The Witch Hunt Against Netanyahu
At this point, the witch hunt against Prime Minister Netanyahu and his staff has escalated from being a source of frustration to provoking outright fury. It is continuing relentlessly, apparently in the hope that Netanyahu himself will be implicated in some form of wrongdoing, and it has reached maddening proportions.
Last week, as you may recall, I wrote about the so-called “security scandal.” This relates to the allegations that several intelligence officials transferred a document to Eli Feldstein, a man who worked with Netanyahu’s public relations staff, and Feldstein then leaked that document to the German newspaper Bild. The document proves that the real obstacle to a hostage deal wasn’t Prime Minister Netanyahu; rather, the now-deceased head of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, turned down every deal that was offered to him.
It was never exactly clear why leaking the document was considered a serious criminal act (except, perhaps, for the fact that anything that paints Netanyahu in a positive light is viewed as a crime in some quarters). But a disturbing picture has emerged as more details of the investigation and the court sessions, which are taking place behind closed doors, have been revealed. The IDF officers fingered as suspects have admitted to deliberately transmitting the document to Feldstein, and they have revealed their reason for doing so: Their own superiors were refusing to relay the document to the political branch of the government, and they felt obligated to share its contents with those who are involved in Israeli public relations. This leads to the shocking conclusion that the top brass in the IDF is making every effort to avoid benefiting Netanyahu in any way, even if it means withholding material that would help Israel make its case to the international community. To make matters worse, this is an echo of the army’s negligence during the period prior to October 7, when IDF officials refused to transfer information to the government that later proved to be critical. At that time, they withheld vital information that could have helped avert the tragedy of October 7; today, they are withholding vital evidence that could be important for Israel’s standing on the world stage. I will not be surprised if this entire affair eventually boomerangs against Netanyahu’s detractors as their petty malice is revealed.
But that affair has now become one of several scandals that are quickly taking shape. In another situation, the attorney general authorized the police to launch an investigation into suspected alterations of official protocols. This relates to the allegation that someone illegally altered the protocols of secret discussions that were held before the hearings in the International Court of Justice in the Hague. This investigation will be a joint effort of the police and the Shin Bet, while the scandal involving the document leaked to the Bild is being primarily investigated by the Shin Bet. In fact, Eli Feldstein is being held in the Shin Bet’s cells, and all the suspects in custody in the case have been barred from meeting with their lawyers. This is the standard procedure in a Shin Bet investigation; however, those investigations typically target Arab suspects.
Another two cases in progress relate to allegations of attempted blackmail. One such case began when the outgoing minister of defense, Yoav Gallant, showed up one evening last year for a meeting of the cabinet; however, he erroneously arrived at the prime minister’s office rather than the actual location of the meeting. The security guards at the office refused to admit him, and Gallant sparred with them in a manner that was extremely unbecoming. It is now claimed that the security footage of that incident was preserved by a member of Netanyahu’s staff, with the goal of using it to blackmail Gallant if he refused to go along with the prime minister’s agenda. And yet another investigation has been launched into similar claims that someone in the prime minister’s office tried to blackmail a senior IDF officer into releasing documents to them.
In short, the prime minister is being hounded to the point of obsession.
The Candidate Was Unfit
I have many topics to discuss this week, and it is difficult for me to choose among them. Of course, the election of Donald Trump was one of the top news stories, and we are already aware of some of the officials he has chosen to install in positions of seniority. All of them, of course, are pro-Israel. We have heard that the prosecutors in the United States have decided to close criminal cases against Trump, in a sign that many American officials (unlike their Israeli counterparts) accept the will of the voters.
There is another interesting point to be made: Despite the fact that Kamala Harris was hailed by the progressive media in America as the candidate who should have won the election with ease, no one here in Israel understands how she was a candidate for the presidency in the first place. Many of us tend to equate her with Yair Lapid, a man who embarrasses the country every time he opens his mouth. Then again, Lapid seems to have a large following in the country worth ten mandates in the Knesset, as his party refuses to shrink beneath that level in the polls. It seems that many voters on both sides of the ocean insist on voting for such people.
