STRONG ROOTS
Rav Dov Schwartzman was born in Russia some 91 years ago. At the time of his birth, the Communists already had a deep stranglehold on all religious observance. Any religious fidelity or imparting of Torah to children was a capital offense punishable by death or at least with a one-way ticket to Siberia. His father, Rav Yehoshua Zev, was a talmid chochom and a former talmid of the Slabodka Yeshiva who later served as a rov in Tel Aviv. When young Berel (Dov) was a child, his father, Rav Yehoshua Zev, was moser nefesh to give his son a Torah chinuch disregarding the danger to his life. His father hired melamdim to teach young Berel, and Rav Dov would frequently relate a childhood memory that stood out in his mind. Whenever the secret police would pay a visit, just before they walked in, the children would jump inside a barrel that was in the room, thereby hiding from the investigators. However, one time, the policeman sensed that something was amiss and he walked over to one of the barrels. Reaching in, he pulled out young Berel. The child was terrified and, even more, he was heartbroken when his beloved rebbi was sent to Siberia as a punishment for his “crime” of teaching Torah.
In the 1930s, Rav Yehoshua Zev and many members of his extended family succeeded in fleeing Russia and eventually settled in Tel Aviv. As a young bochur, Rav Dov learned in Yeshivas Bais Yosef Novardok and heard shiurim from the Steipler Gaon, Rav Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky. This relationship with the Steipler continued for many decades.
Without a doubt, however, a watershed in the life of Rav Dov was his entry into the Chevron Yeshiva. In the Torah-charged atmosphere of Chevron, a yeshiva that cultivated gedolei Torah and Torah genius, Rav Dov blossomed into a Torah giant.
At the levaya in Yerushalayim on Monday, Rav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ateres Yisroel and a younger talmid of the Chevron Yeshiva during Rav Dov’s time, related that Rav Dov personified the greatness of the Chevron of old. His hasmadah during his years in Chevron was legendary.
There was a period during his Chevron years when Rav Dov would begin learning on Sundays at 7 a.m., and continued learning with short breaks for davening and eating until midnight Monday night – some 40 hours straight. He would then sleep until Tuesday morning, at which time he began the next 40-hour session until midnight Wednesday night. His hasmadah was unparalleled. In fact, his roommate in Chevron, Rav Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz zt”l, once mentioned that although they were roommates, he never saw Rav Dov in the room. Rav Dov would come into the room after Rav Michel Yehudah had gone to sleep, and in the morning he left before Rav Michel Yehudah had awakened.
Rav Nosson Zachovsky, a great talmid chochom and author of distinguished seforim who arrived at the Chevron Yeshiva not long after Rav Dov departed, related that when he joined the yeshiva, the impact of Rav Dov’s phenomenal hasmadah could still be felt. The bochurim were still under the influence of his hasmadah and had a sheifah, a deep desire and longing, to emulate him.
Throughout the olam hayeshivos of the late 1940s and early 1950s, Rav Dov Schwartzman was spoken about with awe. There are numerous stories and legends of his greatness and of how Rav Aharon Kotler sought out a bochur who was a true gadol baTorah as a son-in-law. What is clear is that when Rav Aharon traveled to Eretz Yisroel and delivered shiurim there, Rav Dov’s incisive questions and insights, and the fiery Torah debates between them, made such a profound impression on Rav Aharon and convinced him that here was the gaon and ilui whom he was seeking.
After marriage, Rav Dov served as one of the pillars of Bais Medrash Govoah in Lakewood, going from chaburah to chaburah and, with his genius, elevating the atmosphere of learning, asking and answering questions in a way that promoted raging Torah debates that enriched the entire yeshiva.
During his years in the United States, he also served for a period as a maggid shiur in Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin. Indeed, throughout those years, he developed an extremely close bond with the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, in whom, in many ways, he found a kindred spirit.
In the mid-1950s, Rav Dov, together with ybl”c Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky, established the Philadelphia Yeshiva. Rav Yosef Luria, a member of the first group of talmidim who went from Lakewood to Philadelphia with Rav Dov, related what a tremendous impact Rav Dov had on his talmidim during his stint there. Rav Dov made everything come alive. When he delivered a shiur or explained a difficult Gemara, it became so clear. There was no obfuscation, no lack of clarity or doubts. When he explained a Gemara or answered a question, you knew that this was the true understanding of the Gemara.
