of greatness<br /><br />In High School Rav Pam excelled in every subject that he was assigned. His genius for languages had him understanding and mastering English in no time, and his ability to communicate in this foreign tongue to perfection helped him to be mashpia on thousands of Jews in our time who would never master Yiddish. He made an effort not to retain an accent as everything he set out to do was with a goal of perfection.<br /><br />He felt that B'nai Torah carry a responsibility to speak clearly and correctly and failure to do so in the public eye, would be tantamount to a Talmid Chacham who walks around with a stain "rvav" on his clothing.<br /><br />His grandson remarked, that even in his last days, when a young grandchild said, "Zaidy, there is oranges in the refrigerator," Rav Pam smiled softly and corrected him, "No my child, there are oranges in the refrigerator."<br /><br />A prominent Rav, told of how, as a young Talmid in the Mesivta, he would daven for the Amud. His davening though passable, was riddled with pronunciation miscues. Rav Pam called him over to correct one of them.<br /><br />The boy mustered enough courage to admit, "If I am saying this word incorrectly, perhaps I am pronouncing others incorrectly as well."<br /><br />Rav Pam sat with him and reviewed the proper pronunciation of the entire davening,<br /><br />As a medakdek, everything he approached was with cheshbon. It did not make a difference if it was an extra word or an extra minute.<br /><br />During his final illness, no longer able to make it to the Yeshiva for davening, a minyan would assemble in his home. Once, the chazzan made a mistake and without consulting with Rav Pam who was very weak at the time others erroneously instructed the chazzan to repeat the entire chazaras hashatz. That night Rabbi Baruch Rabinowitz who had been present at the minyan, received a call from Rav Pam. "I cannot allow an erroneous psak to go out from my house," the Rosh Yeshiva declared with emotion. "Please call everyone who was there, in my name, to ensure that they know what the proper halacha is".<br /><br />His reverence for time was paramount. He often quoted Rav Shraga Feivel Mendelovitz, "We are building Torah in America! How can we afford to waste a minute!"<br /><br />Rav Pam built an everlasting kesher with his Rabbeim and the Gedolei Torah with whom he came in contact, especially with Rav Dovid Leibowitz and later with Rav Leib Mallin, Rosh Yeshiva of Bais HaTalmud, who said of the young prodigy, "He would be considered great even in an earlier generation!"<br /><br />In 1934, at age 21 Rav Pam had basically finished the program afforded for talmidim at Torah Voda'ath, but he did not stop his quest for growth in Torah. At the time only Rav Gedaliah Schorr had semicha from amongst the bochurim. Rav Pam set out to learn for semicha together with a few others. Rav Pam learned alone, hours on end without the slightest interruption. He mastered Yoreh Deah and Kidushin, Hilchos Toen V'nitan and Dayanim. On occasion he would confer with others, but in the main part, he learned alone, a trait he would follow throughout his life.<br /><br />He received three separate semichos; one was from Rav Moshe Binyamin Tomashov, the Rav of Brownsville and the author of Teshuvos Mabit and Taharas Mayim .<br /><br />He also received semicha from Rav Dovid Kantrowitz, the author of Tzilusa D'shmaata, and by Rav Graubert the Rav of Toronto who preceded Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky in that city. Rav Graubert was visiting in the United States at the time and Rav Pam spent a few days with him for the bechina.<br /><br />There were many options in Rav Pam's life, as a brilliant man fluent in languages, proficient in math, and articulate, he could have chosen many other paths. He was offered positions in Rabbanus across America. Once, with a far away look in his eyes he confided to a close talmid: " My life was comprised of many crossroads, I am forever grateful to the Ribono shel Olam for having steered me onto the path filled with ameilus baTorah."<br /><br />In the year 1939 Rav Pam was appointed a Maggid shiur in Torah Vodaath. It was difficult to motivate young American boys in those days, but Rav Pam excelled in motivating them. Once a student was found studying mathematics during shiur. He explained to his Rebbe that he was afraid that he was going to fail a test. Rav Pam assured him that if he would learn with diligence, then he himself would help him after class with his mathematics!<br /><br />Of course, as serious as Rav Pam was, he always brought his soft sense of humor with him to the classroom.<br /><br />Back in the 1960s When Rav Pam was teaching Mesechta Sukkah, there was a boy who slept the entire year during class. Quite often his friends would ask, "should we wake him Rebbe?" Rav Pam, who obviously felt that the boy was not ready to take learning seriously, told them to let him sleep. He would continue the shiur without him.<br /><br />The next year Rav Pam was given the same exact class to teach, on the next grade level. That year the class was learning Shabbos. And when the sleepy student put his head down, after a few days, Rav Pam motioned for another student to awaken him.<br /><br />After class someone asked why he had changed strategies from last year to this. Rav Pam did not reveal why he felt the bochur should be pushed this year in contrast to last, but he did offer a witticism.<br /><br />"Last year we learned Sukkah. Everyone knows it is a mitzvah to sleep in a Sukkah. About Shabbos chazal tell us, shaina B'Shabbos Taanug, Sleep on Shabbos is pleasurable. I could not deny him a mitzvah, but a little pleasure I can deny him!<br /><br />Rav Pam cherished teaching. He once commented to his dear Talmid Rav Yisrael Reisman, "when I got the shtelleh teaching, I was mispalel that I should be able to teach for sixty years!"<br /><br />When Rav Reisman asked why only sixty, Rav Pam smiled. "Is sixty bad?" he asked.<br /><br />While a rebbe, Rav Pam did nothing but learn the sugyos he was teaching his Talmidim. He commented to some students that he had desired to learn Daf haYomi, but decided against it as he would rather spend that time on the sugyos he was teaching in shiur.<br /><br />One exception however was when, during the war years, Rav Aharon Kotler was living in Manhattan. He had not yet established the Lakewood Yeshiva and was giving shiurim to a chaburah of young men in a hotel room. Rav Pam attended those shiurim as he would not forego the opportunity to hear the Torah of such a great Gaon. He was not only influenced by the deep shiurim, which he transcribed almost verbatim, but he was forever affected by Rav Aharon's unwavering hislahvus and fiery demeanor.<br /><br />Rav Pam forged a close kesher with Rav Moshe Shisgal, (the son in law of Rav Moshe Feinstein). During that period and later in life, Rav Pam would literally shudder in reverence when talking about his Rebbe/Chaver, Rav Shisgal, a Gaon who was niftar young.<br /><br />He recalled sitting by Rav Aharon's shiur and whispering something ever so softly to Rav Shisgal. With super human perception and the uncanny ability to hear a Torah whisper at the other end of the room, Rav Aharon responded to the comment with fervor and passion.<br /><br />At that time Rav Aharon was in the middle of his ceaseless efforts on behalf of Va'ad Hatzalah. Often the shiur would be interrupted, in emergency fashion. A decision had to be immediately made regarding issues of life and death! Rav Aharon would weigh the various sides of the weighty question and after exhaustive thought would make a decision.<br /><br />Immediately after rendering the psak, he returned to the shiur, continuing from the very point from where he had left off without any sign of having stopped to weigh such grave matters.<br /><br />This powerful "hiskashrus L'Torah" among other incidents, influenced Rav Pam deeply. He often told of the amazing story of his own father, Rav Meir. Taken to the hospital for a serious operation, he began discussing a question of a Tosfos in Sukkah. Rav Avraham Yaakov repeated an answer offered by the Oruch L'Nair. Rav Meir shook his head, in disapproval as if to say that Tosfos' question remains steadfast. They were interrupted by the admissions process to the hospital.<br /><br />For a few days his father suffered in great pain and the doctors decided to forego the operation as it would be too dangerous. Instead they performed a different, difficult procedure.<br /><br />As soon as he was able to talk his first words were, "who was it you quoted in the Taxi?" He went on to argue on the logic of the Aruch L' Nair's reasoning.<br /><br />"This was the true bond to Torah we all should desire to seek!"<br /><br />The popularity of Rav Pam's shiurim eventually led to his being elevated to become Maggid Shiur for the third year Bais Medrash. Reb Gedaliah Weinberger, a close talmid, relates how his clarity and hasbarah were remarkable. He was able to sum up the most complicated concepts into the fewest words necessary to explain it. No more no less.<br /><br />His Talmidim were truly like children. Rav Moshe Francis, Rosh Kollel of the Chicago Community Kollel, tells that he was once talking to Rav Pam at a wedding when someone came by and asked, "Is this your son?"<br /><br />Rav Pam did not hesitate. "K'ben," he responded, "like a son."<br /><br />In later years, Rav Pam gave shiurim to alumni; in the summer twice a week and once a week in the winter.<br /><br />He began a Chumash shiur every Friday packed with his fiery hashkafa, imparted with gentle mussar. With mesholim, insight and divrei Torah from the early Gaonim, Rav Pam imparted hashkafa to a generation of B' nai Torah who carry the torch of his leadership today.<br /><br />Many have asked: What is it about Torah Voda'ath talmidim that makes them feel a sense of achrayus, not only to their alma mater but to every Mosad HaTorah?<br /><br />The leadership of Torah Voda'ath planted the seeds of so many other mosdos. Rav Shraga Feivel Mendelowitz founded Torah Umesorah, Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky founded Be'er HaGolah, Rav Pam founded Shuvu. The talmidim of Torah Voda'ath followed their mentors role in supporting the various outgrowths of their cherished institution.<br /><br />Gedaliah Weinberger, who serves on the board of numerous mosdos, explained: "It was imbued in the atmosphere of our Yeshiva that our achrayos (responsibility) transcends the walls of our Bais Medrash and assumes our involvement in the growth of Torah on a far greater level."<br /><br />In 1980 with the passing of Rav Sholom Ber Rivkin, Rav Pam began giving shiurim in Yoreh Deah, preparing Talmidim for semicha.<br /><br />With the passing of Rav Eliyahu Chazan, Rav Pam was appointed Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshiva Mesivta Torah Voda'ath, the position he held until the end of his life.<br /><br />Partner in Life<br /><br />In 1943 Rav Pam married Sarah Balmuth. Though Rav Pam often expressed his gratitude for having chosen the right path in life, there was one choice that he forever emphasized to his Talmidim, in a manner exceeding any other. He always expressed great gratitutde to Hashem Yisborach for having merited a Rebbitzen who tended to his every need, enabling him to pursue a life filled with Avodas Hashem and Limud HaTorah.<br /><br />The Rebbitzen put order to the thousands of requests for appointments, advice and letters of approbation. Rav Pam constantly expressed his gratitude for her ever present care and concern, not only for the physical amenities of his daily life but for enabling him to grow in ruchniyus as well.<br /><br />The Rosh Yeshiva's emphasis on the importance of mutual respect in marriage found expression in his gentle reminders to talmidim to celebrate their wedding anniversaries every year without fail.<br /><br />When Yosi Heber, a talmid of Rav Pam became a chosson, one of the first to be called with the good news was the Rosh Yeshiva who immediately asked if a date had been set for the wedding. Yosi relied that the date indeed had been set for August 22nd. "Why, that's my anniversary date!" exclaimed the Rosh Yeshiva, "it will be easy to remember!"<br /><br />Not one to forget an important date or miss an opportunity, Rabbi Heber made it his practice to send out an anniversary card to Rav Pam and his Rebbetzin every year therafter. As the years went on he made a point of sharing his nachas with the Pams and included a picture of the children as each addition to his family arrived. This year, the card was sent out a bit early. At the shiva the Rebbetzin called over Rabbi Yosi Heber to tell him something. "I wanted to tell you to know that I mentioned to Rav Pam on Tuesday that I received your anniversary card. I took it to the hospital and read it to the Rosh Yeshiva and he reacted to it. It was the last time he reacted to anything!"<br /><br />A small, inconsequential thing like an anniversary when used correctly can become another solid brick in the foundation of a marriage and the development of future generations. Another aspect of the Rosh Yeshiva's ability to take the small and commonplace things in life and elevate them to being the tools of greatness.<br /><br />Well after midnight this past Thursday night, after the devastating news of the Rosh Yeshiva's passing reached the world, some of Rav Pam's closest talmidim made their way to the house to join the Rebbetzin and offer whatever solace they could. Upon entering the house they were shocked to discover the Rebbetzin at work on her ironing board. To their astonished look she responded, "I am simply ironing Rabbi Pams talis and kittel for the kevura tomorrow. I know its late at night but this is my last chance to be mechabed him".<br /><br />Ameilus in Midos: The Quintessential Anav<br /><br />Rav Pam worked tirelessly not only to instill lomdus in his talmidim, but to imbue them with hashkafas haTorah and midos tovos. Often his brilliant shmuessen would overshadow his wonderful shiurim and greatness in lomdus.<br /><br />He stressed the concept of p'sharah, compromise, as an integral part of halacha. He decried the very thought that people would prefer the all or nothing approach of secular courts.<br /><br />He was fiercely opposed to frivolity. In his sefer Atara L' Melech, Rav Pam chastises those who use Purim as an opportunity to skewer Divrei Chazal for their personal amusement.<br /><br />Rav Pam never put on the traditional frock (kapote) of a Rosh Yeshiva and always wore a simple brim down hat and not a Hamburg or up brim hat as most Roshei Yeshiva wear.<br /><br />Rav Pam would leave his hat in the public cloak room of Mesivta Torah Vodaas. Once he innocently took his hat, not realizing someone had mistakenly balanced their coffee mug on its back brim.<br /><br />The mug came flying down from the shelf, shattering in a cacophony of ceramic shards. Immediately Rav Pam went to get a broom and shovel. He insisted on sweeping up the mess by himself. Then he went to the local hardware store to get a replacement mug. He could not find the exact matching color and so he wrote a note. In his meticulously crafted expression and perfect lettering, he attached the following note to the mug.<br /><br />"I was negligent in my actions and I shattered your mug. I have bought this one to replace it. I hope that you forgive me. In the event that this replacement does not suffice, please contact me as soon as possible to arrange compensation.<br /><br />The note was signed simply, Avraham Pam.<br /><br />(Author's note: The note from Rav Pam, was cherished by the mug owner, much more than the replaced mug. It is framed and hangs on his wall!)<br /><br />Rav Pam did not sit in the traditional seat of the Rosh HaYeshiva in the front of the Bais HaMedrash, instead he preferred to sit with his Talmidim in the middle of the study hall. He showed tremendous respect to the other Roshei Yeshiva in Torah Vodaas. In fact, upon the appointment of additional Roshei Yeshiva at Torah Vodaas, he even deferred his years old minhag of being the makri (one who delegates the sequence of the shofar sounds) for Rosh Hashana.<br /><br />When he would sit together with the Rabbeim in the staff room of the Mesivta, he would remain very quiet. He did not impose his opinions in learning upon his colleagues and did not interrupt their conversations with his ideas.<br /><br />He was wont to relate the famous story of the Beis HaLevi who had attended a gathering of prestigious Rabbanim.<br /><br />The Bais HaLevi put forth a question that his brilliant son Reb Chaim had asked. The ensuing debate of the great rabbanim was lively as each offered his own solution. The only one who remained quiet was Rav Yitzchok Blaser, known as Reb Itzel Peterburger.<br /><br />The Bais HaLevi was a bit surprised, as Reb Itzel's reputation was one of great genius. Eventually The Bais HaLevi repeated his son's solution to the problem.<br /><br />After the meeting finished and the Bais Halevi returned home he got hold of a copy of the Pri Yitzchok, the sefer written by none other than Reb Itzel. In it, in black and white was the question proposed, the answers offered and refuted, along with the very same conclusion that Rav Chaim Soloveitchik had reached.<br /><br />Rav Pam had learned for himself and taught others that you never lose by keeping quiet.<br /><br />Of course that viewpoint only applied to personal honor; when it came to chilul Hashem, the desecration of Hashem's name there was never a moment of silence!<br /><br />Thirty years ago Rav Pam and his Rebbitzen made their only visit to Eretz Yisrael together. They stayed in Yerushalayim, but when Rav Pam visited B'nai Berak, Ponvez Yeshiva was holding its annual Yarchei Kallah. Rav Pam saw this opportunity to sit and learn in virtual anonymity, and decided to stay in the Yeshiva setting.<br /><br />They moved into the dorm specially set up for the Yarchei Kallah families, and for two weeks Rav Pam sat and learned. After two weeks, he had attended a Simcha in the Ponovez Dining Room, when he saw some people whispering. Suddenly a distinguished man approached<br /><br />Rav Pam. "Torah Vodaas Rosh Yeshiva, please sit up front on the head table."<br /><br />The next morning, realizing that his identity was compromised, he and his wife returned immediately to Yerushalayim.<br /><br />Leadership<br /><br />Rav Pam would lead the charge of Gedolei Yisraoel who decried, improper business practices or fraudulent dealings with government agencies. He did not differentiate between stealing on an individual, institutional, or governmental level. It was all prohibited and he let it be known, emphatically and insistently.<br /><br />Often he repeated the story of the man who approached Rav Yisrael Salanter, telling him that he had decided to leave his job as a shochet, due to the tremendous responsibility it bore.<br /><br />And what do you plan to do?" asked Rav Yisrael.<br /><br />"Oh," said the man offhandedly, "I plan to go into business."<br /><br />Rav Yisrael immediately launched an enumeration of the myriad halachos concerning business including the complicated laws concerning ribis and ona'as devorim. A yerei shomayim should realize that dealing in business involves constant risk of transgression.<br /><br />He would deride those who felt that they could just rely on their gut feelings for their p'sakim.<br /><br />He used to tell the story of the man who had always gone to a Rav for his questions, until one day he felt that his experiences had trained him accordingly. A few months went by when the Rav met him.<br /><br />"I haven't seen you in a while," said the Rav<br /><br />"Oh, I needn't come to you any more. I learned to pasken myself," said the man.<br /><br />"Can I hear an example?" asked the Rav.<br /><br />"Oh just the other night my gentile maid poured some of her non kosher food in my pot and began cooking with it."<br /><br />"And what did you do?"<br /><br />The man beamed. "Why, nothing of course. Everyone knows that Tous Akum is mutar!"<br /><br />Rav Pam would cry the words of Yeshaya HaNavi, "Oy li ki nidmaisi!' Woe is to me that I fantasize!" we fantasize about our true level, when in all honesty we have so much to truly achieve!<br /><br />Though he was often the featured speaker at conventions of Agudath Israel and other important venues with the ears of a People focused on his every word, when he left the podium, he was as always the humble giant and master of simplicity.<br /><br />A talmid recalls how he was in a car with Rav Pam along with a bochur of his own age, who was also named Avraham. His stop came first and upon leaving the car he turned and in a greeting intended soley for his peer, he exclaimed, "Good night Avraham."<br /><br />Rav Pam, unfazed at being addressed so informally and not realizing that the message was intended for the other bachur, simply smiled and returned the farewell. "Good Night to you too."<br /><br />To many who knew him, he was called the Chofetz Chaim of America. Years after the sobriquet was coined, it reached Rav Pam's ears. He shuddered and was quite upset.<br /><br />"How can anyone even utter my name in the same breath as the Chafetz Chaim!?" He complained in disbelief. "Does anyone have an inkling of the greatness of the Chofetz Chaim. I tremble upon the mention of his name. How dare anyone use that expression for me."<br /><br />Agudath Yisroel<br /><br />When Rav Shneur Kotler was diagnosed with his final illness, my zaide Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, called Rav Pam and asked him to become a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. Though Rav Pam, refused, Rav Yaakov, did not accept the refusal and Rav Pam had simply no choice.<br /><br />That November, Rav Shneur called him to attend the Agudah Convention and Rav Pam immediately acquiesced. The Rebbitzen was quite surprised at the immediate change of attitude.<br /><br />Why did you agree to go, she asked when you normally refuse.<br /><br />"And what will happen," responded Rav Pam,"shall I encumber Rav Yaakov to call me? I decided to immediately say yes to Rav Shneur's invitation, so as not to be matriach the Rosh Yeshiva."<br /><br />Rav Yaakov viewed Rav Pam as the leader who would be the man of sholom. He asked him to serve on Batei Dinim dealing with Klal issues. He knew that his sense of yosher and mishpat would work hand in hand with sholom.<br /><br />Rav Yaakov forged an extremely close relationship with him. He often referred to him as the Kohain Gadol.<br /><br />Rav Yitzchok Knobel relates that when he was in Toronto, there was a yungerman who had a serious life decision question that he wanted to present to Rav Yaakov. As the avreich, was not conversant in Yiddish he asked Rabbi Knobel, a grandson through marriage to present the issue to the Rosh yeshiva. Rav Yaakov, however, did not want to hear the question nor discuss the sensitive issue unless he was able to hear it directly from the person involved.<br /><br />Rav Yaakov, turned to Rav Knobel and said, "Rav Pam is currently in Toronto. Tell him to speak to Rav Pam. And if he is still worried, I want you to tell him, that if I would have a personal problem, I, myself would go to Rav Pam!"<br /><br />The family wanted that Rav Pam should set himself aside one day in which he would have Menucha from all those who would deluge him with their problems. They suggested that on that day he would see absolutely no one. No exceptions. Rav Pam could not accept such a proposal.<br /><br />"Let's say there is someone who needs me on that day and can't see me any other day?' he conjectured.<br /><br />Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zweibel, the respected Agudah leader, recalls how as senior member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah every other member would show reverence to the words of Rav Pam.<br /><br />He was makpid that the Agudah concentrate on programs that would truly reach out and teach the community. He would dismiss any other attempt at public relations for orthodoxy. That was only media hype in his eyes. "Our tafkid is to promote chinuch yaldei yisroel", was an oft repeated motto. Indeed, he would always speak at Agudah conventions about chinuch and the importance of teaching our children to live a life of Torah values.<br /><br />Shuvu<br /><br />In 1990 when the flood gates of the Soviet Union burst open, Klal Yisroel was faced with the prospect of hundreds of thousands of souls pouring into potential oblivion. Rav Avrohom Yosef Leizerson of Chinuch Atzmai recalls years later that he was present at the Agudas Yisroel convention that year and was among those who spoke to the Rosh Yeshiva of the potential disaster facing the children At that year's keynote session Rav Pam made an impassioned plea to begin a network of schools in Eretz Yisroel for the children of these Russian immigrants.That Motzoei Shabbos he convened a meeting of the wealthy and influential participants at that years convention.<br /><br />On the way to the meeting he met a talmid, who he would call a partner and a friend, Reb Avraham Biderman. He brought him along to the meeting. It was at that meeting, that Shuvu was born, and then and there Rav Pam appointed Avraham Biderman as chairman.<br /><br />It would be superfluous to tell any reader of this paper how Rav Pam, lived and breathed Shuvu. It became his focus and his nachas over the course of the last decade of his life.<br /><br />Baalei Batim, ready to donate five or ten thousand dollars to Shuvu, would increase their contributions tenfold after hearing Rav Pam's impassioned pleas.<br /><br />He would often quote Rav Levi Yitzchok of Barditchov. If I have a Ran in Nedarim, what do I need Gan Eden for?<br /><br />"The pleasure of bringing so many childen back to Torah was Rav Pam's Gan Eden. He would quote the Imrei Emes, who said that he had an answer ready for when he would be asked by the Heavenly tribunal, "What merit have you to enter Gan Eden?" The Imrei Emes said he would reply, "My share in the founding of Agudath Yisrael."<br /><br />Rav Pam, in the effort to impress upon his listeners the importance of supporting their work, would proudly declare that the establishment of Shuvu was his ticket to Gan Eden.<br /><br />He would often cajole Baalei Batim to give tzedoka with mesiras nefesh. He once told Rabbi Sidney Glenner of Chicago that the nisayon of the last dor was b'chol nafsh'cha giving up ones life. The nisayon of this dor is b'chol m'odecha giving up one's money for the causes of Torah.<br /><br />Hashkafa and Halacha<br /><br />Every nuance of the Shulchan Aruch was important to the Rosh Yeshiva. The words of the Mishna Berurah were forever engraved in his mind and he did not take a step without the clarity of halacha illuminating his derech hayashar. Even on the Yomim Noraim, he refused to take the Kibud of p 'sicha of opening the Aron HaKodesh, if someone was still davening the shemoneh esrai near the aisle he would have to cross.<br /><br />Learning Torah was the most prominent force in his hashkafa. When ever bochurim would have doubts whether to attend a certain, important function or miss the event in exchange for another few hours in Yeshiva, he would smile and tell them: "Az mir lernt, hut m'nit charata. Learning never brings regret!"<br /><br />There were a few expressions that bothered Rav Pam. He did not like when people would talk about the "Amahliger yohrin", the good old days, when everything was so pure.<br /><br />He felt that we must do our best to improve our generation without deriding it. And, if someone felt that it was once better, he did not want them lamenting the fact, rather he wanted to see them act in a way that would raise the level of this generation.<br /><br />He had tremendous hakpadah on speech. Each year on Parshas Noach he would discuss how the Torah used extra words so as not to say "tamei". He asked the bochurim to refrain from the vernacular that infiltrated the Yeshiva world from the street. He felt it was unbecoming for them to express themselves in a less than articulate manner and once told the boys that they should remove "whatchamacallit" from their vocabularies.<br /><br />A close talmid approached him after the Shmeuss. "What is wrong with 'whatchamacallit'?" he asked<br /><br />"It shows you are not thinking." he replied.<br /><br />A fellow patient who was undergoing chemotherapy was together with Rav Pam. The fellow mentioned that he felt lousy. After he left Rav Pam commented to a companion, "I feel the same way, only I would have expressed it differently."<br /><br />Mishtatef B'tza'ar<br /><br />Rav Yosef Zev Chesir of Montreal related a message that Rav Pam once conveyed at a Chinuch Atzmai parlor meeting in Montreal.<br /><br />Chazal tell us that when Hashem remembered Sora with the gift of a child, "Many barren woman were also remembered that day."<br /><br />Rav Pam asked a simple question. Sora needed a child. Yitzchak had to be the progenitor of Klal Yisrael. But why did Hashem grant the gift of fertility to the hordes of barren women, who were not even adherents to our faith?<br /><br />Rav Pam quoted the Sfas Emes with a powerful message. "The Tzadik cannot be b'simcha when the world is in Tzaar."<br /><br />Of course that evening, Rav Pam related the message to the need to support the struggling Torah schools of Chinuch Atzmai, but it was a message he lived and breathed in his own life as well.<br /><br />As a young man Rav Pam was traveling home on the New Lots Avenue train line when he spotted a five dollar bill lying face down. Surely a clear case of "Haray Ailo Shelo" Rav Pam knew that he was entitled to keep the bill.<br /><br />He mentioned the find to his wife, who responded, "perhaps we can purchase a special treat with the new found money.<br /><br />Rav Pam hesitated. I cannot. How can we enjoy something special when there is someone out there who is broken hearted?<br /><br />Rav Moshe Francis Rosh Kollel of Chicago's Community Kollel, remembers how an impoverished man came to Rav Pam toward the end of a seder in the Bais Medrash of Torah Vodaas. He closed his Gemarah, and told his talmid, "this is a mitzvah that will not be performed by anyone else here. Therefore, I must be m'vatel Torah."<br /><br />He excused himself and took the man home for a meal.<br /><br />A man once came to Rav Pam in desperate straits. He asked the Rosh Yeshiva to contact certain philanthropists on his behalf. Rav Pam responded that he had just called them all for other charities. He was unable to help the man. He gave him what he could from his own money and the man left.<br /><br />Less than a half hour later the man realized he had left something in Rav Pam's study. When he came back he found Rav Pam crying over his inability to help the poor man.<br /><br />Honesty<br /><br />It was a late wedding and Rav Pam, who did not have a driver, was one of the last to leave on a blustery winter night. As no one had stayed to offer him a ride, he shared a taxi with a bochur who later shared this story.<br /><br />The cab driver started to drive away from the hall when Rav Pam noticed that the man had not turned up the meter flag. The ride would therefore not be recorded into the travel log. Assuming that it was an oversight, the Rosh Yeshiva mentioned that the meter is not running.<br /><br />"My boss," he exclaimed, "he's a Ganev! I should make a lot more than he offers me. It's okay to moonlight once in a while even if I am on his time! Anyway, what's the difference to you. The fare is twelve bucks. Do you mind if I keep all of it?"<br /><br />Rav Pam was adamant. It's not honest. "Listen," said the driver. "It's my way or the highway. I saw you shivering on this freezing night. I stopped. I picked you up and I'm takin' you home. Let me just do my thing. What does it bother you if I make some spare cash."<br /><br />Rav Pam sighed. "I'll tell you what. Run the meter. I will pay you double. Give your boss what is coming to him and keep the same amount for yourself."<br /><br />The driver agreed. At the end of the trop the meter showed $12.00. Rav Pam paid him $24.00, and gave him a tip of $2.00."<br /><br />Mordechai Mehlman, Executive Director of Shuvu, once was signing a check with a pen that caught Rav Pam's eye. It was a roller ball and very easy on Rav Pam's ailing hands. He offered the pen to Rav Pam who refused to accept it without paying for it.<br /><br />"Later," said Mordechai.<br /><br />The next time Rav Pam met him the first words out of his mouth were, "We must make a cheshbon."<br /><br />Every Child<br /><br />an Entire World<br /><br />Rabbi Simcha Lefkowitz, Associate Dean of Yeshiva of South Shore, related that a few years ago, the Yeshiva had to dismiss a particular student for an action that clearly defied the Yeshiva's standards and policies.<br /><br />Pressure from baalei batim and others could not influence the hanhalla, which had thought long and hard about before rendering their decision.