Harris seems to have made an enormous mistake by relying on the pro-Palestinian vote. A superficial examination reveals that she did not win even in the states where the majority of voters support the Arab cause. Even if those citizens preferred her positions on foreign affairs, they still favored Trump’s approach to domestic issues, family values, and the like. I also noticed that Harris based much of her campaign on appealing to the female vote. She repeatedly told the electorate that they were being put to the test to determine whether American women were capable of electing a woman to the office of president. By framing the election in this fashion, she hoped to influence women throughout America to vote for her as a matter of pride. But she lost the election, and it had nothing to do with the fact that American women were not ready to elect a female president. On the contrary, the fault lay with Harris herself. The problem wasn’t that other women weren’t ready to elect her; rather, it was that Harris was unfit to be elected.
A New Ambassador
Last Friday, Prime Minister Netanyahu chose the next Israeli ambassador to Washington: Dr. Yechiel Leiter, who will replace the current ambassador, Mike Herzog, when he leaves his position on January 20. Mike Herzog, the brother of President Yitzchok Herzog, was actually very interested in remaining in his position, and several other people had set their sights on the position as well, which is considered Israel’s top diplomatic post. Even Ron Dermer, a former ambassador to Washington who is a minister in the government today, would not have been opposed to taking the position again, especially with Donald Trump in the White House. But Netanyahu waited to see who would win the American election, and then he chose Dr. Leiter for the post.
Yechiel Leiter is a bereaved father. His son, Moshe Yedidya, was killed in the current war about a year ago. The new ambassador has been close to Prime Minister Netanyahu since he served as his chief of staff in the Finance Ministry in the year 2004. Since that time, he has served as a senior researcher and lecturer at the Ono Academic College. Leiter is associated with the right wing and ran in the Likud party’s primaries in the past. Netanyahu’s announcement of his ambassadorial pick was short but glowing: “Yechiel Leiter is a talented diplomat and an eloquent speaker, and he possesses a deep understanding of American culture and politics. I am convinced that Yechiel will represent the State of Israel in the best possible way, and I wish him success in his task.”
Mike Herzog will continue serving as the ambassador until Leiter assumes the position in January. Netanyahu thanked Herzog for his work over the past three years and his significant professional contribution, especially during the challenging period of this war. “Ambassador Herzog has represented the State of Israel with honor in his dealings with administration officials, the American Congress, civilian organizations, the international media, and the Jewish community of the United States,” the prime minister said. What Netanyahu did not mention was the fact that Herzog didn’t make much of an effort to arrange for him to be invited to Washington.
Rochel Imeinu’s Yahrtzeit
One of the major events of this week was the large flow of visitors to Kever Rochel on Monday night and Tuesday in honor of the yahrtzeit of Rochel Imeinu. With the authorities on high alert and anticipating terror activities, there will be heavy security on hand for the occasion. At this time, terrorists are continuing to make concerted efforts to murder Jews. It has also been discovered that Iran is making prodigious efforts to recruit spies within Israel, and they have even succeeded in some cases. Missiles and drones are also still being fired into Israel from the north, and there are casualties almost every day. We must daven for this trying period to end peacefully.
This past week also brought us a tragic development in a totally unrelated story: the execution of 20-year-old Arwin Nesanel Gharamani in Iran. Gharamani was found guilty of inadvertently killing a Muslim and was sentenced to death, and the international efforts to prevent his execution proved unsuccessful. For many months, askanim from the United States and other countries tried to intervene and prevent the Jewish youth from being put to death. They tried offering a million dollars to the family of the Muslim victim, but the family rejected all of their overtures. According to Iranian law, if the victim’s family refuses to grant clemency, the execution must be carried out. I can reveal to you that certain Israelis appealed to President Putin of Russia to intervene (and I personally made the connection between these Israelis and Putin, with the help of Rav Lazar of Moscow). At a certain point, it was believed that the Iranians had decided to pardon Gharamani. Last week, however, everyone was taken by surprise when the media announced that he had been executed. His family has been sitting shivah at the Sukkas Harachamim shul in Ashdod.
