YNA Newsletter - Vayera 5786

 

All credit goes to  Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh This week and next, we will observe several very significant yahrzeits of great personalities. This week marks the yahrzeit of the Chazon Ish zt"l, followed by the yahrzeit of Harav Shach zt"l. Next week, we mark the yahrzeits of Harav Goren zt"l, R' Shlomo Carlebach ztl", and my father zt"l. What is the connection between all of these people? They all place Am Yisrael ahead of everything else. I am biased and therefore unable to speak about the Chazon Ish to whom I owe my life; that is a story for another time. I would like to point out that Harav Chaim Ozer, the gadol hador of the previous generation, once said to my father: "Label, take a look inside a particular steibel and you will see a man named Harav Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz, he is the next gadol hador. Baruch Hashem, I am alive because of him. I want to share with you two stories about Harav Shach that greatly impressed me. They once approached him from Chinuch Atzma'I, saying that they did not have enough money for summer camp. Harav Shach had just gotten paid; he was clearly not a man of means. He took 800 liras out of his pocket and gave them to them. The second story took place in a shiur klali. Ten minutes into the shiur, a young man who is now a well-known doctor, Motti Halpern, a student of my father, asked a question. Harav Shach closed the Gemara, saying, "Mottel, you are right". Ten minutes into the shiur, in front of 800 people! Harav Shach, known for his diligence in Torah, could not sleep for a week as he searched for an answer.

Then comes Harav Goren, a super genius, perhaps a bit out of the box, but there is no question that everything he did was purely for Am Yisrael. The person who had the most significant influence on my yiras Shamayim was R' Shlomo Carlebach. I still remember one Thursday night over 60 years ago, he sang in the chassidish steibel in Shaare Chesed – the song Hashem Melech, Hashem Malach, Hashem Yimloch Le'olam Va'ed went on for three hours. Whatever you may say about him, there is no question of his caring for Am Yisrael. In my will, I state that I do not want any speeches at my funeral; only that the people sing a few songs, one of them being Hashem Melech. My father was also only for Am Yisrael. Before one of my trips from home to Ponovezh, I called him in Yeshiva and asked him if he could help me pack my suitcase. He answered that he was busy in Yeshiva and was unable to come home. Being that I was a boy with chutzpah, I asked him: "Abba, who is more important, me or the students?" He answered, "The students", and I threw down the phone. We must all choose something from the lives of these great people to emulate. I want to add another individual to the list: Rebbetzin Esther Rozovsky, whose yahrzeit is this week as well. They had been divorced, and she remarried him just so that she could take care of him when he was battling cancer – you do not see this too often. As an aside, she had a very close relationship with my wife and was an incredible baker. I try to visit the graves of these great people each year on their yahrzeits. When I was 50, I had my first bout with cancer. I went to the grave of the Chazon Ish and said that he promised me a long life. Baruch Hashem, I am here. Shabbat Shalom, Love You, Aharon, Across from the Holy of Holies.