<br /><br />The young boy had heard his Rabbeim, Rabbi Leib Wolf, and Rabbi Yehuda Horowitz, constantly talk about the greatness of their rebbe, Rav Pam. And so, on the slight chance that Rav Pam would hear his story, the young man called the Rosh Yeshiva who instructed him to come to Mesivta Torah Voda'ath an hour before mincha.<br /><br />The boy was brought before the Rosh Yeshiva, where frankly and openly, he told him what he had done and the ramifications of his actions. Rav Pam chided him strongly about his indiscretion and left him thouroughly chagrined.<br /><br />Then they broke for Mincha.<br /><br />After Mincha Rav Pam changed his demeanor. "I see that you are truly an ehrlicher bochur, and you will start anew." The boy, by now repentnant and unable to speak, nodded his head profusely and Rav Pam agreed to help.<br /><br />The next day, Rabbi Lefkowitz was sitting in his office when the phone rang.<br /><br />The soft voice on the other end of the line said. "This is Avraham Pam." The Rosh Yeshiva went on to ask that the bochur be returned to the Yeshiva despite the ramifications the hanhalla anticipated. "It is on my achrayus."<br /><br />Rabbi Lefkowitz needed no cajoling. After all, he mused, it is not often that a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah calls on behalf of a bochur he has only met once in his life!<br /><br />The postscript is vintage Rav Pam. The student went on to become one of the biggest masmidim in the Yeshiva, won the valedictory award for Limudei Kodesh, and has been an outstanding student in one of the most prestigious Yeshivas in Eretz Yisrael since he graduated the South Shore Mesivta Ateres Yaakov, two summers ago.<br /><br />Planning<br /><br />For Retirement<br /><br />Rav Pam had a study filled with seforim on the second floor of his home. He had planned, that after he would retire from teaching in Torah Voda'ath he would be able to slip away quietly and learn, uninterrupted, for the rest of his life. Though he did learn every spare moment, no one can say that it was uninterrupted. People from all walks of life would come to him with an array of problems ranging from broken marriages to broken hearts. He took in prestigous philanthropists as well as simple folk. He did not judge them by their looks or their pocketbooks, he only saw what their pained neshamos had to say.<br /><br />Despite Rav Pam's world prominence, he did not think that anyone knew who he was.<br /><br />He once called the prestigious philanthropist, Reb Moshe Reichman on behalf of a certain tzedaka.<br /><br />The secretary answered. She asked who is calling, to which the Rosh Yeshiva replied, "Abraham Pam."<br /><br />"Does he know you?"<br /><br />Rav Pam, thought for a moment and then said, "Tell him that he sometimes prays in the synagogue of Rabbi David Pam. I am Rabbi Pam's father."<br /><br />There was nothing more dear to him than the Torah of talmidim. Rav Yitzchok Gotdiner, of Mesivta Torah Vodaas tells how he would often have pressing Yeshiva business to discuss with the Rosh Yeshiva; matters of crucial policy needing a clear course of action. If Rav Pam was speaking to a boy in learning, it just had to wait.<br /><br />There was once a child that was unable to advance to the next grade level as his skills were way below that of his anticipated grade level. There was no way the menahel would allow the boy advance into first grade. The frantic mother called Rav Pam, who in turn called the menahel. "If a tutor would bring him up to grade level over the summer would you allow him to enter the first grade?" As soon as the menahel agreed, Rav Pam arranged for a student of the Mesivta spend a summer learning with the child, for which Rav Pam paid from his own pocket.<br /><br />It was a Thursday afternoon when a few of the administration's members were quietly discussing about a trip to a Bais Avel in Highland Park, New Jersey. Rav Pam was in the office when he heard the name Landesman. He turned pale.<br /><br />"Naoimi Landesman iz avek?" he asked incredulously. The staff members could not believe how Rav Pam knew her.<br /><br />"I was with her in her illness for seven years. I davened every day for her welfare, and when I became sick she was a source of inspiration for me. She gave me tremendous chizuk. Where are they sitting Shiva."<br /><br />The office staff explained that tomorrow was the last day of shiva and that it was an hour's trip from Flatbush to New Jersey. Perhaps it would be best, suggested someone if the Rosh Yeshiva were to just call or write.<br /><br />Rav Pam did not continue to insist on visiting, instead he took the name address and phone number. That evening a Taxi pulled up in front of the Landesman home. The Rosh Yeshiva and his Rebbitzen had come personally to be Menachem Avel.<br /><br />Rav Yitzchok Gotdiner invited the Rosh Yeshiva to be m'sader kidushin at his wedding. Rav Pam asked, "Is it possible that there is anyone in your family or your kallah's family who would want to give the kibud to someone else?"<br /><br />The chosson thought and remembered that his prospective father in law had mentioned something about the Mattesdorfer Rav.<br /><br />In that case, said Rav Pam. Please give it to the Mattesdorfer. I will come as a friend.<br /><br />Indeed he would mention his Talmidim as friends, In his last drasha on behalf of Shuvu, he refers to his trusted Talmid, Reb Avraham Bidderman as a dear friend.<br /><br />Kabalas Yissurim<br /><br />Reb Avraham Biderman, Co Chairman of Shuvu, who had been a right hand to the Rosh Yeshiva for many years, recounted the day that Rav Pam left the Yeshiva on his way to the first surgery.<br /><br />As they were leaving the building to go into the car, Rav Pam turned to him and said, "Avraham, think, perhaps of a special z'chus that will help me pull through the operation." Stunned he stammered, "How can I tell Rebbe a z'chus that he does not have." Suddenly Rav Pam backtracked and turned back into the building.<br /><br />He turned to the maintanence man who was washing the floor and wished him a "good morning." Then he turned to Avraham and continued toward the taxi.<br /><br />After the operation Rav Pam, returned to learn in his upstairs study. It was one afternoon when his grandson came in and serenely informed him that the pathology results had come in and that the news was not good.<br /><br />Rav Pam looked up from his Gemora, nodded his head and went back to the Gemara as if nothing had occurred.<br /><br />Even when his close talmid, Rabbi Yisroel Reisman would have a look of despair, Rav Pam would comfort him.<br /><br />"This is what the Ribono Shel Olam wants. This si the way it has to be."<br /><br />In the hospital, and throught the difficult days, he maintained a quiet dignity.Doctor Robert Schulman, the primary care physician to whom the Pam family is forever grateful, notes that his family developed a personal kesher with the Rosh Yeshiva. He did not relate to him as just a patient, it was Rav Pam who was concerned with all aspects of the Schulman's life. In the week's before his petirah, Rav Pam asked about Doctor Schulman's oldest son, Ari and then proceeded to give him a bracha to get engaged. The next girl he saw, just a few days later, became his kallah.<br /><br />Chinuch<br /><br />Rav Pam would often stress the importance of proper chinuch. Many problems stem from the way people act when being brought up. If children would learn to treat each other with respect from the very foundation of their education, many of the terrible outgrowths of their behavior would never have to be addressed.<br /><br />He shared the pain of Agunos, and pointed out that most often it is inherent character flaws and insensitivity to others that turn divorce into endless battles that scar parents and children for life. True, people are not always compatible and sometimes a marriage must be ended. But there is no reason for the bitter animosity that leads to a path of destruction.<br /><br />In his sefer Atarah L'Melech he speaks against those who use Purim as an excuse to make fun of others when they could be spending their creativity on niggunim and celebrations that glorify Shem Shamayim!<br /><br />There was no such thing as joy and dancing for the sake of frivolity.<br /><br />He would often see a Talmid, Shabsi Parnes, a master musician who plays at weddings and tell him, "Remember to have in mind that you are fulfilling the Mitzvah of bringing joy to a chassan and kallah."<br /><br />MUSSAR<br /><br />Rav Pam was makpid on putting mitzvos in perspective. He would give an example of a boy who tells his mother that he cannot help with the chores on Erev Yom Tov because he has to go to the Mikvah.<br /><br />"Does that make sense? Asked the Rosh Yeshiva. Mikvah today is at best a drabanan, Could it in any way ever displace the most important mitzvah of kibud av v'aim?<br /><br />Rav Pam, a Kohen, could not visit hospitals due to the issues of dead bodies in the hospital. However, when Rav Pam was in the hospital, he made every effort to visit patients who were on his floor. When he heard that the daughter of Rav Meir Hershkowitz, Rebbitzen Yehudis Garelik A"H, was ill he made a special effort to go to together with his Rebbitzen to the wing of the hospital where she was.<br /><br />Rav Pam's efforts in his final public appearance surpasses any human capacity.<br /><br />It took him literally two hours to dress and come to greet the gathered, all for the sake of the future of the children of Shuvu.<br /><br />Though many will remember, his strong demeanor, his light gait and uplifting spirit before the terrible illness, no one will ever forget his indefatigable mesiras nefesh throughout the last years of his life. His determination and zeal for harbatzas Torah, in spite of his waning strength will give us chizuk for endless generations. His mussar will resound for all of us to walk in his ways, a true example of the ultimate walking b'derech haTorah, walking in His ways.<br /><br />The tragic news emanated from the hospital room in Brooklyn, packed with Talmidim and family members and reverberated throughout the Olam HaTorah throughtout that night. Rav Pam had returned his soul to his Creator.<br /><br />Tens of thousands traveled to Yeshiva Torah Vodaas to be melavah this gadol and Manhig.<br /><br />As per his request, there were no hespedim, only Tehillim and divrei hakaras hatov spoken by his oldest son, Rav Aharon.<br /><br />The kevurah took place in Mount Judah cemetery, in the Chelka of Yeshivas Rabbi Chaim Berlin.<br /><br />In addition to a legacy of leadership, of Ahavas Yisrael, of thousands of Talmidim of Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Vodaas, and thousands of children of the Shuvu and scores of other schools, Rav Pam leaves behind a prestigious family, children and grandchildren, all Talmidei Chachamim and Marbitzey Torah.<br /><br />His oldest son Rav Aharon is married to Devorah Belsky and is a Maggid Shiur at Yeshiva Darchei Torah in Far Rockaway, New York. His son Rav Dovid is married to Malky Friedman of Detroit. He is the Rav of Kehilla Zichron Schneur in Toronto, Canada His son Rav Osher, married to Bina Shnur, is a rebbe in the Lakewood Cheder.<br /><br />May his memory be a blessing and may be be mailitz yosher to a broken nation.<br /><br />________________________________________________<br /><br />http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=286<br /><br />RAV AVROHOM PAM, ZT"L (1913 2001) Posted 8/22/01<br /><br />By Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum with Rabbi Yaakov Klass<br /><br />At 12:30 a.m. on Friday, August 17 28 Av, erev Shabbos Re'eh the world of Torah scholarship suffered an incalculable loss as Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Pam (known the world over as "Rav Pam"), rosh hayeshiva of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath, passed away.<br /><br />Rav Pam was niftar at Maimonides Medical Center in Boro Park. At the time of his passing, Rav Pam was surrounded by almost five minyanim of his family and students. Tens of thousands of mourners escorted the rosh hayeshiva to his resting place Friday afternoon.<br /><br />Rav Pam was born in 1913 to Rabbi Mayer Zanvil Pam, zt"l (d. 1969) and Rebbetzin Rochel Leah nee Anulik Pam, a"h. Rabbi Mayer Zanvil studied at the great yeshivas of Slabodka, Telz and Radin. In Radin, Rabbi Mayer Zanvil was a fellow in the Kodshim Kollel headed by Rabbi Yisroel Mayer Kagan, zt"l (1838 1933), author of the Chofetz Chaim.<br /><br />Rabbi Mayer Zanvil was the son in law of Rabbi Shimon Dov Ber Anulik, zt"l (1847 1907), author of Orach Mishpat and Imrei Rasha"d. Rabbi Anulik served, in succession, as Rav of Shaki, Tiktin and Shedlitz. The Shedlitzer Rav was renown as a great scholar.<br /><br />Rabbi Mayer Zanvil was appointed as Rav of the city of Kamai, and later of the city of Salak, both in Lithuania. In 1925, Rabbi Mayer Zanvil came to America and was elected as Rav of the Beis Medrash Hagadol of Brownsville, Brooklyn, as well as rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin.<br /><br />Rabbi Avrohom Pam was enrolled in the great yeshiva in Slabodka at the age of nine. When his father first brought the young and short Avrohom through the doors of the yeshiva, he was asked where his crib was. A senior rosh yeshiva overheard the prickly discussion and interjected that the young boy was nevertheless destined to become a gadol and a great rosh yeshiva. While studying at Yeshiva Ateres Zvi in Kovna, the young Avrohom ate Shabbos meals at the home of Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetsky, zt"l (1890 1986).<br /><br />Rav Pam, once discussing his studies at yeshivos in Europe, noted that his meals were provided by householders in the respective communities. He was most appreciative for the one meal eaten at a different home daily, for other than that meal he went hungry.<br /><br />Early in 1928, at the age of 14, Rav Pam was brought to the United States by his father and was enrolled in Yeshiva Torah Vodaath, the home citadel of Torah scholarship in America. There, he became a devoted disciple of Rabbi Dovid Lebowitz, zt"l (1900 1942), Selotchniker Rav who was then serving as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. Rabbi Lebowitz left Torah Vodaath and established Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim in 1933, however advising his dedicated student to remain in Torah Vodaath for there was his future.<br /><br />As Yeshiva Torah Vodaath had not yet, at that time, a structured program of learning for senior students, the young Rav Pam studied on his own. He intensely pursued studies in tractate Chullin and Yorah Deah. In 1937, at the young age of 24, Rav Pam was appointed as a rosh mesivta.<br /><br />Rav Pam had developed a close friendship with Rabbi Elya Moshe Shisgal, zt"l (son in law of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, zt"l), who was also to become a rosh yeshiva at Torah Vodaath but, sadly, died young. Rav Pam would visibly tremble whenever mentioning Rabbi Shisgal`s name. Rabbi Sholom Klass, zt"l (1916 2000), Founder and Editor of The Jewish Press, was proud to have studied with Rav Pam at Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. Rabbi Klass always referred to Rav Pam with awe.<br /><br />When Rabbi Aaron Kotler, zt"l (1892 1962), later Rosh Yeshiva Beth Medrash Gevoha, first arrived in the United States in the early 1940`s, he gave a shiur in Seder Zeraim to a very select few. Rav Pam was amongst the privileged participants of that shiur. Rabbi Kotler was often interrupted during the presentation of his shiur by emergency phone calls from the Vaad Hatzoloh that was endeavoring to save lives during the Holocaust. Hanging up the phone after a life and death issue, Rabbi Kotler would return to the shiur as though he never left it. Once during an emergency phone call, Rav Pam whispered a Talmudic insight to Rabbi Shisgal. The whisper was well below and out of listening range of Rabbi Kotler. However, Rabbi Kotler, when resuming his shiur, surprisingly inquired as to Rav Pam`s remarks. Rabbi Kotler seemed to have his ears tuned to the special frequency of Torah scholarship.<br /><br />Rav Pam married his life`s partner, Rebbetzin Sarah, in 1943. She was the daughter of Chaim Aryeh Balmuth , z"l. The Rebbetzin made possible Rav Pam`s undisturbed concentration in Torah studies. Her sacrifices throughout the years were recognized by Rav Pam who continuously thanked her, praised her and gloried in her. Rav Pam was proud to wear a sweater that the Rebbetzin knitted for him and he sought opportunities to wear it.<br /><br />In 1971, Rav Pam, together with his Rebbetzin, visited Israel. While staying in Jerusalem, Rav Pam learned that there was a Yarchei Kallah in Bnei Brak. So, almost in a moments notice, Rav Pam and the Rebbetzin relocated to Bnei Brak. On the morning of the last day of the Yarchei Kallah, one of the roshei yeshiva there approached Rav Pam and apologized for not realizing earlier that such an eminent rosh yeshiva was amongst them and asked that Rav Pam honor them by being seated on the dais. Again, almost on a moment`s notice, Rav Pam and the Rebbetzin relocated to Jerusalem so that Rav Pam could avoid the well deserved honor.<br /><br />While living in East New York, Rav Pam was an intimate of Rabbi Leib Malin, zt"l, Rosh Yeshiva of Beis Hatalmud. Rav Pam would always defer to his colleagues and rarely speak before everyone else had an opportunity to speak. He once related that Rabbi Itzel Petesburger, zt"l, was at a meeting of renowned Rabbis when the author of Beis Halevy posed a query developed by his then young son. When no one present was able to satisfactorily answer the query, the Beis Halevy shared his son`s solution to the challenge. The Beis Halevy was mystified by Rabbi Itzel`s silence. He then went and checked sefer Pri Yitzchok (Rabbi Itzel`s sefer), wherein he found two solutions to the query, one of which was exactly that of the Beis Halevy`s son. It Appears that Rav Pam always aspired to emulate Rabbi Itzel.<br /><br />The succession of Roshei Yeshiva that have participated in Torah Voddath`s leadership is a golden chain of tradition: Rabbi Dovid Lebowitz, zt"l (1900 1942), Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, zt"l (1886 1948), Rabbi Shlomo Heiman, zt"l (d.1944), Rabbi Reuven Grozovsky, zt"l (1896 1956), Rabbi Moshe Dov Ber Rivkin, zt"l, Rabbi Aaron Yeshaya Shapiro, zt"l, Rabbi Uri Meir Kahanow, zt"l, Rabbi Shmuel Kushelevitz, zt"l (d. 1963), Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky, zt"l (1890 1986), Rabbi Gedalia Schorr (1910 1979), Rabbi Elya Chazan, zt"l, Rabbi Reuven Fain, zt"l, and Rabbi Simcha Sheps, zt"l, all of whom were preeminent roshei yeshiva whose names reverberate when mentioned.<br /><br />They were the predecessors to and colleagues of Rav Pam, who served as Rosh Hayeshiva as well as the senior Member of the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah. Rabbi Eluzer Kahanow, Rabbi Yosef Savitsky, Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, Rabbi Nosson Elya Gertzulin, Rabbi Moshe Wolfson, and Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Sekula are amongst the princely names of the current Roshei Yeshiva.<br /><br />Upon the passing of Rabbi Rivkin, Rav Pam was appointed to give the Yoreh Deah shiur. When Rabbi Schorr died in 1979, a Hanhala administration was arranged with Rav Pam, Rabbi Sekula, Rabbi Chazan and Rabbi Wolfson. Rabbi Chazan, sadly, passed away shortly thereafter and Rav Pam was annointed as Rosh Hayeshiva. Rav Pam was also appointed as the guiding light of Torah Umesorah, Be`er Hagolah, Shuvu, and many other Torah organizations.<br /><br />Rabbi Avigdor Miller, zt"l (1909 2001), in one his tapes, indicated that today`s Godol Hador, Rav Pam, is to be found on East 7th Street in Kensington.<br /><br />Though totally dedicated to his students at Torah Vodaath, Rav Pam was predisposed to help every worthwhile organization that sought his help and participation. Most recently, though very weak, he insisted that he be brought by ambulance to a Shuvu function, an organization that he held very dear. His home served as headquarters for innumerable organizations and charitable efforts. His name was a crown for all who earned his involvement.<br /><br />In 1993, sefer Atarah Lemelech, a compilation of the Rosh Yeshiva`s shmuesen (discourses) was published. In his introduction, Rav Pam profusely thanks Rabbi Matisyahu Blum, Rabbi Yitzchok Gottdiener, and Rabbi Mordechai Menachem Avigdor, for their selfless efforts in achieving the publication of the sefer.<br /><br />Also in 1993, a campaign was launched to write a new sefer Torah honoring the Rosh Yeshiva. A year and a half later, the Torah scroll was ready. An elaborate Hachnosas Sefer Torah was arranged wherein the entire community would be able to participate. Rabbi Shmuel Glassman, dedicated student of the Rosh Yeshiva, together with others, organized a spectacular parade and memorable ceremonies. A huge tent was erected at the home of Abraham Biderman for the Sunday event. Mayor Rudy Giuliani visited the tent the evening before. Buses were mobilized to move the crowd from Boro Park to Flatbush. All the sifrei Torah of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath as well as of Yeshiva Torah Temimah were brought out to receive the new sefer Torah. The event was exceptionally beautiful. All who participated will never forget it. Nor will they ever forget what Rav Pam said in his address.<br /><br />After the new sefer Torah was ceremoniouly brought into the Yeshiva and placed into the Aron Hakodesh, the Rosh Yeshiva stood up and faced the huge assembly that squeezed into the Beis Medrash. Rav Pam held one arm out to indicate the vast number of people present and said "my little heart cannot absorb so many people with such enormous feelings."<br /><br />His efforts were not limited to Torah scholarship alone but also included almost every communal challenge and undertaking. When Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans was charged with kidnapping in the Shai Fema case, I was asked to serve as chairman, together with Kalmen Yonason Stern of Skver, Rabbi Juda Dick, Esq., Rabbi Noach Steinberg, Esq., Shia Brach, Moshe Shneibalg, Yitzchok Tenenbaum, Rabbi Feival Halberstam, and others, on the legal defense committee. In addition to the absurd kidnaping charges, Rabbi Helbrans also faced possible deportation. I spoke to Rav Pam after Shacharis soon thereafter concerning the case, waiting for the dozen or so other supplicants before me. Rav Pam, in his tiny office, indicated the direction needed and necessary minor compromises for resolving the case in the best possible manner under the unfavorable circumstances.<br /><br />The well known experienced criminal defense attorneys, however, had different ideas. Kalmen Yonason Stern and I resigned from the legal committee, which ultimately dissolved. The case went to full trial where Rabbi Helbrans was found guilty and sentenced to a term of four to eight years. Upon appeal, the sentence was reduced to two to four years. Rabbi Helbrans was released after serving the minimum sentence but was consequentially deported.<br /><br />Had the case proceeded according to the instructions of Rav Pam, the disastrous outcome could have been avoided. It is plain to me that the Rosh Yeshiva`s insight was piercing. He had more understanding in his pinky than all the high priced criminal defense attorneys involved. Not having been trained as an attorney and never having defended any criminal cases, the Rosh Yeshiva`s insight could only have been divine.<br /><br />On the last day of Chanukah 1999, the Yeshiva conducted its regular Chanukah seudah. Rav Pam spoke to an enthralled audience for approximately one hour in thankfulness for his enduring a serious illness that had taken him away from the Yeshiva for an extended period. The Rosh Yeshiva then resumed his regular Yoreh Deah shiurim.<br /><br />In the Spring of 2000, Yeshiva Torah Vodaath celebrated a Chag Hasmicha with a large group of worthy students being ordained by the Rosh Yeshiva. The Yeshiva`s dinner that year was devoted to honoring those students that achieved such great heights. It was the Yeshiva`s most distinguished and exalted dinner to date.<br /><br />The following year, the Rosh Yeshiva invited all of its Magidei Daf Yomi students to his home to congratulate them and to announce that the Yeshiva will honor them at its forthcoming annual dinner. The dinner was undoubtedly the Yeshiva`s most distinguished and exalted to date. Sadly, we will not have the Rosh Yeshiva at the next annual dinner.<br /><br />In September, 2000, I was privileged to discuss the New York Cancer Project with Rav Pam. It is a 20 year Cancer research survey being conducted in the New York City metropolitan area which has the potential to help develop cures for many forms of cancer. Maimonides Medical Center is conducting the surveys in Brooklyn. Jews of eastern European extraction, in particular, may be helped by the information that the survey might develop. Rav Pam grasped fully the implications of the project and encouraged Yeshiva Torah Vodaath`s eight grade to write essays on the project`s theme. The Beth Din of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, Igud Horabbonim, then issued a proclamation encouraging participation in the cancer survey. The proclamation posters were placed throughout the Boro Park and Flatbush communities eliciting a remarkable response.<br /><br />Rav Pam was involved in every aspect of his student`s needs. He worked on shidduchim and livelihoods for every student that was in need of a match or a position. In the past few years, the Rosh Yeshiva`s home became a busier place and his health became increasingly fragile. Family and friends encouraged a respite. They counseled the Rosh Yeshiva to set aside at least one day a week when he would not receive visitors or accept telephone calls. The Rosh Yeshiva demurred, saying what if some one would need him that day.<br /><br />Just a few short months ago, the phone rang in Rav Pam`s home. A lady was frantically calling seeking help, she was having difficulty in preparing Shabbos for her large family. She needed help. The Rosh Yeshiva immediately organized his grandchildren to attend to the lady and ensure that their Shabbos was complete. Calls would reach the Rosh Yeshiva seeking help in placing children into yeshivas. In response, he devoted his time to coordinating funding and achieving admission and tuition for the needy children.<br /><br />Rabbi Paysach Krohn, the noted orator, quotes a story from Rabbi Yaakov Salomon of Brooklyn about Rav Pam. An elderly man known to Rav Pam took ill and had to be hospitalized. Being a Kohen, Rav Pam would not visit hospitals out of fear of violating the prohibition of a Kohen being in the same building as a dead person. Instead he wrote the man a letter wishing him a refuah shleima, a speedy recovery. It was a short letter that took the Rosh Yeshivah just a few minutes to write. The man could not believe that a simple person like himself merited a letter from the renown Rosh Yeshivah. He made copies and kept the original letter under his pillow, proudly showing it to all his visitors. A few months later, the man passed away. One of the speakers in his eulogy noted that the deceased obviously was an important personage because Rav Pam himself, the Godol Hador, took the time to write him a get well letter.<br /><br />Later that week, Rav Pam, being a Kohen and having not been able to attend the funeral, heard what was said and that the deceased treasured the letter. Rav Pam then said, "This whole incident is frightening to me. Consider what a person can accomplish in just a few moments. It took me just two minutes to write that letter, yet in the hospital it gave the recipient such cheer and comfort. Furthermore, at the funeral it gave his family and friends consolation. Do we realize what can be accomplished in just two minutes? How often do all of us have two minutes of free time? If we don`t make the most of those periods, they pass by in emptiness. What frightens me is that Hashem can take this letter and say to me, `You did something so wonderful in such a short amount of time. What are you doing with all the other two minute spans of free time that you have?` "<br /><br />The Rosh Yeshiva`s association with Torah Vodaath lasted almost 75 years. During all those years Rav Pam always sat in the middle of the Beis Medrash. He never repositioned himself to the front of the Beis Medrash, wheres other roshei yeshiva are seated. In his last years, the Rosh Yeshiva used a regular household shopping cart for support as he walked the two blocks from his modest home to the Yeshiva.<br /><br />Rav Pam was hospitalized for the past few months with declining health. He was released on Tu B`Av, a most auspicious day. The Rosh Yeshiva felt that there must have been a higher purpose in his release. He called an indigent man, known to him personally, and gave him $1,800 from a tzedakah fund and kissed his hand for the opportunity. The gentleman immediately paid off several months of past due rent, thus avoiding eviction.<br /><br />On his final return to Maimonides Hospital, every consideration and courtesy was extended to make the Rosh Yeshiva`s stay as comfortable as possible. Medical personnel and staff generally wore yarmulkas when attending to Rav Pam. The hospital administration also provided continuous refreshments for the family and visitors.<br /><br />As the Rosh Yeshiva`s condition declined, a noticeable hush was felt throughout the hospital. Friday morning at 12:30 a.m., the Rosh Yeshiva`s gentle soul was embraced by Heaven. A stillness blanketed the entire hospital. More than 50 people were present, including family members and devoted desciples, amongst them Rabbi Yisroel Reisman, Abraham Biderman, Chaim H. Leshkowitz, and Rabbi Chaim Elazar Friedman, Tenker Rav. Mayer Fleischman, Noson Friedman, Yossie Handler, and Shlomo Neuman of the Bikur Cholim of Boro Park Chevra Kadisha were present. Mechel Handler and Yitzy Stern of Hatzola were also there. Douglas Jablon and Dr. Marcel Biberfeld, Maimonides Vice Presidents, were also present.<br /><br />Arrangements were immediately made. Assistant Chief Joseph Fox Commanding Officer Patrol Borough Brooklyn South, Officer Eugene Stevens of Community Affairs, Lt. Brudy, and Rabbi Isaac M. of Kapitchnitz, Police Chaplain, PA NYNJ Police, ensured that dignity would be preserved as Hotzolah moved the Rosh Yeshiva through the front door entrance. On the way out, characteristically, the Rebbetzin stopped to wish a speedy recovery to someone who was going into surgery.<br /><br />Within moments of the Rosh Yeshiva`s passing, the bitter news was transmitted throughout the world. Former and present students of all ages immediately left the Catskills, Montreal, Toronto, Lakewood, Baltimore, etc., to be present at the Rosh Yeshiva`s last visit to the Yeshiva. The funeral was scheduled for 11:30 a.m., leaving little time for travel.<br /><br />Friday morning at 9:00 a.m., the Yeshiva Torah Vodaath Beis Medrash was full. Men were still trying to push themselves in. The warm weather outside and the huge number of men inside the Beis Medrash created a sweltering situation. Hatzolah stationed emergency crews throughout the Beis Medrash and along East 9th Street. Bottles of water were distributed.<br /><br />At 11:30 a.m., East 9th Street was jammed with people from Cortelyou Road to Ditmas Avenue and beyond. Huge public address equipment was strategically placed so that all would be able to hear what was transpiring inside the Beis Medrash. The New York City Police Department stationed its forces throughout the immediate area with police observers on roof tops. Mayor Rudy Giuliani with his security personnel and staff were present, standing respectfully. Other political statesmen were there as well.<br /><br />Leading Roshei Yeshiva, Rabbis and Chassidishe Rebbes from the New York City metropolitan area waited. Moments later, the aron was brought into the Beis Medrash and the thousands of people fell silent. Rabbi Yaakov Aaron Prosky, a Torah Vodaath Kollel member and Rosh Yeshiva who also serves as the Yeshiva`s Baal Koreh, led the assembled in reciting seven chapters of Tehillim.<br /><br />Rabbi Aaron Pam, the Rosh Yeshiva`s oldest son, cried bitterly. He He thanked all those who attended to his father. He thanked Hatzoloh. He said his devout father had strictly forbidden any eulogies, and had repeated the admonition for more than 20 years. He said that his father helped many meritorious organizations and many people. He was confident that people will honor the Rosh Yeshiva`s wishes and continue to support the organizations. However, he cried, who will help the individuals that his father helped.<br /><br />Everyone rose as Rabbi Manis Mandel, Rosh Yeshiva of Brooklyn and Torah Vodaath`s Shaliach Tzibbur on Yomin Noraim, intoned the Kel Moleh. Then the bier was carried out slowly, the crowds having to make way. Slowly, the funeral procession reached Ditmas Avenue and Ocean Parkway, where a hearse was waiting. A caravan of buses and cars formed and were directed by police on its way to Mount Judah Cemetery. At every intersection, polices cars were positioned so that the procession would move uninterrupted.<br /><br />Arriving at the cemetery, police directed cars to parking areas so that no snarls or back ups would be created. The crowd proceeded directly to the just opened grave. Rav Pam was interred alongside his father and mother on Emmanuel Avenue at the corner of Washington Avenue in the cemetery. At grave side, Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, Rosh Yeshiva Torah Vodaath, recited the mourner`s Kaddish. The sons, being Kohanim, did not enter the cemetery but stood waiting at its gate. As the crowd departed the cemetery, the traditional lines were formed to console the mourners. The sons then davened Mincha and recited Kaddish for the father who served all Children of Israel.<br /><br />He is survived by his Rebbetzen of 58 years and three sons: Rabbi Aaron of Yeshiva Drachei Torah in Far Rockaway; Rabbi Dovid of Kahal Zicron Shneur in Toronto; and Rabbi Usher of the Lakewood Cheder.<br /><br />May our memory of him serve to guide us. Our loss is colossal Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34174750.post-27154379654692302292008-12-30T17:25:00.001-08:002014-11-15T19:05:08.550-08:00Rav Pam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
