Category: In Memoriam

  • R’ Julius Berman, z”l: An Architect of Jewish America

    R’ Julius Berman, z”l: An Architect of Jewish America

    Ami Magazine//2025//Rabbi Moshe Taub

    1. Known Unknowns   

       Few precious physical things last forever.

    Prizes and awards, diplomas and marriage contracts – they are all fated to fade with time; to be discarded or lost; often losing value in the eyes of those to whom they were bequeathed.

      While the above is common regarding physical objects, it is unheard of regarding our ruchniyos creations -we never allow ourselves to forget our builders of Torah and our askanim for the klal.

       Beyond basic hakaras hatov, our reminiscence of such men and deeds also fortifies our emunah. For, by noting who Hashem chose for the mighty task of fighting for our collective future we thereby become more keenly observant to Gd’s chochma in and direction of the world around us.

       These thoughts rushed through my mind when I read the following email last week:

    “We regret to announce the passing of our distinguished chaver R. Julius Berman, z”l. The levaya will take place…”

       My heart sank. Aside for being a leading askan for klal yisroel, R. Julius Berman also lived in our neighborhood.

    This was a loss for the klal…and for our shechuna.

      While certainly celebrated while he was alive, and although ninety at the time of his petira, I wondered if most ‘under-fifties’ were aware of the sheer profundity of his loss.

    His petira, in many ways, brings an end to an era.

        Several years ago, after writing a feature about Rav Nota Greenblatt following his petira, I was shocked to hear from many bnei Torah how they were, then, unfamiliar with his name. I had a similar experience after writing about Rabbi Pinchas Stolper several years ago. Even writing after the passing of a known figure such as Rav Avraham Ausband allowed a deepening of appreciatation.

        People simply do not know that which they do not know.

    Like R’ Marvin Shick and Ronnie Greenwald, R’ Julius Berman was an askan of stupendous consequence during a time and in a place where there was no rulebook to follow; theirs would be the first generation tasked with creating-and-securing a Torah world within freedom and democracy.

      Just as Yehudah had the powerful Yosef as a bureaucratic buffer and aid in the establishment of yeshivos across Goshen, the litvish gedolim who arrived to these shores had their own Yosefs; pikchim who counseled their navigation through a byzantine landscape.

        Serendipitously, it was from Litta where Julius arrived.

    II. The Birth of a Legend

    In 1940, when Julius was five years old, he moved from Lithuania to America (by way of Sweden). His father had already moved to America some time earlier, starting as a rav in Newport, Connecticut and eventually moving to Hartford where he served as a shochet. Julius would be in the first graduating class of the Yeshiva of Hartford.

       Julius’ father was a respected talmud chacham, evidenced by the fact that Rav Moshe Feinstein would vacation in their home during the summers. These summers gave birth to a lifelong relationship between a young Julius and this gadol.

         For high school, Julius went to Torah V’Daas. There he would often dine at the home of Rav Zelig Epstein, with whom he drew a close bond, as well as at the home of his cousin, the menehel, Rav Dovid Bender.

       After graduation, Julius made a decision that would shape his life.

     “I was going to be bar mitzvah that summer. Reb Dovid’s father, Reb Avrohom Bender, wrote my father a letter from Eretz Yisrael and sent me some sefarim. He wrote that he would send me a full set of Shas ‘when I got into Rav Chazzan’s shiur (in Torah Vodaath) or into Rav Yoshe Ber’s [the Rav’s] shiur (In RIETS).’ That was the beginning. For high school I stayed in Torah Vodaath, and then I went to RIETS.”

     He would go on to receive semicha from YU while simultaneously enrolled in law school.

    More saliently, this was also the start of his tutelage under and stewardship toward his rebbe muvhah, Rav Soloveitchik. 

        In time, Julius not only succeeded in Rav Bender’s hope of his joining Rav Soloveitchik’s shiur, but would soon be seated right next to his rebbe’s desk.

    “I was sitting right next to the Rav’s desk. The first day, everyone was sitting and holding their breath. In walks the Rav and sits down. We were learning Maseches Shabbos. He asked, ‘Ver vill zuggen?—Who wants to say?’ He looked up and everyone put their heads down to avoid his eyes. ‘Nu, ver vill zuggen?’ He got a little frustrated and began looking for his roll book. He couldn’t find it, so I pointed to where it was. He said, ‘Oh, du vilst zuggen?’ He learned my name and from then on he asked me to ‘zug’ every day. I got to be very close to him.”

    This rebbe-talmud relationship did not diminish once Julius left yeshiva.

    “After I finished there I got a call from his daughter Tova, saying her father wanted to talk to me. He asked me to do him a favor, and then he started calling me more often, and then we started meeting in his apartment every Wednesday. I also continued to go to his shiur for the next 30 years, Tuesday nights in Moriah on the Upper East Side.”

    III. Bein Ha’Amim

         Julius’ time practicing law was colored with a constant flow of a ribbuy kiddush shomayim.

    He worked for the respected international law firm of Kaye Scholer, serving as a partner since 1967.

    A story I heard during shiva was one I was later able to discover in Julius’ own words:

        “It was a much smaller firm then. In those days, the goyim didn’t want to take the Jews, so this firm had a lock on the Jewish market. Alan Der- showitz worked here one summer. So did Nat Lewin. This is not like today (2012) when we have around 500 partners, with offices in Chicago, Washington, California, London, Frankfort, and Shanghai. Today, a lot of frum people come in here. We have a 2 p.m. Minchah in my office with a hoiche kedusha. Years ago, we started doing a little mishnayos once a week. We ordered cold cut platters and learned mishnayos. One day, Milton, one of the partners who wasn’t frum, walked in and wanted to hear what it was about and joined the group. After that session, we wondered if we should ask him to wear a yarmulke while we were learning. I called the Rav to ask and he said, ‘Don’t tell him anything. He’ll do it on his own.’ Sure enough, he started wearing a yarmulke. One day, his wife Joan called me up and asked me, ‘Jules, what’s a misnas?’ I realized she meant mishnayos, and asked why she wanted to know. ‘Because Milton said he wants a misnas for Father’s Day.’  

        While we may take it for granted today, in the 1960’s being a frum lawyer came with unique challenges.

    Julius shared:

    “My first trial was in Staten Island on a Friday morning. The judge’s name was Constantino. He was doing divorce cases and they were taking a long time. There was no ‘default’ in those days. It was winter and it was already 11 a.m. and I was getting nervous. The judge announced a break. I chased after him into the ‘robing room’ and told him I was a Shabbos observer and lived in Queens, and asked if we could work through lunch until 3 and get in a full session. He smiled and said, ‘I respect that! We’ll stop now!’

    “The one time I had a problem was with a Jewish judge who even spoke with a Lower East Side accent. We were representing RCA Records and got a notice that our trial was on the first day of Shavuos. We asked to reschedule and they pushed it off for two weeks, but the date wasn’t good for the other side. I got a call from the judge to come see him. He ripped into me and said, ‘I should never have given you that first adjournment! We could have stopped for 15 minutes for you to run out and say Yizkor and then come back!’ I had no problem with Constantino, but I had a problem with this Jewish judge!

        “We had a shmiras Shabbos case with IBM. We sent letters. I got a letter from Watson [chairman of IBM] in South America, saying that he straightened out the problem, and in the future, I should go directly to him and not bother with the personnel.

    “We had a problem, if I recall correctly, with American Express. The head there was a Jew. He burst into the room and showed off all the plaques he had gotten from the various Jewish organizations. He said, ‘I don’t recognize Shabbos. There’s a uniform work day from 9-5, every day!’”

      His middos were impeccable. Julius did not overwhelm a room through garishness. Rather he won people over with his soft brilliance.

       He personified the ideal -taught to me by my daughter Racheli- that ‘respect should be commanded, not demanded‘.

     Julius’ nature, clarity, and humility may be best expressed through another story I heard at his shiva.

    R’ Moshe Reichman once arrived at Kay Scholer seeking counsel regarding perspective city projects. The firm felt that Julius would be the best person with whom he should first speak (aside for his brilliance in the law, perhaps they also felt that this potential client would be most comfortable with a partner that ‘looked’ more like him).

      After a long and productive meeting, Moshe Reichman was impressed with Julius’ sound advice and calm demeanor. He asked Julius if, going forward, he would be his personal lawyer for all of his future city projects.

    While no doubt flattered, Julius declined, explaining that he was not a real estate attorney, adding, “To be honest, we are not the cheapest firm. Your project will take many years. Are you not worried about the accrued costs should you retain me through this firm? Perhaps it would be wiser if you save a little bit of money by going with a smaller firm. This may also help you with capital for some of your perceived projects”.

    Somehow Julius missed the name of this client in the initial introductions!

    Meaning, all that time he spent with this ‘client’, and all that free advice he provided, was not due to this being a ‘Big Whale’ client, rather it was for a ‘stam’ Jew in need of counsel!

    Realizing the confusion, Moshe Reichman reintroduced himself, explaining that, b’chasdei Hashem, for the proper counsel money should not be a concern.

    I love that story, as it highlights that to be a true askan one first must demonstrate love and care for every Jew -no matter the return.

    IV. Enter Askanus

        Julius’ time in askanas was the stuff of legends. It would be an exhausting exercise to even transcribe a partial listing of all the organizations he led, advised, or founded.  

        Some Selected Highlights:

    • He served as president for the National Jewish Commission of Law and Public Affairs
    • He was president of the JTA, Jewish Telegraphic Agency
    • He was the chairman of the Board of REITS, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
    • He was chairman for the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
    • He served as the president for the Council of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations
    • He served as president of the OU, the Orthodox Union, from the late 1970’s through the early 1980’s

        When I first moved to his area of Queens, although he did not daven in my shul, R’ Julius knocked on my door to share and explain some personal files from his days at the OU, as he thought they would be of interest, partially due to my many years in kashrus.

    But there was also a deeper reason behind that generous visit, as we also had a personal history:

    Julius was my father’s president when my father, Rav Baruch Taub, served as the National Director of NCSY.

       My father fondly recalls his time with Julius with profound admiration and deep kavod.

    “All the amazing attributes that you have heard about him are without exaggeration”, my father shared.

    “But what struck me above all else was something that was a rarity among such leaders: Julius was not only a talmud chacham, but he was also, and always, ‘holding in learning’”.

       We see that beyond our gratitude for his past accomplishments, there is much to still learn from how Julius approached his role in askanus. True, he had profound pikchus, but he also never veered from hi personal growth in Torah. Yes, his worldly knowledge was second to none, but, as well, his fidelity to halacha was unmatched.

    His methods must remain as a lighthouse for askanim today.

        He once reminisced:

    “When I was chairman of the Conference of Presidents, I had a Friday afternoon meeting with the King of Morocco. I came a little before 2 and started to wait. By 3 o’clock I was getting fidgety. Someone said, ‘Don’t you realize that he’s a king? When he says 2 o’clock it can mean 4 or 5.’ So I picked myself up and went home.”

        What a kiddush Hashem!

          Upon entering the shiva, one would be struck by two things. The first is a painting of his rebbe, Rav Soloveitchik. This is no ordinary painting, rather one commissioned by Rav Soloveitchik’s rebbetzin upon his turning fifty. From its size and overall oeuvre, one immediately senses that this is a profound work of art. How Julius and his wife Dotty came to own it is a longer story that would be best left for for the Berman family to share, however the mere fact that it resides in their living room encapsulates how he was not just a talmid, but also as a son to his rebbe.

      Indeed, many share how, in his later years, Julius could not mention Torah from his rebbe without crying.

    When I served as menahel in Telshe Riverdale, we had a meeting in the rosh hayshiva’s, Rav Avraham Ausband, office during a process of making a hire [by ‘we’ I mean only that the few of us there briefly gave our thoughts, followed by the rosh hayeshiva sharing his wise logic and final analysis]. The rosh hayeshiva then shared something that reverberates in my ears till this day:

    “One could never fully trust an individual who doesn’t have a rosh yeshiva in his life; no matter how many years he has been out of yeshiva“

    Julius was a man who always had a rosh yeshiva; whose voice he could still marshal long after Rav Soloveitchik passed.

        The second striking element at the shiva was a living space at the end of a hall which is adorned with pictures and plaques from all over the world. In one, Julius is sitting with Hosni Mubarak, the King Egypt, in another he is with Yitzchak Shamir, Prime Minister of Israel.

    One particular framed letter caught my eye:

     “April 2, 1982

    “Dear Mr. Berman, Elizbeth Dole has kindly passed along to me the handsome container of kosher jellybeans which you sent to her, along with your thoughtful letter I appreciate your gesture of goodwill in providing these particular jellybeans. Now I’ll be able to say I’ve truly tried them all. Again, with my heartfelt thanks, and warm best wishes to you and your associates,

    Sincerely,

    Ronald Reagan”

    While I do not know which klal issue was being advocated for in the spring of 1982, I do know that it takes a pikeach to first satisfy a leader’s sweet tooth…or to be aware he has one!

         The term ‘askan’ is peculiar. After all, are we not all ‘eisek’ in one matter or another – be it in our jobs, our families… or even rest? It would be akin to the oddity of calling someone who loves food an ‘ochlun’, when everyone eats.

       I would posit that our imprimatur and designation of the term ‘askan’ alludes to something far deeper than simple ‘busy-ness’. It also speaks to something that goes beyond the fact that such individuals ‘busy’ themselves with matters that are not personal in nature.

    True, we are all ‘eisek’ in matters (mostly personal) should they arise, and, it is equally true that klal yisroel has many individuals who busy themselves with Hatzala, tzedaka and chesed organizations, boards, etc. However an ‘askan’ is how we describe someone who searches for these needs; one whose ‘askanus‘ is not simply because something arose, rather it is due to this –askanus– being their mahus, their very being, their lifeblood.

    An askan is a ‘mevakshei eisek‘ – a searcher for matters to tackle, issues to resolve, and issues to tackle.

    They are also, often, victims of their own success. Precisely because such askanim can sense matters of import before they metastasize, and defeat them before the cause becomes known, much of their legacy will remain a secret.

    So we describe them simply as ‘askanim‘, for the full details of what consumed their busy-ness, as well as what they therby prevented, will only be known to them and Hashem, ‘HaZocher Kol HaNishkachos‘.