“We knew that he was a gaon in nigleh and nistar. I remember in Philadelphia, on Friday night, Rav Dov would give a shiur for five to ten minutes on the kappitel of Tehillim of Mizmor shir leyom haShabbos. The shiur was such an experience and so beloved by the talmidim that many chose to stay for Shabbos in the yeshiva rather than return home – just so that they would not miss the shiur.” Most talmidim from that period in Philadelphia remained bound with Rav Dov with a long-lasting spiritual bond for decades thereafter.
In the early 1960s, Rav Dov returned to Eretz Yisroel, where he eventually established a yeshiva in Ramat Hasharon. In the mid-1960s, he founded Yeshiva Bais Hatalmud of Yerushalayim, where he served as rosh yeshiva for the rest of his life, impacting generations of talmidim and enriching the Torah world of Eretz Yisroel.
TORAH GENIUS, TORAH GREATNESS
The time was second seder in the late 1960s. The place was Yeshiva Bais Hatalmud in Yerushalayim. Rav Aryeh Zak was learning Perek Merubah in Maseches Bava Kama with Rav Leib Heyman, rov of the Gra Shul in Bayit Vegan. Rav Schwartzman, who was very busy trying to keep the yeshiva financially afloat, would come into the bais medrash in the middle of second seder. Rav Heyman approached him with a number of difficult questions that he had encountered in the sugya. He spent about 10-15 minutes talking with Rav Dov. After returning to his seat, he turned to Rav Zak and said, “Aryeh, I can’t come to myself. Rav Dov is a person who is a throwback to the generation of the Vilna Gaon. He should have lived in the Gaon’s time. We are working on this sugya, toiling in the this sugya for days, trying to understand it, and he, with all of his tremendous gaonus, in a matter of minutes, just lays out the entire sugya with such clarity and such complete clarity. He belongs to the dor of the Gaon!”
During one of Rav Dov’s trips to America, he stayed at the home of his longtime host, Rav Yosef Luria, in Boro Park. He sat at the table surrounded by some of his illustrious children, his son-in-law, Rav Yeruchem Olshin, and his sons, Rav Yaakov Eliezer Schwartzman and Rav Zevulun Schwartzman. Each of these great talmidei chachomim and roshei yeshiva was engaged in a separate sugya. Rav Moshe Shimon Luria, rov of Khal Ohr Yechezkel in Lakewood, recalls that he couldn’t contain his amazement over how Rav Dov was talking in learning with each of the talmidei chachomim on a totally different topic, jumping from the depth of one to another in a seemingly effortless manner. It was clear to the listeners, from the way he was naturally able to talk with each one almost simultaneously as they posed their difficulties, that the entire Torah was open to Rav Dov. With Rav Dov Schwartzman, there was no such thing as “not being in the suyga at this time.” He was totally at home and comfortable in any sugya and any area of Torah at all times.
Rav Mordechai Ganzweig zt”l of Los Angeles was a close talmid of Rav Dov. Whenever Rav Dov would travel to Los Angeles, Rav Mordechai would take the rosh yeshiva around to raise funds for his yeshiva. His son, Rav Yisroel Ganzweig, remembers the impression of the greatness in Torah that the rosh yeshiva made on him when he was a young boy. “Towards the end of his stay in Los Angeles,” he recalled, “Rav Dov would deliver a shiur to his talmidim living there and a few of the elite talmidei chachomim in town who were not his talmidim.
“Generally, the shiur would begin at 11 or 11:30 p.m. As the participants trickled in, the rosh yeshiva would converse with them, updating himself on the lives of his beloved talmidim. When everyone had arrived, he would ask what sugya each individual was learning and would then question, ‘Oif veleche sugya vilt ihr heren ah shiur? On which sugya would you like to hear the shiur?’ Then, after a few minutes of discussion, a sugya would be chosen and I usually had the distinction of bringing him the requested seforim. Being a child, I would sometimes bring the wrong sefer. Rav Dov, rather than embarrass me, would use the sefer as if it was the one he had asked for!