The majesty of man <br />
<br />
By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetsky <br />
HOW do you capture the essence of an elderly man, stricken with a devastating and, ultimately, fatal disease, who insists on attending a fundraising event, having to be brought by ambulance and stretcher? With every last ounce of his failing strength he dressed in his Sabbath finery and left his home for the sake of ten thousand children he had never seen with his eyes but had touched with his heart and soul. <br />
How do you write believable stories of a man who would cry bitter tears when hearing the plight of individuals in need? How does one convey the essence of a person whose mesiras nefesh, self-sacrifice -- for Torah -- the Bible -- transcended the constraints of his aged and stricken body? <br />
No one who was privileged to meet Rabbi Avraham Pam, the Rosh Yeshiva, dean, of Brooklyn's Yeshiva Torah Voddath, who passed away a week ago today, will ever forget the warm smile that sparkled for every person --- the strong or weak, rich or poor, observant or those searching to find the correct path. <br />
IN THE BEGINNING <br />
Rabbi Pam was appointed a Maggid Shiur, or Talmudic lecturer, in Torah Vodaath, in 1939. With secularism running rampant even in the Orthodox community, motivating young Jewish American boys to follow their spiritual heritage in those days was a daunting challenge. But the future dean excelled in doing just that. To him, every student was a world unto himself. <br />
Once, one of Rabbi Pam's students was caught secretly studying math during a Talmud lecture. The student explained that he was afraid that he had not mastered the subject and was going to fail a test. Instead of taking offense at the slight, Rabbi Pam assured the boy that if he would study the day's Talmud lesson with diligence, then he himself would tutor him after class. Math, as it just so happened, was an area of the rabbi's expertise. <br />
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Rabbi Pam's disciples were truly like his children. Rabbi Moshe Francis, a founder of the Chicago Community Kollel, which has had a major impact on the strengthening of Jewish observance and scholarship in the Midwest, remembers that he was once speaking with Rabbi Pam at a wedding when someone asked, "Is this your son?" <br />
Rabbi Pam did not hesitate. "K'ben," he responded, "like a son." <br />
LIFE PARTNER <br />
In 1943, Rabbi Pam married Sarah Balmuth. Though Rabbi Pam often expressed his gratitude for having chosen the right path in life, there was one choice that he forever emphasized to his disciples, in a manner exceeding any other. He always expressed great gratitude to the Creator for having merited a Rebbitzen, rabbinic helpmate, who tended to his every need, enabling him to pursue a life filled with the Divine Service and Torah study. <br />
The Rebbitzen put order to the thousands of requests for appointments, advice and letters of approbation. Rabbi Pam constantly expressed his gratitude for her ever-present care and concern, not only for the physical amenities of his daily life, but for enabling him to grow in spirituality as well. <br />
The Rosh Yeshiva's emphasis on the importance of mutual respect in marriage found expression in his gentle reminders to disciples to celebrate their wedding anniversaries every year, and without fail. <br />
When Yosi Heber, a close student of Rabbi Pam, became engaged, the Rosh Yeshiva was one of the first to be called with the good news. Immediately, Yosi was asked if a date had been set for the wedding. It was August 22nd. "Why, that's my anniversary!" exclaimed the Rosh Yeshiva, "it will be easy to remember!" Not one to forget an important date or miss an opportunity, Rabbi Heber made it his practice to send out an anniversary card to Rabbi Pam and his Rebbetzin every year thereafter. As the years passed, he made a point of sharing his nachas, joy, with the Pams and included a picture of the children as each addition to his family arrived. <br />
This year, the card was sent out a bit early. During shiva -- the seven day period of mourning -- the Rebbetzin motioned to Rabbi Yosi Heber, that she had something to tell him. <br />
"I wanted you to know that I mentioned to Rabbi Pam on Tuesday, that I received your anniversary card. I took it to the hospital and read it to the Rosh Yeshiva and he reacted to it. It was the last time he reacted to anything!" <br />
A small, inconsequential thing like an anniversary when used correctly can become another solid brick in the foundation of a marriage and the development of future generations. Another aspect of the Rosh Yeshiva's ability to take the small and commonplace things in life and elevate them to being the tools of greatness. <br />
Well after midnight, after the devastating news of the Rosh Yeshiva's passing reached the world, some of Rabbi Pam's closest disciples made their way to the house to join the Rebbetzin and offer whatever solace they could. Upon entering the house, they were shocked to discover the Rebbetzin at work on her ironing board. To their astonishment, she responded, "I am simply ironing Rabbi Pam's tallis -- prayer shawl - and kittel for the burial tomorrow. I know it's late at night, but this is my last chance to honor him." <br />
THE QUINTESSENTIAL HUMBLE MAN <br />
Rabbi Pam never wore the traditional frock (Prince Albert coat) of a Rosh Yeshiva and always wore a simple fedora --- not a Hamburg or up-brim hat, as most yeshiva deans wear. <br />
Rabbi Pam would leave his hat in the public cloakroom of Mesivta Torah Vodaath, alongside his students'. Once, he innocently took his hat, not realizing someone, obviously not knowing to whom it belonged, had mistakenly balanced their coffee mug on its back brim. <br />
The mug immediately came flying down from the shelf, shattering in a cacophony of ceramic shards. Without hesitating, Rabbi Pam went to get a broom and shovel. He insisted on sweeping up the mess by himself. Then, he went to the local hardware store to get a replacement mug. He could not find the exact matching color and so he wrote a note. In his meticulously crafted expression and perfect lettering, he attached the this message to the mug: <br />
"I was negligent in my actions and I shattered your mug. I have bought this one to replace it. I hope that you forgive me. In the event that this replacement does not suffice, please contact me as soon as possible to arrange compensation."<br />
The note was signed simply, Avraham Pam. <br />
(Author's note: The note from Rabbi Pam, was cherished by the mug's owner, much more than the replaced mug. It is framed and hangs on his wall!) <br />
Rabbi Pam had learned for himself and taught others that you never lose by keeping quiet. <br />
Of course, that viewpoint only applied to personal honor; when it came to chilul Hashem, the desecration of the Creator's name, there was never a moment of silence! <br />
Thirty years ago, Rabbi Pam and his Rebbitzen made their only visit to the Holy Land together. They stayed in Jerusalem, but when Rabbi Pam visited B'nai Brak, the Ponvez Yeshiva was holding its annual Yarchei Kallah summer program. Rabbi Pam saw this opportunity to sit and study in virtual anonymity, and decided to stay in the Yeshiva setting. <br />
The Pams moved into the dorm specially set up for the Yarchei Kallah families, and for two weeks, Rabbi Pam sat and learned. After two weeks, he was invited to a a lifecycle event -- simcha -- in the Ponovez Dining Room, when he saw some people whispering. Then, suddenly a distinguished man approached <br />
"Torah Vodath Rosh Yeshiva, please sit up front on the head table." <br />
The next morning, realizing that his identity was compromised, he and his wife returned immediately to Jerusalem. <br />
LEADERSHIP <br />
Rabbi Pam would lead the charge of Torah sages who decried, improper business practices or fraudulent dealings with government agencies. He did not differentiate between stealing on an individual, institutional, or governmental level. It was all prohibited and he let it be known, emphatically and insistently. <br />
Though he was often the featured speaker at conventions of Agudath Israel and other important venues with the ears of a People focused on his every word, when he left the podium, he was as always the humble giant and master of simplicity. <br />
A disciple recalls how he was in a car with Rabbi Pam and a student his own age, who was also named Avraham. His stop came first and upon leaving the car he turned to his peer, wishing him, "Good night, Avraham." <br />
Rabbi Pam, unfazed at being addressed so informally and not realizing that the message was intended for the other student, simply smiled and returned the farewell. "Good Night to you, too." <br />
SHUVU <br />
In 1990, when the floodgates of the Soviet Union burst open, Jewry was faced with the prospect of hundreds of thousands of souls potentially being lost to secular oblivion. Rabbi Avrohom Yosef Leizerson of the Chinuch Atzmai organization recalls years later that he was present at the annual Agudath Israel convention that year and was among those who spoke to the Rosh Yeshiva of the spiritual disaster facing the children <br />
At that year's keynote session, Rabbi Pam made an impassioned plea to begin a network of schools in the Holy Land for the children of these Russian immigrants. <br />
That Saturday night, he convened a meeting of the wealthy and influential participants at that year's convention. <br />
On the way to the meeting, he met a disciple, whom he would later call a "partner" and a "friend," Reb Avraham Biderman. He brought him along to the meeting. It was at that meeting, that Shuvu was born, and then and there Rabbi Pam appointed Avraham Biderman as chairman. <br />
Rabbi Pam lived and breathed Shuvu. It became his focus and his nachas over the course of the last decade of his life. <br />
Laymen ready to donate five or ten thousand dollars to Shuvu, would increase their contributions tenfold after hearing Rabbi Pam's impassioned pleas. <br />
Rabbi Pam would often cajole laymen to give tzedoka, charity, with self-scarifice. He once told Rabbi Sidney Glenner of Chicago that the challenge of the last generation was, quoting the words of the central "Shema" Prayer, b'chol nafsh'cha --- giving up ones life. The challenge of this generation, is b'chol m'odecha --- giving up one's money for the causes of Torah. <br />
OUTLOOK <br />
There were a few expressions that bothered Rabbi Pam. He did not like when people would talk about the "Amahliger yohrin," the good-old-days, when everything was so pure. <br />
He felt that we must do our best to improve our generation without deriding it. And, if someone felt that it was once better, he did not want them lamenting the fact. Rather, he wanted to see them act in a way that would raise the level of this generation. <br />
He stressed the need to be exacting when speaking. He asked his students to refrain from the vernacular that infiltrated the Yeshiva world from the street. He felt it was unbecoming for them to express themselves in a less than articulate manner and once told the boys that they should remove "whatchamacallit" from their vocabularies. <br />
A close disciple approached him after one lecture. "What is wrong with 'whatchamacallit'?" he asked <br />
"It shows you are not thinking." he replied. <br />
As a young man, Rabbi Pam was traveling home on the New Lots Avenue subway line when he spotted a five dollar bill lying face down. <br />
He mentioned the find to his wife, who responded, "perhaps we can purchase a special treat with the new-found money. <br />
Rabbi Pam hesitated. "I cannot. How can we enjoy something special when there is someone out there who is broken-hearted?" <br />
Rabbi Moshe Francis, dean of Chicago's Community Kollel, remembers how an impoverished man came to Rabbi Pam toward the end of a study session in the yeshiva. He closed his Talmud tome, and told his disciple, "this is a mitzvah -- religious duty -- that will not be performed by anyone else here. Therefore, I must stop studying the Torah." <br />
He then excused himself and took the man home for a meal. <br />
A man once came to Rabbi Pam in desperate straits. He asked the Rosh Yeshiva to contact certain philanthropists on his behalf. Rabbi Pam responded that he had just called them all for other charities. He was unable to help the man. He gave him what he could from his own money and the man left. <br />
Less than a half hour later, the man realized he had left something in Rabbi Pam's study. When he came back he found Rabbi Pam crying over his inability to help the poor man. <br />
HONESTY <br />
It was a late wedding and Rabbi Pam, who did not have a driver, was one of the last to leave. It was a blustery winter night. As no one who stayed to offer him a ride, he shared a taxi with a student who later related this story. <br />
The cab driver started to drive away from the hall when Rabbi Pam noticed that the man had not turned up the meter flag. The ride would therefore not be recorded into the travel log. Assuming that it was an oversight, the Rosh Yeshiva mentioned that the meter is not running. <br />
"My boss," he exclaimed, "he's a ganev --- thief! I should make a lot more than he offers me. It's okay to moonlight once in a while even if I am on his time! Anyway, what's the difference to you. The fare is twelve bucks. Do you mind if I keep all of it?" <br />
Rabbi Pam was adamant. It's not honest. "Listen," said the driver. "It's my way or the highway. I saw you shivering on this freezing night. I stopped. I picked you up and I'm takin' you home. Let me just do my thing. What does it bother you if I make some spare cash." <br />
Rabbi Pam sighed. "I'll tell you what. Run the meter. I will pay you double. Give your boss what is coming to him and keep the same amount for yourself." <br />
The driver agreed. At the end of the trip the meter showed $12.00.Rabbi Pam paid him $24.00, and gave him a tip of $2.00."<br />
EVERY CHILD, AN ENTIRE WORLD <br />
Rabbi Simcha Lefkowitz, Associate Dean of Yeshiva of South Shore, related that a few years ago, the Yeshiva had to dismiss a particular student for an action that clearly defied the Yeshiva's standards and policies. <br />
Pressure from parenting committee and others could not influence the staff, which had thought long and hard about before rendering their decision. <br />
The young boy had heard his teachers, Rabbi Leib Wolf, and Rabbi Yehuda Horowitz, constantly talk about the greatness of their rebbe, Rabbi Pam. And so, on the slight chance that Rabbi Pam would hear his story, the young man called the Rosh Yeshiva who instructed him to come to Torah Vodaath an hour before the afternoon prayers. <br />
The boy was brought before the Rosh Yeshiva, where frankly and openly, he told him what he had done and the ramifications of his actions. Rabbi Pam chided him strongly about his indiscretion and left him thoroughly chagrined. <br />
Then they broke for prayers. <br />
Once the services ended, Rabbi Pam changed his demeanor. "I see that you are truly an ehrlicher bochur -- devout lad -- and you will start anew." The boy, by now repentant and unable to speak, nodded his head profusely and Rabbi Pam agreed to help. <br />
The next day, Rabbi Lefkowitz was sitting in his office when the phone rang. <br />
The soft voice on the other end of the line said. "This is Avraham Pam." The Rosh Yeshiva went on to ask that the boy be returned to the Yeshiva despite the ramifications the administration anticipated. "It is on my head." <br />
Rabbi Lefkowitz needed no cajoling. After all, he mused, it is not often that a member of the Council of Torah Sages calls on behalf of a student he has only met once in his life! <br />
The postscript is vintage Rabbi Pam. The student went on to become a prized pupil in the Yeshiva, won the valedictory award for religious studies, and has been an outstanding student in one of the most prestigious Yeshivas in the Holy Land since he graduated from the South Shore Mesivta - Ateres Yaakov, two summers ago. <br />
There was once a child that was unable to advance to the next grade level, as his skills were way below that of his anticipated grade level. There was no way the principal would allow the boy advance into first grade. The frantic mother called Rabbi Pam, who in turn called the principal. <br />
"If a tutor would bring him up to grade level over the summer would you allow him to enter the first grade?" As soon as the principal agreed, Rabbi Pam arranged for a student of the yeshiva to spend a summer learning with the child, for which Rabbi Pam paid from his own pocket. <br />
AT THE END <br />
Rabbi Pam's efforts in his final public appearance surpasses any human capacity. <br />
It took him literally two hours to dress and come to greet the gathered, all for the sake of the future of the children of Shuvu. <br />
Though many will remember, his strong demeanor, his light gait and uplifting spirit before the terrible illness, no one will ever forget his indefatigable self-sacrifice throughout the last years of his life. His determination and zeal for the spreading of the Divine Word, in spite of his waning strength will give us strength for endless generations. His ethical teachings will resound for all of us to walk in his ways, a true example of the ultimate walking in the ways of the Torah, walking in His ways. <br />
The tragic news emanated from the hospital room in Brooklyn, packed with disciples and family members and reverberated throughout the Torah world throughout that night. Rabbi Pam had returned his soul to his Creator. <br />
Tens of thousands traveled to Yeshiva Torah Vodaath to pay homage to this Torah giant. <br />
Per his request, there were no eulogies, only Psalms and expressions of gratitude spoken by his oldest son, Rabbi Aharon. <br />
May his memory be a blessing and may be a heavenly advocate for a broken nation.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34174750.post-88318527702485441762007-05-15T08:15:00.000-07:002008-11-12T19:26:19.885-08:00Reb Ari Dovid Block zt"l<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTk1ikz6NRJ2hTIye5yCRS1-HnmrvjsL-7W-f7Bxej0bYwo6_fHKH-BhO11VDBXPnpLSmpijTwdJlDyS2vJoYWwuNFLyZK0Bebf73qru0nlCESgHbqjPZIECLH4JAuLgX1jefu/s1600-h/Ari+Dovid+Block+and+Son.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5064806769238586738" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 303px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 259px" height="218" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTk1ikz6NRJ2hTIye5yCRS1-HnmrvjsL-7W-f7Bxej0bYwo6_fHKH-BhO11VDBXPnpLSmpijTwdJlDyS2vJoYWwuNFLyZK0Bebf73qru0nlCESgHbqjPZIECLH4JAuLgX1jefu/s200/Ari+Dovid+Block+and+Son.jpg" width="303" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9YzgHB6_KxGNLZuFM4oCKog-Ybp8bj2dYn4LnT9kwdnOuQe1dq6_-oWGIMB0Vsl9wUU-1XUCYoYKOt_s4zuCuiyHkto5ldnBWIGrcwNlS9Z7e9hbRd-4BOhZM0TCsqOO_SmOQ/s1600-h/Ari+Dovid+Block+and++father.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5064806567375123810" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 271px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 223px" height="143" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9YzgHB6_KxGNLZuFM4oCKog-Ybp8bj2dYn4LnT9kwdnOuQe1dq6_-oWGIMB0Vsl9wUU-1XUCYoYKOt_s4zuCuiyHkto5ldnBWIGrcwNlS9Z7e9hbRd-4BOhZM0TCsqOO_SmOQ/s200/Ari+Dovid+Block+and++father.jpg" width="249" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Hundreds of talmidim, friends, relatives and community members filled the massive auditorium of Yeshivas Shor Yoshuv as they stood in shock at the levaya of Reb Ari Dovid Block, z”l, a 24-year-old yungerman of the <a href="http://www.shoryoshuv.org">Sho’or Yoshuv Kollel </a>in Far Rockaway, who was niftar suddenly on Sunday, May 13th. Reb Ari was niftar only a year after his marriage to Feigy Ludmir, the daughter of Reb Chanoch Ludmir and the day before the Pidyon HaBen of his bechor, Avraham Yeshaya n”y.<br /><br /></span>Reb Ari Dovid who was known for his tremendous hasmada and power of hashpa’ah, was beloved to all his friends and Rabbeim and the hundreds of people who knew him, all of them who openly wept like children at the largely attended levaya.<br /><br />Raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Ari grew in Torah in Eretz Yisrael and most recently in Yeshivas Shor Yoshuv where he became a close Talmid of the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Naftali Jaeger, shlit”a. Rav Jaeger spoke about Reb Ari’s commitment to sidrei Hayeshiva and his unwavering hasmadah. Ari learned in the Yeshiva for three years but this past year, his shana rishona of marriage, he showed unparalleled hasmada. His shemiras hasedorim was extraordinary for any yungerman, let alone one who was recently married. In fact, the day he was niftar, R’ Ari Dovid had gone to the vort of a chavrusa during Bain haSedorim on Sunday. When he realized that the distance from the vort back to yeshiva was longer than expected, he called his chavrusa to say that he would rush back but that he did not realize how far (West Hempstead) was from far Rockaway and would be a little late. He implored his chaver to please tape the shiur that he was supposed to hear, just in case he would miss the first few minutes.<br /><br />Ari, would never hear that shiur in Yeshiva shel matoh. He collapsed moments later and passed away.<br /><br />With tearful eyes, Rav Jaeger mentioned that as they were discussing the upcoming Pidyon HaBen, of Ari Dovid’s newborn son Avraham Yeshaya, Ari Dovid’s asked if he could give a donation to a tzedaka fund that was dear to the Rosh Yeshiva. When Rav Jaeger mentioned that as much as he appreciated the offer, it was not necessary for a yungerman of small means to contribute, R’ Ari Dovid did not argue and seemed to be content not to give.<br /><br />On the day of the Levaya, the Rosh Yeshiva found a check inside under a sefer on R’ Ari Dovid’s shtender. It was made out to the tzedaka and contained a note mentioning that the donation was l’kovod the Simcha.<br /><br />R’ Ari Dovid’s father, Dr. Yitzchok Ahron (Robert) Block, a well known psychologist both in Phoenix and Lawrence, spoke about Ari Dovid’s devotion to Torah and how it was he who inspired his entire family to grow in Torah and Yiras Shamayim. Even after a difficult operation a few years back, Ari mustered strength to be at the side of his ailing grandfather, Rabbi Morris Block, the founder of the Brooklyn School for Special Education, one of the first schools for severely handicapped Jewish children.<br /><br />Ari’s Uncle Rav Zvi Block, Rav of Kehilas Toras Hashem of Los Angeles spoke warmly about his long-standing relationship with Ari. During his formative years Ari had a seder with him via telephone, and never missed calling. Ari had a personality which brought a Simchas HaChaim to everyone who was in his sphere. People wanted to be close to him, to talk to him, to hear his divrei chizuk about everything.<br /><br />His family members commented how so often, no matter what the situation, Ari would walk into his home singing a nigun. And the simcha he exuded complimented his leibedikeit in learning. He was makpid to learn before the davening until late at night. He not only learned for himself but he inspired others. A chaver, Yoni Sebag of Phoenix who is currently a talmid at Shor Yoshuv, was one of the many friends from Phoenix and across the country who were directly influenced by R’Ari Dovid’s effervescent personality. “If not for Ari, I would never have reached any madreiga in Torah and Yiras Shamayim,” he exclaimed tearfully, echoing the sentiment of so many who were inspired by Reb Ari Dovid’s enthusiastic approach to Avodas Hashem.<br /><br />Ari’s father in law, Reb Chanoch Ludmir gave a stirring hesped in which he mourned the loss of his son-in-law who was indeed a matana. The combination of Ari’s tremendous commitment to limud HaTorah and the mesiras nefesh of his wife Faigy gave them aspirations of a couple that would grow to greatness. Ari named his son Avraham Yeshaya after someone he idolized his entire adult life, the Chazon Ish. Rav Chanoch cried bitterly as he shouted, “I am sure that this Shavuos you will be learning together with the Chazon Ish in Yeshiva shel maalah!”<br /><br />In addition to his infant son Avraham Yeshaya, R’ Ari Dovid is survived by his parents Dr. and Mrs. Robert Block, two sisters, Rachel married to R’ Noach Tomashevski and Naomi who is engaged to be married next month to Yehushua Goldstien, a a younger brother Yoshi, a talmid at Yeshiva Toras Chaim of South Shore.<br /><br />May he be a meilitz yosher for his wife, his son, his entire family and all of Klal Yisroel </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34174750.post-19015465714411899742007-03-20T08:25:00.000-07:002008-11-12T19:26:20.146-08:00Rav Yisroel Shurin, z”l<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXlapp28LiyOkJaeLkGzTBCvLYtlRlJGFZHkzKrsJ2Lweg5GO9oBXJW1tgLXPZZnRHUxCk8MDCt_A7ku4qN18R_6JH5UeF4Cx34AO15anVszXsMbsskpdP5cCyZFi2zU83L3O/s1600-h/shurinpic.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5044030793366482898" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBXlapp28LiyOkJaeLkGzTBCvLYtlRlJGFZHkzKrsJ2Lweg5GO9oBXJW1tgLXPZZnRHUxCk8MDCt_A7ku4qN18R_6JH5UeF4Cx34AO15anVszXsMbsskpdP5cCyZFi2zU83L3O/s320/shurinpic.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">A Revered Rav and a Link to a Lithuanian Past </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><br /><br />This past Shabbos Hachodesh, Harav Yisroel Shurin a scion of Lithuanian Gedolim was niftar in Yerushalayim, just shy of eighty-nine years. Rav Shurin was the Rav of the Magen Avraham Shul in Efrat and helped build that kehilla from its first years. But perhaps one of his greatest legacies to thousands upon thousand of Jewish children was his teaching the next generation the faith and values of the past, and handing down to them the inheritance of our great Torah leaders of old, which was a foundation of his life. For many decades HaRav Shurin wrote a weekly feature for Olomeinu/Our World magazine on gedolei Torah (Torah giants). These 250 articles became the basis of the six-set series of books, "Morei HaUma" (Teachers of Our Nation), the lives and the way of our national Jewish leaders, men of intellect, giants of thought, men of action, whose efforts and lives influenced their generations and many generations to come.<br /><br /><br /><br />Indeed Rav Shurin left the Jewish people a legacy of Lita. His son, Rav Yitzchak Shurin, one of HaRav Shurin's three sons, said, "He lived in America for 40 years, in Israel for 30. Yet, it seemed when you spoke to him it was as if it was that day that he left Lita. The way he spoke, the pashtus, the warmth, the Limud HaTorah. Whenever you spoke to him, you felt you were speak to a Litvishe Yid. When he spoke, I felt my father transcended time and place. And when he spoke about Telshe or Kovno, you could smell the air of Lita. When he spoke about Ponevezh, you felt you were sitting there. When he spoke about gedolei Torah, you felt their presence. I feel that as long as my father was alive, Lita was alive."<br /><br />Rav Shurin originated from a renowned rabbinic dynasty of thirty-three generations, which included the Pnei Yehoshua and Rav Yisroel’s great-grandfather, Rav Avraham Aba Krenitz the Ahavas Eisan, a commentary on Mishnayos, and a direct descendant of Rav Aba Chosid of Kroiz, a man so holy that the Vilna Gaon would travel to him for advice and blessings. The sefer Tnuas Hamusar relates that every third rav in Lithuania was part of this famous family.<br /><br />Rav Yisroel had the zechus to be close with many great Torah luminaries, especially Rav Isser Zalman Melzer, and his father-in-law, Hagaon HaRav Yaakov Kamenetzky, who would often confide in him and discuss major issues with him as well. Rav Shurin once quipped to his nephew, Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky, “I know the most (Litvishe) stories in the world! After all, we all know that the zaide (Rav Yaakov) knows the most stories in the world. But I already got them all from him…” Then he smiled and added, “But there are a few that I know and did not tell him!”<br /><br />He will be remembered most for being a vibrant link between the gedolei Torah of the Eastern European generation and our generation today.<br /><br />LITHUANIA TO ERETZ YISROEL<br /><br />Rav Yisroel was born on the 27th of Iyar, 5678/1918 in Ritova, Lithuania, the third of seven children. His father, Rav Moshe, founded a yeshiva there and headed it for twelve years together with the Sgan, Rav Yitzchak Eliezer Vishnevski who was the Rav in Koltinan.<br /><br />Rav Yisroel started out in cheder in Ritova, a mokom Torah which he recalled fondly. The atmosphere was charged with a reverence for Torah and Yiras Shamayim and the love of Torah flowed from the Rabbanim to the Talmidim.<br /><br />Ritoveh was a Lithuanian town whose Jewish inhabitants were almost all Shomrei Torah and Mitzvos. Rav Shurin would recall how the Rav of Ritave, Rav Shmuel Fundiler, who filled the position after the petirah of Rav Yitzchok Eliyahu Gefen would come into the Cheder to be mechazek the children during Chodesh Elul.<br /><br />Once, during Elul, the boys had been playing ball and were a bit exhausted when the Rav walked in with a shofar in his hand and declared. Boys, you should understand that a break is important. And it is important to play as well. But not during these days! These days were set aside to become closer to Avinu Shebashamayim, and to work on our midos. These days we must not waste our time on games. I brought a shofar for you. During recess you will practice learning how to blow the shofar!<br /><br />Indeed the entire Elul, the children used their normal recess time to learn how to blow the shofar together with all the halachos. Towards Rosh Hashana, the Rav tested them and declared that they were worthy of being baalei tekiah! The trouble was that they were sill too young! “when you grow up you will be worthy of this great Mitzvah even in front of great Jews!”<br /><br /><br />From there, R’ Yisroel left to begin learning at Beis Rubenstein, the yeshiva katanah of Ponevezh Yeshiva. Young Rav Yisroel stayed in Ponevezh for his bar mitzvah where he gave a dvar Torah on the Shev Shmaitsa at one of the local shuls. The mispallelim celebrated the simcha with schnapps and special taygelach – a Lithuanian treat – that his mother baked and sent for the occasion.<br /><br />Soon after, he continued at Telz Yeshiva and learned there until he and his family moved to Eretz Yisroel in 1935. But from the age of eight until the age of seventeen, Rav Yisroel didn’t see his father who was serving as a rav in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Rav Moshe sent money home to Ritova where his wife, Rebbetzin Rus, raised the family. Instead of moving to the United States, the family decided to relocate to Eretz Yisroel because it was already becoming an important Torah center. Additionally, they sought to leave because Rav Moshe sensed the impending destruction awaiting them in Europe.<br /><br />Rav Yisroel began learning at the Chevron Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, but switched soon after to Yeshivas Lomzeh in Petach Tikvah when the family relocated there. Ultimately he returned to the Chevron Yeshiva where he spent his most formative and productive years of Torah learning, and where he developed a very close relationship with the rosh yeshiva Rav Yecheskel Sarna. He also participated in the guard duty of the yeshiva that each bachur was expected to do.