A Pogrom in Amsterdam
A shocking incident took place in the Netherlands last week. For a while now, we have grown accustomed to hearing momentous news every weekend, usually at the conclusion of Shabbos, but this time the story was tragic. An Israeli soccer team was visiting the city of Amsterdam for a match, and a large number of Israeli fans had traveled there to attend the game. The fact that the Israeli team lost the game, with a score of zero to five, did not surprise anyone, but the antisemitic pogrom on the streets of Amsterdam after the game was far less anticipated. I wouldn’t say that it wasn’t expected at all, since we learned after the fact that intelligence sources had warned the authorities in Amsterdam that an antisemitic attack was being planned, and the Dutch authorities chose to ignore those warnings. This week, the king of the Netherlands said that this was the second time that Holland had disappointed the Jews.
The pogrom was horrific: Victims were thrown into canals or viciously beaten, and rioters jeered at them and spat on them. Many of the Israelis rushed to find hiding places to escape the violence. As of this writing, three Israelis still haven’t contacted the Israeli embassy. The National Security Council, which is responsible for monitoring threats to Israelis around the world, announced on motzoei Shabbos that they believed that the wave of violence had subsided and there was no reason for Israelis to refrain from moving around the city. At the same time, they issued a moderate advisory against traveling to Holland and announced that Israelis should take heightened precautions when visiting the country, including hiding any identifying signs of their nationality and remaining aware of unusual events in their surroundings. Now, what does it mean to hide the signs of their Jewishness? For one thing, it means to refrain from speaking Hebrew in public, but even more than that, Jews are advised to remove or hide their yarmulkes. This is the situation in Amsterdam and throughout Europe.
Parenthetically, there is a chance that I will be in Munich next week. If I make that trip, I will try to interview several of the rabbonim from large Jewish communities in Europe.
Ten Thousand Draft Orders
As you are aware, there is a vicious, ongoing campaign of incitement against Torah learners, against the chareidi political leadership in Eretz Yisroel, and against Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is attempting to pass a new law providing draft exemptions for bnei yeshivos. This incitement has given rise to horrific media content — political cartoons that are reminiscent of the rabid antisemitism in European newspapers before the Holocaust, articles laced with hatred and venom, and advertisements designed to foment hostility against the chareidi community. Some of those ads even convey threats against Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, outgoing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and other ministers of the government and members of the Knesset. Of course, there has also been plenty of hateful rhetoric emanating from the likes of Yair Lapid (as I will discuss in a separate article).
In the next step in this saga, the army has now issued another 7000 initial draft notices to chareidi youths of conscription age. IDF officials claim that this large quantity of draft orders is a result of the serious manpower shortage created in the IDF by the current war. The truth, however, is that it was Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s final act in office. It may have been done out of spite, but one thing is clear: It has complicated the situation significantly. Some observers believe that this is the IDF’s way of signaling its disagreement with those who claim that the army is not prepared to absorb chareidi recruits.
An initial draft order requires the recipient to appear at a draft office for a preliminary meeting and a compatibility assessment. If the recipient doesn’t respond to the first order, it is followed by a second, and if that summons goes unanswered as well, the next piece of correspondence is a warning prior to arrest, known as a “red order” among Israeli bochurim. Eight hundred chareidi young men recently received such letters after they failed to respond to the first and second summons. Those 800 youths are part of a group of 3000 yeshiva bochurim who received the first wave of draft orders; only 200 of those 3000 bochurim showed up as they were ordered to do. For the time being, the army seems to be trying a gentle approach; after all, they could easily have warned all the remaining 2800 bochurim that they were about to be placed under arrest, but they chose to send the warnings to only 800 bochurim. In light of the extremely low rate of recruitment, the army has announced several initiatives to create tracks designated for chareidi soldiers. Everyone can agree, at least, that this situation is growing increasingly complicated.