“I still remember,” Rav Yisroel continued, “how, when he would enter the house before the shiur, the rosh yeshiva would be exhausted with fatigue. As the shiur progressed, he came completely alive and delivered a powerful shiur with tremendous zest and yegiah. For me, it was the clearest depiction of the power of ameilus baTorah, of how Torah could literally revive a person from a state of exhaustion to a state of enthusiasm. At the conclusion of the shiur some 30-40 minutes later, Rav Dov would sit down, completely spent, with his face exuding simcha and tremendous satisfaction.”
Those who learned with Rav Dov in Lakewood vividly recall how he would go from chaburah to chaburah talking in learning with each one regarding what they were learning. He was always fully focused and deeply involved in the sugya as if he had just learned it.
His son-in-law, Rav Yeruchem Olshin, related: “He was almost unique in the fact that he possessed clarity in all of Shas, in all its depth. His depth and clarity in every area of Torah was so profound that he could not tolerate any explanation that was not in line with the amita shel Torah, the truth of Torah.”
Rav Aryeh Zak, a very close, longtime talmid of Rav Dov, explained, “The rosh yeshiva’s shiurim were the model of clarity. After he said the shiur, you were so convinced that his chiddush was the poshut p’shat, the simple explanation, that you could not begin to comprehend how you had ever learned differently. His approach seemed so obvious.”
With Rav Dov, there was no “kvetching,” no forced effort to try fitting the p’shat into the Gemara. His p’shat fit seamlessly.
Rav Dov would say a daily blatt shiur at Yeshiva Bais Hatalmud. Once a week, he also said a shiur klali that magnificently wove together all of the chiddushim of the blatt shiur into a masterful tapestry that illustrated both the scintillating beauty of Torah and the infinite depth of every single word of Torah.
Just a glimpse into the importance that he attached to the shiur can be gleaned from the following incident. Once, a bochur came to him and told him that the shiur was too difficult and he usually cannot understand it. The bochur asked if perhaps his time would be best spent by going to another bais medrash to learn by himself during the shiur. Rav Dov replied that he should still come to the shiur. He indicated that even if there was a lot that the bochur did not understand, just being in the bais medrash when the shiur was being delivered was, in and of itself, important, and he would not regret learning even the minimal amount that he would absorb.
Rav Ezra Novick, who was instrumental in building many mikvaos throughout Eretz Yisroel, related that whenever he had a question on the difficult, complex halachos of mikvaos, he went to Rav Dov, who would answer him without blinking. “I never saw a person with such an instant grasp of the most intricate halachos of mikvaos,” related Rav Ezra.
Many of Rav Dov’s shiurim were published under the title “Chiddushei HaGrd”sh.” Others were also published in Bais Hatalmud Chiddushim Al Hashas. Rav Efraim Zeravin, one of the great talmidim of Rav Aharon Kotler, would say that the seforim of Rav Dov were among the greatest seforim published by a rosh yeshiva in our times.
ONLY THE TRUTH
At the levaya in Yerushalayim on Monday, Rav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi quoted the Gemara that states, “The person whom we have feared has gone away.” He explained that in Rav Dov’s presence, a person felt terrified to propose a sevarah that was not one hundred percent airtight, because one knew that Rav Dov would mercilessly seek out the truth in any sevarah and reject logic that he felt was not in keeping with the eternal truth of the Torah. Interestingly enough, just a few minutes later, Rav Boruch Dov Povarsky, rosh yeshiva at the Ponovezh Yeshiva, in his hesped, spoke about Rav Dov’s sweetness of character, his goodness and his forgiving nature.
Rav Yeruchem Olshin explained that the two statements were not at all contradictory. Rav Dov epitomized the concept of “oz vehadar levusha.” When it came to protecting the integrity of Torah, he would defend it like a lion, as if it was his own baby being attacked. When one interacted with him one a personal level, however, he was the sweetest and most amicable of people.