<br /><br />It was during this time that he received smicha from Rav Yecheskel Sarne of the Chevron Yeshiva; Rav Isser Zalman Melzer of Eitz Chaim Yeshiva; Rav Reuven Katz, chief rav of Petach Tikvah; Rav Meir Stolewitz of the Zichron Moshe neighborhood in Yerushalayim; Rav Yechiel Michel Zev Hurwitz, a well known dayan of the Knesses neighborhood in Yerushalayim; and rav haroshi of Eretz Yisroel, Rav Yitzchak Halevi Herzog.<br /><br />On one of the occasions that Rav Yisroel got smicha, Rav Hurwitz told Rav Yisroel that he didn’t have his own stamp to use for the smicha letter. So Rav Yisroel took matters into his own hands and went out to commission a stamp with the rav’s name. When he returned with the stamp in hand, Rav Yisroel was then able to receive his smicha, and Rav Hurwitz was able to use the stamp on subsequent smicha letters.<br /><br />Having more than one smicha paid off later in Rav Yisroel’s life. While living in New York, he got into a car accident and rammed into a police car. The police officer sued Rav Yisroel for damages, even though Rav Yisroel insisted the officer was lying. In court, Rav Yisroel claimed that his view of the car was blocked by a bus. Once the judge discovered that Rav Yisroel had received his rabbinic ordination from the chief rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzchak Herzog, he promptly dismissed the charges.<br /><br />It was during the time that Rav Yisroel spent in Yerushalayim that he truly forged an unbreakable bond with the holy chachachim there.<br /><br />When Rav Yisroel initially went to introduce himself to Rav Isser Zalman Melzer of Eitz Chaim Yeshiva, who was also originally from Lithuania, he was warmly greeted as “a Ritover!” Rav and Rebbetzin Melzer quickly made a simcha out of the occasion, bringing out the schnapps to celebrate a bachur coming from such a chashuv place.<br /><br />Rav Shurin recalled his first meeting with Rav Isser Zalman. “It was a winter day in Yerushalyim. It was bitter cold and pelting rain. Rav Melzer who suffered from the cold was by the wall in which the oven was. When I told him that I was from Europe and had learned in Telz, he greeted me with such warmth, he made me a tea and offered home-baked cookies. At the time, seventeen year old Reb Yisroel was shocked. He was coming from Telshe where one would not sit in front of a Rosh Yeshiva without permission, and here he was in the home of the world-reknowned Gadol HaDor being treated as if he was either a child or a cherished peer!<br /><br />Rav Shurin became extremely close with Rav Isser Zalman, and was almost a ben bayis in his home. Once, Rav Aba Grosbard, Mashgiach in Yeshivas Petach Tikvah was visiting the Chevoner Yeshiva in Yerushalayim and asked rav Yisrael to bring him to Rav Isser Zalman. When they arrived at the home they saw a note on the door, “Please do not come from 2-5 PM.”<br /><br />As soon as he saw that Rav Grossbard began to turn on his heels and leave. But Rav Shurin who was younger was not deterred. He knocked lightly and immediately Rav Isser Zalman answered. He warmly invited them to come in, but Rav Shurin explained that Rav Grosbard was hesitant because of the note on the door.<br /><br />“That note is not for you, Reb Yisrael!” exclaimed Rav Isser Zalman. And then he turned to his wife, “Baila Hinda, Please! Have rachmanus on me and remove the note!”<br /><br />When the Chazon Ish first met Rav Yisroel, he asked Rav Yisroel where he grew up.<br /><br />To this, Rav Yisroel replied, “And if I tell you, would you know?”<br /><br />The Chazon Ish responded, “Try me!”<br /><br />“Ritova,” Rav Yisroel revealed.<br /><br />“You were wrong! I do know Ritova!” exclaimed the Chazon Ish. “I stayed in your uncle’s hotel when I used to buy the wares for my wife’s store.”<br /><br />This rebuttal shocked Rav Yisroel.<br /><br />Rav Yisroel frequented the home of the Chazon Ish, and he followed the practice of the Chazon Ish of entering the house from a window on street level, so as not to disturb the Chazon Ish’s wife.<br /><br />Once Rav Yisroel asked the Chazon Ish a question in Masechta Kesuvos.<br /><br />The Chazon Ish responded to Rav Yisroel’s query by stating: “It’s a good question, but you don’t know how to ask the question.”<br /><br />So the Chazon Ish taught Rav Yisroel how to express the question properly.<br /><br />THE NEXT ERA IN THE UNITED STATES<br /><br />Rav Yisroel continued to learn in the Chevron Yeshiva until 1939 when war broke out. The situation in Eretz Yisroel was dire with poverty striking the Jews everywhere. His father had said at the time, “If I had a little bit of hard bread to dip into some tea, I would have stayed in Eretz Yisroel.”<br /><br />While trying to figure out what do, Rav Yisroel sought the eitzah of his rosh yeshiva, Rav Yecheskel Sarne. Rav Sarne replied that since the situation was a “sha’as cherum” (emergency situation), he could not tell Rav Yisroel what to do; Rav Yisroel would have to make the decision himself.<br /><br />With a heavy heart, Rav Yisroel left Eretz Yisroel with his family though never abandoning his memories of those wondrous impressionable years with the gedolim. He arrived in New York in 1940 and learned under Rav Moshe Soloveichik – the eldest son of the illustrious gaon Rav Chaim Brisker – who recognized Rav Yisroel to be a talmid chacham. Subsequently, he sent him shortly thereafter to his son Rav Yosef Dov in Boston along with four other European talmidim. These were the five original talmidim of Rav Yosef Dov. Prestigious bal habatim used to ask Rav Yisroel to speak as a representative of the other talmidim at events where Rav Yosef Dov spoke.<br /><br />Rav Yisroel remembered that Rav Yosef Dov used to give shiur for nine hours each day with only a short break for lunch. During the shiur, Rav Yosef Dov would learn the masechtas with the talmidim while giving over his sevoras at the same time. In this way, they were able to cover much ground in their talmud Torah.<br /><br />When Rav Yosef Dov moved to New York, he brought Rav Yisroel and his fellow talmidim with him. For a short period, Rav Yisroel wrote articles in Hebrew in a weekly va’ad hakashrus publication under the supervision of Rav Yosef Dov. He also wrote book reviews on sifrei halacha for the rabbinic journal Talpiyos.<br /><br />After a brief stint as a rav in Portland, Maine in 5705/1945, Rav Yisroel returned to New York where he married Malka Kamenetzky, the daughter of hagaon Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, rosh yeshiva of Torah Vo’Daath. From then on, Rav Yaakov would consult Rav Yisroel, his oldest son-in-law, on many family matters and through those consultations, Rav Yisroel was able to help a number of the family members find their zivugim and first positions in chinuch.<br /><br />After getting married, he served as the rav of Magen Avraham Kehillah in the East New York section of Brooklyn, which was famous for its many European rabbonim. While in Brooklyn, Rav Yisroel taught at the Beis Yaakov Seminary in Williamsburg, which was the first Beis Yaakov School in America. There he educated many future Torah leaders, amongst them Rebbetzins David and Freifeld. Every Beis Yaakov in the United States had staff members who had benefited from their training under Rav Yisroel.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCUyga8Iyh1cBWAd1MaMZwEjBjnl8p_qc4JKOky-WHj4i1Dil39_L-AyHNQqqmEGBOHNPte4G5vOHjPkANSg74e9AJsbVScX-F-JO9H3YmWEX5MFVvXPf0HQjPOuivnFWfO_h/s1600-h/East+new+York.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5044052349807341538" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 289px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 208px" height="182" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCUyga8Iyh1cBWAd1MaMZwEjBjnl8p_qc4JKOky-WHj4i1Dil39_L-AyHNQqqmEGBOHNPte4G5vOHjPkANSg74e9AJsbVScX-F-JO9H3YmWEX5MFVvXPf0HQjPOuivnFWfO_h/s200/East+new+York.jpg" width="242" border="0" /></a><br />He also taught at Mesivta Chaim Berlin in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He lectured in many Torah Umesorah teacher-training programs, in which he was mashpiah over many of the budding tamidei chachamim and future teachers of klal Yisroel. During those years, he took advantage of teaching in both the Beis Yaakov School and Mesivta Chaim Berlin by making many shidduchim between the students. In 1954 Rav Reuven Grozovsky asked him to become the Hebrew editor of Torah Umesorah’s day-school monthly journal for children about the gedolei Yisroel called Olomeinu.<br /><br />In this venue, Rav Yisroel was able to serve as a bridge between the gedolim and the younger generation. These articles were later compiled into a six-volume set of books called Morei Ha’umah. Rav Yisroel wrote articles in many Torah publications during this period and was a member of Agudas Harabonim in America.<br /><br /><br />FINAL MOVE TO ERETZ YISROEL<br /><br />He encouraged his youngest son, Yitzchak, to move to Eretz Yisroel in 1977, immediately after he got married, and Yitzchak’s two older brothers, Moshe and Dov, followed soon after. In 5743/1983, he moved with his wife to Efrat and founded Magen Avraham, as a beis medrash and community kollel for the residents of Efrat, a name which he brought with him from his former kehillah in Brooklyn. He also started a gma”ch (gemilus chasadim organization) in Efrat for its residents and the surrounding areas.<br />When he decided that it was time to return to Israel, he asked his father-in-law Reb Yaakov about it. HaRav Shurin didn't only want to move to Israel, he wanted to help build the land, and was considering moving to Efrat, which was then only a dream on paper. HaRav Shurin received a blessing from his father-in-law that Efrat would be blessed and he would always be protected. Indeed, Efrat had been blessed by his presence for the past decades.<br />Before his move, the Rav approached the president of Magen Avraham in East New York, and told him that he wanted to move the shul to Efrat, the shul president, Baruch Stein agreed, and helped finance the recreation of Magen Avraham. HaRav Yitzchak Shurin noted, "My father always said, he didn't want a shul. He wanted a Beis Medrash, and if people wanted to daven there, that was okay."<br />He was very proud of Kollel Magen Avraham, which he founded. And at every siyum, he thanked the wives who encouraged their husbands' Torah learning.<br />The rav also continued Magen Avraham's tradition of chesed by overseeing a gemach that has generously helped hundreds of families through the years.<br />While in Efrat, he wrote and published Sefer Minchas Yisroel, which is a compilation of topical questions and answers in halacha, as well as chiddushim on the Gemara and Torah.<br />Menachem Kuchar, who published Minchas Yisrael and several of the rav's Morei HaUma volumes, noted that "the rabbi wanted to call his sefer by another title, but then decided to call it Minchas Yisrael. He said that the Mincha was the simplest form of korban, and it applied appropriately to the sefer, because he felt that it was his humble contribution to Jewish learning."<br />In this sefer, Rav Yisroel included many shaylos that people asked him, including the following story.<br /><br />When he was a young rav in New York, an elderly husband and wife from his shul passed away around the same time. They had two daughters, one married and one single. At the cemetery, the husband of the married daughter told Rav Yisroel the following predicament about his sister-in-law.<br /><br />“She’s engaged to a goy. Is she still, therefore, able to go to her parents’ graves?”<br /><br />Rav Yisroel thought about it for a minute and said, “Absolutely not, she is not allowed to mourn for her parents.”<br /><br />The girl, upon being told the psak, fainted on the spot. There were great arguments in Rav Yisroel’s shul about his psak since according to the letter of the law the girl should have been allowed to visit her parents’ graves. Yet Rav Yisroel wouldn’t change his mind.<br /><br />A year later, a young girl knocked on Rav Yisroel’s door with a young man wearing a yarmulke.<br /><br />She said, “Do you remember me, Rav Shurin? I’m the girl that you wouldn’t let go to my parents’ grave. Rabbi, when you told me that I couldn’t mourn for my parents, it was such a shock to me that I did a cheshbon hanefesh and broke up with the goy. Now I am engaged to this man and we would like you to be our mesader kedushin.”<br />He spent his days in Efrat totally immersed in learning and could often be found in his garden with an open sefer. Rav Yitzchak Shurin described what an impression that made on Efrat's residents and visitors. "He lived right above the gate of Efrat. When people got off at the first bus stop and climbed the steps, at the second house, they'd see an elderly sage sitting in his garden learning." Just as the shomer guarded the city from below, HaRav Shurin and his Gemara guarded it from above.<br />Rav Yisroel is survived by his wife Malka, the daughter of Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky and their three sons – Moshe, Dov, and Yitzchak – who all reside in Eretz Yisroel, and their many grandchildren and great grandchildren. R’ Moshe is a retired business executive; R’ Dov is a famous activist, radio commentator and musician, and R’ Yitzchak is the rosh midrasha of Midreshet Rachel v’Chaya of Darchei Noam institutions.<br /><br />May his memory be a blessing.<br /><br />This article was compiled by Yated Staff with contributions from Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky and Sharon Katz of Efrat, Isrrael.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34174750.post-7570682894660175402007-01-15T10:02:00.000-08:002008-11-12T19:26:20.296-08:00Reb Chuni Spiegel<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5020319413558370210" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqhuKAOo96m3Oca18g3dwNGigBTZbK8ffwvEZMLPY_qATkvHoaTML3_CtPdpA5DtMnTO9s_E-hTEiV44RtFjDXnYuF_2HEUxeODx8iSD9EssAf0hck12PARecfM_CQga7YGtu/s320/chuni.bmp" border="0" /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Editor’s note: It has been 30 years since the tragic, untimely p’tirah of our dear uncle, Reb Avraham Elchonon Spiegel, zaicher tzadik l’vracha. They say that time heals many wounds, but in this case time alone would not be enough. The great tragedy and sadness of his p’tirah is only mitigated by the work of his wonderful children and the sweetness of his grandchildren who not only remain steadfast to every principle that he believed in, but are also perpetuating his memory through their Avodas HaKodesh.<br /><br />We know that this tremendous hislahavus HaTorah V’Chassidus comes only because of the zechus of his great neshama and that of his great and pure Avos that have watched the children and grandchildren grow to become the b’nai Torah and b’nai Aliyah that make their family so proud. But the great zechusim of my uncle, Reb Chuni, z”l in ensuring this hemshech hamesorah is only part of the story. It was, and continues to be the mesiras nefesh of his Rebbitzen, who, almost single-handedly, nurtured a generation of children, alone, but not really alone. The vision and strength, the sweetness and chayn of “der groiseh niftar” stood and continues to stand behind this hatzlacha in every aspect of all of their lives.<br /><br />Indeed, it is the neshama of R’ Avraham Elchonon, his spirit, his vision and his ideas that played such a vital role in the founding and the development of Talmud Torah Ohr Elchonon, which is true to all the ideals for which Reb Avraham Elchonon Spiegel stood. It is a yeshiva that imbues its talmidim with the beauty of Torah, the g’feel for another yid and most of all, Ahavas HaBorai. It is not a new yeshiva. It is a yeshiva that is continuing a mesorah that was personified by the shortened but very full life of its namesake, Reb Avraham Elchonon Spiegel, zaicher tzadik l’vracha.<br /><br />May the Ribono Shel Olam give the strength to Reb Binyamin, Reb Menachem, Reb Naftali Aryeh, Reb Muttie, and their chosheveh shvogger Reb Moshe Rowner and family to continue in every aspect of their Avodas HaKodesh and give richly deserved nachas to our dear aunt, Rebbitzen Shoshana, tlit”a.<br /><br />May every letter of Torah learned in the yeshiva be a zechus for his holy neshama.<br /><br />The sands of time have not diminished the vivid memories of so many chaveirim who shared their thoughts with the family members who conveyed them to me. It is difficult to express the emotions, the excitement, and the bren, that I heard in the brief conversations.<br /><br />Can you really describe a smile that lit up a room? Is it possible to express the searing pain that went through his heart when hearing of another Jew’s tzarah?<br /><br />Can one put ink to paper to describe Yiras Shamayim that transcends any mortal expressions of faith?<br /><br />I spent a few hours on the phone listening to stories and another few hours typing them. But I know that no matter how much listening and typing I would have done, I still would hardly be able to convey a glimpse of an individual who seemed to have been from a previous generation in Torah and Avodah, yet was able to relate to his nephews and nieces in Woodmere almost as a peer. I will never forget the impact he made upon my life with his personification of deracheha darchei noam in every aspect of his life. T’hai Nishmaso Tzrura B’tzror HaChaim.<br /><br />As this is perhaps the first written recollection of stories, it is my hope that they will prompt many more memories and ma’asiyos that will eventually become part of a greater work about Reb Avraham Elchonon Spiegel, zecher tzaddik l’vracha.<br /><br /></span></em><span style="font-size:180%;">Reb Avraham Elchonon Spiegel</span><br /><em>Yamim He’erichu – Shanim Lo He’erichu (Shabbos 105b)</em><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>Compiled by his nephew, Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky based on the recollection of his friends and family</em></span><br /><br />Reb Avraham Elchonon Spiegel, known throughout his life to all who knew and loved him as Reb Chuni, was born in May of 1936, the youngest of seven children of Harav Pinchus Eliyahu Spiegel, the Ostrove-Kalushiner Rebbe in the Bronx and his Rebbitzin Basha (nee Burstein). He was the younger twin to his brother, Reb Dovid Spiegel who is currently the Ostrove-Kalushiner Rebbe, in Cedarhurst, New York.<br /><br />Reb Pinchus Eliyahu was a descendant of a long history of Torah and Chassidus. His father, HaGaon HaTzadik Reb Naftali Aryeh was the son-in-law of Reb Yaakov Yitzchok Unger and a grandson of Reb Avraham Elchonon Unger, Reb Chuni’s namesake. Reb Chuni’s twin was named for his elter zaide, the great Rebbe, HaGaon HaTzadik Reb Mordechai Dovid Dombrover z”tl.<br /><br />Reb Naftali Aryeh arrived in America in the late 1920s and was joined in the early 1930s by his three sons, Reb Moshe, Reb Elchonon Yochonon and Reb Pinchus Eliyahu.<br /><br />Despite the winds of change when so many immigrants had r”l abandoned Yiddishkeit, let alone Chassidus, the Spiegels remained steadfast to the mesora that they had received from their great zaides, going back to the Chozeh of Lublin.<br /><br />It was this atmosphere that helped raise Reb Chuni in a home that was steeped in Torah, Chassidus and Yiras Shamayim. Like his revered father, Reb Naftali Aryeh, Reb Chuni’s father, Reb Pinchus Eliyahu was a Yid who never compromised on the slightest chumra in Yiddishkeit, despite being surrounded by a community that was slowly assimilating into American culture. Reb Pinchus Eliyahu had never eaten meat in America and his father who had a small shul on Faile Street in the Bronx was so removed from this world that he did not even know what his own house looked like. Once Reb Naftali Aryeh’s shammas left him outside his home and expected the Rebbe to just enter. However, the Rebbe, steeped in thought, tarried and walked a few yards before he realized that he might have strayed from the place that the gabbai had let him off. An hour later the gabbai returned and noticed that the Rebbe looked puzzled as to where he actually lived.<br /><br />As with all of their children, Reb Pinchus Eliyahu and his Rebbitzen made sure that their children went only to the best yeshivos. Together with his twin, Chuni would travel by subway from the Bronx to the Lower East Side, to Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yaakov Yosef. The Rebbitzin was wary of the influence of many of the neighborhood boys who often were lured from learning Torah by the appeal of the American life. She asked the corner police officer to make sure that every day the boys would go to Yeshiva, which he did diligently. The years there were indeed filled with success in Torah and Yiras Shamayim and his care and concern for other Yidden were clearly apparent at this very young age.<br /><br />His brother Reb Dovid remembers: “We once went on a Chol HaMoed outing to a park where there was a nearby fair. Our parents gave us just enough money for the trip, as of course, being Pesach we were not allowed to eat anything – not even drink water from a fountain. On the way home, Chuni noticed a Jewish boy from the neighborhood who was eating cotton candy. Chuni was shocked and approached the kid. “It’s chametz! We are not allowed to eat this on Pesach!” The youngster replied that he would throw it away but wanted Chuni to pay him for the loss – five cents – the exact amount of carfare home. Without hesitation, Chuni gave him the nickel and proudly watched the boy throw the cotton candy into the garbage. At this young age, Chuni did not care if he had to walk a few miles to get home. He was willing to give up all his money to ensure that a Jewish child would not eat chametz on Pesach.”<br /><br />After graduating elementary school, and a short stay in high school in RJJ, at age 15 Chuni left to go to the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland. Immediately he became well known and beloved, not only to his revered rebbeim, Reb Mottel Katz, Reb Elya Meir Bloch and the rest of the hanhala, but to all the talmidim of the Yeshiva. His ubiquitous smile, simchas hachaim and love for chassidus were admired by the entire yeshiva so much so that he was the first bochur in the history of the very Litvishe Telshe Yeshiva who was allowed to grow his beard and payos. And he wore the beard and every aspect of his Chassidishe heritage proudly. All who saw him realized that there was a special light coming from him. There was a spirit of ehrlichkeit and simplicity that emanated from him. In fact, when the city of Cleveland decided that they were going to produce Chalov Yisroel they decided that they had to market their product as suitable for the most pious of Yidden. Without his permission, they took a picture of young Chuni and put it on the bottle.<br /><br />After spending a few years under the tutelage of the great luminaries of the Telshe Yeshiva, Reb Chuni went with a group of bochurim to learn by the great Gaon, Harav Ahron Kotler zt”l and join his brother R’ Yankel who was already a talmid there. Later his twin brother, Reb Dovid would join them as talmidim of Reb Ahron.<br /><br />Immediately a close kesher was formed and Reb Chuni would sit close to Reb Ahron at the table where the Rosh Yeshiva would give the shiur. Reb Ahron would often take his eyes from the oilam and look affectionately at the 18-year-old Chuni. In fact, this closeness to a chassidishe bochur drew some curiosity from others in the shiur. A few of them had the courage to ask the Rosh Yeshiva what he saw in the young Shpiegel bochur that he seemed to favor him over others by looking at him so often in shiur.<br /><br />Reb Ahron snapped back in wonder. “Vas haist? Er iz maineh balibter talmid!” (“Why do you wonder? He is my beloved talmid!”)<br /><br />In fact even the Motzei Shabbos that Reb Chuni became a chosson, Reb Ahron smiled and gently chided him, “You know that I give a shiur on Motzai Shabbos, couldn’t you have chosen a different night to become a chosson?”<br /><br />Reb Ahron drew a close connection with Reb Chuni and eventually the entire Spiegel family. The Rosh Yeshiva eventually became the shadchan for Reb Chuni's older brother Reb Yankel, who became a son-in-law of Reb Moshe Bick zt”l.<br /><br />Reb Ahron used to praise Reb Pinchus Eliyahu, quoting the Gemara, “I have seen b’nai aliyah and they are very few, and Reb Pinchus Eliyahu is one of them." Reb Ahron smiled as he added, “ah litvishe Rebbe vos ken guht lernin.”<br /><br />Indeed, Reb Pinchus Eliyahu revered the Rosh Yeshiva. He once accompanied another Chassidishe Rebbe to a shiur given by Reb Ahron at a meeting of Agudas HaRabbanim. Upon leaving, the other Rav commented on the point that Reb Ahron made a machlokes between the opinion of the Gr’a and the Rambam.<br /><br />“Imagine a machlokes between the Gr’a and Rambam?’ the Rebbe asked sardonically.<br />Reb Chuni’s father looked at the man sternly. “Gedenkt! Dos iz Reb Ahron. Remember, you are talking about Reb Ahron!” he reprimanded.<br /><br />Reb Chuni eventually became very close to the Rosh Yeshiva, helping prepare his seforim for shiur and taking charge of the papers that were filled with ma’areh mekomos that Reb Ahron would ask Reb Chuni to post before the shiur. The family still cherishes many of those handwritten pages that Reb Ahron had placed in the charge of Reb Chuni.<br /><br />When Reb Ahron took ill in early 1962, Reb Yaakov Hirschman and Reb Chuni Spiegel rotated in round-the-clock care of him. Mrs. Rothschild still remembers how Reb Chuni would hardly eat anything at her home near Mount Sinai Hospital. Instead, he would quickly finish his seudah and immediately return to the Rosh Yeshiva’s bedside.<br /><br />Reb Ahron, despite his weakened condition insisted that only male nurses tend to him. There were only two such nurses in the hospital. Reb Nosson Nadel recalls that one evening, the Rosh Yeshiva needed to have his bandages changed from a particularly complicated and unpleasant seepage from the wounds of his surgery. They were waiting for the male nurse, a fellow named Mr. White, to tend to the difficult chore of changing the bandages.<br /><br />However, Mr. White was not coming, and the Rosh Yeshiva was becoming very uncomfortable. Reb Chuni disinfected and washed himself and undertook the unpleasant job of changing the bandages himself.<br /><br />Slowly and cautiously, with the loving care afforded a child, he removed the Rosh Yeshiva’s bandages and began to replace them with fresh, sterile dressings. Suddenly Mr. White appeared at the door.<br /><br />“Why are you doing that?” he inquired. Reb Chuni explained that he could no longer let his rebbe lay in such discomfort and decided to redress the wound himself. The nurse was so amazed at the delicate and meticulous care provided to the Rosh Yeshiva that he simply turned to Reb Ahron and said, “I have never seen such devotion, even from relatives. Rabbi Kotler, the truth is that with such devoted students like this young man, you really don’t need me!”<br /><br />This close personal care continued throughout the Rosh Yeshiva’s stay in the hospital. Reb Chuni never shirked from attending to his every need. Once, in his frustration Reb Ahron commanded him, “Breng mir mein mantel, ich vill aheim gayn! Bring me my coat, I want to leave this hospital!”<br /><br />It took Reb Chuni’s calm manner to convince the Rosh Yeshiva that he had to continue to remain there.<br /><br />In 1963 Reb Chuni married Shoshana Rabinowitz, the daughter of the prominent Reb of Kehilas Ohel Moshe in the Bronx, and the mechaber of the sefer Kol Bo on Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, Harav Yisrael Rabinowitz.<br /><br />There was no question that as long as they could possibly sustain themselves, their she’ifa was that Reb Chuni was going to continue learning in Kollel.<br /><br />Reb Chuni and his Rebbitzen became pillars of the fledgling kehilla of the Lakewood Kollel community. There was hardly a chessed or communal need that did not find a way to their doorstep, and when there was a problem, they created a solution.<br /><br />When their oldest son, Binyamin turned five, they decided that the local day school could not meet the needs of educating him with the fusion of Torah and Chassidus to which they aspired. Thus, together with a tiny group of yungeleit, they found an old, decrepit building that once belonged to the American Legion, a veteran's group, and began a tiny school that was named simply: The Lakewood Cheder. Hardly anyone in Lakewood remembers that the Yeshiva that now boasts thousands of Talmidim began as a tiny group of children in a dilapidated building that had a small cache of old guns lying in its rodent-ridden basement. (In fact, some of the first Cheder talmidim remember playing cops and robbers with real pistols left there by the Legionnaires!)<br /><br />Reb Chuni appointed Reb Zalman Pinchus Quinn to be the first melamed, and Reb Quinn, until this very day, after 40 years of chinuch sadly states: “Until this day, there is no parent with whom I have enjoyed discussing the chinuch of their child like Reb Chuni. I always looked forward to him talking to me about the children. He not only showed true concern for his son, but he showered me so much love and respect that it made me feel important in a way that I can never express.<br /><br />One Chanuka, when I knew Reb Chuni was steeped in debt and was hardly able to feed his family, he gave me an envelope that contained a few dollars. I was shocked and I refused to accept it, knowing that he probably had scraped his last pennies together to amass even this small sum.<br /><br />Reb Chuni insisted, ‘Chanuka is a time in which we show Hakaras HaTov to our children’s Rebbeim. I will not let a Chanuka go by without giving my son’s rebbe a token of our appreciation.’”<br /><br />Reb Chuni cared for both the body and the soul of the Cheder. Reb Tzvi Rothberg was a chosson as a rebbe at the cheder. As the trip to New York from Lakewood was somewhat arduous, he asked Reb Chuni if he could get a substitute for the day of his wedding.<br /><br />Reb Chuni understood that a substitute could never replicate the familiarity between a rebbe and his talmidim, and so he offered to wait until the class was over and then he would personally drive R’ Tzvi to wherever he had to go in order to prepare for the chasuna. Reb Tzvi agreed, and so it was!<br /><br />He was constantly on the lookout for ways to enhance the chinuch of the young charges. He once suggested that all the boys in a particular class learn Parshas Ha’azinu by heart with Yiddish translation. Reb Chuni came in personally to kvell after the boys completed the parsha, giving each one of them a special prize.<br /><br />When he realized that the younger boys were not davening Mincha, even though they were indeed old enough, Reb Chuni appointed Mincha Rebbeim to ensure that Tefilas Mincha was said with the right kavana, even at a young age.<br /><br />Besides looking out for the community, Reb Chuni was sure to look out for the needs of individuals. Not only would he collect tzedaka for the very poor yungeleit, he would do whatever he could to lift the spirits of the disheartened.<br /><br />A couple who had no children wished to have their Shabbos table enlivened by the zemiros of young children. Every Shabbos, after every Seuda, Reb Chuni would bring all his children to this couple’s home to sit and sing with the geshmak of a Chassidishe Shabbos Tish.<br /><br />There was a bakery in Lakewood whose owner was not a Shomer Shabbos. Every Thursday night Reb Chuni would go to the bakery, make sure that Challah was taken, that the oven was lit properly and that all the ingredients for Shabbos Challah and bread were 100 percent kosher.<br /><br />Though the bakery was closed on Pesach, on Erev Pesach Reb Chuni made sure to see that no transactions took place after the z’man, and that no deliveries of flour were brought to the bakery. Though working as if he was a paid Mashgiach, Reb Chuni never took as much as a free roll to make sure that Yidden in Lakewood would not be nichshal in kashrus or chometz, chas v’sholom.<br /><br />As the town of Lakewood grew, so did its needs. Together with Reb Laizer Stefansky, Reb Chuni was at the forefront of building the mikveh in Lakewood. Until that time, people had to travel to Long Branch, New Jersey for a mikveh. The mikveh was checked and fully approved by Reb Moshe Feinstein z”tl. Reb Shneur Kotler insisted that no other Rav was needed to give his approbation, but the newly arrived Chassidishe Oilam in Lakewood were skeptical whether this “Litvishe Mikveh” would abide by every chumra that would be demanded by the Chassidishe Oilam. With quiet chachma, using his relationships with great Chassidishe poiskim, Reb Chuni devised a way that everyone in the kehilla was totally accepting of the mikveh.