Please indulge me and allow me to quote from the Ohr Hachaim and the Shaarei Teshuvah. At the end of Parshas Devarim, on the posuk that states, “You shall not fear them [the people of Canaan],” the Ohr Hachaim states, “Even though he was addressing Yehoshua, Moshe spoke in the plural to include all of the Jewish nation, as if to say that there should not be even a single Jewish person who would fear them, for Hashem would fight for them.” The Ohr Hachaim adds that the posuk can also be interpreted as an injunction to the entire nation to place their trust in Hashem. Similarly, the Shaarei Teshuvah teaches us that the Torah contains an injunction “that if a person sees that trouble is at hand, he should keep Hashem’s salvation in his heart and rely on it.”
This should be our response not only to the many enemies of the Torah world but to ourselves as well.
The Real Enemies
Many chareidim in Israel, especially the younger population, are frightened by the overt displays of hatred for the community that are unfolding throughout the country. But perhaps a brief history lesson is in order. There were times in the past when chareidim were unable to venture outdoors and when people wearing yarmulkes or sporting beards and peyos were beaten in the streets in completely unprovoked attacks. For most of the history of this country, and especially at turbulent times such as the Yossele Schumacher affair, chareidim have been preyed on and attacked. There were times when police officers showed up at chareidi demonstrations seemingly with the intent to kill. If anyone thinks that the plight of chareidim in Israel today is worse than ever before, I must say that they are sadly mistaken.
Let me add that I do not believe that hatred is the emotion at work in this situation. I would attribute the secular community’s reactions, in large part, to sheer envy. They understand that their own paths will lead them nowhere, and they feel the torturous envy of those who have realized that their wagons are empty. Of course, there are political considerations at work as well; the chareidim have become a weapon in the war against Bibi Netanyahu. But above all, the leftists are afraid. They fear the growth of the chareidi community, and they fear chareidim when they are in power. Today, when the chareidim are in the government and the community is growing, their fear is even greater.
Can I say that hatred against chareidim does not exist at all? Unfortunately, I must admit that it does exist. But to make matters worse, the hatred for chareidim that exists today emanates from the dati leumi (national religious) sector. This is not a secret; if anyone is surprised by this revelation, it is simply because he hasn’t been exposed to their heavily anti-chareidi newsletters on the weekly parshah. They publish a wide assortment of weekly newsletters filled with advertisements and political material; despite the impropriety, these publications are distributed in shuls. Unfortunately, the publications contain many political articles and advertisements that are completely anti-religious. I wish I could say that this was mere hyperbole, but it is the absolute truth. The general media also often contains articles from national religious figures who express unbridled hostility toward the chareidim.
I am not much of a fan of polls, especially after the elections in America, which proved to be a resounding rebuke not only of the Democrats but of the pollsters as well. In fact, one must wonder how it is possible, if polls are impartial and professional, that every newspaper publishes polls that support the candidates that it naturally favors. This is the reality both in Israel and in America, and it certainly suggests that one should not believe the results of polls. Nevertheless, I feel that there is some substance to the results of a poll, enough to make it at least somewhat informative. With that introduction, let me quote a poll that is relevant to this discussion.
Two newspapers in Israel are affiliated with the dati leumi community: B’Sheva, which is quite fair to chareidim, and Makor Rishon, which is extremely hostile. This week, Makor Rishon reported that a poll conducted in the national religious community revealed that almost 50 percent of its members would not support Knesset members who grant draft exemptions to chareidim. Another question in the survey was, “To what extent is it important for chareidim to participate actively in national security?” According to the newspaper, 42 percent of the respondents chose the answer “extremely important,” 34 percent chose “very important,” and 14 percent responded that it was “moderately important.” Another question read, “Does the fact that chareidim do not enlist in the army create an intolerable burden for the religious and secular communities?” Once again, the majority of respondents were hostile to chareidim, with 39 percent strongly agreeing with the statement and another 28 percent simply agreeing. Of the remaining participants, 13 percent were neutral, 11 percent said that they “somewhat disagree,” and 9 percent responded that they do not agree at all.
The bottom line: If there is hatred and hostility toward the chareidim, then it is rooted in the national religious community.
Disabled Soldiers Engrossed in Chumash and Rashi
I am certain that the first people to beg for Torah learners not to be drafted are the IDF soldiers themselves. I have seen many videos taken on the front lines, in which the soldiers in the IDF appeal to the bnei Torah on the home front to learn Torah and daven for them. In my mind, there is no question that the incitement in the media is the result of a small handful of agitators who do not represent the nation.