Talmidim from throughout the various stages of his life all remember how Rav Dov, whose understanding of Torah, with his genius and hasmadah, was virtually unparalleled, could not tolerate “ah krume sevarah.” He was personally vigilant to ensure that every vort that emanated from his mouth would be correct. When arguing in learning, Rav Dov could be very combative, and when he raised his voice to argue over a sevarah, it was a “shaagas ari,” the roar of a lion protecting its cub.
Rav Shmuel Yaakov Klein, a close talmid, related that Rav Dov was such a genius that there were times when he had difficulty comprehending the questions of talmidim who were on a basic level. He strongly railed against sloppiness in learning and intellectual laziness in any talmid. “Once,” Rav Klein expounded, “a talmid told him that he had completed a certain masechta. When Rav Dov asked him if he had done the masechta with the commentary of Tosafos, the bochur replied, ‘I did the important ones.’ Rav Dov, with the beginnings of a smile on his face, responded, ‘And how do you know which ones are important and which ones are not?’”
When it came to his own honor, or if a talmid tried to fool him on a personal level, he would overlook it and frequently made believe that he hadn’t noticed. However, when it was the honor or integrity of the Torah at stake, he was relentless in defending it.
On one occasion, Rav Aryeh Zak recalls, Rav Dov was walking with another talmid chochom and they were arguing over a sevarah that the other talmid chochom was adamant he had seen in the sefer Chazon Ish. Rav Dov was equally adamant that the sevarah did not appear in the Chazon Ish’s sefer. Upon arriving at home, Rav Dov ran to get a sefer Chazon Ish and, sure enough, the sevarah was not there. Rav Dov remarked, “I was not familiar with that piece of Chazon Ish, but I was certain that the Chazon Ish would never have said such a sevarah.”
“HOW SWEET ARE HIS ACTIONS, HOW PLEASANT ARE HIS WAYS”
When outlining the middos of a talmid chochom, the Gemara (Yoma 86) uses words that aptly apply to Rav Dov: “Kama na’im maasov, kama mesukanim derochov – How sweet are his ways, how wholesome are his ways.”
Rav Dov presented such a neimus, a pleasantness, a sweetness and a humility with no airs that so permeated his entire being that a person in his company could forget that he was in the presence of one of the Torah giants of the generation. He carried himself with a certain pashtus that, in itself, revealed profound greatness.
He was never rushed and seemed to have all the time in the world for those seeking his counsel. Human nature is such that a genius like he was generally has little tolerance for the problems of other people. Rav Dov was different. He had infinite patience for everyone. He exuded simchas chaim that came out in everything he did. When he was Brooklyn, staying at the Luria home, he interacted with the children like a grandfather, playing with them and even reading books to the three-year-old child who wanted him to read a story.
Reb Zvi Weinreb, a talmid, related that with all of the rosh yeshiva’s greatness, he could come down to his talmidim’s level and interact with them like he was their closest friend. His humility and lack of airs were amazing. One talmid from the late 1960s recalls that, at that time, “tape recorders were just beginning to become widespread,. and I decided to tape the shiur of the rosh yeshiva. He saw me holding the bulky tape recorder and asked me, ‘What is that?’ I replied that it is a tape recorder. I expected him to become upset, but he didn’t. Instead, he asked me to play the tape. I played the tape of the shiur and the rosh yeshiva sat transfixed, listening to the shiur in the hallway of Bais Hatalmud for about 20 minutes. All of a sudden, he began to argue with himself. ‘Ich hob nisht gut gezogt – I didn’t say it the way I should have.’ His humility made such a profound impression on me.”
A talmid recalls how coming from America to Eretz Yisroel more than 30 years ago was difficult for him. He was not happy in the yeshiva. The lack of elementary comforts to which he was accustomed at home and the poor quality of the food were difficult for him. Rav Dov realized that he was not happy. He went over to him and said, “From now on, you are moving out of the dormitory and into my house.”
“Rav Dov gave me a room in the house and a bed and, despite my protestations, he insisted,” recalled the talmid. “When he saw that I was not eating, he told me to go into the kitchen of his home and make myself something to eat. When he saw how hesitant I was, the rosh yeshiva himself told me, ‘I want you to make an egg for me.’ He himself went to get the frying pan and the eggs. Then he went to get the vegetables and observed as I made the egg for him. When I finished preparing the egg, he instructed me in a voice that brooked no compromise, ‘You eat it.’ This great rosh yeshiva and illui was like a father to me and remained that way years and decades after I left the yeshiva.”