        While the fuller story of R. Julius Berman’s life and legend will be written by those who knew him best, what even I can confidently offer the reader is this: the American Jewry we see today was shaped by R’ Julius Berman.

       Of course, he would not have accomplished so much for the klal without his wife Dotty by his side; an anchor for him and their children, always.

    Sh’lo V’Shilanu, Sh’lah – What is his, and what is ours -is all from her.

       From the kosher food on our table to the safety & comfort of our familes at home & abroad – and for so much more that we will never know – we owe R’ Julius Berman our deepest hakara.

       Yehi Zichro Baruch.

    Unattributed quotes were taken from a June 2012 Ami Magazine feature interview with R. Julius Berman

    OTHER IN MEMORIAMS:

    RAV NOTA GREENBLATT, ZT”L

    Rav Avraham Ausband, zt”l

    Rav Pinchos Stolper

    Jackie Mason’s Last Interview?

  • Wartime Tehillim & Taanis – Responses to Community Turmoil

    • Adding Avinu Malkeinu
    • Adding and Extra Shabbos Candle
    • Tehillim on Shabbos
    • Establishment of a New Fast Day

    -For more, see The Use of Radios & T.V. on Shabbos, & T.V. on Shabbos.

    Rabbi Moshe Taub

    December, 2023

    Part 1

    1. Decisions, Decisions    

         It is a testament to the restless nature of klal Yisroel, to our inherent ideal of kol yisroel areivim zeh l’zeh, to our essence being rachmanim bnei rachmanim, that we never idle when our brethren are suffering.
    However, when the emails, texts and calls seem interminable – and when time, money and effort are finite resources – tough decisions have to be made. This, of course, can lead to disagreement at best and infighting at worst. The satan always has a plan at his ready; especially when klal yisroel is at the cusp of magnanimity, ready to perform great deeds. 

            Rav Yisroel Salanter once noted how people have within them the cognitive dissonance to run down the elderly in their alacrity to perform a mitzvah”.
    Both rabbanim and balla battim must never allow their earnest desire to offer gashmiyus aid and/or ruchniyus support for and toward eretz yisroel to become transformed into the vehicle for disharmony and discord closer to home.

           The complexities of how to react to the current crisis in eretz yisroel commenced as soon as the news trickled into shul on that fateful shemini atzeres.

    What do we do on such a simchas torah? Dance and sing?

    Shorten the length of the hakafos?

    Sing slower songs of hergesh?

    There were also more painful questions. Members of my shul have children and family in the IDF or living in the south. Would amira l’akum on the second day of yom tov -asking a goy to call and check-in with their family on their day of chol – be allowed?

          As I was pondering these questions after mincha of the first day -as well as the potential reaction and misunderstandings any decision I make may have –the gabbei of a nearby sefardi shul ran in. Their rav was away. “Rabbi Taub, should we dance and celebrate like any other simchas torah tonight?” I answered him with faux confidence, recalling the words of the Mir mashgiach, Rav Yechetzkel Levenstein, which he famously shared with his yeshiva, “It was the zechus of your singing on Simchas Torah that lead to their 2nd of marcheshvan escape from Russia, through Vilna, to Kobe, Japan and then Shanghei”.

    After yom tov I discovered the decisions of other rabbanim.

    • Some poskim arranged for a quick -five minute -seven-hakafa set, and then demanded everyone say tehillim;
    • Others sang for each hakafa one song of gladness, and then one slow niggun of teffila, such as simcha l’artzecha.
    • Others demanded that it being yom tov our mitzvah is to continue the standard minhagim of the day, and only following this to then recite tehillim, etc.

           It is irrelevant to share here what I chose to do in the end -as I have changed my mind since then, back-and-forth, and many times. Of course, I would have rather asked daas torah rather than have to decide on my own.

        While I have not gotten negative feedback, other rabbanim were not so lucky. One rav shared with me that while no one challenged his decision, a few of the balla battim were in a heated exchange about how the shul should respond and are still at odds with eachother weeks later.          

        It is only natural to desire some type of control -of anything –in a time of chaos; to confuse our anger, fear and insecurity of these past three-weeks with our small dissatisfactions, minor disagreements, and petty disputes. Let us seek to avoid that at all costs.

    II. A New Fast Day?

         A few people shared the same request: “Why don’t we make a special taanis?” After all, a large section of gemara and halacha is dedicated to unique taanisim imposed during an eis tzara l’yaakov.

         There is much to say on this matter, but I will try to be frugal with sources. The Shulchan Aruch codifies certain comforts to be avoided and discomforts to take on when there is  trouble in klal yisroel (siman 240, and siman 574). However, during World War 1 and during certain war in Israel, that could take some time, the poskim urge these be reserved for anshei segulah (special and lofty people –shu”t Keren L’Dovid, siman 62, shu”t Beis Yisroel, siman 152) “One who is able to take on a fast and withstand it is called kodosh/holy, but one who sits in a fast who is not strong, or not healthy, is called a choteh/sinner” (Shulchan Aruch, siman 571:1).

         Even when it comes to taanisim, the poskim are very hesitant in our day to establish a new one (see new edition, Piskei Teshuvos, siman 571 for many sources). According to some, even if one is privately repenting for the most severe sins, one mustn’t fast (Igros Moshe in several places; Iggeres Teshuva from the Baal HaTanya, ch. 3, etc.). This is due to our relative weakness, and for other reasons (see Aruch Hashulchan to siman 576:9, and Chazon Ish as brought in Toras HaMoadim, siman 575:5, and shu”t Igros Moshe, y’d vol. 4, siman 57, os, 11, inter alia. See also Biur Halacha to siman 571 at length).

         Certainly, the poskim teach, the special berachos and added teffilos mentioned by chazal (see Taanis 15a) are to be avoided in our day when we are without classic musmachim.  The Mishneh Berrura adds that it is better to starve oneself from speech than food (sif 2).

          But even if there is reason to create a new taanis, rabbanim have a higher burden beyond the visible halachos. They must consider the diabetic who is guilted in to fasting, the anorexic who will relapse, and the older gentleman whose heart is weak. To be frank, too many people who shouldn’t already fast on the ‘zecharia’ taanisim (8:19, where all fasts -save for the d’oraissa fast of Yom Kippur and the minhag of taanis esther –are listed). I am certainly not about to impose new ones.     An example of this was during the height of Covid, when some were demanding some type of taanis as well. While well-meaning, the reason why so many poskim were against it is simple, at least in hindsight: at a time when our immune systems need their strength, when many elderly people are alone and therefore emotionally ill, would this be wise?”

        As the Chofetz Chaim alluded to above, preventing what goes in our mouths is not as vital as what may come out.

          Speaking to poskim, there is one more concern to keep in mind: In 1918, journalist Arthur Ransome fashioned a portmanteau of hungry/angry –‘Hangry’. The irritability often caused from one’s lack of food is well established.  Shalom bayis, talmud Torah, teffila, etc. THESE are what we need, not that which may come to stifle them.

         IN the words of the Netziv (realting to a different subject): “We musnt run from a fox into the mouth of a lion”. Our goal should be two steps forward, and never taking on a mitzvah that may, regrettably, tale us three steps back.

         Below, iy”H, we will investigate more popular ideas and segulos that have been spreading, their sources, and both sides of such a decision, from behind the rabbi’s desk.

    Part 2

    III. Tehillim & Avinu Malkeinu

          “Rabbi, I’ve been missing my ride to the city each morning because of the extra tehillim we are adding for the matzav in eretz yisroel. Should I continue to stay behind and say them with the tzibbur? Maybe the shul can just switch the order: have the daily dvar halacha be said before the tehillim so that I, at least, won’t miss the kaddish dereabanan…”

        This was a real request/question I received this week and demonstrates the point we made last week: No idea or middas chassidus exits in a vacuum. Rarely is an entire shul privy to the reasons behind their rav’s –sometimes peculiar looking – final decision. As a point of reference, the Vilna Gaon did not sanction the addition of L’Dovid Hashem Ori to be said by the tzibbur at the end of davening throughout elul due to the issue of tircha for those who need to get to work (Maaseh Rav, 53; 5770 ed.). It is always easy to disagree, yet to do so without the hassle of any burdens or considerations to weigh.

       From time-immemorial, the minhag Yisrael has been to turn to tehillim during an eis tzara. Chazal warn that to use pesukim as a form of magic or healing can diminish one’s share in olam haba (Shavuos 15b).    The Rambam codifies this, “Should someone recite a pasuk as an incantation for a wound, or so that a child should stop crying, or he places tefillin next to a child so that he will sleep, not only is he in violation of the [prohibition against] forbidden incantations, but he is a denier of the Torah, for he makes the Torah into a healer of bodies when it is there to mend souls… However, a healthy person may recite pesukim or Tehillim to protect against future sufferings and prevent them from arising” (Hilchos Ovdei Kochavim 11:12).

        Meaning, one may indeed recite pesukim to prevent danger or tragedy, but not to change it. Nevertheless, our common practice is to say tehillim even for a yeshuah for that which already exists.

        Rav Moshe Sternbuch explains that it must be that when we recite tehillim for an eis tzarah, we are asking Hashem to aid us in the zechus of our Torah study, not simply because of the power of the pesukim (Shu”t Teshuvos V’hanhagos 1:121). For this reason, he explains, one should omit the line in the yehi ratzon that follows many tehillims where it states (translation): “In the merit of tehillim, of the verses, words and letters”. Rather, one should replace that with: “In the merit of our davening to You through Tehillim, its pesukim, words and letters”. This way, we clarify that our intent is not to use the pesukim as a “magic potion.”

     Similarly, the Tzitz Eliezer (17:30) writes that one may learn Torah or for the benefit of the recitors own neshama, even if he also wishes to heal a physical condition, malady, or world problem.

        This may explain the Midrash Tehillim which famously teaches how Dovid hamelech davened that our recital of tehillim should be equal in Hashem’s eyes as is our learning nega’im v’ohalos—the most difficult portions of torah sh’baal peh.

       In addition, some poskim remind us that we lack the ability to form proper teffilos of our own to Hashem. For this same reason do chazal share in detail how the nineteenth beracha of shemoneh esreh came to be composed – even though it was long after the period of nevuah and/or the anshei knesses hegedolah (berachos 28b). Because of this yerida/weakness in and of the generation, we turn to tehilim, for Dovid hamelech had in mind all of the needs of all future generations as he composed and curated this sefer. Due to this reasoning, many achronim, such as Rav Yonasan Eibeishitz, urge us to -at the very least -understand and contemplate the meaning of the words we are saying, and only then letting the teffilos Dovid take care of the rest (see ‘Tehillim, Mesivta edition, hakdama’ for a variety of sources on these points).

        The last line in the Tzitz Eliezer is most critical. “Hanach lahen l’Yisrael, im ein nev’iim heim, bnei nevi’im heim—leave bnei Yisrael as they are, for if they are not prophets, then they are at least the children of prophets.”(See yarchon ‘Ohr Yisroel’ #15, Rav Greenwald, for how long the Jewish people have been reciting tehillim for those in need and as a zechus).

    IV. Avinu Malkeinu

    While many shuls in eretz yisroel immediately began adding avinu malkeinu daily after their daily shachris and mincha, this seems rarer in chutz l’aretz.

          This tefilla began as a supplication created by none-other than Rebbe Akiva.

         Many in my shul urged me to begin adding it. Our minhag is not to say tachanun in tishrei, and for this and other reasons I was hesitant. I explained, “Even on a Shabbos yom kippur -when we are davening for our lives in this world and the next -we omit this teffila, save for neilah”

         One member shared a teshuvah from one prominent posek who posited it should be said, and even in shuls where tachanun is now omitted, “For now is like Yom Kippur by neilah”.

         A talmud muvhak of the above posek refrained from adding it. He explained two reasons. “For one, when do we stop? Once we start, it will then lead to a fight and claims of insensitivity whenever we choose to return to omitting it. Secondly, I fear that many are not as sophisticated so as to understand the significance of this teffila; requesting, in the future, that we add it by other important-yet-not-as-critical junctures”.

        Speaking of avinu malkeinu, Rav Moshe Feinstein writes something fascinating (Igros Moshe, o’c, 3:18). He states that this that we reserve this teffila for special times -and omit it at other times -is a ‘hekera b’alma/a demonstration to show that certain teffilos are unique. In fact, he goes on to share that some kehillos would say it on a Yom Kippur that falls on Shabbos (see Aruch Hashulchan 619:8 and Rivash 512). He then shares that others argue that avinu malkeinu does indeed have special halachos, although not because of its meaning or its words, but rather due to its placement following the chazaras hashatz.

          Years ago, in my first year of rabbanus, I kept a little notebook on me at all times. One of the matters I would keep track of was the sources of and halachos regarding avinu malkeinu; if it had the status of tachanun, etc. I do not know what compelled me to do this (and the above sources are less than a fraction of what I recorded therein), but it has certainly come in handy of late.

    PART 3

    V. Shabbos Requests and Halachic Myths

    Compiling a list of popular halachic myths would compromise more than one full column, but a few examples will prove helpful.

    –           Although giraffes have simanei kashrus, kosher signs, we don’t eat them because we don’t know where on the neck to shecht it.

    –           Although certain utensils require tevilah, one may use them the first time without toiveling them.

    –           We don’t daven the regular Shemoneh Esrei on Shabbos because we are not allowed to make personal requests on Shabbos.”

        All these statements are false, or severly misleading.

    A giraffe’s long neck would make shechitah easier, not harder! How did this ficticious halachic rumor come about? Well, the real reason we don’t eat this mammal is because we generally avoid eating any land or air creature that does not have a tradition of being eaten by Jews. (This is aside from the impracticality of its consumption due to their expense and difficulty of finding and raising them.)

    Among many concerns, without a mesorah, we may not be aware of issues that are unique to the animal in question, such as whether it should be classified as a chayah or beheimah, how to treiber (devein) it, how to deal with its forbidden fats, and whether certain signs of diseases render it treif.

    A rav who is asked this question may explain succinctly, “We simply wouldn’t know how to shecht it.” Hearing this, one may incorrectly assume that the rav is referring to the animal’s most notable feature—its neck.