I have always felt that this was the case, but for a long time, I could attribute my certainty only to a gut feeling. I felt that I had more insight into the secular mindset since I grew up in Be’er Yaakov, a community populated by chilonim and traditional Israelis, and I had witnessed their respect and appreciation for people who learn Torah. During this war, however, the videos taken at the front, along with the many interviews with soldiers and their families, as well as the families of hostages or the bereaved, have substantiated my instincts. One can easily see that these people thirst for Yiddishkeit as they repeatedly beg for their religious brethren to daven for their children and to redouble their efforts to learn Torah.
Perhaps the ultimate confirmation of my feelings came last week when I visited Tel Hashomer Medical Center at the invitation of my good friend, Rav Moshe Pincus. (I am referring to the son of a close friend, Rav Eliyohu Pincus, who is an outstanding talmid chochom who delivers a regular shiur that I attend. Rav Moshe is a grandson of Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus.) Rav Moshe, who lives in Petach Tikvah today, runs a kollel with dozens of yungeleit known as Kollel Ohel Yiskah, which is named for his mother, who passed away when he was a child. He also oversees a kiruv organization known as Mishnas Shimshon. After the horrific tragedy on Simchas Torah last year, he decided to take the rehabilitation department of Tel Hashomer Hospital under his wing. Rav Moshe visits the ward and the hospital’s shul every day together with a group of yungeleit and baalei teshuvah, who spend time learning with wounded soldiers and terror victims. They also distribute gifts, organize parties, and bring musicians to entertain the patients, but above all, I was amazed by the light in the patients’ eyes when they learn with their chavrusos. It is incredible to observe a soldier who has lost an arm or leg, Rachmana litzlan, and who is completely engrossed in learning the weekly parshah (and is often learning Chumash for the first time in his life) or even Gemara. I was moved to tears by the sight, and I realized that I was witnessing the true essence of Am Yisroel. That is the true measure of the Israeli people.
A Puzzling Minhag
I sometimes observe men cupping their hands in the shape of a vessel during the birkas kohanim, as if to create a receptacle to receive the kohanim’s blessings. I was curious to find the source for this practice, but my research failed to reveal anything, and I turned to Rav Yehonasan Katzburg, who is a kohen, talmid chochom and author (of the sefer Rei’ach Nicho’ach on Shas, whose title is drawn from the initials of his late father, Rav Yisroel Chaim). “I, too, searched for a source for this practice, and I will not be surprised if none exists,” he replied. Then he added, “Do you know how everyone has a habit of bowing to the right and the left when they recite the words ‘v’kara zeh el zeh v’amar’ in Kedusha? The zeide claims that there is no source for this.” This was a reference to Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl, to whom he is related through marriage. Indeed, Rav Nebenzahl does not engage in this practice. Rav Katzburg’s point was that it is conceivable that some common practices are not based on any halachic sources.
A few days after I posed the question, I met Rav Yeshaya Epstein at the Cheiftez-Stern wedding. As you may be aware, Rav Nosson Cheifetz recently married off his youngest daughter. Rav Epstein spent most of his life serving Rav Chaim Kanievsky, and I told him about my conversation with Rav Katzburg. “Rav Chaim also did not know of a source for the practice,” he replied.
I couldn’t resist asking him, “How much do you miss Rav Chaim?”
“Endlessly, and at every moment,” he replied, tears gathering in his eyes.
On a parenthetical note, the wedding was attended by a large number of rebbes and roshei yeshiva, as well as activists of Lev L’Achim and friends of the organization from America and Europe, along with numerous people from Yerushalayim and regular visitors to the Kosel. One of the guests was the great tzaddik and masmid Rav Chaim Berman of Ponovezh, who seemed flustered when people crowded around him to ask for brachos. When I saw him preparing to depart, I advised him to stay for the broom dance. This was the wedding of Rav Nosson Cheifetz’s youngest daughter, who married Moshe Aharon Stern, the grandson of Rav Yechiel Michel Stern, the rov of Ezras Torah. There is a common custom for a father to dance with a broom at the wedding of his youngest child, and I felt that it was a sight that Rav Chaim might want to see. He replied, “When Rav Chaim Kanievsky married off his youngest son, I heard that he was asked if he planned to perform the broom dance, and he replied that he had designated a shliach to dance on his behalf….”