Forty years ago, it was an accepted practice in Eretz Yisroel to smoke cigarettes in a bais medrash. Rav Dov, however, would speak in his shmuessen about the lack of middos demonstrated by disposing cigarette butts on the floor of a bais medrash. He talked about it often, but, unfortunately, the practice continued. One day, upon walking into the bais medrash, the rosh yeshiva, in front of the entire yeshiva, got down on his hands and knees and began picking up cigarette butts. The kavod of the bais medrash bothered him and nullified his own kavod. “That was the last time any of us ever threw a butt on the floor!” said a talmid.
Rav Yisroel Ganzweig related that when Rav Dov was in Los Angeles, he would sleep at the home of the Matyas family and would eat at the Ganzweigs, with Rav Ganzweig taking him around fundraising.
“One year, the rosh yeshiva’s visit was scheduled for between Purim and Pesach,” said Rav Ganzweig. “The problem was that my bar mitzvah was to take place approximately two weeks after the bar mitzvah of one of the Matyas children. Inasmuch as the rosh yeshiva could not stay for the entire two-week period spanning both bar mitzvah celebrations, he compromised and came for neither. He arrived after the Matyas bar mitzvah and left Los Angeles before mine. During his stay, though, he did farher me thoroughly on the sugya of my pshetel, after which he told me, ‘Now that you know the sugya, your father can teach you the pshetel.’ He also told me that when I become older, if I will know how to learn, he will accept me to his yeshiva, Bais Hatalmud.”
REBBI FOREVER
Rav Dov cultivated generations of talmidim over the course of his serving as rosh yeshiva. With Rav Dov a talmid remained a talmid years – even decades – after he had left the yeshiva. It did not matter if the talmid had assumed a position in the Torah world or if he had entered the business or professional worlds. Rav Dov deeply cared about all of his talmidim and gave advice on all matters to those who sought it.
Rav Schwartzman had a comprehensive understanding of the mindset and needs of both the Israeli and the American bochurim and dealt with each one “al pi darko.” He worried about both their ruchniyus and their gashmiyus.
In conversations with talmidim, we heard numerous stories about how he worried about their parnassah and tried to assist them when they were having difficulties. One talmid needed money to open a store and Rav Dov, who was in America to raise money for his own yeshiva, gathered money together to help the talmid in Eretz Yisroel start out. Another talmid approached the age of shidduchim, but his family situation was such that no one took care of him. Rav Dov stepped in as if he was the father. He helped him with shidduchim and eventually bought an apartment for him. This was his degree of self-sacrifice and ahavah for his talmidim.
Yet a third talmid related that a part of his business was selling tefillin. Rav Dov got excellent tefillin for him to sell at good prices so that he could turn a considerable profit.
Rav Dov never ceased giving his talmidim guidance, even after they left yeshiva. One Erev Pesach, a talmid, who was a bochur, told him that he was fasting taanis bechorim. Rav Dov, who eschewed excessive frumkeit when it was not genuine, told him, “I have a siyum for you if you need one.” With this, he subtly indicated that if there is a prevalent custom accepted among Klal Yisroel, one should not try to be “more frum.”
Rav Aryeh Zak remembers how, one time, Rav Dov was told that a certain former talmid was having headaches and the doctors had indicated that he might be suffering from a brain tumor. Rav Dov, who himself suffered terribly from migraine headaches, heard the news and was terribly distraught. “He asked me to take him to the Kosel. To see him daven for that talmid was unforgettable. He davened with such ferver, saying Tehillim with such feeling… Soon we found out that the doctor’s fears were unfounded.”
Perhaps, most of all, his talmidim, even decades later, viewed Rav Dov as the quintessential sulam mutzav artzah verosho magia hashomayma. He was a person who resided in the celestial worlds, a gaon in all areas of Torah, while he simultaneously deeply cared about the “little” problems and advised his talmidim not only on spiritual matters, but regarding so many other, seemingly mundane matters as well.