<br /><br />When the city of Baltimore began overseeing Cholov Yisrael milk production under the supervision of Reb Moshe Heineman, shlita, Reb Chuni worked diligently to have milk from Baltimore arrive every week at prices that the B’nai Torah were able to afford.<br /><br />Every Pesach, the Lakewood Rosh Yeshiva, Reb Shneur Kotler zt”l would fir (conduct) the seder for all the bochurim who were not able to travel home. The Rosh Yeshiva and his entire family would host the remaining bochurim in the Yeshiva’s massive dining room. It was financially impossible to buy all new kailim for the small amount of boys who would stay so Reb Chuni took it upon himself to kasher the entire kitchen for Pesach – milchigs and flaishigs, pots, pans and silverware, according to the strictest chumros.<br /><br />When a fire broke out in the Laurel-in-the-Pines hotel on a hot Friday night in July 1967, hundreds of people gathered to watch the frightening view of a tremendous building going up in flames. Where was Reb Chuni? He lived right across the street and as soon as the fire broke out he raced into the hotel shul to rescue the sifrei torah that he knew were there. His good friend, R' Avrohom Penzer described how he emerged from the flaming shul, covered in thick, black soot from head to toe, his face beaming with joy as he clutched the sifrei torah in his arms.<br /><br />But Reb Chuni did not only focus on the spirituality of b’nai Torah. Reb Chuni’s son, Reb Menachem relates that a number of years ago, he once spotted a furniture store on the outskirts of Lakewood. The enticing flyers in the window with offers of ridiculous prices lured him into the store.<br /><br />The middle-aged proprietor introduced himself as a Mr. Eddie Schuster, and though he was far removed from Yiddishkeit, he was proud of his Jewish heritage.<br /><br />The course of the conversation led to Reb Menachem introducing himself as Menachem Spiegel. Suddenly an elderly gentleman jumped out of a back room.<br />“Spiegel?” He asked. “Are you related to a Chuni Spiegel?”<br />“He was my father.”<br />“How is he?” asked the old man.<br />“He passed away many years ago.”<br />The man’s eyes welled with tears. “Let me show you something,” he said through a choked voice.<br />He shlepped R’ Menachem over to an old door and pointed up to the doorpost. “You see that mezuzah? Your father brought me that mezuzah when I opened this store! He came in here very often to talk to me about Yiddishkeit! He was from the only people here who would always remind me what it means to be a Yid!”<br />Then the man broke down and cried.<br /><br />As the family grew, the pressure of providing for his family mounted and the Rosh Yeshiva together with other Gedolim persuaded Reb Chuni to become a shochet.<br /><br />After immersing himself totally in the halachos, Reb Chuni was ready for kabalah. He received kabalah from Gedolei Yisrael, among them the Pupa Rav, the Tzailemer Rav, Reb Yona Furst - the Nitra Rav, Reb Moshe Feinstein, the Sigheter Rav, and Harav Landau - Veretzkia Rav.<br /><br />When Reb Moshe asked to look at his chalef, he was astounded at the perfection of the blade. Reb Moshe asked if he could make a p’gam and have Reb Chuni find it. Reb Chuni left the room and heard a clear knock of the knife. He began to check the knife and at first, he was not able to see any p’gam. After a few moments, he realized what the Gaon had done. The p’gam was on the dull side of the knife!<br />Reb Moshe smiled and said, “A lesser shochet would have fabricated a p’gam on the sharp side to explain the knock!”<br /><br />The Sigheter Rav, Reb Moshe Teitelbaum (who later became the Satmer Rebbe) was so impressed after testing Reb Chuni that he immediately made a call and got Reb Chuni his first job. By that time he had moved to New York (in the summer of 1975) and the job took a great deal of travel and preparation.<br /><br />Reb Chuni took his avodas hashechita seriously with the utmost responsibility. He never left to shecht without immersing in the Mikveh. In fact when a new mikveh in Boro Park opened Reb Chuni decided that he would be the first one to use it and so he obtained the key. At 4 o’clock in the morning, he entered only to find that only the bor geshamim was filled. The main mikveh was still empty and dirty rainwater was standing in the bor – freezing and murky. There was no other mikveh open at that hour and so Reb Chuni immersed himself in that mikveh.<br /><br />Reb Chuni’s parents, the Ostrove-Kalushiner Rebbe and Rebbitzin were particularly pleased that their son became a shochet. Reb Spiegel had never eaten any meat in America and the chickens that he ever ate were only from shochtim that he knew.<br />To have a son shecht the chickens was considered a special zechus.<br /><br />Reb Chuni’s mother was extremely close to her son; his kibud Av V’Aim was of a magnitude that is indescribable. When living in Lakewood, Reb Chuni’s mother once mentioned that she needed potatoes and could not get to the store because of the terribly snowy conditions in Long Beach. Despite the miserable weather, Reb Chuni got into his car and drove over three hours to bring her the potatoes!<br /><br />He was not only worried about chickens for his parents. In those days, it was inconvenient for yungeleit to shlug kaporos with live chickens. They would have to either travel to New York or find a chicken and a shoichet in Lakewood on their own. Despite the importance of the minhag, it entailed a tremendous amount of bitul Torah. Reb Chuni, now that he had a kesher with a slaughterhouse, would bring a truckload of chickens to the Yeshiva for the yungeleit – a tremendous saving of time and money for them.<br /><br />During his entire tenure as a shochet, Reb Chuni continued to serve his parents each and every need, no matter how difficult, no matter how distant, and no matter how tired he was.<br /><br />The kesher was so close that as a chosson, despite the Chassidishe minhag to have both fathers walk the chosson down to the chupa, the Rebbitzin insisted that she would walk her Chuni down to the chupah.<br /><br />On the job, he was scrupulous about every single detail. Though shochtim were allowed a quota of chickens for their families, and though almost every shochet followed the unofficial rule of an extra chicken or two, Reb Chuni would never take anything that was not due him. If he missed a day, he would take less than the number of chickens allotted to him. If he brought home a chicken for a friend, he would pay the owner of the shlachthois the exact amount and would not take an extra penny from his friends for his efforts in shechting the chicken.<br /><br />When Reb Chuni started shechting in Empire, he was bothered that there were no shiurim for the shochtim. He quickly got to work on creating a solution. Reb Chuni gathered some old gemoras from his shul and brought them along with him and began giving a daf yomi shiur for all of the employees at Empire.<br /><br />Because of the long distance from the shlachthois to his home, Reb Chuni would sleep over. He was very bothered that he was away from his wife and children all week and so every night he would call home and learn with each one of his children.<br /><br />The trips to Miffletown, Pennsylvania were long and difficult. There was a rotation of drivers and in addition to gas and tolls, the driver was paid $52 for his labors in driving the four hour trip. The week of the tragic accident that took the life of Reb Chuni and his fellow shochtim, the designated driver’s car broke down and Reb Chuni offered to drive instead.<br /><br />In the aftermath of the tragedy, an envelope was found in one of Reb Chuni’s z’l pockets. Inside was a check for $52 made out to the one who was originally designated to drive. He obviously planned to give it to him thinking, “Just because your car broke down, I did not want you to lose out on the $52.”<br /><br />Those types of actions and hanhagos were indicative of Reb Chuni’s nature. He made sure to consider the feelings of every individual in every aspect of life.<br /><br />We say in Tehillim, "Uz Yimolay Sichoik Piynu." R' Shabsi Yudlevich would quote the medrash, “What is this 'sichoik', this 'gelechter', that will fill our mouths in the time of Moshiach? At the time of techiyas homaysim all who are worthy will come back to life and they will be the same age as when they were niftar. This will be the gelechter: zaides with black beards will dance with their white-bearded sons…youthful bubbes will dance with their elderly daughters…”<br /><br />Reb Chuni left the world so suddenly, so tragically, but the strength of his Rebbetzin held the children and family together in a way that no one could have imagined. Every one of their sons and son-in-law, and their eineklach are surely bringing nachas to Reb Chuni in his special place near the kisay hakovod.<br /><br />We look forward to the day when we will all dance together at the time of techiyas homaysim, b'viyas goyel tzedek b'mihayra v'yumaynu amein.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34174750.post-1157918913362236842006-09-10T13:00:00.000-07:002008-11-12T19:26:20.427-08:00Rav Avigdor Miller, zt”l- Klal Yisrael's Rebbe<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nPMILKcbN0tUXKUlwam3UTb6ISDXORCR2MPayKOzga2TleLmDGvzeXMuNBZGlZFmWzgmfAyOVgX8stegvHf5BP9yLCjyjOUKCQlJIegr0boOA2WtoA3_GwIuGHcipRgm5FJt/s1600-h/rmiller.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5020321195969798082" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nPMILKcbN0tUXKUlwam3UTb6ISDXORCR2MPayKOzga2TleLmDGvzeXMuNBZGlZFmWzgmfAyOVgX8stegvHf5BP9yLCjyjOUKCQlJIegr0boOA2WtoA3_GwIuGHcipRgm5FJt/s320/rmiller.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>What can be said of a Gadol who was so much a part of this world, yet so distant from it? A man whose innovations in teaching Torah, through tapes and telephone and technology, were twenty years ahead of his time; yet his personal lifestyle resembled that of generations past. How did the man who declared his unwavering emunah with his every word; imparted the language of the Chovos Halevavos in his every nuance; incorporated the words of Tanach into his very vernacular, become the eloquent spokesman who inspired hundreds and thousands of souls, tainted by the heresy of a yoke-casting nation, many of whom never even picked up a Chumash before hearing him, return to Yiddishkeit?<br /><br />How did the man whose outlook on life made him sound as if he was a Rosh Yeshiva who had never seen the shores of the United States find the right expressions and the gentle wit to pierce the sullied barrier of America's frivolities, and reach the souls of thousands?<br /><br />How does the tzaddik who slept for sixty years on a sheet-covered board, and ate a raw egg and half a sugar cube for supper, impart a love for Torah to the American kids who lived from one ice cream cone to the next?<br /><br />How could the man who the Satmar Rebbe labeled as "not from this dor (generation) but rather from a previous generation,” bridge the gap to become a father to so many who needed a bridge to their father in heaven?<br /><br />How does the Rav who was immersed in the depth of Rav Isaac Sher's shiurim, who absorbed Rav Avraham Grodzinsky's mussar, and the brilliance of the Lithuanian Yeshiva, enable himself to spend an entire year learning HaMafkid with a retired milkman or to discuss Yesodos emunah with throngs of Chassidim and Sepharadim and Yidden from all backgrounds?<br /><br />The answer must be very clear. The Torah and Mussar of that man, Rav Avigdor Miller, transcended any obstacle that would impede the imparting of the Ribono Shel Olam's words to anyone who was willing to hear. Emes pierces all barriers, and the clear vision he had of the Ribono Shel Olam forever standing in front of him, enabled Rabbi Miller to accomplish the task of thousands. He was a one-man institution; he was a central station of every facet of Torah; a flowing fountain, never ceasing to satiate thirsty souls and strengthening their desires to come back for more. He did more than make ba'alei teshuvah from the non-religious, he made ba'alei teshuvah, ba'alei hipa'alus, ba'alei machshava from the already-committed, imbuing a new sense of desire to grow in Torah, Mussar and Yiras Shamayim.<br /><br /><strong>Sacred Youth<br /></strong><br />Rav Avigdor Miller was born in Baltimore, Maryland on the second day of Elul in the year 1908, to Reb Yisrael and Hudda Reva Miller.<br /><br />His grandfather, Reb Dov HaKohen Miller was a very pious Jew; a shochet and a melamed, who fled the terrible persecutions and pogroms of White Russia four years earlier, together with his son and daughter-in-law. Reb Dov continued in his traditional role to serve the kehilla of Baltimore. His son, Reb Yisrael, followed in his ways. With great mesiras nefesh, he struggled to earn a living as a Shomer Shabbos grocer in Baltimore, ensuring that his sons Avigdor and Yeshaya would receive a proper Torah chinuch.<br /><br /><strong>Seeds of Greatness<br /></strong><br />Although there were no formal Yeshivas during his youth, as a child, Reb Avigdor went learn in a Talmud Torah under the tutelage of a Mr. Tarshish, who would teach him privately in addition to the hours spent in school. By the time of his Bar Mitzvah, young Avigdor was already proficient in Tanach and had a knowledge of Yiddishkeit far greater than most children his age. The words of Tanach became the staple of his language throughout his life.<br /><br />His brother, Rav Yeshaya Miller, a Rav in Boston for many years, told his son, Rav Yisrael Miller, Mara D'Asrah of Congregation Poalei Tzedek of Pittsburgh, PA, that by the time he was twelve years old, Avigdor had already ceased the normal playful activities for his age, and had immersed himself in serious learning. After his Bar Mitzvah, Avigdor had already decided that he would like to become a Rav.<br /><br />By the early 1920s, young Avigdor would spend his free time either learning with Reb Tarshish or sitting over a Gemarah in the Bais Knesses in Baltimore. For hours on end he would sit, undistracted and undisturbed, melding every bit of knowledge he received, whether from his mandatory secondary education or his learning, into the essence that would later influence the lives of thousands of Jews across the entire globe.<br />By the time he graduated from high school he was not only a serious Talmid of Torah, but a master orator and earnest thinker. In those days, for the Yomim Noraim, shuls would be packed, filling over 1000 seats with Yidden whose heartstrings tugged at them to fully observe the chagim. However, the Rav would usually speak in Yiddish, and unfortunately, there were already hundreds of American-born congregants who were not proficient in the illustrious tongue of their forebears. For them, there would be an additional speech in English, in order that they, too, could get a feeling for the awe and aura of the Y'mei HaDin. The question obviously was, who, in 1925, would both be proficient enough in the English Language to speak eloquently, yet be imbued with a high level of Yiras Shamayim and be able to impart the Aimas Hayom, creating an impact on the vast audience? Young Avigdor was chosen. Though only 17 years old, he delivered a stirring English language Kol Nidrei drasha to an audience of more than 1000 people! It was only the first case of a life-long career of powerful oratory that would address the challenges and shape the future of the American Jewish community.<br /><br /><strong>Growing in Torah</strong><br /><br />That Elul, he left to learn in New York’s Lower East Side, under Rav Moshe Soleveitchik in Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchok Elchonon.<br /><br />He became close to a group of chaveirim who would be omaid al hamishmar throughout their entire lives as generals in the milchamato shel Torah on these shores. Among them were Rav Nosson Wachtfogel, Rav Yehuda Davis, Rav Mordechai Gifter, and Rav Moshe Bick, zichronom livracha.<br /><br />He quickly became well liked at the Yeshiva and his leadership was immediately apparent. He was elected to head the student organization and became a spokesman for many of their views.<br /><br />Rav Miller was careful to use his secular knowledge only to be mashpia on others. His broad knowledge of science attached a higher value to the wonders of creation, and the Almighty's undisputable signature on every aspect of the natural world. His vast vocabulary and command of English was used to communicate Torah hashkafah to the less committed.<br /><br />In fact, when brilliant young refugees would enter the portals of the Yeshiva, Rabbi Miller was asked to tutor them in the English language. Rav Moshe Soleveitchik asked him to tutor his own son, Ahron. Wisely, Rav Miller carefully chose the most boring volumes as study texts. He did not want his younger charges to be influenced by the tainted outlooks of many authors. He once mused with a family member that he could find nothing more boring and uninspiring as the first ten chapters of Ivanhoe, and so that is what he used to teach them.<br /><br />When the administration of RIETS wanted to introduce a secular college as part of the Yeshiva, even though he, himself, was attending classes at CCNY, Rabbi Miller, along with his chaveirim, vehemently protested the introduction of the synthesis of secular studies in the same edifice and institution that had formerly exclusively taught Torah.<br /><br />Within the Yeshiva, itself, Rav Miller strove to elevate the students in a way that would guard them from the prevailing notions of American society in the 1930's. He arranged for the citadel of kanaus and Yiras Shamayim, Rav Yaakov Yoseph Herman, known to today's generation of American students as "All for the Boss," to give clandestine shmuessen and shiurim in Mesilas Yeshorim at night. The administration of the Yeshiva was not enthused with the fact that an outsider was delivering lectures to the students, but perhaps even less so with Rav Herman’s kana'us and intonations that there were places that could offer greater growth in Torah than what could be found in America-- the world of the European Yeshiva.<br /><br />Rav Miller thought differently, and resolved to grab at the chance of teaching children whenever it would arise.<br /><br />The Talmud Torah in his home town of Baltimore was looking for a teacher, and Rabbi Miller decided that it would be a perfect opportunity for him to pursue a career in chinuch.<br /><br />He called his Rav in Baltimore, who tried to strongly dissuade him. "Reb Avigdor, you can go on to much greater things! If you come, I have no choice but to give you the job, but," he continued, "I am advising you to continue learning in Yeshiva."<br /><br />Rabbi Miller was not moved. On the Sunday meant for interviews, he got on a train and headed for Baltimore. He planned to arrive in the afternoon, but the train stopped in Philadelphia at one o'clock and, for no apparent reason, sat in the station for four hours. He arrived in Baltimore that night and rushed to the shul. His Rav told him, “I saw you did not come, so I hired someone else.” Rabbi Miller was so dejected, that he did not even visit his parents-- he just went straight back to the Yeshiva!<br /><br />"Oy!" Rav Miller used to exclaim, declaring the hashgacha Elyona of the train's breakdown. "Look at my dejection at the time! But now we know Hashem's plan. [Had I been hired] I would have remained in Baltimore and never seen the majestic Torah world of Slabodka!"<br /><br />Rav Miller's foremost encounter with that majestic world came in 1932 when the Slabodka Rosh Yeshiva, Hagaon Rav Isaac Sher, arrived in the United States, to raise funds for his Yeshiva.<br /><br />Every week, during Rav Sher's visit, together with a group of his chaveirim, 24-year-old Reb Avigdor would visit Rav Sher's apartment on Henry Street on the Lower East Side to hear a shmuess from Rav Sher. By that time, the depression had set in and the fundraisng mission proved to be a disaster. After the last shmuess before Rav Sher was to return to Europe, he invited the group to join his Yeshiva. The chevra were so captivated by the shmuessen that they decided to go back with the Rosh Yeshiva to Slabodka.. Rav Miller recounted the enthusiasm of Rav Yehuda Davis, zt"l, who later established a yeshiva in Mountaindale, New York, to encourage everyone to leave Yeshiva University and learn in Slabodka. Rav Sher tried to convince, Rav Gifter, whose uncle was an alumnus of Telshe, to learn in Slabodka, too. Rav Gifter journeyed with Rav Miller to Europe, and decided to spend his first Shabbos in Slabodka. However, he opted to go to the Telshe Yeshiva, convinced that the mussar of Slabodka was not his style. Years later, Rav Gifter mused, how he, who had not appreciated mussar in his original voyage to Telshe, would later don a special jacket to hear the shmuessen of his Rabbeim. Rav Mordechai Gifter remained very close to Rav Miller, attending his wedding in Nayshtatd. His son Reb Eliezer Miller said, that whenever Rav Mordechai Gifter would meet him, he would literally take hold of him and declare, "the z'chus of all my learning is due to your father!"<br /><br /><br />Rav Isaac Sher would say, referring to the talmidim who returned with him, "I did not manage to bring back money from America, instead I brought back diamonds."<br /><br />Perhaps it is apparent that his mission was truly successful. The dollars he brought back, and invested in the facilities, suffered a blistered fate, while the diamonds return to illuminate and sparkle for a new generation of Torah in this country.<br /><br /><strong>Slabodka</strong><br /><br />Rabbi Miller arrived in Slabodka on Erev Shavuos, 1933. He was embraced by the Mashgiach, Rav Avraham Grodzinsky, who kissed him, declaring, "You have arrived for kabalas HaTorah!"<br /><br />In Slabodka, Rav Miller was introduced to a new world. Within the dilapidated facilities, there was a prolific spirit. Each bochur was a lamdan, their sense of respect for the hanhallah was profound. The overall aura was infused with a sense of overwhelming spirituality, and clear direction. Rav Miller soon became renown for his great hasmada. He learned in abject poverty, barely eating meals; splitting a sugar cube in half to sustain himself mornings and evenings. He slept on a board and wore through the elbows of the suit jackets and shirts that he brought from America. They became threadbare from the sway of material against the wooden shtenders. His meager sartorial extremities embarrassed him. He thought, perhaps, that it would diminish the view of Gadlus HaAdom, so he would not walk into the Bais Medrash in full view of his chaveirim, instead, he would be the first one in and the last one out, avoiding stares from the other charges.<br />With great toil he continued his relentless mission al HaTorah v'al HaAvoda.<br /><br />When he made trips to the American consulate for matters relating to his status in a foreign country, he would have to borrow a suit, as his was ragged from wear, but with his charming personality, he made friends with the consular, a Baltimorean, like himself. This relationship proved beneficial when trying to help others get entry visas into the US.<br /><br />Rav Miller continued his close relationship with Rav Isaac Sher and considered him as his rebbe. He always marveled how every word was weighed and measured, and at his extreme dignity, composure, and restraint. "Everything he said ,you could understand, it was well explained with complete clarity.” In one of his seforim he terms his rebbe as "the clear thinker," an attribute Rav Miller himself would be later known for throughout his unrelenting career as a total mechanech.<br />Rabbi Shmuel Shapiro, one of his Ba'alei Batim in Flatbush, who journeyed through the entire Shas with Rav Miller, beginning his first line of Gemara with him more than 33 years ago, talks about Rav Miller's appreciation and commitment to clarity. "Rav Miller would often say something and then ask us to repeat it. If we could not, he would say, the reason you cannot repeat it is only because I was unclear. I did not do a good enough job in explaining it. And so, Rav Miller would repeat the sevorah or explanation again and again until his Talmidim would be able to repeat it.<br /><br />He devoted himself to the unequivocal mussar of Rav Avraham Grodzinsky, and strove to attain the middas haEmes, an attribute that would hallmark his legendary directness and straightforwardness, leading Rav Moshe Feinstein to label him as the "Ish Emes of America."<br /><br />He was wont to say that the shiurim of Rav Isaac Sher were not as famous as those of the other Roshei Yeshiva. Though Rav Isaac could have said great and brilliant pilpulim, he traded his capacity of brilliance for the relentless search for emes.<br /><br />His attachment to mussar was not merely in theory; it manifested itself in every aspect of his life. Every step he took, became a journey that explored the greatness of the Almighty. His vision of the Ribono Shel Olam's pervading presence in everything from the massive sun, to the intricate complexities of the tiny apple seed did not escape his mussar-enhanced eyes.<br /><br />His quest for greatness led Rav Miller to master the entire K’tzos and Nesivos and Shev Shma'atsah by heart, and he would constantly review those volumes, even until the week before his petirah.<br /><br />On the 4th day of Sivan, in the year 1935, Rav Avigdor Miller married, Ettil, the oldest daughter of Rav Yaakov Moshe Lessin, zt"l, the Rav of Naishtat, Lithuania who also served as a menahel of the Kovno Kollel in Slabodka. His American chaveirim, joined Rav Miller at the home of Rav Levitan, for the wedding.<br /><br />Rav Miller learned in the Kovno Kollel, and developing strong relationships with Gedolei Torah in Europe. He would spends summers in Tzitivyan, talking for hours with the Tzitivyaner Rav, Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky zt"l, whose son, Rav Binyomin, of Long Island, recalls Rav Miller attending his bar-mitzvah.<br />Rav Lessin had previously been to America with a delegation that came in 1924, which later helped save some of his family from the Holocaust. With the ominous storm clouds of anti-Semitism looming over the horizon, Rav Avigdor also knew that he and his family would have to leave Europe as well.<br /><br />Together with their son Eliezer, and their daughter, Shaynee, they traveled to America, back to Baltimore, Maryland. When a position was offered in Chelsea, Massachusetts in the prestigious Agudas Achim shul on Walnut Street, Rabbi Miller decided to accept. He knew that he would face a tremendous challenge raising his family in that community and helping to develop the congregants into B'nai Torah, but he was up to the challenge.<br /><br />Chelsea had very little formal Torah schooling for its youth. Except for the traditional Talmud Torah, there was nothing to enhance the public school education that the children received. Together with his father-in-law, Rav Yaakov Moshe Lessin, who had arrived in America in 1939 and assumed a position as the Rav of Dorchester, Rav Miller established an intensive after school program. Rav Miller served as Rosh Yeshiva while his brother-in-law, Rav Yisroel Meir Lessin, who had arrived from Switzerland, gave additional classes. Many community members greeted the new institution with consternation if not open rejection. They did not see the shortcomings of the official, yet feeble, education afforded through the synagogue's Talmud Torah. In addition, they understood that a true Yeshiva would cost money, and they did not want to be encumbered with additional expenses for Yiddishkeit.<br /><br />Rav Avigdor named the Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael after Rav Yisrael Salanter and began teaching the boys Gemarah and mussar on a level that small town America had never seen. Rav Miller did not compromise on his principles nor moderate his clear and unwavering shitas Hachaim for them. He told his nephew, Reb Yisrael Miller, "There was no difference between the shiurim or shmuessen that I gave in Chelsea and those that I gave in Chaim Berlin!"<br /><br />Meanwhile, the war in Europe was raging and Rav Miller was a constant source of encouragement to Jewish soldiers and servicemen who were sent overseas to fight the battle against the Nazi monster and its Japanese cohorts.<br /><br />Agudas Yisrael, published a magazine with a column, "Those that fight, write!' Often included in the letters were comments made by servicemen sent to distant locations, whose only kesher to Judaism were the words of encouragement given to them by Rav Miller.<br /><br />Back in Chelsea, the boys began to gravitate toward mesikas HaTorah, the consternation of the Ba’alei Batim grew. They told Rav Miller to shut down the school, threatening to fire him if he would not.<br /><br />Rav Miller consulted with his esteemed father-in-law. It is “Yeyhoraig V'al Ya'avor!” exclaimed Rav Lessin. "The Yeshiva will remain opened!" And it did. In fact, the boys grew in learning and their desire to continue on to Yeshiva Gedolah intensified. For summer vacation, Rav Miller would send them to the new summer camps in the Catskills that were administered and directed by b'nai Torah. Those who remained home for the summer, continued to learn with the Rav, in an informal setting on the lawn of his home in Chelsea.<br /><br />As the Talmidim grew in Torah and Yiras Shamayim, Rav Miller took it upon himself to personally accompany them to Yeshiva Mesivta Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, to learn under the tutelage of Rav Hutner, zt”l. Rav Hutner was amazed at the grasp and breadth of knowledge that these young charges had, and the fluency in which they expressed their knowledge. He was particularly astonished when Avraham Kramer, related a difficult K'tzos Hachoshen, fluently, in Yiddish!<br /><br />There was one particular Talmid of whom Rav Miller would say, he is our ticket to Olam HaBah. He emerged as a leader in the Chelsea community and eventually assumed the leadership of the Yeshiva after Rav Millers' departure to New York. Here is the amazing story: Rav Miller had made a public plea for parents to send their children to the Yeshiva. He offered to learn with any child no matter what level he was on. All the child needed to join the Yeshiva was the desire to learn Torah.<br />After the class, an elderly woman, approached him, saying, "My child would like to learn in your Yeshiva, do you think you could allow him?"<br /><br />"Certainly," responded the 34-year-old Rav, not realizing whom he had just accepted into the Yeshiva. "I'd love to meet him."<br /><br />A few moments later the woman came back with a middle-aged gentleman. He was surely a few years older than the young Rav. He was wearing a blood stained apron, his thick fingers, and broad arms testifying to his occupation as a very adept butcher.<br /><br />"This is my son," she exclaimed, "I am delighted that you will learn with him!"<br />The gentleman had a rudimentary knowledge of the Hebrew language and, true to his commitment, Rav Miller, began learning with him.<br />They went through the entire Chumash, soon they went through Mishnayos and Gemarah. In a short while, Mr. Kaufman became a loyal Talmid of Rav Miller and a leader in the community.<br /><br />The Yeshiva continued to grow, with an enrollment of 51 Talmidim, a staggering number in those days. But the yeshiva only educated older boys, and Rav Miller became quite torn. While the Millers daughter Shaynee was enrolled in the public school, he refused to send his son, Eliezer into that environment. The Chelsea School District granted permission for the Millers to home-school Eliezer, the only child out of 13,000 in the school district to be afforded that permission. But the gnawing problem of proper Torah education was foremost on their mind.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Rav Miller decided to purchase a separate building to house the Yeshiva. The move was controversial; but in the end, the community united. They were going to have a Yeshiva building.<br /><br />Rav Miller decided to ask Rav Hutner to address the community at the chanukas habayis, but before he got a chance to call Rav Hutner, something amazing happened-- Rav Hutner called him! He offered him a position as the Mashgiach of Yeshiva Mesivta Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin.<br /><br />Rav Miller thought of the opportunity he had. Years later, he told his children that he does not remember whether it took ten or twenty seconds to accept.<br /><br />The day after the chanukas habayis he broke the news to the kehilla. They were devastated, but his Brother-in-law, Rav Lessin, and Mr. Kaufman, took charge as Rav Miller packed his belongings and, together with his rebbetzin, who stood by his every act, moved to Brooklyn.