As for my question regarding birkas kohanim, Rav Aharon Lev came up with a source: the sefer Yafeh Lalev by Rav Chaim Palagi. Someone else claimed that he came across a quote from the Chida regarding this minhag as well. A bochur named Dovid Nussbaum, who is a member of the Givat Shaul community and a talmid in Yeshiva Mir, showed me the sefer Masores Eliyohu (about the conduct of Rav Elya Lopian), which relates, “One of Rav Elya’s talmidim waited many years to be blessed with children and visited him on erev Rosh Hashanah 5728 to request a brocha. The rov told him that during birkas kohanim on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which are days of Heavenly mercy and favor, each of them — the talmid and his wife — should hold out their hands with the palms cupped together like open receptacles to receive the brocha, and they should beseech Hashem to bless them with children. There is a widespread rumor that Rav Elya himself used to do this during birkas kohanim, but that is a mistake. He merely advised others to do this on the Yomim Nora’im as a special segulah for Heavenly salvation. In fact, many people throughout the world have received various forms of salvation after doing this even on other days of the year, and this is commonly known as Rav Elya Lopian’s segulah.”
Counting the Thirteen Middos and Standing During Sheva Brachos
While I was waiting for Maariv in the Zupnik shul one evening, I asked some of the other men if they were aware of a source for the practice of cupping the hands during birkas kohanim. Rav Yaakov Sinai (who is the son-in-law of Rav Moshe Yosef and thus a grandson by marriage of Rav Ovadiah Yosef) was present at that time, and he had an immediate answer for me. Rav Yaakov is an expert on halacha in general and on Rav Ovadiah’s teachings in particular, and he said, “The Ben Ish Chai on Parshas Vayigash cites the common practice of spreading out one’s hands at the words ‘posei’ach es yadecha’ in Ashrei. He explained that this is a physical act that is performed to create a receptacle for the brachos, and he asserted that it does have an effect, presumably based on Kabbolah. Perhaps that is the basis of the minhag to cup one’s hands during birkas kohanim.
“Incidentally,” he added, “many people spread their hands and lift them as well when they recite that posuk, but the Ben Ish Chai stresses that one should only spread the hands and not lift them. Regarding the thirteen middos of rachamim,” he added, “the Ben Ish Chai says that a person should count the middos with his fingers as he recites them. Rav Ovadiah Yosef, however, states that since there is a major dispute among the Rishonim as to how the middos should be counted, it is better to refrain from counting them on one’s fingers. Some people also lift their feet when they recite Hashem’s Name at the beginning of the list of middos, but Rav Ovadiah Yosef writes that a person should not do so and should instead stand with his feet straight and recite all thirteen middos with kavanah.”
While I waited for the chuppah at the Cheifetz wedding, I was reminded of another halachic discovery I had made, this one at a wedding in Tel Aviv that I had attended on a different occasion. At that simcha, I saw Rav Yitzchok Ezrachi leaning against a wall during the sheva brachos at the chuppah, and I hurried to bring him a chair. Despite my efforts, the distinguished rov remained standing. After the chuppah, he whispered to me, “Don’t you know that it is not permitted to sit during the sheva brachos? It is stated explicitly in the halacha.” I hadn’t been aware of this, and I asked the rosh yeshiva for the source. “It’s in the Shulchan Aruch on the halachos of nisu’in; look in the Be’er Heiteiv,” he replied. This week, a gracious young bochur named Shalom Tam, who has a close connection to Rav Ezrachi, found the source for me: The Be’er Heiteiv in Even HaEzer siman 62 quotes the Knesses Hagedolah, which states that everyone present at a chuppah must remain standing throughout the sheva brachos, and adds that the halacha is cited in the Tikkunei Zohar as well.