    As for tevilah, whether it’s a vessel’s first use or its 465th, the halachah is the same -tevilah is required before use. I understand how this myth is perpetuated because I once saw it develop in real time. I was once explaining during a shiur that disposable pans do not require tevilah as long as they will only be used once, and an attendee commented, “Do you mean to say that first-time use never requires tevilah?”

    No! But now understood where the confusion comes from. There are a number of factors that warrant tevilah; the utensil must be one that will be used directly with ready-to-eat food, and it must be made out of certain materials, etc. But first and foremost, it must be classified as a kli, a vessel, something of significance. Many poskim therefore posit that a flimsy item that is intended for one-time use is not a kli to begin with and hence would not require tevilah. (Some poskim even allow these disposables to be used two or three times before requiring tevilah.)

    This is as opposed to a fancy, expensive dish, which is automatically considered a kli. In any event, it is easy to mistake the “one-time” halachah for the “first-time” myth.

    The final common halachic myth -relating to bakashos on Shabbos -is much more nuanced is connected to the subject of war, which we have been discussing these past few weeks.

    While most would explain the absence of the regular Shemoneh Esrei on Shabbos as being due to not making personal requests on Shabbos, this is not the reason Chazal give (cf. Yerushalmi, Shabbos, 15:3 and Brachos, 5:2). Nor is it so simple that bakashos are generally not allowed on Shabbos; after all, we say Sim Shalom, Yekum Purkan, and the Yehi Ratzon for cholim—not to mention bentching and many other tefillos that remain unchanged on Shabbos. Consider as well Birchas Hachodesh, which is only said on Shabbos and is full of personal requests!

    The background for these halachos is fascinating, and it relates directly to the way we should respond to an eis tzarah on Shabbos and as a kehillah.

    The Gemara states that the reason we shorten the Shemoneh Esrei from 19 brachos during the week to seven on Shabbos is in order not to burden people (Brachos, 21a). Although the intention seems to be that Chazal wanted to shorten davening, it is clear from the rest of our Shabbos liturgy and leining that this is not the case.

    Instead, the poskim explain that Chazal were referring to emotional tirchah. Our prayers, when recited with conviction, should awaken painful realities, and on Shabbos we are given a break from some of them (see Tanchuma, beginning of Vayeira, and Sefer Hamanhig, Shabbos, siman 11).

    Knowing this is not simply academic Torah l’shmah but also affects halachah. For example, if one accidentally says even the first word of a weekday Shemoneh Esrei blessing on Shabbos (for example, “Atah Chonein” or “Refa’einu”), he must finish that brachah and then return to the Shabbos Shemoneh Esrei (Shulchan Aruch, siman 268; this is true even if he realizes his error before uttering Hashem’s name). The reason for this is precisely due to the fact that one is technically allowed on Shabbos to make a bakashah that he recites consistently.

    However, it is true that Chazal also say that we must avoid certain types of bakashos on Shabbos (e.g., Bava Basra, 91a). Clearly, the prayers that were composed just for Shabbos—such as the Yehi Ratzon after candle-lighting and Birchas Hachodesh—and those for Yomim Tovim that happen to fall on Shabbos, such as Rosh Hashanah, are allowed (see Shulchan Aruch Harav, siman 288:8; shu”t B’tzeil Hachamah, 5:41; Bnei Yissas’char, Shevat 2:2; and Magen Avraham, siman 128:70). Last week we mentioned a view that even allows Avinu Malkeinu to be said when Yom Kippur falls on Shabbos.

    What emerges from all of this is that daily tefillos may be recited on Shabbos, except for the middle blessings of Shemoneh Esrei. All other constant prayers, such as Elokai Netzor, may be recited. Special tefillos, even if they are bakashos, may also be said, especially those such as Yekum Purkan and Mi Shebeirach, which many see as a brachah and not a tefillah (Ohr Zarua, 2:89, and Shulchan Aruch Harav, siman 284:14). All other unique personal tefillos should not be said (Shulchan Aruch, 288:9).

    However, if there is a sakanah, even for one choleh, one may daven for that person on Shabbos as long as he does not do so in a public way (ibid. 8, with Acharonim; see also Piskei Teshuvos, p. 489).

    Now we arrive at our main question. May a shul hold a public Tehillim recitation for the current crisis? On the one hand, it’s sakanas nefashos, but on the other hand, although unique prayers are allowed in a dangerous and time-sensitive situation, doing so with others in a public way is not.

    The Steipler ruled that when Eretz Yisrael is at war, Tehillim should be recited just as on a weekday (Orchos Rabbeinu Vol. I, p. 124). Some have said that during World War II, the special Yehi Ratzons and Acheinu that are recited on Mondays and Thursdays were said publicly on Shabbos after leining (shu”t Tiferes Adam 3:18).

    A few weeks ago, a friend sent a group an email with a list of the hostages, asking that each person he sent it to take one hostage’s name and dedicate a perek of Tehillim to that person. He ended, “Chazal share that when one saves a life, it is as if he has saved the world (Sanhedrin 37a).”

    This is certainly true, and has practical application when it comes to a physical act of salvation. However, obviously, we would not be allowed to be michallel Shabbos so as to purchase a Tehillim from which to daven!

    Rather, when it comes to divrei ruchniyus and tefillah, we must yield to the Torah and halachah and allow Hashem to do the rest.

    May Hashem accept our tefillos, save us from michshol, and enable us to defer, always, to halachah.

    VI. Extra Candles

    On this issue I feel strongly, yet also understand that I am likely in the minority.

    • Many people do not know the main reason why we light candles for Shabbos. Some may even assume it is simply spiritual in nature, similar to Chanukah lights. Lighting an extra candle could therefore lead to questions of neder for future weeks.
    • Women invented kenassos in case they were to be negligent by this mitzvah. Meaning, this is not the mitzvah or the best time to risk taking on, or indeed taking on, new obligations.
    • More, if this ‘war’, or ‘hostage’, or ‘victim’ candle is indeed not seen as a part of the Shabbos neros then why not light it/them on Tuesday night? I just never understood it. Hanach mitzvos. It reminds me of the birthday gift I gave my wife whose card said “This is also for our anniversary”.
    • Lighting a candle for a niftar -especially one killed for being a Jew -is certainly an understandable and moving gesture, but to do so on a Friday night that already has its own, unrelated, obligation seems -humbly -as diminishing an existing mitzvah when so many other times are available. Indeed, the halacha of lighting extra candles for those that passed away was known to the Shulchan Aruch, and is mentioned only by Yom Kippur, thus making his silence by Shabbos loud. While this could have been to save people fuel costs, this doesn’t seem to me to be his reasoning. Rather, on Yom Kippur we do not eat and will have less of an opportunity to use the illumination from this candles in more standardized ways, etc. On Shabbos, keshushas and oneh Shabbos is the key.
    • More, why create a memory on Shabbos for a negative event? Shabbos hi m’lizok, and unless it can be demonstrated that this is a teffila or zechus then perhaps Shabbos is not the time.
  • SourDough Starter & Mechiras Chometz

    SourDough Starter & Mechiras Chometz

    Can One Sell That Which They Care For?

    March, 2023

    Because the following relates to the rav’s mechiras chametz, a very brief review is in order.

    I. Quick Primer on the Chometz Sale

      The sale of chometz mustn’t be seen as a subterfuge; an insincere-albeit-sophisticated ploy. Indeed, there is a girsa (a differing text) in the Tosefta that while clearly approving the efficacy of such sales before Pesach ends with the words, “…so long as it does not become a subterfuge” (Behag, see Chasam Sofer and Beis Yosef). It is clear from the early sources –see Shulchan Aruch, siman 548:3 –that for such a sale to be valid one would have to physically remove the chomtez from their possession -or have the goy take it.

      However, due to our relative wealth today and the amount of chometz in many homes, the possibility of removing all chametz from our possession has become profoundly more arduous (see Bach regarding Jews who were in a chometz business and couldn’t feasibly remove all of their expensive chometz investments). Due to this, and in concert with other halachos (see, siman 440:2), the Mishnah Berurah (448:12) and others explain why today we can be lenient and simply cover or hide sold chometz with a mechitzah/partition (of at least ten tefachim – about 38 inches. See also, siman 440). This is acceptable – in place of removal of the chometz – due to a relatively new innovation: the rav does not just sell the chometz, but he also sells the rooms/spaces in/on which they are (really, the rav will often not sell the rooms, rather rent/lease them. See shu’t Chasam Sofer 113, Shulchan Aruch Harav, and Moadim V’zmanim vol. 3 at length).

      What arrives from the above is that the sale as we know it today – writing one’s name and other information in a shtar harshah and giving it to the rav who will then sell on that person’s behalf – began in earnest around 1856 (shu’t Shoel Umeishiv. See Rav Zevin’s monumental Moadim B’Halacha).    

       The amount for all the chometz being sold may come to the millions of dollars, so the goy gives a down-payment, with the rest due on or before motzai Pesach. If at that time he decides not to pay the rest, the rav will purchase it all back from him.

      Even those who are machmir not to sell real chometz are most often advised to still go through with a sale as a fail-safe.

      With this elementary background, I can now share some recent cases.

      II.  The Case of the Rebbe’s Bread

            A few days before yom tov, someone asked about their daughter’s science-fair project which was full of pure chometz that was continuing to ferment, and that took months to get to this point.

         “We certainly have no plans of ever selling this for good. It would be impossible to begin again! While the goy will likely sell it back, does the fact that we have such concern negate the sale?”

          This was a great question! In comparison, someone with expensive liqueur may feel quietly disappointed if the goy came and drank it, but this is very different than something one is actively protecting.

           Another good example is sour dough starter. When the Torah cites ‘seor’ as chometz, it’s not referring to our dry yeast -a relatively recent concept. Rather to ‘starter dough’. Indeed, the etymology for the term ‘Sour Dough’ may come from that very word! In any event, my wife has been making sour dough for years, long before its recent resurgence. Her ‘starter’ has traveled the world and is used in many, many homes and bakeries. Can this be sold for Pesach? Is there an issue of rotzah b’kiyumah – intensely eager for its continued existence, use, and ownership after Pesach?

           This reminds me of the shailah regarding the soon-to-be-ger who was asked to be mekabel oyl mitzvos and responded, “Yes, of course! However, I just learned sefer Chofetz Chaim, and I can tell you for certain that I will not be able to refrain from lashon hara”. At what point is an acceptance negated by an emotion of feeling?

           The poskim discuss this ger issue; (See Avodah Zara 64a for what follows, which is the main source in chazal relating to desires of the heart in an item’s continued existence; although they were there discussing avodah zara and yayin nesech).

            Relating to chometz, a parallel and intriguing situation is considered in Rav Gedalia Felder’s Yesodei Yeshurin (d. 1991 -volume 6: p. 304-307). He brings a case from the shu”t Avnei Zikaron by Rav Alter Shaul Pepper, an early New York City posek. This teshuvah was written in 1929 New York, seven years before he was niftar. The case concerned an admu”r who gave a chossid sherayim of challah that the chossid wished to save. So, before Pesach, he took the piece of bread and secured it a protective bag, declared it hefker (ownerless) and placed it in a public domain, but where it could not easily be spotted. After Pesach he retrieved it.    

             Is this chometz permissible after Pesach? Was his hefkeirus sincere? Rav Felder’s editor recorded that this teshuva was in the second volume of Rav Pepper’s sefer, siman 6. I rushed to see it in inside and saw that the shailah was sent from Litta (to New York!) by Rav Shlomo Nosson Kotler, who Rav Lazer Gordon of Telz called the ‘Ketzos’ of our generation! (See post where we delve further into his amazing life).

            After spending a few minutes researching Rav Kotler’s life, I then went back to learn the actual teshuva, only to realize this had nothing to do with the shailah at hand; the editor wrote the wrong siman! It was rather #10 in Rav Pepper’s sefer! This shailah was sent to New York from the rav of the famous Chevreh Tehillim beis medresh in Budapest, Rav Shmuel Baruch Shmelhoisen (d.1945).  

         Rav Pepper responds by proving from a Pri Chodosh (Rav Chizkiyah de Silav, d. late 17th century; siman 477) regarding a man who had some ‘segulah chometz’ and similarly disposed of it in a reshus harabim only to repossess after yom tov. The Pri Chodosh ruled that since he was ratzah b’kiyumah/he desired its existence his hefkeiros is meaningless.

           However, the Pri Chodesh goes on to state that simply desiring its existence would only negate a hefkeiros. If, however, a goy would purchase and take it from one’s property, then the mere fact that one secretly hopes to get it back after Pesach would not contravene such an action/sale.

           It would seem then  that a chossid who sells such chometz, as well as starter or an experiment, would be fine.

           However, the shu’t Arugas Habosem (Rav Moshe Greenwald, d. 1910) discusses a case of the Belzer rebbe’s sherayim, and rules that even if it’s sold to a goy it would still be forbidden after Pesach. He says to burn it before Pesach.

           Interestingly, the (fourth) Belzer rebbe, the Kedushas Aaron (d. 1957), was himself asked about such chometz and cryptically replied, “The chassidim know what to do with it” (Beis Yisroel, volume 8, p. 206).

          Once burned, it would seem one would keep the ashes for safekeeping (Avnei Zikaron ibid., and 3:25).

              While researching the lives of many mentioned above, I reached out to R’ Baruch Amsel, the creator and curator of the astounding tool – kevarim.com. When I mentioned the shailah at hand, he shared that it’s discussed in the Nittei Gavreil, zol gezunt zein (Pesach, volume 1, p. 224). After mentioning that some either consume or burn such sherayim before Pesach, he then mentions that the minhag Chabad and Karlin is to include it in the sale.

            Rav Yitzchak Isaac Leibes (d. 2000, head of the Igud HaRabannim in America) writes that there are a few poskim to rely on that would allow one to keep such chometz after a sale. He quotes from the Yeshuas Yaakov (d. 1839; siman 450:5) regarding a starter dough. The Yeshuas Yaakov’s language language, while not affirmative toward such sales, is not restrictive either.

          I would advise anyone connected to any of the above questions, speak to their rav.