<br />Chaim Berlin<br /><br />With Rabbi Miller’s appointment as Mashgiach of Yeshiva Mesivta Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, in 1944, he was faced with a demanding challenge.<br /><br />In those days, many boys who attended the Yeshiva were not attuned to a Torah lifestyle, and often came from homes that were barely Shomer Shabbos. Some were not ready for the serious program needed to produce true lomdim.<br /><br />Rabbi Miller’s goal was to instill a serious sense of responsibility and vision of greatness in the students, helping them to realize the potential each one had to grow in Torah. In addition to ensuring that the bochurim were learning, he was genuinely concerned with all aspects of their behavior.<br /><br />One zman, while the boys were learning Bava Kama, he noticed that some of the Gemaras that they were using were actually taken from various shuls in the community. When he found out that they were "borrowed" without permission, he refused to allow the boys to return, until each Gemara was returned to it's proper Bais HaKnesses. "How can one learn the laws of damages, while learning from a stolen Gemara?"<br /><br />He had to play the role of enforcer, maintaining the decorum and seder rooted in his very essence. He never let the image of Slabodka fade from his mind, nor did he lower his sights for the talmidim. His goal was to raise their level in mussar and while he worked to acheive that goal, Rabbi Miller continued his own learning with tremendous hasmadah, learning seven blatt a day, finishing Shas every year, reviewing ktzos and nesivos repeatedly, and teaching the sifrei mussar he was so fluent in.<br /><br />With the majestic presence and charismatic brilliance of Rav Hutner, at the helm of the yeshiva, Rav Miller nurtured the yeshiva’s sense of structure and order. Chaim Berlin grew to become a central force in Torah education for serious lomdim, producing hundreds of b’nai Torah who grew to be leaders in both the lay world, and in the world of chinuch and Torah education.<br /><br />He was mechazek the second seder in the Yeshiva, and raised their consciousness about their search for greatness.<br /><br />According to many Talmidim, Rav Miller served as a policeman, guarding the kovod of the institution, the Rosh Yeshiva and the hanhalla. His demeanor never was ruffled. With gentle humor and sometimes-caustic wit, he deflected negativity and afforded mussar.<br /><br />It is well known how he would approach a group of young men surrounding a table, worthless banter flowing between them; Rav Miller’s stately form, flowing frock, and perfect diction would startle their idleness, "What will it be this morning, Gentlemen," he would begin. "Would you prefer a scotch or rye?"<br /><br />Realizing that they were behaving no better than boys in a bar, they would scurry to begin their limudim with a sense of seriousness.<br /><br />Even the Rabbeim, were affected by his sense of seder. One brilliant Maggid shiur would often lose his way on the subway, sometimes showing up hours late for a shiur. The boys were in a state of limbo, not able to learn properly in anticipation of his imminent arrival.<br /><br />Rav Miller was insistent that he be more responsible, and would even cancel the shiur if it had to begin late!<br /><br />His sense of humor could always put a gentle touch on a very serious topic. Once a boy walked into seder late. "Why are you late?" asked the Mashgiach.<br />"I became a chasson last night," exclaimed the student.<br />Rav Miller gave his bracha and tochachah in the same breath.<br />"Mazel Tov! Make sure that never happens again!" he smiled.<br /><br />His devotion to perfect seder hardly allowed him to tolerate tardiness. His Seder Hayom was punctual and unwavering. The storekeepers on Pitkin Avenue, set their watches to his comings and goings. He was strict about tardiness, but always with a sense of humor. During the Korean War, he would chide the late comers, “It's either 9:30 in the Bais Medrash or 6:30 in the morning at Fort Dix!"<br /><br /><strong>Rabbanus<br /></strong><br />Two years after arriving in New York, he took a position at the Young Israel of Rugby. Orthodoxy in America was still at its budding stages, and Rabbi Miller had an arduous task of incorporating his non-compromising opinions and perspectives into a kehillah that was very satisfied with its level of Yiddishkeit.<br /><br />Many members left the shul. "It was the needle speech that did it for my family!" one member whose father left, told me.<br />“Needle speech?” I asked. The man smiled.<br />"One Shabbos, Rav Miller spoke about carrying. In those days, many people were not aware of the issur of carrying a handkerchief or small items. But Rabbi Miller, he told it like it was! ‘If you carry even a needle, you are chayiv misah!’ That was too much for us.”<br />Those who remained, however, became more than mispallelim, they became Talmidim!<br /><br />In 1965, Yeshiva Chaim Berlin moved from Stone Avenue to an empty public school in Far Rockaway, NY. The spacious building was a real bargain, but the bussing of students and the traveling took a toll on Rabbi Miller. Though Far Rockaway was a burgeoning suburb that would see tremendous growth just a decade later, it had not yet reached a level where it could support the Yeshiva financially, with only local boys comprising the bulk of the Yeshiva’s enrollment.<br /><br /><strong>Rebbe to his Flock</strong><br /><br />Eventually, Rav Miller decided to leave the Yeshiva and immerse himself into full time Rabbanus. He endeared himself to his Ba’alei Batim and concentrated on uplifting them and dreamed of making lomdim from them.<br /><br />He took a meager salary and was beholden to no one. He was not afraid to talk about the immorality of society in the strongest of terms.<br /><br />He did not sugar-coat his mussar by weakening his reprimand, but rather, injected humor into the reality of the problem.<br /><br />After discussing how vile and depraved heresy is, a student asked him, "Rebbe, I must read this stuff for a course I'm taking in college. What should I do?"<br /><br />Rabbi Miller, looked incredulously at him. "If you are thirsty do you drink from a latrine?"<br /><br /><br /><strong>Melamed Torah L'Amo</strong><br /><br />At first, his shiurim to the Ba'alei Batim were on easier topics-- Mishne, Chayai Odom and Ein Yaakov, but a visiting Gadol chastised him, saying that he could teach his Ba'alei Batim "Gantz Shas." Like always, Rav Miller was a great mekabel, and he knew that if spoken by a Gadol BaTorah, those were not words, they were reality. And so, in 1967, he embarked on a mission that would leave an eternal impact on hundreds of families across the world.<br /><br />With a group of fifteen or so congregants seated around a table, he began with the words, "Shanyim Ochazim B'Talis."<br /><br />To some members of the class, it was as foreign as an ancient language. He had them write down the words. He had them fill in the nekudos. And he had them repeat it. He taught them with the same enthusiasm that a young haschalas gemara rebbe displays towards his Talmidim. And they responded in kind! Nothing was above them; they followed their rebbe's charge, unabashed, unashamed. Repeat after me! "Shanyim Ochazim B'Talis!" And so it went. One of the important skills he would stress was having the students understand the "idiom of the Gemara."<br /><br />After one year the group grew in size and in greatness. It took a year, but they finished three blatt Gemara-- and they knew it cold!<br /><br />The next year's project was more than three blatt. It was an entire Mesechta! Night after night they came. They reviewed and they repeated. At the end of a year they finished Gittin!<br /><br />And then they would make an appointment to come to the Rav's home to take a farher! Everyone had to take a farher! If you knew a blatt by heart you received awards!<br /><br />A retired milkman began his journey in to the Gemara with Rav Miller at age 65. Three years later ,everyone in the shiur waited in anticipation for the outcome of his "farher."<br /><br />He returned ecstatic! The Rav took out a bottle of schnapps, something that was very rare for Rav Miller, and made a L'Chaim! Such a simcha is truly worthy of a L'Chaim!<br /><br />Rabbi Shmuel Shapiro, who finished the entire shas with Rav Miller, and was bestowed with s'micha, related to me how he would pick up the phone to make the appointment and then would wipe his brow in relief, if no one would answer! It was another chance to review!<br /><br />Who today would have both the courage and the audacity to farher his Ba'alei Batim on his shiurim? But Rav Miller who only knew the emes and feared no one, did what a rebbe should do. It did not make a difference if the student was a child or the President of the shul!<br /><br />"His enthusiasm and constancy was a source of chizuk for those who attended his shiurim on a continuous basis. Sometimes we would encounter complex issues, but Rav Miller's clarity, and his ability to pepper the most complex and even seemingly boring sugyos with additional Agad'ta Gemaros lifted our spirits and held our hands."<br /><br />The genius of the potpourri of shiurim in well over a dozen different mesechtos, encompassing some of the most difficult sugyos in Shas, is unimaginable. He wanted to assure his Talmidim that if their inability to come every single night would not impede their ability to hear a shiur with relentless continuity.<br /><br />And so, for every day of the week, for every seder in shas, for every intellect and on every aspect of hashkafa-- there was a shiur!<br /><br />On Thursday evenings he gave a hashkafa shiur at the Sefardic Institute. That shiur went on for years and years. It was disseminated by tape throughout the world, his penetrating wisdom reaching all types of Jews in every corner of the world.<br /><br />The assortment of Yidden who would flock to hear the shiur was indescribable. Chassidim, Misnagdim, Sepharadim, Ashkenazim, Black Hats, Kippot Serugot, aged people in wheelchairs, and high school students and their parents!<br /><br />He spoke what was on his mind. He expressed his unadulterated opinions and did not hesitate to forever speak the truth. And Emes is what drew them.<br /><br />He said to a grandchild that much of his hashkafa of history came from the Zichron Yaakov, written by the secretary of Rav Yitzchak Elchonon Spector, the Kovno Rav. He, in fact wanted to translate it and met with Rav Yaakov Lipschutz's grandson Rav Binyomin, of Fall River, Massachusetts, for permission.<br /><br />Ardently against secularism, Zionism and other movements against the Torah, Rav Miller did not hesitate to speak out against the leaders of idealists that he felt went contrary to the Torah’s against the Torah. He spoke out against the invasion of immorality into our homes, painting a clear picture about the evils of television, encouraging everyone to smash their sets!<br />"It is like having a sewer draining into your living room!" he cried.<br />He would support political candidates whose views would promote morality, openly denouncing their liberal opponents.<br /><br />He acted vehemently to even a subtle hint of impropriety in hashkafa. Reb Moshe Kolodny recalls himself as a student in Chaim Berlin telling the Mashgiach that the Yeshiva received a new set Mishnayos. 'Bring me Mesechtas Sanhedrin," Rabbi Miller said.<br /><br />When the bochur brought the Mishnayos, he flipped to the back where the Tiferes Yisrael had a section, answering evolution according to the Torah. Instead of denouncing the theory as malarkey, the piece contained some defenses of the theory and tried to answer it according to a Torah perspective.<br />You see this. It is totally unnecessary and inaccurate. The Navi Yeshaya (51:13) declares, "You are terrified continually, because of the "chamas hamatzik, ..v'ayeh chamas hamatzik -- the oppressors fury.” But where is the oppressors fury?" Everyone is afraid of evolution! It is a lie and a joke! Where is the fear? Rip it out!"<br /><br />The boy stammered, “R..r..r.ip it out? Rebbe, I can't rip a sefer.” "It borders on heresy, and it's a mitzvah to get rid of it!” With that Rav Miller, removed the section from the Mishnayos and declared, "Ubiartah Harah Mikirbecha!<br /><br />Rabbi Miller's impact on younger charges was profound. After a strong talk, imploring everyone to smash their television sets, Rabbi Miller received a call from an irate taxi driver, "When I was driving my cab, my son came home and smashed the television! He said you told him to do it! Are you crazy??! "<br /><br />Rabbi Miller was cool, calm and collected. Is your son named David?" he asked. "Such an amazing fine boy!" Rabbi Miller went on to extol the child, and even more so, the parents that raised him. He was so impressed with their parenting that he asked to send others to their home to take lessons and receive advice! By the end of the conversation, Rabbi Miller had made friends with this man, who ultimately came into agreement with his son's actions!<br /><br />Rabbi Miller had the ability to inspire others to reach levels of Yiddishkeit they never thought they could.<br /><br />In the late 1950s, when Yeshiva South Shore, the first all boys Yeshiva of its kind, opened in Long Island, Rabbi Binyomin Kamenetzky, who had known Rabbi Miller in Europe, invited Rabbi Miller to speak to the kehilla to encourage the concept of a boy's Yeshiva!<br /><br />"You think you can run from the Torah by leaving Brooklyn and coming to Long Island?" he began! "You can't escape the Torah!” He went on to speak strong words of hashkafa and mussar to the kahal. The crowd was not used to a Rabbi taking such a powerful stand to convince them of the importance of separate education. Ultimately, the Yeshiva was established and became the forerunner to a myriad of separate boys and girls Yeshivos on Long Island and the Rockaways.<br /><br /><strong>Endless Shiurim</strong><br /><br />In the 1970s, when the neighborhood in East Flatbush began to deteriorate, the level of evening shiur attendance began to diminish as well. Rabbi Miller instituted a Torah-by-phone study program, for those who were homebound; a forerunner to the Torah Phone arrangements that are now a household word in many communities.<br /><br />Rabbi Miller was a non-stop Marbitz Torah. His array of classes reads like a listing of volumes from among the largest libraries of seforim.<br /><br />His eclectic shiurim could satiate any soul on any level. Even proficient kollel members would sit side by side with the Ba'alei Batim who had recently entered the foray of Milchamato Shel Torah, absorbing Rabbi Miller’s lessons.<br /><br />The following is just a glimpse of a partial listing of the most recent array of Rabbi Miller’s classes. It is hard to imagine that years ago, the list was almost double in size! He used to give two shiurim each morning, but later switched to one shiur as he got older!<br /><br />A Sunday shiur in Gittin at 8:00 a.m. began the week for Rabbi Miller. It was followed by a learning breakfast and a shiur in Sanhedrin at 10:30. Monday mornings he would teach Nazir and Monday evenings he gave a shiur in the complex Mesechta Eiruvin. On Tuesday mornings, he taught Pesachim, and in the evenings he delved into the complexities of Mesechta Shevuos. Wednesday mornings he would give a shiur in Mesechta Shabbos and at night would teach Mesechta Kiddushin. On Thursdays he would give a shiur on a different Perek of Nazir, and on Friday Mornings he taught K'subos.<br /><br />In addition, he gave shiurim in the afternoon-- from the mussar of Chovos Halevavos to the complex simanim of Tur Even HaEzer.<br /><br />On Shabbos he would learn B'choros. Shabbos afternoons were reserved for his Agad’ta shiur –beginning with two lines of Gemara and expounding for an hour!<br /><br />He used to say: "The Gemara would make a one line quote with the preface of 'darash Rav,' Do you think Rav spoke only one line? He spoke for hours! The Gemara compressed it into one line, and our job is to reconstitute it!"<br /><br /><br /><strong>Sha’ar Habechina</strong><br /><br />But he did not stop with Gemara. Every day, before Mincha, he would give a shiur in either Chovos Halevavos, Mesilas Yeshorim or Orchos Tzadikim. In the winter, on Friday nights, we would learn Sha’ar Habechina in Chovos Halevavos, which discusses recognizing Hashem in every aspect of creation. Every year, over and over again. He would learn it and review it. One member said that he learned Sha’ar Habechina with him no less than forty times!<br /><br />He was a walking, living sha’ar habechina. It was his battle cry. In every one of his books, every time he walked or opened his eyes, he saw the Ribbono Shel Olam. He would carry apple seeds in his pocket and would revel in looking at them. "These tiny seeds contain the codes of continuity! The largest computers pale in comparison to their complexity! This is only the handiwork and direct pronouncement of Hashem's ever-constant Hand in everything!”<br /><br />On the hottest days of summer, when everyone would mutter about the heat, he would bask instead of sweat in the sunlight, thanking Hashem for that great source of light!<br /><br />He would constantly remind his talmidim, that despite all their machinations and study, they must never forget that they are in front of the Ribbono Shel Olam.<br /><br />He would often repeat the story of the Kotzker Rebbe. In the middle of a fervent davening, his congregants swaying with passion, he called his gabbai over. “Give a klop on the Bimah, and please announce to the kehilla, that there is a Ribbono Shel Olam in the world!”<br /><br />A bochur who had been influenced by Rav Miller was transferring from public school to Yeshiva High School. Rabbi Miller called him. “Now that you are starting a career in a Yeshiva, I’d like to tell you something.<br />When you go to the Yeshiva you will hear what your rebbe has to say. You will hear, what Tosfos has to say, You will surely hear what the Gemara and Rashi have to say. But remember to come back here. You will hear what the Ribbono Shel Olam has to say!”<br /><br />In addition to the shiurim in the Bais Knesses, he became the Mashgiach in his son Reb Shmuel's Yeshiva, Bais Yisrael. There, he would give sichos in Yiddish, the language he cherished and used in his home and with his own children. Though he taught mostly in English, he maintained Yiddish for his family, recognizing its vital importance in the continuity of the Mesorah.<br />He did not hesitate to encourage his Talmidim to use any technology to further their leaning experience. Rav Miller would often quote the Chofetz Chaim, "the technology of the steamship was invented in order to get the American bochurim across the sea to Yeshivos in Europe much faster than ever."<br /><br />He applied that theory to advance the use of tapes to teach Torah. When cassette recorders were introduced in the early 1970's, Rabbi Miller, with great vision, encouraged their use to record his shiurim, thus beginning the thousands upon thousands of shiurim that have since been recorded for posterity. His tapes are being heard by talmidim today who were not even alive during the original recordings!<br /><br />He even had the electrical wiring in the shul redone to accommodate the myriad recording devices.<br /><br />In fact, he was so grateful to Reb Pinchus Shelby for advising him and arranging the taping of the Thursday night hashkafa shiur, that he explicitly mentioned an expression of hakaras hatov to him in his tzava'ah.<br /><br />In every aspect of his shiurim he searched for emes. After he wrote his first book, Rejoice Oh Youth, he called one of the more cynical boys in Chaim Berlin and presented him with the galleys. "I want you to read this and rip it apart, he said. Try to find every flaw you can. I want to know every fallacy it may contain!" He was forever grateful to that boy as well!<br /><br />His love for the Ribbono Shel Olam manifested itself in His creation and in His People.<br /><br />He once asked Rav Isaac Sher, how to grow in Ahavas Yisrael. Rav Isaac told him to pick a Jew and do for him what ever you can.<br />He picked a Yid in Slabodka and constantly helped the man. Even after the man’s passing, Rav Miller would give tzedoko l’illuy nishmas that man and even publish in his memory.<br /><br />He was a tremendous Ba’al tzedoko. Discreetly, he distributed tens of thousands of dollars of tzedoka to Yerushalmi families who were b'nai Torah.<br /><br /><strong>Seder haChaim</strong><br /><br />Rav Miller had his life calculated to the minute. Though he shared in the joy of every simcha-- from brissim to bar mitzvos to weddings-- it was difficult for him to attend. The traveling and participation would disrupt his demanding schedule of learning, teaching and writing. In the 40 years he served as a Rav, with hundreds of congregants and thousands of Talmidim, he was only mesader kiddushin an average of once a year.<br /><br />When he was sitting shiva, he continued saying shiurim. He felt that it was tzorchai rabim and could not be foregone.<br /><br />At one of the first of his grandchildren’s weddings, he looked uncomfortable. A former student asked him why he looked troubled. “I am uncomfortable being here, after all. I am missing a shiur.”<br /><br />The student was surprised, “Rebbe? Aren’t you grateful to be at the wedding of a grandchild? Isn’t that a great z’chus?”<br />Rabbi Miller was quiet. Three years later, he met the Talmid again. After greeting him warmly, he told him.<br />“You know, I thought of what you told me. From that day on, I go b’simcha to the weddings of my grandchildren.”<br /><br />A Talmid, an elderly bochur who ate by Rabbi Miller almost every Shabbos, became a chasson. He very much wanted to share the simcha with his rebbe, but did not want to impose upon him to come to the wedding.<br /><br />Rabbi Miller, appreciated the chasson’s dilemma. “You know, that if you would ask me to come, I would have to come. I appreciate that you know that it is hard for me to go. And in truth I want to be there, so I will tell you what I want to do.”<br />Rabbi Miller took off his tie. “If I can’t be there, let me give you my tie. Wear it to the wedding.”<br />The young man gladly accepted the tie and wore it to the wedding.<br /><br />Rav Miller, never left his home. He hardly ever, perhaps never, went on vacations or visited relatives, for no specific reason. He always excused himself saying, “I’m sorry but I have a very big examination coming up in the near future.” Of course he was referring to the Yom HaDin.<br /><br />During the last three years of his life, his body racked with Leukemia, he continued his schedule of shiurim. When it was suggested that he cut back, like a fearless general he exclaimed, “What? Retreat?”<br /><br />He talked about Issurin shel Ahava, and would explain, that at the time you might think it Issurin, but later you will see that it is Ahava.<br /><br />As the illness became more serious, so did his resolve. A few months back, however, his devoted grandson, Yisroel, who had helped administer medical treatments, was tragically killed in a car accident in Eretz Yisrael. Soon after, things began to deteriorate.<br /><br />He gave his last shiur over Pesach, but by then the raging fire of Torah and mussar began to diminish. On early Friday morning, Klal Yisrael lost one of its last lions, as Rav Avigdor Miller, the teacher of thousands, returned his Neshama tehorah to the place where he would be ultimately rewarded on his final bechina.<br /><br />Rav Miller leaves behind his wife, Ettil, who tended to his every need, structuring her entire life around his ever-constant harbotzas Torah.<br />He is also survived by his son Eliezer; his daughter Shaynee, who is married to Rav Shmuel Elchonon Brog; his son Shmuel, Rosh Yeshivas Bais Yisrael; a daughter Libby, who is married to Rav Yeruchom Lashinsky, Maggid shiur in the Mirrer Yeshiva in New York; and a daughter Devorah, who is married to Rav Hershel Kanarik Maggid shiur at Yeshivas Ohr HaMeir in Peekskill.<br /><br />In addition, Rav Miller left behind a legacy of Torah; more than 6000 tapes of shiurim, twelve seforim (five of which are on the Chamishah Chumshai Torah), three on history, three on hashkafah and one on tefillah. These are in addition to the seforim that many Talmidim have published based on his thoughts.<br /><br />The Levaya took place Sunday morning in front of his shul on Ocean Parkway. Tens of thousands packed the streets to hear Hespedim from<br />Rav Yosef Rosenblum, Rosh Yeshiva Shaarei Torah; Rav Shmuel Birenbaum, Rosh Yeshivas Mir; Rav Chaim Pinchus Schienberg, Rosh Yeshivas Torah Ohr, Yerushalayim; Rav Shmuel Elchonon Brog, Maggid Shiur Chaim Berlin and a son-in-law of the Niftar; The Novominsker Rebbe; Rav Yeruchom Lashinsky, Maggid Shiur in the Mir Yeshiva and a son-in-law of the Niftar; Rav Simcha Bunim Cohen a Rav in Lakewood and a grandson of the Niftar; Rav Harrari Raful, Rosh Yeshiva Ateres Torah;<br />Rav Eliyahu Brog, a grandson of the Niftar and the Memalei Makom of his grandfather in kehillas Bais Yisrael.<br /><br />The Aron was brought to Eretz Yisrael. At the levaya, the maspidim included Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, Rosh Yeshivas Mir, Yerushalayim; Rav Moshe Shternbuch, Ravad of the Aida Hachareidis;Rav Boruch Rosenberg, Rosh Yeshivas Slabodka; Rav Shmuel Miller<br />a son of the Niftar and Rosh Yeshivas Bais Yisrael in New York; a son-in law, Rav ?? and Rav Shmuel Yaakov Bernshtein, Rosh Yeshivas Chevron Geulah; Rav Meir Zvi Bergman, Rosh Yeshivas Rashbi; Rav Mattisyahu Solomon, Mashgiach Beth Medrash Govoha, Lakewood.<br />The kevurah was made in the chelkas harabbanim on Har Hazeisim.<br />May the zchus of his Torah and hashpaah be a mailitz yosher on his family and Klal Yisrael. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34174750.post-1157918058258535982002-07-22T12:52:00.000-07:002006-09-10T12:56:01.146-07:00Rav Yisroel Chaim Prager Zt’lThe Torah world was thrown into yet another shock as tragedy struck unexpected and unannounced. There was no warning, no moments of time in which to daven to the Ribbono Shel Olam to ward off yet another tragedy in what seems to be an unending spate of gezeiros thrust upon Klal Yisrael.<br /><br />HaRav Yisrael Chaim Praeger, Mashgiach Ruchni of Yeshivas Novominsk, one of Klal Yisrael’s young rising leaders, was taken from us suddenly and tragically, passing away from a sudden heart attack.<br /><br />In the 45 years that Rav Yisrael Chaim impacted on the Torah world, his mark was felt by literally thousands of people, young and old, from Gedolei Yisroel to baalei batim, baalei teshuvah, and everyone in between. All those who knew him marveled at the level of his sincerity and enthusiasm for every aspect of Yiddishkeit, on every level of Yiddishkeit, ranging from his simple expression of warmth to the most distant and indigent Jew to reveling in the deepest mysteries of Toras Hanistar.<br /><br />As these few paragraphs are being written with the commencement of shiva here in the United States, hundreds of menachmim are poring into the home where he raised together with his Rebbitzen Tibadel L’haim Aruchim, nine children, each one with a different chapter of an open book, whose powerful stories will continue to inspire for generations. His home served as more than a shelter to a wonderful Torah family. It was a host to countless guests, talmidim and friends, to wandering Jews, lost in the cruelty of an unforgiving world, who sought the comfort of his smile and the warmth of his embrace — both physically and spiritually.<br /><br />His impact will be enshrined eternally as a compelling link in the unending chain of our mesorah. The passing of an odom godol in his prime leaves a gaping void in Klal Yisroel.<br /><br />As I write these sentences, remembering my own personal encounters with Rav Yisrael Chaim as a bochur in Eretz Yisrael, and later as I met him during summers in Camp Rayim, I realize how difficult it is to encapsulate a life whose every living moment was not merely a brief article that conveyed fully the essence of Torah, but rather one that spoke volumes. Thus the family has requested that due to the short period of time from the levaya until press time, at this point only a brief overview should be written in time for the deadline.<br /><br />Talmidim Share their Memories…<br /><br />Reb Yisrael Chaim was defined by many of his dear friends, mentors and students in an unparalleled array of diverse qualities. Each talmid that I spoke to preceded his view of their rebbe, the Mashgiach, with a superlative. None of his talmidim, or chaveirim mentioned any of his attributes as a mere aside. In each one of those attributes he strove to the highest level of greatness in avodas haKodesh.<br /><br />“He was the ultimate, mevakaish — seeker of greatness. He epitomized Ahavas Yisrael. He personified sheifah L’Gadlus. He exemplified Nosai B’ol Im Chavairo.”<br /><br />Each talmid, friend, and relative of Rav Yisrael Chaim shone a spotlight upon another aspect of his rich personality. “ His warmth was unprecedented. His Shiurim were the most creative. His chidushim in Agada were unparalleled.”<br /><br />Each of these statements, taken separately and combined, zero in on one factor: Klal Yisrael is left orphaned, together with the children, wife, mother, brothers, in-laws and thousands of Talmidim who lost a loving father, a devoted rebbe and an promising Gadol baTorah.<br /><br />Early Roots<br /><br />While yet a young bochur, it was clear to any observer that Yisrael Chaim was among the B’nai Aliyah. Raised in a home enveloped in Torah and Yiras Shamayim, to his father Rav Shloime Yitzchok Praeger zt’l and Tibadel L’Chaim Tovim his mother Rebbitzen Shulamis Praeger, (today Rebetzin Keller), Yisrael Chaim was clearly destined for greatness.<br /><br />Rav Shloime Yitzchok Praeger, from the foremost Talmidim of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin was a towering Torah personality, who, like his son, left this world at an untimely age. Both of them passed away several weeks after their eldest child’s wedding, leaving a family and a nation in a state of mourning. Rav Shloime Yitzchok was a devoted father and a rebbe whose enduring impact is still talked about decades after his passing.<br /><br />According to many observers, Rav Shloime Yitzchok was a Yid who personified m’sikas haTorah, a ‘zisse Yid’ whose greatness in midos was only matched by his greatness in Torah. The family always felt that in so many ways young Reb Yisrael Chaim was their true nechama upon the loss of their father, Rav Shloime Yitzchok, as he carried with him so many of the rare qualities of his cherished father.<br /><br />Rav Yisrael Chaim, raised in an atmosphere of Kedusha, learned in the elementary school of Oholei Torah, with no formal schooling in Limudei Chol. It came as no surprise that he was chosen by Rav Hutner, even before becoming a Bar Mitzvah, to join an elite group of talmidim in a special shiur in Yeshiva Mesivta Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin.<br /><br />Rav Hutner would not be the only Gadol to see emerging greatness in Rav Yisrael Chaim. When leaving Rav Moshe Shapiro to learn under Rav Nachum Partzovitz in the Mir in Yerushalayim, the niftar was given a Michtav hamlatza, a glowing letter of approbation. Rav Nachum later told a confidant that in fifty years of seeing letters on behalf of potential students, he had never seen a letter glowing with such praise about a potential talmid.<br /><br />It was the same greatness that Rav Eliyahu Weintraub saw in later years as he invited Rav Yisrael Chaim to learn Toras haNistar, in a special select chaburah.<br /><br />It was the greatness that Rav Dovid Soleveitchik saw in him, that prompted him, despite his frail health, to accompany the Aron all the way to the kevurah on Har Hamenuchos.<br /><br />After learning in Yeshivas Chaim Berlin, Rav Yisroel Chaim went to Eretz Yisrael where he continued learning under the tutelage of Gedolai Olam, including Rav Yitzchok Hutner zt”l with whom he developed a tremendous kesher, and y’lch, Rav Moshe Schapiro and Rav Dov Schwartzman. He then went on to the Mir where he became an extremely close talmid to Rav Nachum Partzovitz. After his marriage to the daughter of Rav Yudel Aidelman, an aishes chayil with whom he built a beautiful family, Rav Yisroel Chaim continued learning by Rav Dovid Soleveitchik.<br /><br />Signs of Greatness<br /><br />It was clearly apparent that his years of study in the Mir under the close tutelage of Rav Nachum had a great impact on his shiurim and chaburos. Replete with quotes from Rav Nachum, brimming with insight, his chaburos in Yeshivas Novominsk had the ability to encompass wide-ranging sugyos under one Yesod. And the years in Brisk clearly accounted for his amazing proficiency in Seder Kodshim.