By Shmuel Botnick and Yosef Herz Featured in the Mishpacha. All credit goes to the 3 of them.

 

A Conduit for Honor

In Tribute: Rav Mordechai Zelig Schechter

INhis maamarim on Pesach, Rav Yitzchok Hutner discusses the function of the bechor. As the oldest child of a new generation, the younger siblings will afford him honor. It is the bechor’s job, explains Rav Hutner, to redirect that honor to his parents, where it rightfully belongs.

Students are like children, and Rav Hutner had hundreds of them. But from amid his scores of talmidim, one stood out as unique — a bechor of sorts. Rav Aharon Schechter succeeded his rebbi as the rosh yeshivah of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, where he taught, guided, and led thousands of his own talmidim. But as the quintessential bechor, Rav Aharon would redirect the honor to where it belonged; his rebbi, Rav Hutner, was ever present in his mind and in his heart, and he passed this reverence on to the next generation.

Rav Aharon passed away on the 7th of Elul, but he left a bechor of his own. Rav Mordechai Zelig, the oldest of the Schechter children, served as the mashgiach in Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin. He was a brilliant talmid chacham and a beloved role model who would regard each talmid as a unique individual and consider each situation that came before him with meticulous deliberation.

“He was an adam gadol,” recalls one talmid, “and he made others see their own gadlus within themselves.”

Yet great as Rav Mordechai Zelig was in his own right, he saw it as a focal point of his life’s mission to make his father’s Torah — known to be very deep and intricate — accessible to his talmidim. He would spend significant time clarifying the difficult points and explaining their true intention.

On the 7th day of Elul, Rav Aharon passed away, his soul ascending heavenward to rejoin his beloved rosh yeshivah. His job as the bechor was complete.

Less than a month later, on the 4th of Tishrei, Rav Mordechai Zelig passed away as well. He was the bechor of the bechor and now, his job was complete, too.

Rav Mordechai Zelig leaves behind a beautiful family and thousands of students who strive to live the elevated life that he did, and follow his example of a talmid chacham, yerei Shamayim, and a true bechor.

(Part of an article originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 980)