      The above was written on the yartzeit of Rav Pepper (19 Nissan, 1936). May his neshama have an Aliyah, and may he be a meilitz yosher to all the American rabbamim who follow in his ways!

    1. Buffalo’s Reb Irv Fried, z”l

      An Innovator of American Chinuch

      December, 2022

      PART 1

      Every shul has the older gentleman or couple who are the last to stick around after retirement and who remember, perhaps, when the shul first opened. Like you, they were once surrounded by their closest friends on those same streets. They are sometimes overlooked for the reservoirs of wisdom and history that they are.

      I once read that when ArtScroll was first working on its machzorim, they had an issue concerning the placement of a certain Kaddish when Rosh Hashanah falls on a Shabbos. Understanding that what they published would be accepted by many as fact, they needed a final determination. Rav Zlotowitz and Rav Scherman went to their rebbeim and ArtScroll advisors, Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, for guidance. Both eminent leaders gave the same response: “Find an old shul, search for the oldest member or gabbai, and ask him.”

      When I entered the rabbinate, that older man for me was Rabbi Dr. Irving Fried. He was a classic old-time American Jew whose descriptions of growing up in Boro Park in the 1930s and ’40s had me laughing hysterically. He once recounted watching as some chickens got loose and the shochet chased them down 13th Avenue, which was then a dirt road, in his bloody apron! 

      After receiving his semichah from Beis Yosef Novardok and Torah Vodaas, Irving  Fried dedicated his life to chinuch. He refused to be called “Rabbi” (even asking that I not use the title in this article) and got upset even at an aliyah if the typical “Ya’amod rav” was used; he often joked, “I am not a rav…maybe an eruv rav.”

      Around 1954, after teaching in Trenton and then in Springfield, Mass., he became the founding principal of Atlanta Hebrew Academy in Georgia. In 1960, he moved to Columbus, Ohio, to serve as the principal at Columbus Torah Academy, working closely with the city’s beloved Rav Stavsky. In 1973, he received his doctorate in education from Ohio State University. His dissertation was titled “Trends and Issues in Hebrew Day School Education.” His thesis became the cover story for the October 1976 Jewish Observer.

      Rav Nisson Wolpin wrote in that article, “The extent of the [day-school] problem and some of its causes were uncovered in a study by Dr. Irving Fried, principal of the Columbus Torah Academy. He launched his study in fall 1972, and its results were published in Torah Umesorah’s Jewish Parent (June ’74).

      “He surveyed 35 schools… The day schools themselves are, in some measure, falling into the hands of the Conservatives. ‘There is pressure being exerted on the Hebrew day-school movement to change the religious philosophy on which it was founded. In 27.6% of the cases, there had been a movement within the school to bring about a change in the religious philosophy during the previous five years (1967-72), almost always towards a weakened religious position. Parents were the primary group seeking change… The likelihood for the future is towards an increased shifting in the direction of a weakened Orthodox position…

      “To head off this impending crisis, he suggests that day schools embark on an intensive one-to-one rabbi- or teacher-to-parent education campaign, concentrating on such core mitzvah experiences as Shabbos. The parents, too, should witness the beauty of the private life of the Torah Jew ‘to taste and see that it is good.’ Dr. Fried’s suggestion is a worthy one…”

      With great pikchus, Irving Fried sensed when children were willing to grow in their Yiddishkeit; he sent some girls to Yavneh in Cleveland, and many boys to Ner Yisrael, Telshe, and other yeshivos. In fact, at his levayah several years ago, Rabbi Yonasan Seidemann, his former student who is now a rav in Baltimore, remarked, “Rav Ruderman used to tell Rabbi Irving Fried that he was in the exporting business because he would export so many students to Ner Yisrael from Columbus.”

      In the late 1980s, when he became principal of Kadima Academy in Buffalo, he had the same success. Countless descendants of his graduates owe their Yiddishkeit to him, and some even owe him their lives:

      In 1974, he and a few teachers took the eighth grade on a trip to Washington, DC. They went by plane, and his son Rav Mordechai Fried, who is now the rabbinic administrator for Kosher Miami, tells the story of what happened.

      When they arrived at the gate, one of the chaperons—likely the father of Rabbi Yonasan Seidemann—discovered that there was no ticket for him, and the flight was sold out. He encouraged the class to go without him, but Irving Fried wouldn’t hear of it. He felt that dividing the group would be a bad lesson for the children, and he found another flight, enabling them to stay together.

      They didn’t know that the original flight was the infamous TWA Flight 514, which crashed and killed everyone on board, R”l.

      This news caused panic in Columbus. Another son, Rabbi Tzvi Fried, today the rav of Young Israel of Bedford Bay, was eight years old at the time and remembers the dread in his home before everyone learned that the eighth-grade group was safe.

      One student, Agi Hartstein (née Neubauer), kindly shared her recollections of the event. What struck me was that she didn’t recall any traumatic reaction at the time, and another former student shared the same thought. It’s likely that Irving Fried and his staff were very careful about the way they handled these events in front of impressionable young people.

      Irving once brought in a rebbi named Rabbi Greenbaum to teach in the school. When this rebbi retired, Irving asked him, “Why are you still in Columbus? Don’t you have family and friends in larger frum towns?” Rabbi Greenbaum explained that his plan was to retire in Eretz Yisrael,but he was in debt and couldn’t go. One day Irving called to tell him that his debts had been taken care of. It was later discovered that Irving had gone door to door to collect for him.

      When he first moved to Buffalo, he was given a list of potential Jewish donors to the school, and one person’s name had been crossed out. He learned that this was a wealthy man who never gave to Jewish causes. Irving saw this as a challenge and called him. The man responded dismissively, but Irving was prepared. “I don’t want money,” he said. “I just want to show you something. I’ll let you know when.”

      On Chanukah, Irving asked him to come down to his office. It was the day of the school’s Chanukah event; the kids, dressed in their best clothes, were singing and giving divrei Torah, and the man started to cry. “I never gave to Jewish causes because of my anger after the war,” he said. “I believed that supporting Torah causes was a waste of money because I couldn’t believe that Yiddishkeit would ever thrive again. I was wrong.” He left a hefty check.

      There are many more stories about Irving Fried, and I hope to tell some of them next week, iy”H.

      PART 2

      Sometimes when I have an idea for a column and begin to write, the words take me on a completely different journey than I intended.

      Before Chanukah, I shared a little about Irving Fried, a”h, who was an older member of my shul in Buffalo when I first entered the rabbinate. I spoke about his sixty-year career in chinuch, which took him all over the country, the pioneering methods he introduced that were embraced by Torah Umesorah, and the extraordinary story of how he saved an entire class from a plane crash.

      Initially, I planned to share two stories about Irving that have aided me in rabbanus, butI thought it would be best to share a little about his life first. I found cover stories about him in The Jewish Observer, as well as many news clippings and amazing stories about him that I thought readers would enjoy, so I included some of that information in the column. At the end, I realized that not only did I not get to half of what I discovered about him, but I never even got to the two stories!

      Well, here they are.

      About a month ago, I ended a shiur with a little chizzuk about the importance of being kovei’a ittim laTorah. My shul, baruch Hashem,has a significant Daf Yomi contingency, but I felt it could be even stronger and said so. One member of the shiur came over to me afterward and said, “Rabbi, we are in the middle of Nedarim, almost halfway through Shas. Why would anyone join now?”

      And thatis when Irving came to mind. I responded to this man with the following story.

      A few years after I arrived in Buffalo, Irving became ill and went to live with his son, Rabbi Tzvi Fried, rav of Young Israel of Bedford Bay. He was niftar soon afterward.I could not attend the levayah, but I drove to Brooklyn to be menachem aveil.

      When I left the shivah house, I thought it would be wise to learn the daf before my long drive back. Then I noticed where we were up to in the daf…and I could hardly believe it.

      You see, during my first month in Buffalo, Irving had approached me and asked, “Rabbi, could you give a daf shiur before Minchah each day?”

      Although I was overstressed, I was also relieved. The daf is an opportunity to learn lishmah, disconnected from any occupational responsibility. I readily accepted.

      After about a week, we got a mezuman, and soon more people came. It was turning into a real daf shiur. I asked Irving, “How many times have you been through the daf?”

      “This is my first cycle. I didn’t want to die without going through all of Shas at least one time.”

      “So you began right after the last siyum?”

      “I wish I had done that. A thought occurred to me while they were in the middle of Gittin. The yetzer hara told me that it was too late, that I could start at the beginning of the next cycle, or maybe the next masechta. I almost listened, but then I realized that one never knows if there will be a next time. As it says in Avos (2:5), ‘Al tomar lichshe’efneh eshneh shema lo sipaneh’—a person should never delay, telling himself that he will learn when he has time, because maybe that time will not come.”

      Imagine joining the daf in the middle of Shas, in Gittin, and not even at the start of a new masechta!

      Years later, when I was sitting in the car outside of his shivah, I saw that we were again in the middle of Gittin! Although I cannot say for certain that he was niftar right after completing his cycle, it’s possible.

      I turned to the daf member who was gently challenging my approach and replied, “Irving taught me that it’s never too late to start anything.”

      Speaking of Irving, the daf, and seizing the moment, I will share another story that always comes to mind.

      As I have mentioned before, thousands of visitors used to pass through the shul in Buffalo each year. Sometimes they would stay for several days or even several weeks, for business or medical purposes. There was once a Klausenberger chasid who was with us for a few days and came to the daf shiur.I decided to share something that his last Rebbehad said on the daf so that he would feel more at home, but first I gave a little information about the Rebbe’s amazing life so that the other participants could appreciate his gadlus.

      When the shiur ended, we were heading to Minchah when Irving said, “I met the Rebbe. He had just arrived here from Europe. He came to our shul in Boro Park and made an appeal for the she’eiris hapleitah. He came right off the boat!”

      I was in astounded. “You witnessed a seminal moment in our history! What did he say? ”

      “I was young,” Irving responded. “But I do remember his image and the sound of his voice telling about the machine guns and all… It never left me.”

      I said, “He likely collected a significant amount of money after that drashah.”

      Irving laughed at this.

      “Rabbi, I hope he did. And I am sure that what I am about to tell you is not indicative of most people. But I remember like it was yesterday going to the back of the shul to retrieve my things when the Rebbe was finished. I overheard two men talking. One of them asked the other, ‘How did you like the drashah?’ The other responded, ‘It was fine…but all these rabbis are the same. All they want is money!’”

      I am not a fundraiser, but when I do have to collect for a cause, I often share this story. It highlights the fact that one never knows when he is witnessing history. It is easy to be cynical and to dismiss this type of event, but in the long run, the cynic may lose out on very valuable sechorah.

      May I continue to learn from my amazing congregants, both those in this world and in the next.

    2. Jackie Mason’s Last Interview?

      Published in the Jewish Press

      July, 2021

      I do not know if my May 26, 2021 interview with Jackie Mason was his last, but it is certainly odd to consider that it’s a possibility.

      I am a rav, unmoved by fame, its trappings and the powerful yetzer hara it could bring. However, I am also an amateur historian, focusing primarily on early American rabbanim and Jews, writing a series on this topic in Ami Magazine.

      Jackie Mason was not on my radar. Although, like most people, I was aware that he served as a rabbi before trading the pulpit for a stage, my focus is on rabbis in colonial times. At the rate my research is going, it will be many years before I even arrive at the 20th century.

      However, two things brought me to that lunch in Tov Taam in Manhattan’s Financial District several weeks ago.

      The first was a meeting with Rav Shlomo Singer, rav and rosh yeshiva of PTI – Passaic Torah Institute. Rav Singer’s life is one of Torah and affection for all Jews. His teenage years were spent in the yeshivos of – and a close relationship with – Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Ahron Kotler, from whom he was inspired in not only how to think but how to love.

      During our long conversation he mentioned the following: “Rav Moshe would always ask Yaakov Moshe (Jackie) to emcee events. Rav Moshe loved to see the talmidim happy and laughing. And he loved Yaakov Moshe…”

      “Do you mean Jackie Mason?!” I interjected.

      “Yes. You have to realize that Jackie’s father was one of the gedolim of the last generation, on the level of Rav Moshe himself!” Rav Singer stressed.

      While some may be tickled at such information, I could not help but feel a tinge of melancholy. I would give anything to serve at the feet of Rav Moshe, and yet he left it all behind. I was not judging Jackie Mason, rather, as a teacher myself, I could not help but to see this from another perspective – wondering how painful this must have been for his rebbeim, specifically Rav Moshe.

      It was a fleeting thought, and I moved on, back to that conversation.

      It was several months later, and I was walking home from shul with a wonderful ballabuss in my shul, Lee Rosenbloom. Lee owns and operates an antique and specialty shop in Manhattan. He could find valuables, watches and other accoutrements of all kinds, making his business a popular destination for the rich and famous.

      He shared with me his long relationship with the Masons and their potential interest in meeting me for a lunch. After all, I write about American Jewish history, and he is certainly a part of that story.

      “They are expecting your call,” he concluded.

      And so I called Jackie’s dedicated wife who soon put Jackie on the phone. Before I knew it, a date and time was set.

      While the plan was just to talk for 20-or-so minutes, our lunch lasted an hour, and could have gone on for longer if I did not have to leave to give a shiur across the city. (Below is the first time this interview has been published.)

      Of course, we began by talking about matters everyone is well aware of by now. His career in rabbanus and how more Gentiles would come to his drashos than members of his own shul. We talked about being a rav in a small town; how there was no mikveh and how he had to run their Talmud Torah and go door-to-door of the members.

      He was still sharp and funny. When my wife asked me to describe the lunch, the best description was to say, “It was exactly what one would imagine lunch with Jackie Mason would be like.”

      While other rabbis suggested I probe if he ever has regrets leaving the olam haTorah, I did not feel this was an appropriate line of questioning, or the kindest method to discover his relationship with Torah. Just because someone is famous does not mean they are public vassals. Personal questions remain just that – personal – and one lunch does not give me access to probe any longing within his soul.

      * * * * *

      The meeting was recorded. We went through the life of his illustrious father, his growing up and, as mentioned, his rabbanus.