<br /><br />After his marriage he moved to Antwerp for several years, where he became a shoel u’maishiv in a prominent yeshiva. The tremendous hashpaa’ah of Rav Hutner was clearly apparent, as Rav Yisroel Chaim merged the Torah of the Sefas Emes and Rav Tzadok with the yesodos of the Maharal and the Ramchal and Rav Chaim Volozhiner. He had an uncanny ability to explain the most difficult concepts to his talmidim, each with his own nuances and brilliant inflections.<br /><br />His quest for greatness was not restricted by the Torah of his Rabbeim. His love for gedolei Yisrael was profound. If there was an Odom Gadol in the vicinity, he would pursue the ability to develop and maintain a kesher with him, attempting to bask in the glow of their Torah.<br /><br />Avodah Shebaleiv<br /><br />His Avodas hatefillah set a standard to which talmidim would aspire. Like an “eved lifnei Rabbo,” he would stand with intense kavana, and despite the myriad tirchos and difficulties that a young man with a large family is responsible for, he never missed a single tefilah in Yeshiva.<br /><br />No matter where he had to be in the morning, Rav Yisrael Chaim was there, in Yeshiva, for tefilas mincha. He was a role model for each and every talmid.<br /><br />His Shemoneh Esrai did not end at the same time as did the tefillos of the tzibur. Although the minyan was complete, Rav Yisroel Chaim continued his avodah. Every day, with tears flowing from his eyes, he would daven on behalf of his talmidim, some who were not learning the way they should be, others who lost a parent, and for those who were in need of a shidduch.<br /><br />He was always insistent to daven in the place of Torah — in the Novomisker Yeshiva, together with his beloved talmidim. He often exclaimed to the bochurim how he could not fathom davening anywhere else! And though his tefilos in the Yemos HaChol were filled with hislahaavus and emotion, the pachad, the sheer awe of the yemai hadin was apparent in all the tefilos of the Yomom Noraim.<br /><br />Yomim Tovim transformed Rav Yisrael Chaim. Some talmidim had said that if there was ever a way to put a face to the words, “vsamachta b’chgecha,” it would be the face of Rav Yisrael Chaim Praeger. His Simchas Yom Tov overflowed with chidushim in halacha and Agadah and the dikduk hamitzvos hayom was unparalleled, not with nervous anxiety, but rather the joy that clearly conveyed that every one of his senses was imbued with total ruchniyus. His face would shine, as he made sure to fulfill each mitzvah in tachlis hadikduk.<br /><br />The Quintessential Mashgiach<br /><br />In the world of the modern day yeshiva, a Mashgiach is usually known as the last straw before official chastisement. Reb Yisrael Chaim’s role of Mashgiach was in no way the typical watchman who would chide the latecomers and discipline the unmanageable. Rav Praeger was not the type of Mashgiach boys would run from, but rather he was the unique Mashgiach that boys would run to!<br /><br />He was a literal father to his beloved talmidim. He would build the boys up, focusing on their positive attributes instead of their negative ones. He approached each bochur with warmth and caring, and they responded in kind.<br /><br />Once a boy was late to seder because he missed supper and was forced to go to an eatery to buy something to eat. Instead of rebuking him, Rav Yisroel Chaim insisted that he come to his home for supper to make sure that the boy would have a proper meal.<br /><br />He would maintain a warm kesher with talmidim long after they left the Yeshiva, caring for their every concern. Their tragedies became his tragedies and their simchos became his. So much was a talmid’s simcha important, that despite coming late to weddings of relatives, he would be sure to come on time if not early to a student’s wedding. “He needs me there,” Rav Yisroel Chaim would say.<br /><br />Boys who came from impoverished homes, and whose parents were spending their last dollars on s’char limud would be called into his office, only to leave with spending money. The Mashgiach knew that their parents could not afford extra money for their children. But Rav Yisrael Chaim also knew he could not afford to let them be in his yeshiva without an extra dollar to clean a shirt or mend a shoe.<br /><br />His kindness surpassed the realm of contemporary chesed. Rav Yisroel Chaim often visited students who left the yeshiva years earlier and were struggling in Kollelim in Eretz Yisrael. During each visit he would bring wads of cash for their families. He became so endeared to many parents in the Yeshiva that they became true partners in his myriad merciful missions.<br /><br />A Talmid wanted to go to Eretz Yisrael to learn, but financial difficulties had forced his parents to refuse permission. After Rav Yisrael Chaim had clarified that the only impediment was a financial one, he was ecstatic. “ Don’t worry! If the problem is money then it will all be taken care of.” And within a few hours it was!<br /><br />The smallest things were of utmost importance to him when it came to the needs of any Ben Torah. There was a Canadian boy who learned in a yeshiva in New Jersey together with his son Shaya. Customs regulations precluded his Canadian parents from sending their son any packages that contained meat. Rav Yisrael Chaim made special packages for the Canadian boy, ensuring that he too would receive a little extra meat before the Yomim Tovim.<br /><br />His kindness expanded way beyond the walls of the yeshiva or even the greater Novominsker family. During the Shiva a single mother came crying to his wife that for the last eight years Rav Yisrael Chaim had paid her grocery bill!<br /><br />A Father to Yesomim<br /><br />Often, when tragedy strikes, members of the community join in a very vocal and active first response. Time unfortunately erodes the emotions of mercy, yet the tide of tragedy remains with its ebbing impact as devastating as ever. Rav Yisrael Chaim never forgot those families. Years after a sudden petirah, he would tend to the orphaned children. He even asked the Novominsker Rebbe to accompany him one Rosh Hashanah to wish an Almanah and her family a Gut Yohr.<br /><br />A tzorah to him was a piercing blow. Once it was rumored that a talmid was getting divorced a mere few weeks after the wedding. He was beside himself in grief, which was turned diametrically into joyous celebration when hearing that the rumors were unfounded.<br /><br />His sensitivity for any Yid expanded to any descendant of Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov. Often he would comfort indigent and deranged Yidden whose outward appearance frightened most onlookers. Rav Yisrael obviously saw the neshama shining within the megushamdig appearance.<br /><br />One Pesach night he insisted in inviting a homeless wanderer to his Seder. The man was bitter and unruly, and refused any overtures of kindness. And so, Rav Yisrael went home empty-handed. But before making Kiddush, he asked his family if he could go back and check on the man. He could not bear the fact that perhaps a Yid in Boro Park would not attend a Seder.<br /><br />Erev Yom Kippur a few years ago, a man who was known to be not the conventional Yeshiva Talmid interrupted his preparations for the Seudah Hamafsekes. He wanted to review the tefilos of Yom Kippur in the quest of finding out which prayers were most important and what they actually meant. Despite his busy schedule, Rav Yisroel Chaim gave the man a significant amount of time in explaining each of the tefilos to him.<br /><br />Sunset<br /><br />There was no warning of the sudden tragedy that was to befall the Praeger family, the Noviminsker Yeshiva, and the rest of the Torah world. Rav Yisroel Chaim appeared to be in perfect health, brimming with vitality. He had gone to Denver, Colorado, together with family members to spend a few days to rest up before the new zman. So typical of Rav Yisrael Chaim, he wanted to bring along some yesomim who had no father to take them on trips.<br /><br />The family, including Rav Yisroel Chaim, his brothers, and a son, were on their way to climb scenic mountains that are known as hallmarks of the beauty of the Ribbono Shel Olam’s handiwork, the same mountains that Rav Gifter Zt’l had traveled to years ago. Suddenly, without warning, Rav Yisroel Chaim felt very ill. Yet he refused to alarm his family members, wanting to return to their lodgings alone, so his relatives would not miss out on their sightseeing. Only when he made them promise that they will return to the mountains, did he allow them to take him back to the city.<br /><br />On the way back to Denver, the driver, not knowing the severity of the situation, pointed to other sights and mentioned that they would be passing a particular mountain. “When Rav Gifter saw this mountain,” said the driver, “he made a brocha Oseh maaseh B’raishis.”<br /><br />Despite his severe chest pains, Rav Yisrael Chaim asked for the driver to stop and show him, so that he, too, could make the brocha. It was to be his final brocha in this temporal world. The rest of his blessings will be bestowed from Heaven.<br /><br />His calm demeanor during his final moments was so typical of the nature of his character. Bochurim said never saw him in state of anger, or nervousness. Throughout the years he was a mashgiach, he always remained calm, and in control.<br /><br />Realizing that this was to be the end, he asked that those accompanying him to recite Tehilim, and without a quiver in his voice, he inquired if anyone knew CPR.<br />He then lamented. “I cannot leave this world, I have so much left to do.” Those were his final words before his soul ascended to Shomayim.<br /><br />The Levaya<br /><br /><br />The bitter news spread quickly, creating ripples of shock across the Torah world. The levaya began in Denver, where Rav Kahn, the Rav of Denver, and Rav Piekarski, a former talmid, now Rebbe in a yeshiva in Denver, were maspid. Then the aron was taken to New York, to the Noviminsker Yeshiva, where the niftar was a marbitz Torah in his all-too-short life. Thousands of talmidim and aveilim swarmed to the yeshiva, filling the blocks before the yeshiva, coming to pay their respects to a ben Torah, who accomplished so much in his 45 years on this world.<br /><br />The Novominsker Rebbe delivered an emotional hesped, arousing the olam to tears. Between sobs, the Rebbe depicted the loss of a ‘yochid b’mino’, one of a kind marbitz Torah, whose neimus and harbotzas Torah were felt by all. The Rebbe described how the niftar was so much like his father, with the same varemkeit and greatness in Torah, a hemshech of his legacy. Now father and son are both together, rejoicing in Olam Haboh.<br /><br />The Noviminsker Rebbe then addressed the grieving children, comforting them by saying “Bonim Atem LaHashem,” you are all children of the Ribono Shel Olam, and will be comforted by our Father in Heaven.<br /><br />Rav Chaim Dov Keller, Rosh Yeshiva of Telz, Chicago, who married the widowed Rebetzin Praeger, was maspid his step-son with the words of Sholom Hamelech, “Eis Rikod, and Eis Lispod.” Rav Chaim Dov depicted the simcha of the wedding of the eldest Praeger daughter several weeks ago, contrasting it with the current tzaar of the petirah. He described the niftar’s chesed and Torah, and the irreplaceable void created with his passing.<br /><br />Reb Yudel Adelman , the niftar’s father in law, based his hesped on the possuk “Tov Lagever Ki Yisa Ohl,” and described the “Yoke of Torah, family, and derech eretz,” that the niftar carried, devoting himself to each. He was a model marbitz Torah, model mashgiach, model husband and father, a true mentch in every sense of the word.<br /><br />There was not a dry eye among the crowd when the niftar’s son Yeshaya, who had accompanied his father on the trip, was maspid. “Tatteh, I was the last one to learn with you that morning,” his son cried. “You loved us so much, you were always there for us.”<br /><br />Rav Yosef Mermelstein, Rosh Yeshiva of Noviminsk, was maspid “an Amud of the Yeshiva, the rare combination of Torah u’chesed. As a sho’el umaishiv, he was a true lamdan, who built up the yeshiva. How can the yeshiva go on without him?”<br /><br />Rav Mordechai Praeger, a brother of the niftar, depicted Rav Yisroel Chaim as a true “nechomoh to the family” after his father’s untimely passing. Even as a child his greatness was apparent, as he was placed in a special class for ‘metzuyonim.”<br /><br />Rav Avrohom Yehoshua Heshel Bick, who knew the niftar since he was a child, was maspid a “tzaddik and yoshor whose hasmodoh and kishronos were outstanding, even as a young child. “According to the Novominsker Rebbe’s hesped,” said Rav Bick, “it is apparent that the niftar, who was held in high esteem by his Rabbeim, is a ben olam haboh.”<br /><br />Rav Michel Handelsman, a brother in law, depicted the niftar’s exemplary ability to bring other people up to his level by virtue of his endearing personality. “He had a kuntz to make people more elevated.” Rav Shaul Pinter, b’shaim all the talmidim, described the niftar’s warmth toward the talmidim, how he felt with their tzaar and shared in their simchos. The niftar’s son Shloime also delivered an emotional leavetaking from his beloved father, who was so devoted to the family. Rabbi Eliyahu Seewald, the new son-in-law, described his shver as the “glue that held the family together.”<br /><br />In Eretz Yisroel<br /><br />After the emotional levaya, the niftar was taken to Eretz Yisroel, where a levaya took place at the Mirrer Bais Medrash. Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the esteemed Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva, delivered an emotional hesped for his beloved former talmid. Rav Ahron Chodosh, Mashgiach of Mir, also was maspid, recalling the niftar’s years in the yeshiva, and his exemplary hasmodoh.<br /><br />As a gesture of closeness and friendship, Rav Yonason David, son in law of Rav Hutner, flew to Eretz Yisroel from Switzerland to attend the levaya.<br /><br />Rav Shmuel Yaakov Borenshtein , Rosh yeshiva of Chevron Geulah, described the niftar as a true mevakesh, a lev rachum, a “grosier hartz.” Rav Moshe Saks, an uncle, and Rav Yudel Adelman, the niftar’s father in law, were also maspid. Rav Nechemia Kaplan described Rav Yisroel Chaim a “giver, always giving, never taking.”<br /><br />Rav Yisroel Perlow, son of the Noviminsker Rebbe, recalled his beloved Mashgiach always with a “sefer ponim yafos,” always a smile and gut vort. The niftar’s son was also masid, as was Rabbi Yechiel Fried in the name of the talmidim of Eretz Yisroel. Rav Dovid Soloveitchik accompanied the aron to Har Hamenuchos, where Rav Yisroel Chaim was laid to his final rest.<br /><br />The niftar is survived by his wife, a true eishes chayil, his mother, nine children and nine siblings, as well as thousands of talmidim who are today marbitzei Torah across the yeshiva world. His presence leaves a gaping void, an open wound in the fraying fabric of our generation. TNZB’H.<br /><br />The author would like to thank Rabbis Nochum Binder and Shaul Pinter, as well as family members for generously sharing of their time and impressions of the niftar. We would like to apologize for any inaccuracies due to time constraints.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34174750.post-1157919381520528932002-03-06T13:09:00.000-08:002006-09-10T13:17:27.683-07:00Rav Aaron Moshe Jacobs ZT’LA Tazadik in Our Times<br /><br /><div align="left">In his 43 years on this earth, Rav Aaron Moshe Jacobs, one of the most beautiful young Talmidei Chachamim in this generation, impacted so many individuals in so many different ways – lifting each one up in a unique way to grow in Torah and Yiras Shamayim.Reb Aaron Moshe’s life spoke volumes. His multi-faceted Torah personality evoked truly, without any exaggeration, hundreds of stories. His diligence, his kindness, his tefillos, his emunah, his love of Klal Yisrael – each aspect of his life can be documented with hundreds of stories. As I type, more and more stories are being told by the thousands of men, women, and children who attended his levaya, both here and in Eretz Yisrael, and by the scores upon scores, of people who came to be menachem avel. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Each one of those anecdotes is indicative of his extraordinary character, his selfless devotion to others, and his unwavering quest for growth in Torah and Yiras ShamayimTo every one of the storytellers, to all those who had no particular story, but just knew him as a rebbe, as a chaver or an acquaintance, Rav Aaron Moshe was a giant. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">He was a fountain who dispensed an endless cascade of wisdom and hashpa’ah, clearly a tree whose fruit nourished anyone who was wise enough to partake in their delicious sweetness, whose all encompassing branches sheltered anyone in its shade. The fountain has ceased. The tree has been cut down. The sweet water no longer flows. No more delicious fruit. The most searing pain is of course to his immediate family, a loving wife, whose astonishing mesiras nefesh allowed Reb Aaron Moshe to teach others, and grow in Torah. There are no words to describe the loss of a father of ten beautiful children, who looked to their father as a moreh derech; a guide in every aspect of their lives who was there for them no matter where he was. How can we describe the loss to bereaved parents and in-laws who were like parents, brothers and sisters, who cared for him day and night throughout every procedure, every treatment, every difficult nuance of the grueling final journey. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">The friends, the Talmidim, and the neighbors are bereft. But they are not alone. Knesses Yisrael cries as well. The hundreds upon hundreds of talmidim, and friends – those who were and those who could have been, they are all orphans. And then those who would have basked and glowed in the greatness that could have been but was not meant to be. And so the tears come as well, from the One who knows what greatness could have been if not for this, yet another terrible gezeirah of our times. And the Shechina cries as well.There is nothing to say.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">The job is impossible to accomplish. I spoke to him just a few times. But he was to me in many ways a rebbe, showering me with his emunah and bitachon. For over a year his name was on the minds of hundreds and thousands of mispallelim. Aaron Moshe ben Itta. It is hard to fathom that he is no longer with us here. I know he is beseeching our Great Father in Shamayim.And with tears, I put away the story of the terrible tragedy of the loss, the story of Aaron Moshe ben Itta, and attempt to write a little bit about HaRav HaTzaddik Reb Aaron Moshe, zichrono livrachah ben yibadel le’chaim aruchim Rav Yitzchak Hakohen Jacobs. Ever since his childhood, Aaron Moshe Jacobs was a symbol of enthusiasm for Torah and mitzvos, whose radiant smile shone through the darkest clouds, and brightening anyone who saw him.Born a mere 43 years ago to his parents, Reb Yitzchak HaKohen and Itta Jacobs, Reb Aaron Moshe, the second oldest of a family of five boys and one girl, attended Yeshiva Torah Voda’ath of Flatbush for elementary school. As a young boy, Aaron Moshe displayed his love for Torah and those who learned Torah. At a very young age, he would reproduce and distribute pictures of Gedolei Yisrael, and that passion for gedolim he carried throughout his life. He loved any item that connected him to Gedolei Yisrael. He studied their expressions in the quest to emulate their nuances, each action representing Torah. His home was adorned with pictures of Gedolim. In fact in his study there were two pictures hanging next to each other. They were both pictures of Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l. One was of Rav Moshe poring over a Gemara, deep in thought, forehead creased as he was delving into learning. The other, only a few centimeters away was also of Rav Moshe, but this one had the revered Posek wearing a broad smile, the simchas hachayim clearly apparent.A friend asked him, why do you need two pictures of Rav Moshe right next to each other? Why not have two different Gedolim, or just one picture of Rav Moshe? Rav Aaron Moshe explained. We must study a gadol B’Yisrael, both how he is immersed in learning and how he is when greeting others. Each picture may be unique, but we must learn from both pictures equally! </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">That story in essence was the story of Rav Aaron Moshe, the immersed masmid, the intense oveid and at the same time the smiling Talmid Chacham friend ready to greet his fellow Jew.Reb Aaron Moshe learned in Mesivta Be’er Shmuel and in 1976, after graduating high school at age seventeen he joined a group of Talmidim who would pioneer to become the founding bachurim of a new yeshiva in Stamford, Connecticut. Reb Aaron Moshe was one of the youngest members of the chaburah, but in typical fashion, he was rosh, v’rishon l’chol dovor she’bikdusha. The leading initiator when it came to any matter of kedusha , many of his chaveirim, fondly reminisce, that appropriately enough, he was actually the first one off the bus! He was the first bachur to enter the portals of that most sacred Yeshiva, known today as Yeshivas Bais Binyamin.Actually, this would be the first of three times that Rav Aaron Moshe would work diligently on behalf of the Stamford Yeshiva. In 1981, while learning in Eretz Yisrael, by Rav Dovid Soleveitchik, the Yeshiva brought in a new Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Meir Hershkowitz, who later would become Rav Aaron Moshe’s father-in-law. As with any transformation in an institution, the Yeshiva needed chizuk. Reb Aaron Moshe led a group of ten talmidim who returned to Stamford to strengthen the Yeshiva. Years later, after he was married and living in Lakewood, Rav Aaron Moshe would use his tremendous influence to help build the Bais Medrash of the Stamford yeshiva and create the Mesivta division, encouraging and recruiting talmidim to learn there, and later becoming the 11th grade Maggid Shiur.Upon his first experience in Stamford, back in the late 1970’s Aaron Moshe immediately became endeared to yibadel l’chaim aruchim, the Roshei Yeshiva, Rav Moshe Schapiro and Rav Simcha Schustal. They saw in him the depth of character, the ultimate mevakesh whose simchas hachaim brought an atmosphere of “gilu ber’adah,” “rejoicing in awe” to the Yeshiva. Upon meeting him Rav Moshe Shapiro, said, mit em ken men boyen a Yeshiva. For many years, even after Rav Schapiro left the United States and moved back to Eretz Yisrael, Rav Aaron Moshe retained his close kesher with him. Rav Simcha Schustal had a great affection for him as well. He told a Talmid, “such a person with a life so full of Avodas Hashem was astounding.” He could not imagine how after his operation, when he retuned to say the shiur, he acted as if nothing had happened. He did not diminish any one of the normal efforts he offered his Talmidim, including chazaras hashiur and staying longer to answer questions. Of course, of the three Roshei Yeshiva who were there in Stamford during the period that Rav Aaron Moshe was a talmid, Rev Aaron Moshe would eventually became the closest to Rav Meir Hershkowitz since he married Rav Meir’s daughter, Chaya in 1982. Rav Aaron Moshe said that he would work day and night to ensure that Rav Meir would have whatever he needed both personally and for the Yeshiva. HasmadahAs a young bachur in Stamford, his amazing abilities were immediately realized by the other bachurim as well, and his enthusiasm energized the fledgling mossad HaTorah. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">From the very first days, Reb Aaron Moshe was immediately known for his hasmada. There were two groups of masmidim in Yeshiva. There were those who would learn until the wee hours of the night, and there was another group of talmidim who would arise early in the morning, two or three hours before Shacharis in order to learn before davening. Reb Aaron Moshe was unique. He was a member of both groups. He was from the last to leave the Bais Medrash and from the first ones to enter the Bais Medrash in the morning. His deprivation of sleep, for the sake of being osek baTorah was not limited only to the years of his late teens when he was strong and unburdened. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Rav Dovid Hersch Meyer, Menahel of Yeshivas Bais Binyamin of Stamford, relates that throughout the nine years that Rav Aaron Moshe was a Maggid Shiur in the Mesivta, it was almost impossible to find free time to discuss administrative matters with him. Unless, of course, he wanted to pull him away from learning, something the Menahel would not do. And so, if there was a side issue to discuss, Reb Dovid Hersch would wait in the Bais Medrash until three o’clock in the morning, and only as Reb Aaron Moshe was putting away his Gemara, was Rabbi Meyer able to talk to him. Mesikas HaTorah — Simchas HaChayimAs he developed in learning, Rav Aaron Moshe’s tefillos of “<em>V’ha’arev Na,</em> Please, Ribbono Shel Olam, make the Torah sweet,” began to personify him. He embodied mesikus HaTorah in every respect! As he became known as the shtarker lamden, he simultaneously was growing in his sweetness.To him Torah was like candy to a child. The enthusiasm for Torah that he amassed in his younger years, only grew with him. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">His current young charges, the Mesivta Talmidim who tearfully attended the massive levaya, complained. “No one talked about how much Rebbe loved us! No one talked about how much Rebbi loved the Tosfos!” To his students, the Tosfos was as living as they were, and his love for both the Tosfos and the talmidim who were learning them one thousand years later was parallel. Truth be told, it is no wonder that his presence exuded joy. The Mishna in the sixth Perek in Avos tells us that “whoever learns Torah Lishma, is “mesameach the Ribbono Shel Olam, and is mesameach all his creatures!” Rav Aaron Moshe diffused the joy and sweetness of Torah to all who knew him.His sweetness and gentle demeanor did not impede his strong opinion in the search for truth. If a student was unclear and tried to ramble his way through an explanation, Rav Aaron Moshe would stop him cold— albeit with a warm heart. His love for his students was in no way a contradiction with his love for clarity and truth. When you told him a vort, a Torah thought, he would stop and think. He would crease his forehead in thought, ask questions, and pursue answers until everything was clear. Then he would beam, and, with a shout and a smile that paralleled one winning the big jackpot, he would declare, “MOIRADIK!”Kavod haTorahHis warmth and kindness were carefully balanced with his demand for kavod HaTorah. The first day as a Rebbe in The Mesivta, some of the students who already knew him well and felt so close to him, waved when he walked in, as if to say hello. He smiled. Then he stopped. I am now your rebbe. It is best if you greet me by standing up.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">He once brought a child to a prestigious eye doctor who gave a long discourse about the workings of the eye. It was replete with technical terms and intricacies. The doctor who was an expert in his field, and never ceased to mention it, ended his discourse on ophthalmology with a snide remark, “It does not say this in the Talmud, does it?” Rav Aaron Moshe did not flinch. “It is there. You just have to know where to look. You are an expert in medicine and I am an expert in Talmud.” When it came to kavod haTorah Rav Aaron Moshe was extremely strong. The doctor was taken aback. But the impact of Rav Aaron Moshe’s protest was felt a bit later when the doctor wanted to schedule a follow up appointment. “I am sorry,” responded Rav Aaron Moshe, “I give a Talmud class at that hour and I will not cancel that class for anything.”</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">The doctor understood the message and apologized for his irreverence.His insistence on proper Kavod Chachamim was extended to all <em>gedolei Yisrael</em>. When a book came out which portrayed one of the great gedolim of the previous generation in a light that shone less than worthy, Rav Aaron Moshe led a successful campaign to have the book withdrawn. His chaver Rav Yaakov Yehoshua Hamburger wrote a sefer <em>Sha’arei Rachamim</em> on the 13 Middos, the 13 Attributes of Hashem’s Mercy. He asked Rav Aaron Moshe to review it, pencil in his comments, and send it back to him. However, Rav Aaron Moshe, despite his extremely busy schedule, refused to let the manuscript out of his hands. He insisted that he discuss every comment, each detail with Rabbi Hamburger and make sure that each one was presented in the appropriate manner. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">After hours and hours of work, he refused to allow his name to be mentioned, even to be thanked for all his effort. In addition he was very instrumental in helping distribute and sell the sefer and refused to take any remuneration. The amazing aspect of his intensity is that it never affected his demeanor. Anyone who would immerse himself in any other subject with the same forceful and passionate intensity that Rav Aaron Moshe had for limud HaTorah would have truly either cracked under the strain or would have shown the effects of the pressures. However, Reb Aaron Moshe bore the yoke of Torah as if aron nosei es nosa’av? The Aron carried those that tried to carry it. No matter how difficult things were, the simchas HaTorah uplifted him! He was always the picture of Simcha and exuberance.Those who called him during his illness to lend chizuk, left the conversations with their own emunah and bitachon strengthened. He carried those who tried to carry him.AvodahHis deep concentration combined with his tremendous hasmada in the world of Torah Study, in no way interfered with the other two <em>Amudei Olam</em>, upon which Rav Aaron Moshe’s world rested. His hasmada in Torah was only paralleled by his unwavering commitment to Avodah and Gemillas Chassadim.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Throughout his life, the focus on Tefillah with deep <em>kavana</em>, was a central mission for Reb Aaron Moshe. His passion to inspire the value of Tefillah in its proper formula was not a personal aspiration. It was an undertaking that he imparted to his friends, his Talmidim, his family and everyone he encountered. He looked at tefillah as a privilege, Once a bachur wanted to take a nap during the tefillos of Behab. He asked his Rebbe if it would be appropriate to take a nap rationalizing that “in this way I could learn better first seder.” Rav Aaron Moshe thought, for a moment, “I can’t answer the question, but I will tell you that the Tefillah of Behab is a tremendous zechus to say. You have to know if you want to give up that zechus!” He looked at Tefillah as an opportunity. In the few conversations, I had with him, he conveyed the importance of talking to the Ribbono Shel Olam with the clear vision that you are conversing with a Father and a King who is standing in front of you and actually listening to every one of your supplications. That it is the most powerful weapon to achieve any request. He believed that it worked then any medicine or armament. “In order to daven with kavana, you have to believe in its power!”“Tefillah should not be said by rote in a dull monotone! Instead it must be an emotional experience. Rejoice when you daven about the great compassion that the Ribbono Shel Olam bestows upon us! Cry when you beseech the Ribbono Shel Olam to act on behalf of Klal Yisrael. Tremble when you daven about the awe of the Melech Malchei Hamlachim.”</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">In fact, his dear friend Rabbi Yaakov Yehoshua Hamburger, related that ever since the word daven became synonymous with the concept of “davening up,” a fast reading without thought of the actual words, Reb Aaron Moshe was uncomfortable with the term as it related to the Avodas haTefilah. Rather he would say, “let’s go beseech the Ribbono Shel Olam.”The tefillah of Avinu Malkeinu is comprised of 44 pleas to the Ribbono Shel Olam. Each sentence begins with the words, “Avinu Malkeinu, Our Father, Our King,” and ends with a an appeal, “send parnassah,” “remember that we are dust,” “invalidate from us all the harsh decrees” or any of the other forty-one different pleas to the Ribbono Shel Olam. In many Yeshivos the emphasis in the Tefillah of Avinu Malkeinu is often placed on the supplication portion of each sentence – the requests that we beseech of the Creator. Reb Aaron Moshe had a different focus. He concentrated on the words Avinu Malkeinu. To him that was the most important part of the tefillah, the constant acceptance and awareness of the Borei Olam as both our Father and our King. He would often translate, as he davened – Avinu – Unzer Tatta (Father) Malkeinu –Unzer Kenig— Our King.”Reb Aaron Moshe implored his Talmidim to daven for everything. Nothing should be taken for granted. In fact his focus on the need to be mispallel for everything, displayed an appreciation for everything: his family, his children, his Yeshiva, his talmidim, and perhaps most importantly his ability to sit and learn Torah. Before he left to learn in Eretz Yisrael Rav Aaron Moshe met an eight-year-old boy. After shmoozing with this child for a while, Reb Aaron Moshe told the boy that he was going to Eretz Yisrael to learn, but he would write to him.We only know this because during the shiva, the young boy, now a grown man, brought the family the post cards that Rav Aaron Moshe wrote to him! In each letter he inquired about how the young boy was learning, how was school, etc.He ended his letters. “Please answer all of my questions. Your friend, Aaron Moshe Jacobs”.