Regarding the practice of bowing to the right and left during Kedushah, Rav Yaakov Sinai added, “Some people have the practice of turning to the right and then to the left at the words ‘lemaan yirbu yemeichem’ and ‘yemei beneichem’ in Krias Shema when they are serving as the shaliach tzibbur, as if they are giving brachos to the other mispallelim. Rav Ovadiah wrote that he did not believe that this practice should be observed, since the Sefer Chassidim states that a person should not have his friends in mind when he recites the words ‘lemaan yirbu yemeichem,’ nor should he have his enemies in mind at the words ‘va’avadetem meheirah.’”
When Rav Chaim Sarna Spoke in His Sleep
Let me conclude this column with two interesting stories.
This week, I paid a shivah call to Rav Aharon Shmuel Baskin, who was sitting shivah after the passing of his father, Rav Yitzchok Zev Baskin. I have always known that one could write an entire book about the younger Rav Baskin, and I learned at the shivah that his father could easily be the subject of two such volumes. Rav Yitzchok Zev Baskin, the son of Rav Shmuel and Freida (nee Margolin), was born in the town of Homel and led a life of exceptional righteousness and virtue. Rav Aharon Shmuel sat shivah along with his mother, Rebbetzin Ora, the granddaughter of Rav Yosef Herman, who raised her. The rebbetzin and her husband lived a simple life in the neighborhood of Givat Mordechai in Yerushalayim. The niftar’s parents survived the Nazis and pogroms and hid in the forests with the partisans, after marrying at a late age. His life story is a remarkable tale of triumph over adversity; he also had siblings who were killed by the Nazis. His son, Rav Aharon Shmuel, is one of the leaders of the Conference of European Rabbis, is heavily involved in chesed, and learned in Yeshivas Chevron Geulah from the years 5753 through 5769 as a yungerman. For the last five years of his time there, he was the right-hand man of the rosh yeshiva, Rav Chaim Sarna. It was only natural that he accumulated many fascinating stories about Rav Chaim, who was one of our generation’s greatest marbitzei Torah and one of the most renowned products of the Chevron yeshiva.
Despite his wealth of anecdotes, though, Rav Aharon Shmuel generally remains reticent. I have contacted him on behalf of Yated Neeman many times to ask him to share his recollections about his rebbi, but he has repeatedly declined to share his memories, asserting that he does not consider himself entitled to report the incidents that he witnessed to others. However, at the shivah, in the presence of the rosh yeshiva’s son-in-law, Rav Boruch Soloveitchik, he was willing to share a few stories. He spoke about how Rav Chaim strove to avoid spending the yeshiva’s money, even if it meant traveling on foot or refraining from staying in hotels on his trips abroad. On that note, he told an incredible story: “We once visited Manchester and stayed at the home of Rav Simcha Shadmi. I slept in the same room as the rosh yeshiva, which was a rare occurrence. In the middle of the night, I heard him talking in his sleep. I moved closer to him so that I could make out what he was saying, and I realized that he was repeating the shiur klali that he had delivered the previous week!”
Another visitor told a story about Rav Elya Lopian. He related that the famed mashgiach was once searching for a shidduch for his daughter, and he asked Rav Yeruchom Levovitz to make a suggestion. Rav Elya told Rav Yeruchom that he was seeking a young man who was a lamdan, a masmid, and, of course, a baal middos. “I am seeking specifically someone who acquired middos as a child, because those character traits will then be passed on to his children,” he added, indirectly sharing a fascinating insight.
Rav Yeruchom sent Rav Elya Lopian to Brisk to interview a bochur known at the time as “Leibel Moleter,” although he is better known to us as Rav Aryeh Leib Gurwicz.
Rav Aryeh Leib Gurwicz’s yahrtzeit fell this past week, along with the yahrtzeits of many other famous individuals, including Rav Shimon Shkop, Rav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, Rav Chaim Walkin, and Rav Berel Schwartzmann. I could easily have written an entire article about each of those great men, some of whom I knew personally. I find myself longing for the presence of both Rav Nosson Tzvi and Rav Chaim Walkin, and I am sometimes moved to tears by that yearning.