      He described growing up on the Lower East Side (where his family moved after his father left his rabbinical position in Sheboygan, Wisconsin). “It was a good life. Everything one needed was found within those four blocks…but if you left those four blocks, your life was in danger…. Jews then were considered like refugees.”

      Our conversation was very candid, and one tidbit shared from his career I believe is safe to share now. His wife explained how he was interested in starting a podcast, as he retired from the stage four years ago.

      “It just got too difficult for him” she explained.

      She stressed that this struggle had nothing to do with his age or mental agility, rather due to politics. He has always been very pro-Israel, and people on the other side of the spectrum have lost the ability to laugh along with opinions about which they have disagreements. Venues and bookers would call – even after a sellout – asking not to make jokes about certain candidates, presidents, etc.

      But I had one thing on my mind, one subject I wished for him to address: Rav Moshe Feinstein.

      “Tell me, do you recall Rabbi Moshe Feinstein?”

      “Sure! He was my rebbe…he gave me semicha.”

      “Do you still have the semicha, that paper?”

      “Sure.”

      Perhaps he was trying to deflect from this line of questioning, or perhaps it was only natural for him, but he started to make jokes.

      Perhaps he wanted to move on, but right or wrong, I was now locked in.

      “Tell me about Rav Moshe.”

      He shared how Rav Moshe loved him, always stopping during his shiur to smile at him as Rav Moshe would then laugh and say, “Nu, Yaakov Moshe, nu?” as if asking the young student if he enjoyed the novel insight.

      “But tell me more about him.”

      “He always smiled when I walked into a room. He loved everyone.”

      Still trying to get a sense of their relationship, I gently pushed, “That is so special, but tell me, what was he like?”

      “Do you know what the word anav means?” Jackie Mason asked. I nodded and he continued, “Well, that was Rabbi Feinstein. He was the most modest man, and he had every reason not to be.”

      Finally, I asked the question I’ve been saving until the end.

      “When was the last time you saw Rav Moshe?”

      I would have assumed it was in the 1950s or 1960s, soon after he left that world.

      Before answering, he asked, “Remind me, when did Rav Moshe pass away?”

      “1986.”

      Thinking for a moment, he then said, “So, the last time I saw him was around 1983 or 1984.”

      He went on to explain that he visited Rav Moshe frequently, never losing his respect and love for the gadol.

      “You know his son and my friend Dovid, who was just niftar?” he asked, referring to Rav Dovid Feinstein. “Up until a few years ago we talked on the phone a few times a year. He would call me, and sometimes I would call him.”

      Perhaps I am a victim of today’s generation where they so casually throw off all yokes of their past, for I was nonplussed by what he was telling me.

      I was then surprised to hear myself ask him, “What did you speak about with Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Dovid while you were this famous celebrity comic? Did they plead with you to return?”

      “Just love. They only showed me love.”

      Jackie Mason then looked me dead in the eye and said the following three words:

      “Oheiv es chaveiro [love your friend/fellow Jew] – that is what they represented.”

      One must be a pikayach (shrewd) to recognize each person’s needs and what will keep them close or turn them away. Rav Moshe loved Torah more than life itself, yet was able to bite his tongue if he felt it was a moment for love, affection, and warmth.

      And another lesson I took home that day: One never knows who could be a bridge to past gedolim.

    3. A Ger Teaches Us How To Respond to Rav Chaim Kanievsky’s Passing

           April, 2022

      Rabbis get the most interesting visitors to their offices, reporters, priests, politicians, etc.

      But by far, at least for me, the most noteworthy visitors are those who express a desire to become Jewish. It took several years for me to learn the best way to handle such a situation.

      On the one hand, we want the process of conversion to be painless, but it does have to be rigorous. Chazal often speak about the dangers of pushing a potential convert away, in one instance even blaming the birth of Amalek on such misconduct (Shabbos 88).

      On the other hand, we are taught the dangers of accepting those who come with ulterior motives, and the havoc that can be wrought by a beis din that accepts a ger too quickly (see Yevamos 109b with Meiri). Some poskim even recommend waiting a full year from the day a person expresses his wish to convert so that all parties are certain it’s the right thing to do (see Mishnas Rabbi Eliezer, to the effect that this has been the longstanding custom of batei din).

      Most famously, we are commanded to inform the potential convert of the difficulty of abiding by the Torah (Yevamos 47b) and the hardships experienced by the Jewish nation (Shulchan Aruch 268).

      One such convert was a young woman named Miriam. She came to my office fresh out of a local Catholic high school and was clearly nervous. It was obvious that stepping into a rabbi’s office frightened her, as if she were breaking some code. Interestingly, when she spoke, she came across like a Bais Yaakov girl. She was very eidel, and her tznius was remarkable.

      She told me that she had known for some time that she wanted to convert but needed to wait for the right moment. I began my shpiel in response, but I had forgotten to consider that she had grown up in the age of the internet: She had come to my office well informed and had already geared up for her long journey.

      Miriam ended up spending a year in seminary, and she continued to move toward geirus until she and the beis din felt that she was ready. I was living in Queens when she called to ask if she could come to my office to take the geirus test that had been prepared by the Toronto beis din. I explained that the test consisted of close to 1,500 questions and that people generally took it over the course of several days.

      “How long would it take if I did it in one shot?” she asked, undeterred.

      “I don’t know. Maybe eight or nine hours,” I surmised.

      She was so anxious to become a member of the am hanivchar that she didn’t care if her arm fell off from writing. She just wanted to be a Jew! She filled out question after question—queries about hilchos Shabbos, Yom Tov, the Jewish calendar, important expressions and terms, cultural ideas, history, minhagim, kashrus. Yiddishkeit covers everything, and so did this exam! No potential convert is expected to ace this test—and few frum Jews would either—but Miriam excelled. She converted very soon afterward.

      Sometime after her conversion, she got engaged to a wonderful young bachur who is now a kollel yungerman. Some five years later, she is a true eishes chayil and rebbetzin to this talmid chacham, and they live in the Five Towns.

      For the first several years, like many other geirim, she found it easier to call a rav she knew in case her question would make it obvious that she hadn’t grown up frum.(Not that it matters, but her questions were always informed; in fact, she knows more than most people.)

      There is a reason I am sharing her story this week, at a time when Jews around the world are reeling from the petirah of Rav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l.

      We all know where we were when we found out that Rav Chaim was niftar. I was on the phone with my father in Eretz Yisrael, and we stayed on the phone for a few minutes in relative silence, taking in the news. After I hung up, I composed a message for my shul and sat in silence again. Then I got a text that shook me to the core.

      It was from Miriam, wanting to know if and when she was required to tear kriah!

      It was only after hearing this holy sh’eilah that I broke down, the full weight of the loss of Rav Chaim crashing down on me like a tidal wave. It made me realize how personally his passing is affecting so many diverse people in klal Yisrael. After composing myself sufficiently to call her back, I found her in tears, sobbing for the loss to our nation and hardly able to speak.

      I told her how much her sh’eilah meant to me and to all of us. Sometimes we need our very own Yisro to open our eyes! I explained to her that Chazal made her point when they stated: “Chacham she’meis hakol kerovav, when a chacham dies, we are all his relatives” (Mo’ed Katan 25a).

      Indeed, the Shulchan Aruch rules that one is to tear kriyah “for a talmid chacham of whom one can ask any question and he is able to answer it” (Yoreh Dei’ah 340:7). This psak seems to apply clearly to Rav Chaim. Why, then, didn’t we all tear kriyah?

      There are several reasons. First, the Rema says that we only do so for our own personal rebbi or in unusual circumstances. The Aruch Hashulchan also explains that in our time, we don’t have chachamim who can answer on every topic in Torah, in accordance with the teaching of Chazal (Taanis 10) that such a person must be able to answer questions even on the less-studied minor tractates.

      But wait! Rav Chaim not only knew these tractates inside and out; he wrote sefarim on many of them as well!

      Then I saw in the name of the Zachor L’Avraham (Yoreh Dei’ah #11) that the reason we no longer tear kriyah for our gedolim is that there would be no end to it. Even today, we have so many geonim that if we tore kriyah for each one, we would soon have no garments left to tear (see Nitei Gavriel, Aveilus, Cheilek Alef,p. 281, footnote #5).

      Accordingly, the fact that most people didn’t tear kriyah for Rav Chaim is the greatest honor we can give him—for it is thanks to him that there has been such a proliferation of Torah scholars in our era.

      May he be a meilitz yosher for us all!

    4. Challah – Its Name, Its Braids, its Shape, and More

      December, 2021

      I. Etymology of Challa and ‘Sour’   

      Because of the ubiquitous nature of halacha, a rav will often be among the first to notice any-given societal change. Whether it is questions relating to new styles of footwear (“May I wear Crocs on Tisha B’av?”), higher Chinese import rates (“My new Chinses-made  pan is seasoned. How do they season in the Far-East and is it a kashrus iissue?”), or new technological tools (‘Can I souse-vide over yom tov?”).

          So, it was no surprise that ever since Covid I noticed changes that would only later be written-up and repotted upon even in the secular press. Among these societal shifts was the popularity of home-baking, specifically with baking sourdough.

           In hindsight, it makes sense that during the lockdown last year this in-house hobby would become more embraced.

           Already in May 2020, one magazine reported on a flour shortage due to this unexpected popularity.

           “Over the past few months, the best place to trace America’s deepening pandemic anxieties has been the shelves of grocery and big-box stores. The first common household goods to disappear were disinfectants: hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, Lysol. Bottled water and toilet paper were snatched up once companies started advising workers to stay home…Amid these disappearances, one of the most persistent has been that of an extremely common, shelf-stable product that has no obvious link to cleanliness or quarantine at all: flour…Several weeks ago, while America watched as unsold vegetables were plowed back into the soil and fretted over the earliest outbreaks among midwestern meatpackers, one flour company quietly saw its sales skyrocket 2,000 percent.”! (The Atlantic, May 12th, 2020)

         How did I, and other rabbanim, stumble upon this new popularity before many in the news became aware? it was the exponential increase in hilchos challah shailos! Shailos in this area were always on the rare side, when suddenly, two years ago, they became a weekly phenomenon. My wife has been baking challis on Friday for years, and began making and selling sourdough several years ago, so I had the good fortune of becoming familiar with the many issues that could arise.

          While some claim that the term ‘sour’ comes from the fermented aftertaste of such bread, a much more likely candidate for this word’s origin is from the Torah and lashon hakodesh. We are told about soeor-leaven/starter, as being the purest/simplest form of chometz (see e.g. Shmos 12:19). Such bread, made from starter/soeor/leaven is soeor bread!

             In any event, for many, this was their first foray into the many halachos home baking brings. The halachos of hafrashas challah-separating challah are intense, complicated and can change case-by-case.

          In addition, many women have begun taking part in large groups -often consisting of forty women -where they eacg bake enough dough to sperate challah for forty straight days, or weeks.

          While in the next two weeks iy’H we will discuss these segulos as well as many of the common and uncommon halachic cases that arise (get it?!), this week we will discuss the basic importance of this mitzvah and some of the common hashkafos associated with it.

            The mitzvah of challah was given over to the nation in parshas shlach, immediately following the chet meraglim (bamidbar 15 18-21).

           The Tzror HaMor posits that it was given at that moment since the yetzer hara is often compared to the soeor she’be’isah, and removal of some of this dough is metaphorically reminding us to rid ourselves of his powers.

          This explains why they would need this mitzvah right after the sin of the spies.

         The significance of this mitzvah cannot be overstated.

            The midrash teaches us that it was the zechus of hafrashas challah that allowed us to soon enter eretz yisroel (Bamidbar Rabbah 17).

          Chazal share that this mitzvah has unique power to bring blessing to one’s home (Shabbos 32, with sefer Yechezkal 44:30).

         In fact, the midrash teaches that because of three mitzvos was the world created: maaseros, bikkurim and challah. Many explain that these three items have one thing in common – after toiling for many months in buying and then creating a feasible field, after planting and tilling, separating and winnowing, grinding and mixing, etc., and now finally able to enjoy the sweat of one’s brow, the mere fact that we first think of Hashem and His Torah before ourselves and our own enjoyment is a tremendous zechus. The world was created for such sacrifice and selflessness.

           In fact, the Hagoas Maimoness in hilchos challah teaches that ‘taryag mitzvos’ is the gematria ‘zu hi mitzvos challah’ because it is equal to all other mitzvos in the Torah!

          It is then of no surprise that the Eshel Avraham (Rav Avraham Dovid Warman, d. 1840) posits that we term the lechem mishneh used on Shabbos after this mitzvah, calling it ‘challah’.

          The source of this odd neologism is a Rema in hilchos Shabbos where he urges women to bake lechem l’kavod Shabbos each Friday; enough so as to perform the mitzvah of hafrashas challah (Rema, siman 242).     

          Other sefarim share another fascinating source for a word: Bourekas. In Europe they would often call the bread baked for Shabbos not challah specifically, but rather ‘Berechas’. This was taken from the word ‘brochos’,  due to the many blessings hafrashas challah brings to the home (see Piskei Teshuvos, Shabbos vol. 1, p. 9 footnote 88).

            Many dictionaries struggle with the etymology of this popular Israeli pastry. It may turn out that Jews in sefardi lands termed it such because it allowed them to perform the mitzvah of challah which brings beracha!

           The minhag of baking bread for Shabbos on Friday is precisely what hooked many women during the start of Covid. Rav Yaakov Emden (Siddur Beis Yaakov) and others suggest a secondary reason for this minhag -so as to have fresh warm challah for Shabbos. This is not simply for oneg, but also to imitate the lechem hapnaim in he beis hamikdosh which were baked on Fridays. Due to this, the Choftez Chaim writes of his surprise that some perform this minhag on Thursday nights and not Friday itself (although many poskim are lenient in our days).

           Several months ago a woman who stated to make sourdough asked me if t ok that now her challis for Shabbos were round. Indeed, the reason why traditional challos are long, like a vav, is that two vavs next to each other equals the twelve breads of the lechem hapanim (six plus six). In fact, some have the minhag of actually using twelve loaves!