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">His tenure in Eretz Yisrael lasted until he returned to be mechazek the Stamford Yeshiva during its transition. During his almost three years in Brisk, he cared for many bachurim who had no friends in their new environment. Pinchos Gershon Waxman relates that he came as a bachur to Eretz Yisrael with the understanding that an apartment and a chavrusa would be waiting for him. It was not to be.“And so,” retells, Reb Pinchos Gershon a former deputy mayor in Lakewood, “I meandered on the streets of Geulah. No apartment, nowhere to sleep. I was upset, even scared, and terribly homesick.” Suddenly a hand tapped him on the shoulder. “You look lost. Something is troubling you. You look like you need a place to stay.” It was none other than Reb Aaron Moshe, who took Pinchos to his own apartment, gave him his bed and did not stop working until he had arranged an apartment for him. Reb Aaron Moshe did not stop at obtaining an apartment. He took care of Pinchos Gershon like a brother. He even learned a night seder with him.Similar stories were recounted by many other new bachurim who Aaron Moshe took care of in Eretz Yisrael. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Despite the time he took to care for others he was known as one of the outstanding Talmidim in Rav Dovid Soloveitchik’s Yeshiva. He spent hours upon hours on the Brisker shiurim, and in typical display of his concern for others, he photocopied all his notes and left them under the bimah in the Bais Medrash for anyone to use. These notes were used by bachurim for at least ten years after he left Rav Dovid’s yeshiva.He maintained a close kesher with Rav Dovid for all the years after he left Eretz Yisrael.He kept in close contact with so many bachurim from all types of Yeshivos whom he met in Eretz Yisrael.Scores of people who either got near the overflowing Bais Medrash where the levaya was held or squeezed their way into the home of the niftar to be menachem avel commented, “I am surprised. I thought that I was Aaron Moshe’s closest friend.” </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Mevareich es amo B’Ahavah…As a Kohen, Rav Aaron Moshe took his responsibility to bless Klal Yisrael with enormous gravity. He viewed the job as a unique opportunity that the <em>Ribbono Shel Olam</em> afforded him. And he was so grateful as he truly fulfilled the blessing that preceded the <em>Birchas Kohanim</em>. “. . . Who commanded us to bless his nation Yisrael, with love.” Rav Aaron Moshe worked on the ahavah with the same intensity as one who spends hours choosing a beautiful esrog. Dr. David Smolanoff of Stamford related: “Although, for many years, I noticed the boys who learned at the Stamford Yeshiva in my neighborhood, and felt inspired by their distinguished manner and dress, I never had the courage to visit the Yeshiva. Then I was brought closer to Yiddishkeit by various kiruv organizations in New York. But now I wanted more. I decided it was time to grow in Yiddishkeit – really learn Torah – in a Yeshiva with a Talmid of the Yeshivas Bais Binyamin. I was not sure how to go about it, so I looked up the number of the Yeshiva on Prospect Street and made a cold call to the telephone number listed in the Stamford phone book.“The man who answered the phone exuded warmth. He asked me to come to the Yeshiva where he would meet me and further discuss my needs. I did not know about the Yeshiva dress code and so I arrived a few hours later – dressed in a sweatshirt, sweat pants and sneakers. The same rabbi who took the phone call greeted me. His name was Aaron Moshe and he embraced me so warmly – as if I was his long lost relative. His vision of me transcended my attire. He just seemed to notice my neshama. He had set up soda, cookies and cake in the Yeshiva’s cafeteria and we talked for a while. He showed me around, and each student or faculty member, young or old, greeted me as if I was the man they were waiting for since the Yeshiva opened its doors. I learned in Stamford once a week for three to four months. Since then I have progressed in my Torah learning, continuing my shiurim in Manhattan and other places. “It was through the Yeshiva that I met my wife and now, we both learn. I learn three or four nights a week in the Yeshiva and she learns with one of the wives of the Rebbeim several nights a week. Hashem brought me to Rabbi Jacobs and Rabbi Jacobs brought me closer to Hashem.“But the real story,” continued Dr. Smolanoff, “I found out just this week during the shiva. Immediately after Reb Aaron Moshe took the call he spoke to his 11th grade. ‘A man will be visiting the Yeshiva. He wants to become closer to Hashem. He wants to learn Torah. Everyone here is responsible to greet him warmly and be mekarev him. He reiterated the directive to his administrative colleagues as well.However, Reb Aaron Moshe’s responsibility to draw Yidden closer to the Ribbono Shel Olam did not begin in Stamford. When Reb Aaron Moshe was learning by Rav Dovid Soloveitchik, he once decided towards the end of a long winter z’man that he would leave Yerushalayim with his chavrusah and spend the last week of the z’man in Neve Yehoshua, a yeshiva for modern American boys located near Netanya. He immediately became a centerpiece of curious attraction to the American kids who saw this tall stately Talmid Chacham, long payos tucked under his yarmulka, sitting and learning with a fervor the like of which they had never seen. Many of them befriended him. And those friendships lasted for decades. He wrote to them after they returned to the States. His letters were filled with words of chizuk, emunah and bitachon. I spoke to one of the teens who continued his close relationship with Reb Aaron Moshe until the Petirah. Dozens of letters were exchanged, phone calls were made every week for years, in fact Reb Aaron Moshe came to Long Island to be at his friend’s son’s Bar Mitzvah. The bar mitzvah bachur was a small boy. And when Reb Aaron Moshe was called up as a Kohen, his first stop was to get a box to bring up to the Bimah. The boy stood on it, but he was still nervous. And so Aaron Moshe who did not even know the child, held his hand throughout the entire laining! The father was overseas when Reb Aaron Moshe was niftar. But when he returned this week, his son, now 15 insisted that he, too, be menachem ovel with his father. The impact of Reb Aaron Moshe’s chessed was never lost on him.Indeed, everyone whom Reb Aaron Moshe encountered was left with an everlasting impression of his outstanding middos and ebullient enthusiasm. Once, Reb Aaron Moshe went to pick up a second-hand chest that he was buying from a person who lived a few miles outside of Lakewood. After completing the purchase, he hauled the chest into his car, and was about to drive away, when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. The son of the seller, who was incidentally not at all an observant Jew, was struggling with his bicycle. The chain had fallen off and the wheels would not turn. Reb Aaron Moshe stopped the car, rolled up his sleeves and re-chained the bicycle his hands left with souvenirs of grease and grime.He thought that this favor was forgotten. It was not. Eight years later, he received a phone call. “Rabbi Jacobs?” said a woman with a hesitant voice. “Do you remember that you bought a chest some eight years ago?” “Why, yes,” answered R’ Aaron Moshe, “is there a problem?” “Of course not. On the way out you helped our son with his new bicycle. We were so impressed with the way you conducted yourself through the transaction and so grateful how you helped our boy with the bicycle that we kept your number. The bike is in good condition and we would like to give it to your family.”</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><strong>HaBoteach B’Hashem Chessed Y’SovveveHu</strong></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">One of the greatest and most amazing aspects of Reb Aaron Moshe’s multi-faceted personality was his ever-present sense of calm. One year he was traveling with his family from Lakewood to Stamford to serve as the Ba’al Tokea in the Stamford Yeshiva. Traffic was unbearable and the only way he would get to the Yeshiva before Yom Tov was to drive on the shoulder for miles on end. During the entire trip, he remained calm and collected while his passengers were breaking a sweat.“How can you remain so calm?” they exclaimed.Reb Aaron Moshe smiled, “Will worrying get me there any faster?” They arrived before Rosh Hashanah with only a few minutes to spare.Later, the passenger commented that Reb Aaron Moshe’s calm was so unreal that it made him nervous. His emunah was renowned way before his final illness. In every aspect of life whether as mundane as a missed car ride or as major as a surgery he saw the Hand of Hashem clearly and distinctly.In Reb Aaron Moshe’s eyes, you did not miss a car ride, “The Ribbono Shel Olam did not want you to make that ride.” In fact he consoled a talmid who had spent the better half of a day in a futile attempt trying to start his car. The boy wanted to go to the mountains and just didn’t quit trying to fix the car even though it was already too late to have made it to the country on time. Every effort that he attempted had failed.“Rebbe,” the talmid complained. I wasted an entire day, I could have been learning. I should have stopped when I saw that I would not get to the mountains. I missed an opportunity for growth.”Reb Aaron Moshe, who always was able to turn a negative experience into a positive Torah lesson put his hand on his shoulder and comforted the young man. “If you keep that lesson with you for the rest of your life, then the day was not wasted!” His attention to details of Chessed was meticulous. One Friday afternoon, the garage door of a neighbor who lived across the street came crashing down on top of the homeowner’s young child. The parents were distraught and Rav Aaron Moshe rushed across the street to calm the parents and aid the young boy. He went together with them to the hospital, and remained there until he was sure that the doctors were attending to the injured boy. Then he arrived home with his bloody shirt, before Shabbos. Then right away, he went across the street, hammer and broom in hand. He swept up the broken glass, and then fixed the broken door.Toward the end of his life, Reb Aaron Moshe was not fazed. “What can be better than to have your entire fate in the Hand of Hashem?”</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">His Emunah and Bitachon during that difficult year was so phenomenal that Roshei Yeshiva, among them Rav Brus, Rosh Yeshiva Bais HaTalmud remarked, that Rav Aaron Moshe’s level of emunah surpassed that of many of the great men of the previous generation. Rav Aaron Moshe would continue to draw from the wellsprings of his revered Rebbeim over the course of his life, but more so he would develop strong keshorim with scores of Gedolei Yisrael who were outside the realm of his Yeshiva. He would often talk with the Philadelphia RoshYeshiva, Rav Elya Svei, asking him a host of sheilos on behalf of his Talmidim. The Rosh Yeshiva remarked that that he himself learned much from the emunah which Rav Aaron Moshe displayed. Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva of South Fallsburg lamented that there was hardly anyone like him in this age. He maintained strong kesharim with the entire hanahalla of Bais Medrash Govoah and with the Mashgiach, Rav Mattisyahu Salomon, in addition to his kesher with Rav Yisrael Spinner, Rav Chaim Leib Epstein, Rav Avraham Ausband and Rav Uren Reich.As a chassan he learned by the Manchester Rosh Yeshiva Rav Yehuda Zev Segal. With the Rosh Yeshiva’s encouragement he helped develop the English language Shemiras HaLoshon calendar delineating a precise daily routine to ensure the completion of the Chofetz Chaim’s great work through learning day by day throughout the year. He grew extremely close with Rav Segal who only used terms of endearment when referring to Rav Aaron Moshe.To Reb Aaron Moshe, time was of great value, he wanted to make sure that any time spent, was well spent. To that end he established a Yeshivas Bein Hazmanim Lakewood, and offered monetary incentives to those who attended.As a Talmid in Manchester he noticed that a group of boys would spend their Bein Has’dorim, wasted with devorim b’teilim, which could lead chas v’shalom to worse. He arranged that they should play outside in the yard, something that the Manchester Rosh Yeshiva supported. All this was to ensure that those boys would not use their “break time in a destructive manner.” He noticed even the smallest details and elevated them. He used every opportunity to fulfill a Mitzvah. A guest to his home on Shabbos was sitting on a chair. “Come,” said Reb Aaron Moshe, “It is Shabbos, let us sit on the sofa and fulfill Oneg Shabbos!”Every Mitzvah, every miktzoah in Torah meant worlds to him. He learned, milah, shechita and the skill of tekias shofar. “A Talmid chacham,” he would say, “must learn to do everything!”Every bachur, meant a world to him. He spent hours upon hours helping boys find shidduchim, learning with individual bachurim, and finding proper Yeshivos for those who were not being matzliach in their present ones. Even when he was not able to come home from Stamford he would call nightly to help his children with their homework, reports and to be mechazek his Rebbetzin whose unparalleled mesiras nefesh allowed him to learn and teach with menuchas hanefeshOn Shabbosim he would sit and learn at the bottom of the staircase to ensure that the children would not go upstairs and disturb their mother. He had a special affinity, a feeling of responsibility toward yesomim. He was a literal father and mother to many a yasom, and cared for them with his entire heart and soul. The LevayaWithin moments of the tragic news the Olam haTorah was plummeted into grief. By the time the levaya began in the main building of Bais Medrash Govoah, you could not even enter the building. Thousands of friends acquaintances and Talmidim packed the building. Tearful hespedim were rendered by: His father-in-law, Stamford Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Meir Hershkowitz; Lakewood Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Dovid Schustal; His brother-in-law, Rav Shiya Lichtenstein; His brother Rav Dov Shmuel Jacobs; Stamford Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Simcha Schustal; Stamford Menahel, Rav Dovid Hersh Meyer; Lakewood, Mashgiach, Rav Mattisyahu Salomon. At Kennedy Airport the Novominsker Rebbe, Rav Yaakov Perlow spoke. In Eretz Yisrael, thousands came to the levaya, including gedolei Roshei Yeshiva, and Rabbonim, as he had maintained keshorim with so many Gedolei Yisrael.Rav Aaron Moshe was given the kaovod acharon on Har HaMenuchos. May the Father of Yesomim take care of a generation of yesomim in the z’chus of this great man who himself was a father to so many yesomim. And may we merit to see the <em>Geulah Shleimah Bi’meheirah be’yameinu amen.</em></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34174750.post-1157918266654971442001-11-20T12:56:00.000-08:002006-09-10T12:59:55.696-07:00Rav Mordechai Miller Principal of Gateshead Seminary<strong>Rav Mordechai Miller of Blessed Memory<br />Principal of Gateshead Seminary<br /></strong><br />Yet another link to the mesorah of pre-war Europe was shattered last week with the passing of Rav Mordechai Miller, the principal of Gateshead Teachers Training College, known to Klal Yisrael as Gateshead Seminary or affectionately referred to by its sobriquet the Sem.<br /><br />For over fifty years, Rav Miller, forged a link to the great mussar teachings and hanhaga of Kelm as he enlightened, and inspired, guided and focused, hundreds of young women. His influence and guidance helped his students transform their lives through the tenets of his teachings ¾ a direct link to those of his revered rebbe, Rav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, the Michtav M'Eliyah zt"l.<br /><br />His brilliance transcended borders as the diversity of his students hailing from far-flung geographic backgrounds, distinguished cultures, and a variety of spiritual levels of Torah knowledge were amazingly unified by the marvelously powerful character and wisdom that emanated from his frail and embattled physical being.<br /><br />His wisdom surpassed the walls of the Seminary and the Torah community of Gateshead where attendance to his many shiurim spanned from, B'nai Torah of the Gateshead Yeshiva, Ba'alei Batim and married woman and their families. His lectures, compiled and transcribed in the seforim Shabbos Shiurim in both English and Loshon Kodesh, have been a staple of the libraries of all who seek meaningful mussar synthesized with the depth of the machshava of Rav Dessler.<br /><br />Rav Mordechai Miller was born in 1921 to Reb Todros and Shayna Miller who were prominent in London's Kehila. Stemming from Lithuania, they established a flourishing kitchenware distribution.<br />During the German blitz on London, they relocated to Dublin, where Mr. Miller commuted back and forth to England on business, forcing periods of separation from his family.<br /><br /><br />Young Mordechai was known as a child fro his sharp wit, brilliant intellect, but most importantly, gentle and humble demeanor.<br /><br />In 1935, as fourteen-year-old he joined the group of elite Talmidim who formed the small roster of Rav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler's private learning chaburah. Among the group rose two of the greatest disseminators of Rav Dessler's Torah, Rav Aryeh Carmel who worked ardently on the five volumes of Michtav M'Eliyahu and Rav Mordechai Miller who disseminated Rav Dessler's teaching through his eminent shiurim .<br /><br />It was with great mesiras nefesh that Mordechai, known then as Monty, attended the private learning sessions. In his school, Mordechai was only one of a few frum students. He constantly refuted the heretical barbs from his irreligious classmates with insights from Rav Dessler. Every day he would present their aspersions to his Rebbe who would explicate exactly how to refute them.<br /><br />It came to the point that the young bullies, tired of hearing quotes from Rav Dessler walked into the Bais Medrash, while Mordechai Miller was learning with him and bombarded him with irrelevant questions.<br /><br />With Hillel-esque patience, Rav Dessler answered each question with a serious response that left the young men in awe.<br /><br />The incident surely left a lasting impact on the young student. Rav Miller was known throughout his lifelong tenure at the Seminary for his ability to deal, patiently, methodically and with amazing clarity in answering an amazing array of questioners, from the serious seminary student looking o raise herself in the highest level of Torah and Yiras Shamayim, to wayward searchers asking rhetorical questions to engage in debate. Each question was treated with the highest regarded, with the realization that the proper answer can make an everlasting impact.<br /><br />His parents were strongly committed to their son's learning with Rav Dessler which began after a meeting with him on another matter. Their commitment to their son's learning was so strong that they insisted on paying Rav Dessler even during the time that they were in exile in Ireland. Refusing to accept money without service, Rav Dessler wrote Ma'amorim and sent them to his talmid across the Irish sea.<br /><br />Rav S. Wagshal recounts that, abiding to the direction of the Mishne in Avos which states that a Chacham never interrupts a questioner, Rav Miller would wait patiently until the questioner finished his or her issue ¾ whether it was a short query or a self-serving soliloquy. He would even inquire to the questioner if the problem was presented in its entirety. Only then would he begin to respond.<br /><br />His actions and movements were the embodiment of the Kelmer <em>derech</em> combining calculated clarity with patience, humility and strength of conviction.<br /><br />Mrs. Miriam Lider recalls how a young woman who embodied the mood of the rebellious 1970s came to Rav Miller's home with an arrogant array of issues concerning women's liberation and its contradictory existence with <em>Yiddishkeit</em>. Armed with a University education and the manufactured rhetoric that came free with her diploma she began presenting her arguments to bolster the demand for so her perception of equality. The ensuing conversations left her not only with a profound respect for the man, but for the Torah principals, his profound response presented. She joined the seminary and is today a true student of Rav Miller's, whose married life evolves around limud Torah and Shmiras HaMitzvos according to the mesorah of her revered rebbe.<br /><br />But, Rav Miller's care and devotion did not begin with the intellectually sophisticated. An American public high-school graduate spent a summer in Camp B'nos where she developed a love for Yiddishkeit. Though age-wise, she was ready for seminary, her limited Jewish education-severely restricted her ability to be accepted. A phone call from Rebbitzen Kotler, the wife of Reb Ahron, to Rav Miller, got her immediate acceptance into Gateshead Seminary.<br /><br />Rav Miller took a personal interest in the girl's education, revising tests to accommodate her limited ability to write Loshon Kodesh and her minimal skills in the Hebrew language. In addition, he would spend time tutoring her until she was one of the star students at the Seminary.<br /><br />And when, on the rare occasion that he was unable to accept a girl into the seminary due to a variety of reasons it pained him greatly. He once received a bitter letter from family members of a girl who was denied entrance to the Seminary. Rav Miller kept the harsh letter open on his desk, so that everyday he would see it an d share the pain of the family.<br /><br />According to some Talmidos, the Seminary was a Bais Mussar for women. It was not just a place to gain Torh knowledge, it was rather an institute in which, Toras hamussar could be breathed. The girls were taught their tafkid of making a kiddush Hashem in every aspect of their lives.<br /><br />Rav Miller recalled how he used to travel in London with Rav Dessler. Rav Dessler would tell his Talmid to go to the upper deck of the double-decker bus. Their trip was short and often the conductor would not have the time to reach the upper level by the time the bus would reach their destination. Before they left the bus Rav Dessler instructed Mordechai to announce loudly that he was leaving, give a fellow passenger the fare and instruct him loudly that it was to be paid to the conductor when he finally made it upstairs!<br /><br />When the war reached London during the early 1940's Reb Mordechai fled to Ireland. Though he learned from Rav Alony, who introduced him to the depth of amkus in learning, he maintained a kesher with his revered Rebbe through a series of letters.<br /><br />Though he recived an LLB, an English Law Degree, Rav Miller travelled to Gateshead to study Torah with his Rebbe, Rav Dessler who had arrived in Gateshead in the early 1940s to help establish the Gateshead Kollel.<br /><br />Rav Miller felt like a son to Rav Dessler, so much so that after Rav Dessler accepted the position of Mashgiach of the Ponovez Yeshivahe stipulated the ability to return to Gateshead where he would maintain the kesher with his Talmidim. His students vied for the opportunity to host him, and amongst the competitors were Rav Moshe Schwab, Rav Moshe Aryeh Bamberger and Rav Miller.<br /><br />But Rav Miller's solid argument earned him the honor. Rav Schwab had studied in Kaminetz and Rav Bamberger in Slobodka. They had other Rabbeim as well. To them Rav Dessler was like an uncle, to Rav Miller, Rav Dessler was a father!<br /><br />Rav Miller married the Gitta daughter of Reb Hirsh Bindinger. Throughout his life, his Rebitzin would be an unwavering source of support, beside him in every endeavor, supporting him through his long illness and terrible battles with asthma and arthritis.<br /><br />Every though he said, though she may have heard it on countless previous occasions, would be cherished as if it were spoken the first time.<br /><br />At the elderly age 60, Rebbitzin Miller learned to drive a car in order to help transport her husband back and forth from his teaching responsibilities. Despite difficulties in such a venture, she felt it was necessary in order to save the time and the difficulties of constantly waiting for taxis and other modes of transport.<br /><br />In 1944 Rav Dessler helped establish the Gateshead teacher's Seminar. Under the leadership of Mr. Avraham Dov Kohn, whose humility and tzidkus manifested the refusal of any more illustrious title, the Seminary grew from a handful of German refugees, to one of the world's leading centers of Torah Education for women.<br /><br /><br />The Kelm philosophy that underscored the importance of women being knowledgeable in Torah and mussar thought was a driving factor in Rav Dessler's asking of Rav Miller to join the staff in its early years. He aimed to not only teach Ahavas haTorah, but hashkafas HaTorah through the essence of Torah itself!<br /><br />Immediately, Rav Miller, with his keen wit, his gentlemanly manner and brilliant mind mad a profound impact on the students. His ability to use the language, combining English wit with perfectly form sentences that rhymed with reason, captivated his audiences. It was like the appetizers to draw young minds into the world of very serious Torah thought.<br /><br />His shiurim, combined with the amazing organizational skills of Mr. Kohn, transformed the Seminary into a center of world-renown for serious-minded students. Their partnership, personified by Rav Dov Shternbuch in his moving hesped was like that of Dovid and Y'honoson ¾ a symbiotic partnership with only ahava shaino tolui b'dovor. The respect and reverence carried on after the passing of Mr. Kohn, who, in his tzava'ah, left instructions for Rav Miller to be the principal, a decision that Rav Simcha Kohn the son of the founder of the seminary help bolster through his humility and respect for the past twelve and a half years since his father's passing.<br /><br />The reverence between Rav Miller and Mr. Kohn's son, Rav Simcha continued that lifelong partnership. So much so, that on Tuesday Morning, when the untimely petirah, left an orphaned class of talmidos waiting for a Rav Miller who would not arrive, Rav Kohn delivered the same hesped that Rav Miller gave for his father years prior, by Rav Miller, himself.<br /><br />The ideals of the Seminary soon became internationally revered. Within a decade, when overseas travel became more commonplace, Rav Miller attracted students from far-reaches of the earth. Girls from South Africa and Australia joined with counterparts from Canada and the United States as well as all parts of Europe to draw from the wisdom of Rav Miller's shiurim.<br /><br />In the early 1970s the New York Times sent a reporter to Gateshead to explore the phenomenon of American girls traveling to a small town in northern England to a Torah Institute, where the main focus was pursuit of spiritual growth and refinement of character!<br /><br />One student explicated the difference between the selfish character of the me generation and this world of sharing and caring in every aspect of their lives.<br /><br />Of the amazing array of shiurim and lectures that Rav Miller gave, his Shabbos Shiurim received the most notable acclaim. Originally given on Shabbos, in later years, due to asthmatic conditions that required him to use a microphone, they were given to packed audiences on erev Shabbos in the summers and on Motzoei Shabbos during the winter.<br /><br />The shiurim became known world-over. Taped, transcribed and translated they became the spiritual foundation for hundreds of Torah homes and families.<br /><br />Rav Miller never missed a shiur despite numerous illnesses. He never changed his seder hayom, arising each day at the same early hour, whether, winter, fall spring or summer.<br />The last years, his arthritis was so severe that he was hardly able to raise his hand.<br />But his voice did not waiver and the shiurim continued as a steady flowing maayan hamisgaber.<br /><br />In adddirtion to the Women's shiurim, he gave a bi-monthly chaburah in Michtav M'Eliyahu in the Gateshead Yeshiva attended by prominent bochurim and yungeleit for nearly 40 years!.<br /><br />Rav Miller's greatness was not only apparent in his ability to communicate Torah machshava and hashkafa, but also in his ability to communicate his appreciation of even the smallest acts.<br /><br />His arthritis made it difficult for him to mount the platform upon which he delivered his shiur. One of the Talmidos suggested to the administration of the Seminary that they reconstruct the steps that led to the stage in a manner that Rav Miller would be able to get to the podium more easily.<br /><br />The week it was completed Rav Miller was determined to find out he one who suggested the improvement and thank her personally. In fact each time he descended the podium he made sure to acknowledge the chessed of his talmidah. Long after she left the Seminary and raised a family in a different country, Rav Miller, still continued to often mention to the students about the chessed of this one girl.<br /><br />His erudite clarity penetrated the minds of anyone who heard the soft spoken truths he so eloquently portrayed.<br /><br />A girl from England told the story of how her father's car broke down and was brought into a Jewish, albeit secular mechanic. While repairing the car, the mechanic turned on the engine, starting the cassette tape that was lodged in the tape deck. It was a copy of on of Rav Miler's Shaarie Teshuvah Shiur. The mechanic was fascinated. Infact he listened to both sides of the tape! Upon returning the car he asked the patron if there were more cassettes were that one came from. The man supplied the mechanic with the entire series. It was not long before the mechanic became a <em>Shomer Torah U' Mityzvos!<br /><br /></em>He related that sroy to his students to show, how an action can have far-reaching ramifications, far beyond our wildest imaginations.<br /><br />A massive levaya was held in Gateshead where The Gateshead Rav, Rav Rakow was maspid in addition to Rav Simcha Kohn, and Rav Todros Miller, the Nifter's son who continues his father's legacy with his shiurim at the Seminary.<br /><br />The funeral moved to London and then to Ezras torah in Eretz Yisrael. Rav Miller was brough to Menuchas Olomim at Har haMenuchos.<br /><br />He is survived by his almanah, Rebbitzin Gitta, his sons Rav Todros, Rav Yaakov and Rav Eliyahu Eliezer and daughters, Rivka Kaila, Tova,Faiga, and Chana .<br /><br />His sons-in-law are Rav Meyer Trepp, Rav Yisrael Cahen, Rav Boruch Dov Ben Sholom, and Rav Yaakov Moore.<br /><br />How fitting for one whose entire life was devoted to the assurance of the perpetuity and appreciation of husbands who are lomdei and marbitzei Torah to have children and grandchildren deeply immersed in the ideals he so faithfully espoused!<br /><br />Rav Dessler explains that the form of Torah transmission must adapt depending on the needs and understanding of each generation. Rav Miller had the uncanny ability to inspire an entire generation of Jewish mothers, teachers, wives and their husbands in a manner that was so sweetly palatable to each individual. What compounded the amazing talent was that his teaching were not stories and parables, but serious, even deep, profound and complex divrei machshava.<br /><br />He will be sorely missed not only by the generation that had the merit to bask in his glow, but from those who only tasted the sweetness of his ideas, the depth of his clarity and his illumination of Divrei Chazal through his tapes and seforim. It will leave us all yearning for a world that once was. <em>Y'hai Zichro Boruch</em>.<br /><br />The author expresses appreciation to talmidim, talmidos, colleagues and family members who helped in the writing of this article.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1