           However, the word challah comes from the same root of machalos, round circles of people dancing. So round challos may actually speak to the direct meaning of the word. This reminded me of the machine matzah debate that we wrote about several years ago. Many suggested a concern regarding the new square shape.  The Shoel U’Meishiv and others dismiss this out of hand. The Ksav Sofer also dismissed the square matzo concern by stating, “In the merit of the four-cornered matzos, may Hashem redeem us from the four corners of the earth”!

           We are only scratching the surface. Next week we will discuss the issue of basic challah and sourdough and their shapes and ‘braiding’ for Shabbos, as well as the forty day segulah. After that we will give the reader a basic primer on these important halachos.

          The pasuk states, “…my heart rejoiced with all my toil” (koheles 2:10). On this the midrash states ‘zu hafrashas challa –this refers to separating challah’ (Koheles Rabbah 2:13).

          May we all merit from this and other mitzvos we strive to perform and better understand.

      II. Braids, Numbers and Symbolism

           Last week we spoke about the proliferation of home bakers ever since the start of Covid, leading to many more shailos relating to hafrashas challah. We mentioned the Rema who urges women to bake lechem for Shabbos at home, with enough dough to perform a hafrasha. Indeed, this is where the term ‘challah’ for Shabbos lechem comes from. We concluded with a woman who asked if sourdough -that is round -may be used for lechem mishneh (yes, but see below).

           This week, I wish to pick up from here and discuss some of the imponderables of minhagei yisroel that relates to challah.

      III. Number

           When I learnt in eretz yisroel, I would often eat by the Chofetz Chaim’s grandson. That was the first time I ever saw someone make hamotzi on Shabbos over twelve challos (see Shaarie Teshuvah siman 274 in the name of the Ari’z’l).

          Another way of reaching the number twelve is to use four challos for each of the three meals (Zohar, Raya D’mihemna, pinchos). The Shlah writes to start with twenty-four challos (!), use twelve for the night, eight for the day, four for shalosh seudos and two for melavah Malka (Shabbos, os mem).

           Others are careful to cut both challos by each meal (meaning, they use six challos total over Shabbos). This is for two reasons. Firstly, by cutting in half a total of six loaves over Shabbos, one will reach the total of twelve (brought in the name of the Gra). But, secondly, according to many rishonim the actual obligation of lechem mishneh is to cut-into and eat from both challos at each meal, and not just to make a beracha on two and then eat just one (Rashba, Biur HaGra, etc.). The logic behind this view is because-aside for the representation of the mann -doubling our food on Shabbos is a sign of kavod (see Daas Zekeinim to Bamidbar 27:9 and Darkei Chaim V’Shalom, os 399).

           Although most do not follow these practices literally, we all do so in the figurative sense – through the challos’ shape, as we will now explain.

      IV. Shape

              In truth, the shape of challos should always be round. Indeed, this is the default shape when it is a yom tov, but this is especially true during the yomim noraim. This is because something that is round is a siman tov, as it has no endpoint (See Asifas Gershon, volume Shabbos, Rav Gershon Eisenberger, p. 94). Others suggest that this same concept represents the oneness of Hashem and that he has no beginning or end (Taamei Haminhagim, likutim 183)). Others suggest that a round shape represents keser, a crown (Divrei Yoel). All this is not even to mention that the word ‘challah’ comes from a word for circle -as we discussed last week.

           It is Shabbos, however, when we create an odd shape for these breads. Many sefarim teach that the long rectangle shape of the standard Shabbos challos is to represent the letter vav. This way, by having two vavim –each with the gematria of six -aligned next to each other, we can represent the twelve breads of the lechem hapanim (Elyah Rabbah, siman 177; Likutei Mahrich in the name of many rebbes). Some therefore suggest we align our challos lengthwise by homotzi and not by their width.

          Interestingly, some are careful to use this shape on yom tov as well. This is because of another number this shape brings us to. Our ten fingers holding the challah, plus the numerical value of the vav-shape, and then add the yud of the first small cut of end of the challah -we get twenty-six, the shem hamifurash! (See Elyah Rabbah in name of the Shlah; see also Minhag Yisroel Torah, orach chaim, p. 311, second column).

      V. Braids

          First, the fact that challos on Shabbos look at all unique from weekday bread may come from a midrash (Mechilta, bshalach). Chazal state that the term ‘mishneh lechem’ is an allusion to the word meshuneh-different/unique. “From here is our source that the challos on Shabbos are unique from weekday ones…this is the meaning of the zemer ‘lechem chamudos’ (sefer Otzar Hayedios by Rav Yechiel Michal Stern, volume 2 p. 132).

          But why braids? And why six, or is it three?

      There are many possible explanations to this. The most basic, is based on a Rema (97:1). On Shavous some would often make dairy bread, and during the year they would sometimes use shmaltz in their other breads. The Rema teaches that if such is the case the bread must look distinct in some way to serve as a reminder of its status, and to prevent mixing with the wrong food.

          On Shabbos, even if we do not mix in basar, our bread is served at fleishig meals and left-over slices should not then be used for dairy French Toast or the like (Shulchan Aruch 89:4). We therefore give it a unique shape and look so that it is not mixed with other breads.

          Others suggest that the six braids represent the days of the work week -now becoming sanctified.

          But how does this explain the minhag of some to make only three braids? Perhaps we can suggest the following explanation: The Zohar writes that the three meals of Shabbos correspond to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. Perhaps then, the three braids represent the three meals and the namesakes.

         I would offer one last suggestion to the minhag of braids. I haven’t seen it anywhere, but it seems obvious. There is only one place in chazal that I am aware of where preparing on erev Shabbos with braiding is mentioned. Chazal first bring the pasuk (Bereishis 2:22) “And Hashem built (vayiven) the side that he took from Adam into a woman, and He brought her to Adam” Why, they ask, did the Torah use the word ‘build’ and not vayitzar-and He created? The gemara answers that the translation of vayivein can also be to braid. Hashem braided the hair of Chavah and then brought her to Chava (Brachos 61a).

          Perhaps we remind ourselves of this act of chesed as we prepare for Shabbos each week.

      Next week we will discuss the many other halachos that are involved in bread-baking, iy’H.

    5. Rebbetzin Chaya Ausband, z”l

      Rebbetzin Chaya Ausband, z”l

      Just One Speech:
      From Telshe, To Montreal, To Queens

      (See post on her son, the Rosh Yeshiva zt”l, written upon his sudden passing just a few years after this was published)


      Rabbi Yisroel Salanter famously taught: It is worth all the preparation
      and research, the hours of toiling, just for that 13 minute drasha. It is
      worth it even if the only result is that one person will be inspired to
      daven just one better shemoneh esreh. And this is all true even if that
      person is the speaker himself.
      I try to work by this code, especially if I happen to notice someone
      dozing off during a shiur or derasha.
      Yet, there are certain speakers, darshunim and baalei mussar whose
      impact can be felt many years later, sometimes for the lifespan of the
      listeners.
      This is one such speech.
      A few months ago I mentioned to my mother-in-law that I began doing
      some work in Yeshiva of Telshe Alumni, better known as the Riverdale
      Yeshiva.
      Her response surprised me.
      To understand what comes next, it is important to know a basic
      background of the Telshe yeshiva.
      In the mid-1870’s a yeshiva was founded in the city of Telshe for the
      local students. Although begun by renowned talmidei chachamim, it
      served mainly the local younger bachurim.
      About ten years later, the city of Telshe hired a new rav, Rav Laizer
      Gordon. Rav Lazer Gordon saw the winds of the enlightenment affecting

      people’s attitude toward yeshivos in general, and sought to create an
      environment of pride.
      One amazing example of this was his doing away with essen teg, where
      yeshiva bochurim would go to various homes of local balla battim to be
      served free meals. He instituted that all bochurim who came from
      wealthy homes would pay their own way for food. In addition, those
      who could not afford it would receive a stipend from the yeshiva office
      with which to pay their hosts for the meals.
      This not only created a sense of pride in the students-as they no longer
      saw themselves as beggars-but created a different mindset toward them
      in the eyes of the local balla battim.
      Rav Laizer also brought his nephew Rav Shimon Shkop, as well as his
      son-in-law Rav Yosef Leib Bloch to be rebbeim and leaders in the
      yeshiva. Among their early student body was Rav Elchanan Wasserman
      and others who would go on to greatness.
      Still, the yeshiva often suffered financially. It was in 1910, while on a
      fundraising trip to London that Rav Laizer Gordon was niftar.
      At this time Rav Shimon Shkop had already left Telshe to become the
      rav of Breinsk –a void filled in Telshe by Rav Chaim Rabinowitz – and
      the rabbanus and the yeshiva was given over to Rav Yosef Leib Bloch.
      Rav Bloch was a brilliant and fascinating individual, having delved the
      yam hatalmud, a master in mussar, as well as having learned sodos
      Hatorah with the holy Leshem (the grandfather of Rav Elyashiv).
      The yeshiva continued to grow under his guidance, becoming one of the
      great, select yeshivos in Europe.
      The city too would continue to grow, soon (1929-1931) seeing the
      opening of the revolutionary Telshe mechina for boys, and the Yavneh
      High School for girls.

      In 1929 Rav Yosef Leib Bloch was niftar. He left behind three sons, and
      two sons-in-laws. While many know of his youngest son, Rav Eliyahu
      Meir Bloch, as well as his son-in-law Rav Chaim Morechai Katz –both
      of whom who would later found the American Telshe yeshiva –it was
      his middle son, Rav Avraham Yitzchak Bloch who took over the
      rabbanus and the yeshiva.
      Although only in his late 30’s at the time, he was seen as a leader among
      men, becoming a member of the moetzes gedolei hatorah.
      But Telshe suffered a bitter, almost unspeakable end. First, the Soviets
      entered the city and closed the yeshiva down. Many fled and the yeshiva
      was down to about 100 students. Amazingly, the rebbeim would still
      meet up with groups of bochurim, at different times, around the city to
      give shiurim.
      But soon the Nazis entered the picture. On 20 Tammuz the Nazi
      paramilitary unit, or the einsatzgruppen, who were responsible for mass
      killings, murdered the male Jews in town, including the entire yeshiva,
      the hanhala, and the rosh yeshiva, Rab Avraham Yitzchok Bloch. On 7
      Elul the women of Telshe were massacred. Hashem Yinkim Domum!
      Three of his daughters survived. One, Rebbetzin Chaya Ausband, was
      married to Rav Eizik Ausband z’l (d. 2012) who himself became the
      rosh yeshiva in Telshe, Cleveland. The Rebbeitzen herself founded
      Yavneh of Cleveland.
      It is Rebbitzen Chaya Ausband’s son, Rav Avraham Ausband, who
      founded Telshe in Riverdale.
      My mother-in-law, began to get emotional. “I remember Rebbitzen
      Ausband’s speech to staff of teachers at Beis Yaakov in Montreal” she
      began.

      My mother had not taught there-or lived there-in close to forty years!
      “You remember a speech from four decades ago?!” I asked
      incredulously.
      “Every single word. I will tell you three things that stuck with me, and
      that I think about often.
      “First, she recounted a little of the history of Telshe, and said the
      following amazing statement: ‘No matter how painful those final days in
      Telshe were, never once did any of us ever wish we were the rotzchim
      instead of the nirtzachim.’”
      That indeed is a powerful and mighty message, exhibiting the strength,
      beauty and bitachon of klal yisroel.
      “Two: She said that when ever she was trying to fix a bad midda in her
      younger children she would try everything, until she realized the
      simplest trick. If she worked on that midda herself, if she improved her
      own challenges in that same area, then magically, and without fail, it
      would disappear in her children.”
      I don’t know if my mother-in-law was hinting to me something, but I
      have tested this myself, and not only does it work, but by watching one’s
      young children develop one can measure and often discover what needs
      to be fixed in one self. It is a powerful tool for changing one self and bad
      behavior in children.
      “Finally, she spoke about the pain of OTD children. This was in the
      early 1980’s when it was rarely if ever spoken about aloud, or seen as
      the epidemic it would so sadly become. She warned us not to judge such
      a family. There is so much influence today from the outside, that if a
      child leaves Torah it is not in any way to be blamed on the parents.

      “How can one forget such wise words heard from the mouth of someone
      who had seen so much Torah and so much suffering? Not only did she
      move on with her life after so much loss, but she continued to rebuild
      Torah in America. Instead just focusing on the past, she contemplated
      the Jewish future.”
      When my mother-in-law recounted this I could not help but comment
      that if such lessons were taught by the few who escaped Telshe, just
      imagine the Torah and wisdom that were snuffed out and we will never
      get to hear.
      Sometimes a speech, and the history behind it, can change many, many
      lives, and even be published forty years after it was presented.

    6. Rav Pinchos Stolper, z”l

      Rav Pinchos Stolper, z”l

      A Kiruv Founder & Legend

      May, 2022

      A Kiruv Legend

            When I was about ten years old, I had a children’s atlas -a book dedicated to the United States; its geography and its people. I loved this book and read it constantly. One Shabbos, my parents’ old friends were by us for Shabbos. It was a seudah where we were regaled with amazing stories from their past. It is always difficult to imagine our parents before we were born, and a delight to a child’s ear to hear about such times.

             Suddenly, in a nostalgic moment, my father, Rav Baruch Taub, the Rav of the BAYT in Toronto, asked me to bring my atlas to the table.

         “Ok, Moshe” he challenged me “Open up to the map of all fifty states. Now point to any city, large or small, so long as it has 50,000 or more people”

           While an odd request, I did so.

          As I pointed to each city and town, my father and the guests reminisced about the Shabbos(im) spent in each one. He named the rav there at the time, as well as those who would ultimately go-on to attend yeshiva, Neve Yerushalaim or Stern. Some are today rabbanim, rebbeim, and askanim.

          Many of these small towns no longer have Jewish communities of significant sizes and some have faded completely, but there was time when traditional-yet-not-frum Jewswere being raised in great numbers all across the American tundra.

           Why was my father ever in these cities? Who were these guests who were able to play along with this ‘game’?

           It all comes down to one person, Rav Pinchas Stolper, who was niftar last week at the age of 90.

      ‘Zechor Yemos Olam, Binu Shnos Dor V’dor, Sho’al Avicha Vayadgeidcha, zikeinecha vyomru luch’– Remember the days of old; reflect upon the years of [other] generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will inform you.

       (Devarim 32:7)

      Rav Hirsch explains this pasuk with the following powerful words:

      “…the zekeinim will have the ability to share history with you; they will explain the connection between your origin and your mission to the world, along with the errors and phases of the past”.

           One of the great privileges of writing in Ami is the ability to introduce readers to important figures about whom they may be unfamiliar. With Rav Stolper’s passing, klal yisroel lost one of the heroes of galus America.

              “While today there are hundreds of dedicated kiruv workers, such a vibrant conscientiousness would not exist without the following four people: The Lubavitcher rebbe, The London brothers, and Rav Pinchas Stolper”, my father recently shared with me.

          This is no exaggeration.

           Our story begins on May 6, 1950. The Associated Press ran a story that was published in several papers, and that made its way to the desk of Rav Yitzchak Hutner of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, then in Brownsville.

          ‘Tomato Shower Greets German Team In Gotham’ ran the headline.

      “A score of youthful demonstrators pelted 16 visiting German soccer players with apples and tomatoes yesterday as the athletes were being officially greeted at city hall. The shower of produce splattered the players as they posed for pictures with city Council President Vincent R. Impelliteri.

      “Three of the jeering demonstrators who carried signs protesting what was termed ‘The Nazi invasion of New York’ were arrested… Impelliteri later declared the attack as engineered by a handful of communists.

      The three arrested youths were held in $100 bail for a hearing May 11. They were booked as Phineas Stolpher, 18, and Martin Kreiner, 21, both of Brooklyn, and Joseph Adler, 18, Manhattan. Adler told Magistrate Vincent J. Kowalski he born in Germany and remembers Nazi youth organizations there. ‘We have to have some way of expressing ourselves’”

            Gedolei yisroel, having recently arrived in America to rebuild Torah, were always on the lookout for untapped youthful energy. Rav Hutner saw a certain holy chutzpah that could be harnessed for the greater good. Turning to Rav Chaim Feuerman – who had shown him this story -Rav Hutner demanded the Stolper boy be recruited to the yeshiva.

          What pikchus on the part of Rav Hutner! With that one reaction the course of Jewish history was now altered.

          Now, with a young Pinchas Stolper learning under the tutelage of Rav Hutner, Hashem’s plan was in motion. At the 1954 OU Convention, an idea was birthed to join all localized youth movements around the country under one auspice. They would call this venture National Conference of Synagogue Youth, or NCSY for short. These four initials, to some in the litvish world, may, at best, bring up feelings of indifference. The reader, however, should note that not by chance did Lakewood go from a few hundred students in the 1960’s to close to ten thousand today, bl’a. Many children of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s had only a cursory relationship with yiddishkeit, perhaps best described in Moshe Yess’s classic song‘My Zaidy’; they may have had kiddush Friday night, few may have even have been exposed to some level of religiousity. But almost all went to public schools. The writing was on the wall. This generation pf youth was about to be lost. How can we bypass all barriers and talk directly to them?

           As Rav Zev Leff expressed at Rav Stolper’s levaya, Rav Leff would not be here today if not for NCSY.

          In 1959 this new organization was treading water and fledgling (this fact comes directly from the OU – https://60.ncsy.org/about/ncsy-history/). That is when they felt the need to hire their first ‘National Director’. They chose Rabbi Stolper, who at that time was working for the Ponivizh Yeshiva.

          Aside from seeking advisement with the gedolei hador (specifically Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, Rav Hutner, Rav Gifter and Rav Ruderman) on all matters of halacha and hashkafa, what Rabbi Stolper created was nothing short of brilliant. There would be ‘Regions’ and ‘Chapters’. The youth will take their own leadership roles in this organization. This will give it its chiyus. Advisers will come from yeshivas Ner Yisreol, Chofetz Chaim and YU. Each year they would hold elections and a National Convention. There would be an honor society and publications, Awards will be given out. Regions would have their own songs, activities, and verve. Not only will this give the youth ownership in this mission, but each Chapter’s advisors would now be trained to become leaders and askanim of tomorrow.

          “On the outside, it was framed to appear similar to the Heterodox youth movements. But it was all an illusion. It was a house of cards; a trick to galvanize kids. All the pomp and all the circumstance were created as a heicheh timtza, a pretext, for one thing and one thing only: to get these young boys into a yeshiva and girls to go to a seminary, or, at the very least to introduce concepts of Shabbos, tznius and Torah to the American Jewish youth” said my father.

           Did his plan work?

             Like gangbusters!

            It is not my place to name the many rabbanim and askanim who either became attached to Torah through NCSY or who learned how to lead through serving as advisors. Yet, these are names every reader certainly knows.

            But a few a can quote.

          Mr. Gary Torgow, of Detroit, is renown askan who, among other things, serves on the Board of Directors at Artscroll. He shared with me, “I had the immense honor and privilege to work for Rabbi Stolper as the Regional Director of Central East NCSY. Rabbi Stolper was one of Hashem’s most impactful and courageous Angels of good. His love and compassion for every Jew became the mission statement for every person who toiled in the fields of NCSY. His impact on the Jewish world can only be measured by counting the children, grandchildren and Great Grandchildren of thousands of NCSY’ers that he inspired and encouraged”

          Rebbitzen Hochberg, now of Lakewood, but previously of Jamaica Estates, Queens, where her husband, Rav Shlomo Hochberg served as rav for twenty-five years. She was raised in Peoria, IL.

         She shared with me the following:

          “Rabbi Stolper played a big part in my becoming frum. For all four of my high school years, he was at every national convention, every Midwest regional winter convention and every spring Conclave that I attended, and I spent a great deal of time asking him a plethora of theological questions at each event. He was always patient and kind and wise. 
          “There’s no doubt that without Rabbi Stolper and Harry Ostreicher who headed NCSY in Peoria, my life would have taken a totally different and much less meaningful track. I have such a tremendous amount of hakaras hatov to him.”

            Indeed, Rabbi Stolper would travel to each region and each chapter. Shabbos after Shabbos, week after week. He, and his ezer k’negdo, lhb’clc, Rebbitzen Elaine Stolper, would spend Shabbos in virtually any town with a shul, with Jewish youth. From Boise to Baton Rouge, De Moines to Duluth – he brought so many to Torah.

           In the early years of Neve Yerushalim and Ohr Sameach, it was NCSY that supplied them with a constant stream of students. This is not to mention Stern, Ner Yisroel, YU, and even Telshe.

           Once, while reading a journal from the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists Rabbi Stolper came across an article written by a one Leonard Kaplan. Just as Rav Hutner had seen something special within him, Rabbi Stolper too recognized that this man was more than he let on. He had a simple brilliance about him, backed up by a hard drive of Torah; he was unlike anyone he had ever seen.  That man was, in fact, Rav Aryeh Kaplan. Rabbi Stolper was the one to then tap him to write books for and speak to NCSY. Most of the Rav Aryeh Kaplan books that we have today are only due to Rabbi Stolper and NCSY.

           My father would soon serve under Rabbi Stolper as Associate National Director, and then, in the late 1970’s when Rabbi Stolper became Executive Vice President of the OU, my father became National Director.

          This is why my father visited all those cities in the story with which we opened. And, those guests at my table? They were advisors in his day -today leading rabbanim and askanim.

         My father recently shared with me, “There are four words that are like nails on a chalkboard, at least for me. Four words that should never be said, in my humble opinion. These four words are, ‘I made him frum’.      Rabbi Pinchas Stolper -my father shared-never used those four words. This, even though he could have, and maybe is one of the few who should have.”

             Another known askan, Dr. Loise Malcmacher of Cleveland -who served as head of NCYS’s Central Region in 1970’s – shared with me how Rabbi Stolper never talked down to the teenagers. He would give over Rav Hutner’s Torah to them as if they learnt in yehsiva. He would bring them up to his level, and not the other way around. He spoke how Mr. Irving Stone and other community leaders loved Rabbi Stolper. These were men who can smell the inauthentic from a mile away.

           Speaking of how he spoke to teenagers, in 1967 Rabbi Stolper wrote a book titled Responsible Jewish Adulthood. This is when the hippie movement was in full swing, and the competition for the minds and hearts of our youth was at its peak. He opens this book by laying out the foundations of tznius, kedusha and tahara, and how each NCSY chapter must enforce these goals in their actions and in the hearts and minds of the youth.

          He would bring in gedolei roshei yeshiva to speak to the teenagers -they should get a taste of the goal and not just the journey!

            Dr. Malcmacher shared a poignant personal anecdote. For the last few decades he and his wife Chani (who served as my father’s secretary in NCSY) would travel the globe for his popular academic courses on dentistry. Often, they have to be away for Shabbos. Like most, they have many bechers from which to choose to take on these Shabbos trips. But they always choose one among the many. It is the kos that the Stolpers gave them upon their marriage.

          He explained, “Rabbi Stolper and his rebbitzen were also always away Shabbos. And, they had so much hatzlacha. If I wished to have hatzlacha on my trips, I could think of no better talisman.”

          A kos shel beracha indeed!

             Rabbi Stolper is survived by his wife Elaine, his son R’ Akiva and daughter Rebbitzen Michal Cohen, the wife of Rav Zev Cohen of Chicago. He is also reunited with his daughter Malky, a’h.

          May Rabbi Stolper fight for us in the olam haemes as he had in this world below.

          Yehi zichro baruch.

         

    7. Rav Avraham Ausband, zt”l

      Rav Avraham Ausband, zt”l

      A Gadol of Destiny

      History & Personal Reflections

      Published in Ami Magazine the week of Rav Ausband’s petira, Elul 5784//Sep. 2024

      Rabbi Moshe Taub

      “…Binu Shenos Dor V’Dor…” (Devarim 32:7)

         Writing in the June 1974 issue of the Jewish Observer, the rosh yeshiva of Telshe in Cleveland, Rav Mordechai Gifter zt”l, shared the heart-wrenching events of July 15th 1941 (20th of tammuz). Unbelievably, just thirty-three years prior:

      “…When the Nazi’s beat the Telsher Rav upon the head with hammer blows and taunted him: ‘Where is your Gd, Herr Rabbiner?’, the Telsher Rav replied, ‘He is not only my Gd, He is your Gd; and the world will yet see this’…At the time when the Nazis took the Telshe community to their intended slaughter at a lake nearby, The Telsher Rav said a derasha…When he could no longer stand on his feet, not having enough strength to carry even a gemara, he directed his young daughter (his sons were gone, [hy’d!] to take out the gemara Sanhedrin, to open to the topic of Kiddush Hashem [daf 74], and to begin reading…”

      The ‘Telsher Rav’ to whom Rav Gifter was referring was Rav Avraham Yitzchok Bloch.

      A mere six years after his murder, across an ocean and a world away, his grandson, Rav Avraham Ausband was born. Rav Bloch was yet another zaideh in our long galus who never held his einikle, just as Rav Ausband was yet another einikle in our long galus who was never warmed by the sweet embrace of his zaideh.

      To this, Rav Ausband himself once expressed, writing in a separate article in the Jewish Observer:

      “My family was completely decimated. I was never privileged to meet either of my grandfathers”

      ‘The View of a Child of Survivors’

      J.O., July, 1995

      Yet, in lieu of a fleeting physical embrace, Rav Ausband became spiritually and eternally fused with his revered zaideh, becoming the embodiment of both the life and the mission of his holy namesake.

          A Lithuanian Massacre

         Before the clouds of World War Two darkened Europe , Telshe was fast becoming one of the great fortresses of Torah in Europe, with the city celebrating the opening of their revolutionary Telshe mechina for boys, and its Yavneh High School for girls.

      In 1929 Rav Yosef Leib Bloch, Rav Avraham Yitzchok’s father, passed away, leaving behind three sons (and two sons-in-laws – Rav Eliyahu Meir Bloch and Rav Chaim Mordechai Katz – who would later together establish the American Telshe yeshiva).

      Ultimately, it was his middle son, Rav Avraham Yitzchak Bloch, who would took the mantle from his revered father, taking charge of both the rabbanus of the city and the leadership of its famed yeshiva.

      Although only in his late 30’s at the time, he was already recognized – in Telshe and around the Torah world – as a leader-among-men. This became even more apparent to all when he soon was asked to join the esteemed moetzes gedolei hatorah.

      But then…

      …Alas…

      …First, the Soviets entered the city and closed the yeshiva down.

      This first invasion was enough to cause many to flee, leaving the yeshiva with only one-hundred remaining students. Yet, even during this precarious time, the dedicated rebbeim somehow found a way meet and give shiurim with groups of bochurim at secret times and locations around the city.

      But then…

      …Alas…

      …In time, the Nazi’s paramilitary unit, the Einsatzgruppen, ym”sh, entered town. They chose the 20th of tammuz as the date they would murder all the town’s Jewish males, including the entire yeshiva, its hanhala, and their rosh yeshiva, Rav Avraham Yitzchok Bloch. On the 7th of elul the women of Telshe were massacred. Hashem Yinkim Domum!

      Lita, Ohio//Lita, Illinois//Lita, New York

         Three of the young rav’s daughters survived (Rav Avraham Yitzchak Bloch’s daughters).

      One of those daughters, Rebbetzin Chaya Ausband, would soon marry Rav Eizik Ausband z’l and settle in Cleveland.

      Both Rav Eizik and his Rebbetzin had ‘rebuilding’ in their heart and spirit -she would open and lead the famed Yavne School for Girls, while Rav Eizik would go on to become the rosh yeshiva in Telshe, Cleveland. Rav Eizik was niftar twelve years ago, and rebbitzen Chaya Ausband was nifterah just four years ago, at the age of ninety-six years (for more on her life and lessons, click to see this post)

          It was to this Telsher yichus that Rav Avraham Ausband was born. It was in such a home where he was raised, and, it was toward this pedigree of sacrifice for the continence and legacy of Torah for which he lived.

        Soon, Telshe in Cleveland, and then in Chicago, would become citadels of Torah in America. It was then when a young Rav Avraham Ausband led the founding of a new branch of Telshe, ultimately settling in Riverdale, New York.

          His new yeshiva officially commenced on the first day of elul zeman, 1984.

      As Rav Willig pointed out, Rav Ausband led the yeshiva until, exactly forty years later -to the day.

      His life’s mission -and that of his holy zeidah – completed as one unit.

      Personal Reflections

            Long before I had the opportunity to work for him, Rav Ausband had a profound presence in my life.

          My first memory of Telshe-Riverdale is of sitting in the car as my older brother, Rav Shmuel Taub, was being dropped off for elul zeman. I could not have been older than ten-years-old, and while I can’t explain now why, but that brief moment left an indelible imprint on me. Perhaps it was the envy from knowing I would never reach my two older brothers’ level of hasmada nor be able to attend such an illustrious yeshiva.

         Several weeks after dropping him off, he returned home for bein hazemanim. As we sat in the sukkah, my brother regaled us with tales of his rosh yeshiva, Rav Ausband. He would share his brilliant insights, unique wit, and profound clarity.

          Five years later, my sister Naomi married Efraim Halpert, who was also from the early talmidim of Telshe-Riverdale. The newly married couple would spend their first Rosh Hashanah with Rav Ausband, a yom tov my sister till recounts years later.

          Moving ahead in time to ten years after dropping my brother off for that elul: I was now twenty-years old and felt the common anxiety that often comes with the onset of adulthood; the new intensity of emotions, the comparing oneself to others, and the uncertainty of one’s future, which path to choose – the usual chalishas hadaas young adults face from time-to-time.

         When I shared these strong feelings with this same brother, he quickly pulled out an Alei Shor (Rav Wolbe) and learned a specific section with me.    I was blown away by how poetically it encapsulated what I was feeling and how brilliantly it aided me in refocusing my energies.

       “Wow, this really hits the spot! How did you know exactly what to learn with me?!” I exclaimed.

          My brother shared his secret: “I just did what Rav Ausband did”. He explained that when he was my age – and also struggling with the same common youthful anxieties-he turned to Rav Ausband who immediately directed him to this same sefer and page.

          Fast forward through my own marriage, my time in Lakewood, then Buffalo.

       I had recently moved to Queens when I received a call from Rav Uri Fox, the afternoon menahel in Telshe-Riverdale. I remembered Rav Fox fondly from my days in Yeshiva Gedolah of Passaic.

         “To what do I owe this honor?” I asked.

         Rav Ausband, he explained, was in the midst of re-working his secular studies program for the younger high school boys, where in addition to the standard Regent classes, he wished to, when applicable, attach chochmas haboreh, life preparedness, and yedios Hatorah to this program. Rav Tennebaum from Queens was already teaching a masterful class on the medieval period through the lens of the early rishonim, and after seeing my summer history series, Rav Fox wondered if I would come in once or twice a week to teach American history through the prism of the yidden of early America.

      I readably agreed, proudly sharing with my wife, “It took twenty years, but I finally got accepted in Telshe-Riverdale!”.

          Soon, I had the honor of assuming Rav Fox’s position, as he took another job closer to his home.

          I would now be working directly with the rosh yeshiva.

            Rav Ausband was a true shepherd, never allowing a hire unless he met the teacher himself. If the teacher was a rav, he wisely needed to be confident that he would know his place in the yeshiva, if he was young, he needed to know if could control the classroom, etc.

            Once, Rav Ausband called me into his office. He was very excited, as Artscroll would send the yeshiva their new sefarim, he had an advance copy of ‘Introduction to the Talmud’. In it, they explicate the history of the tannaim and amoriam as well as their yeshivos and the way of life in their times. “I want you to look at this, maybe you can find material that could aid these young bachurim in their future learning”.

            When I found a gentle talmud chacham to lead just such a class, I brought him to meet with the rosh yeshiva. Something seemed off to me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I was always so nervous in front of the rosh yeshiva that I was unable to properly focus, trying instead -and in vain -to think what he may be thinking. When the prospective teacher walked out, the rosh yeshiva turned to me and said, “R’ Moshe, did you notice?” I was not sure to what he was referring. “His shoelaces were untied, his socks didn’t match and his shirt was filthy.” Oh well, I thought, this is a bad sign for this job prospect’. But the rosh yeshiva had another thought in mind. After a pause he said, “Such a good reputation, such a fine resume, something else must be going on. I wonder if everything is ok in his personal life to come to a job interview like that…”.

           Meeting with all new hires meant he had to initially meet with me as well.

         Being interviewed for a menahel job is one thing, but to interviewed for it by a senior rosh yeshiva was nothing short of frightening -especially a gadol who was my older brother’s rebbe. The rosh yeshiva opened the door to his office with his known simchadikah shmeichel, that he must have known put everyone at ease.

          It was a profound and lengthy conversation -penetrating questions one minute, and light humor the next.     He asked me about my shul, who I speak to with serios shailos, about my family, and of course about my father shlit”a, brother, and brother-in-law. Although by that time he had three generations of talmidim, he knew not just the names of each, but those of their children, what they were doing, etc.

          While his advice and thoughts shared are private, there is one part of our exchange that I frequently share.

          Near the end of that interview, he asked, “When is the last time you spoke to your rosh yeshiva?” I stammered a bit. “Well, Rav Dovid Soloveitchik is in eretz yisroel, and Rav Meir Stern is so busy, I never want to bother him”.

          For the first time I saw a look of severe displeasure come across his face.

            I quickly interjected his thinking by trying to list the chashuvim I am in touch with due to my rabbanus, but he wasn’t having it.

         “So, you are saying that you’re a yid without a rosh yeshiva? Is that what you’re telling me?”

          Another long pause, and then, as if to himself, he said, “How can someone think they are a ben Torah and not have a rosh yeshiva in his life, for every major decision?”

         To this day, if I wish to explain or if I am asked “What is a ben Torah?”, I respond, “The first step is to be a yid with a rosh yeshiva”.

         His Perfect Words

            He always had the perfect words for every moment. His derashos were tailer made for whichever audience he was speaking.

           I would tell people from the more modern veldt who happen to work near the yeshiva to stop in for a mincha. “You will be surprised at the welcome the rosh yeshiva would give you”. And, if they ever met the rosh yeshiva, they were never disappointed.

          Here is such an example.

          I shared in Ami a few months ago how, how at the start of this current war, my amazing neighbor, Yakir Wachstock, started Boots for Israel, and has since raised millions of dollars buying and shipping boots to the millium – down to shoe sizes and unit orders. Together with my shul, volunteers pack and ship almost daily through El Al, and then someone meets the duffle bags in Ben Gurion Airport to arrange their deliveries to various bases.

          Yakir is away almost every Shabbos fundraising for this cause, and a few months ago he was in Riverdale for Shabbos.

          Rav Mordechai Willig, the rav of the Young Israel and rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University, invited Yakir for lunch. Yakir explained that after his appeal at the Young Israel, he has to then stop at the Chabad and other shuls, and that Rav Willig should start the seudah without him.

         Rav Willig explained that his apartment building requires someone to let him in, so instead Yakir should go around through the back, and enter his apartment from the porch area.

          Now, Rav Willig and Rav Ausband lived in the same apartment building, on the same floor. They had a deep, forty-year close relationship, and also worked together to build the frum Riverdale community.

          So, at about 2pm, Yakir went around the back and walked toward the sound of beautiful zemiros.

       “This must be the apartment”, he thought, and stepped inside.

           What he didn’t realize is that he had not entered Rav Willig’s apartment, but the rosh yeshva’s!

         Yakir was greeted by one of the rosh yeshiva’s sons. The ‘out-to-lunch-out-for-lunch’ Yakir, looked at him, thinking he was another guest,  and said, “I’m so sorry I’m late! I’m just coming back from Chabad and, between them and the Young Israel, baruch Hashem, we got the IDF lots of boots!”.

          Now if this happened to me, I would kindly have told him, “Sir, that sounds very nice, but I don’t have the slightest idea what you are talking about or why you are here”.

            Instead, the rosh yeshiva’s son responded by saying, “We are just happy you made it”. Seating the oblivious Yakir down by the meal, the son explained to the rosh yeshiva, “Our guest finally arrived”.

          The rosh yeshiva welcomed him, as if he was expected.

          Yakir later shared with me, “They made it so natural that I didn’t have an inkling that I was in the wrong place”.

         Soon, Yakir asked, “Where is Rav Willig?”.

         Now the rosh yeshiva chapped what had happened, and happily brought Yakir next door.

           Rav Willig commented to Yakir, “What a gadol the rosh yeshiva is”. Yakir was perplexed, “What rosh yeshiva?”

          Rav Willig explained, “That was Rav Ausband who brought you over here. Have you heard of him? He is the rosh yeshiva of Telshe Riverdale”.

          Now Yakir was embarrassed. “Of course I’ve heard of him! My rav speaks about him all the time!”

      Rav Willig then said, “Come, let me take you back to get a proper shalom”.

          And so, Yakir returned to the rosh yeshiva’s apartment. He asked about the Boots program and about our community -getting more unfiltered answers than he got from me in our first meeting!- and he could not have been sweeter.

           The rosh yeshiva wasn’t being affectatious, rather he felt this way for every neshama, and they would feel it in return.

          I once heard that the word ‘sever’ in in ‘sever panim yafos’ comes from the root of sevara-logic. When the rosh yeshiva smiled at people it had an impact because it wasn’t a show, it was real, he had a sevarah behind it!

         This skill was not just in private, he was also a legendary public orator.

          Once, after one of his celebrated yeshiva dinner speeches, I quipped to him, “Rosh Yeshiva, I have to ‘steal’ some of that amazing sechorah for my own derashos”. He laughed and responded, “Steal?! Chas v’shalom! Take it, it is all yours!”

          I did, but in his name.

           At the start of Covid, right before all the yeshivos closed, I called the rosh yeshiva to let him know that I was very sick with the virus and would be unable to attend to my job. Through the haze of my raging fever, I concluded the phone call by saying, “In the blink of an eye Hashem flipped the world on its head! What is His message?!”

         He responded, “THAT is the message! He is charge. End. Of. Story!”!

         A talmud once came upon very hard times, when the phone rang. It was the rosh yeshiva.

      “I was not in the mood for divrei chizuk” this talmid shared with me at the levaya.

      “But the rosh yeshiva didn’t offer that, nor did he even ask me how I was doing – as he likely knew the answer.

      “He didn’t tell me a vort, as he likely sensed it wasn’t the time.

          “Instead, he asked one thing, ‘Tell me right now how much money you need to pay your bills this month and I will be sending it out tomorrow’. That was his call!”

      That is love.

       That is a rosh yeshiva.

           When I was leaving the levaya, I saw my brother, who drove in from Lakewood.

      He shared the following memory:

      He once drove the rosh yeshiva home from a very painful levaya of a young and close friend of my brother, and talmid of the rosh yeshiva. Seeing the forlorn on my brother’s face, the rosh yeshiva said, “You can’t return to your home -to your family – like this. A yid doesn’t leave a levaya and head straight back to his family. No! A yid gets a coffee and a cheese danish first! Once you pull over to get yourself some geshmake nash, then we can schmooze about the amkus of what we just took part in”.

         Another friend shared how he when in high school in Telshe Cleveland, he  bumped into the rosh yeshiva who was there visiting his parents.

         

      “I was walking down the path toward the beis midrash and Rav Ausband asked if he could walk with me. Looking back, he probably understood all the infighting that happens when boys live together in a dorm. He asked me a question. “In this week’s parsha we are told how the brothers despised Yosef due to his perceived special treatment from Yaakov. The very next pasuk tells us how Yosef told his brothers that he had a dream, and this caused the brothers to hate him even more’.

          Asked the rosh yeshiva to this fifteen-year-old he never met: “But Yosef didn’t yet tell them his dream yet! How could they already hate him more? Maybe it was a positive dream. It is only the next pasuk where Yosef shares the details of the dream, ‘And he told them the dream…’. So, nu, how do we explain this?”

         My friend shared the rosh yeshiva’s amazing answer:

          “When one decides to hate someone, the object of that hate could do no right. ‘Oh he had dream! What a horrible person!’ It didn’t matter what the dream was about anymore. ‘He likes vanilla and not chocolate? Figures!’ This is the poison of fighting. However, it works the other way as well: when one loves someone, the object of that love could do no wrong!”

      A grandson in the 9th grade in Riverdale shared with me how he was once on vacation in a rented home, and swimming in a pool with a cousin.

      They were having a race:

      “I lost the first race from the start, seeing my cousin pull away by mid-pool. When I finally got to the other side -long after my cousin – my grandfather noted my frustration, and shared, ‘I’m going to tell you something; a lesson for life: If you are always checking in on yennem (the other guy), you will almost always then come-up second. Only when you focus on yourself – your own strengths and efforts – will you have a chance to meet success. Now, go and challenge him to race you again and have what I told you in mind.’

      “And so, I did. This time I didn’t look up during the race, nor did I even think about my competitor. I won…by a wide margin!

      “I will never forget the proud smile on my zaidy’s face, shepping nachas that his lesson was utilized”

      One final story of his perfect words:

      Rav Willig shared in his hesped how he was there when the rosh yeshiva buried his daughter after her horrible and painful passing. What words could anyone say in that moment in the cemetery?

           Here is what Rav Willig shared that the rosh yeshiva said:

      There is a halacha that one must have kavana during ashrei when saying the pasuk ‘poseach es yadecha u’masbia l’chol chai ratzon’ (Shulchan Aruch, siman 51). But from now on we [the family and he] must have kavana by the next pasuk as well, “tzadik hashem b’chol derachauv v’chosid b’chol maasuv – Hashem is righteous in all of His ways and pious in all of His deeds”.

      Wow!

              His son, Rav Eliyahu Ausband, is a pikeach and a brilliant talmud chacham who, as the new rosh yeshiva, will continue to lead his father’s and his talmidim together with all the rebbeim and the mashgiach, shlit”a. I must mention as well Rav Nosson Joseph -a pillar of Telshe Riverdale- who loyally carried-out the shlichus of the rosh yeshiva zt”l, and now, lhbch”lch, will do this same avodas hakodesh for the rosh yeshiva, Rav Eliyahu, shlit”a.  

          May the rebbitzen, the children, and the entire mishpacha find true nechama.

         May Hashem give Rav Eliyahu Ausband the Heavenly koach needed so as to continue the legacy of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, ad bias goel.