THE PATHWAYS OF MACHSHAVAH AND KABBALAH
From a young age, Rav Dov displayed a deep spiritual bond with the seforim of the Maharal and other sifrei machshavah. He possessed a wide-ranging, all-encompassing knowledge of sifrei machshavah, sifrei chassidus and sifrei Kabbalah. Talmidim came from far and wide to listen to his shiurim which offered insights and approaches to avodas Hashem virtually not found elsewhere. His talmidim from Bais Hatalmud related that, for some 30 years, Rav Dov would give a shiur every Shabbos on the kappitel of “Mizmor shir leyom haShabbos.” He never repeated an explanation that he had said previously. He was a maayon hamisgaber, an overflowing fountain that never stopped. Talmidim recall him delivering shiurim on machshavah at the most unearthly hours of the day. When he was asked to say a shiur, he said, he only had time at 6 a.m. or, on rare occasions, at 12 midnight. Talmidim recall him giving deep shmuessen on machshavah at these times.
Rav Shlomo Hoffman, a noted talmid chochom from Yerushalayim, told Rav Aryeh Zak that Rav Dov had notebooks upon notebooks of chiddushim that he wrote on the Vilna Gaon’s commentary on the Kabbalistic sefer Safra Detzniusah. Indeed, he was considered a chad bedoro, unique in his generation in his grasp and his ability to relate with clarity and break down even the most seemingly abstract concepts of machshavah and Toras hanistar.
Another component in his harbotzas haTorah was his pioneering role in the nascent baal teshuvah movement. He was among the founders of the first baal teshuvah yeshiva called Shema Yisroel. He possessed a deep bond with Yeshiva Ohr Somayach for baalei teshuvah. Not only did Rav Dov serve as rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ohr Somayach for many years delivering shiurim in both halacha and hashkafa, but he served as the guiding light and the daas Torah for all issues relating to the yeshiva. Rav Mendel Weinbach and Rav Nota Schiller, the roshei yeshiva of Ohr Somayach, faced all kinds of difficulties and extremely pivotal questions relating to baalei teshuvah. It was Rav Dov’s wise, clear daas Torah that set policy for Ohr Somayach during its formative years and beyond. Rav Dov felt a deep love for Ohr Somayach and once said that he enjoys saying shiurim there more than in any other place, because the thirst for Torah and the tremendous enthusiasm of the baalei teshuvah are unparalleled.
Rav Dov was also never swayed by the outer appearance of his charges. It didn’t matter how a baal teshuvah or any person was dressed. He somehow discerned the neshamos of all his charges despite the outer trappings. With his passing, Yeshiva Ohr Somayach has truly lost its guiding light, who led it virtually from its inception. Thousands of baalei teshuvah the world over who were inspired by him deeply mourn his petirah.
TWILIGHT
Over the past several years, Rav Dov became ill and considerably weakened, becoming unable to continue leading his yeshiva. Last week, his health deteriorated even further, and late on Sunday night, 10 Cheshvan, the heart and soul that pulsated, absorbed, led and spread the light of Torah for so many decades ascended to the Yeshiva Shel Maalah.
One Monday, a massive levaya was held at Yeshiva Bais Hatalmud in the Sanhedria neighborhood of Yerushalayim. Hespeidim were delivered by Rav Shmuel Auerbach, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Maalos HaTorah; Rav Moshe Shapiro, a close talmid and former R”M at Yeshiva Bais Hatalmud; Rav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ateres Yisroel; Rav Noach Heisler, rov of the Sanhedria neighborhood; Rav Don Segal; Rav Boruch Dov Povarsky, rosh yeshiva at the Ponovezh Yeshiva; Rav Mendel Weinbach, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Ohr Somayach; Rav Yonason Domb, a close talmid who serves as a mashgiach of Yeshiva Bais Meir; his son, Rav Yaakov Eliezer Schwartzman, rosh yeshiva of Bais Medrash Govoah of Eretz Yisroel; his son, Rav Zevulun Schwartzman, rosh kollel of Yeshiva Eitz Chaim; his son, Rav Isser Zalman Schwartzman, R”M at Yeshiva Chadera of Kiryat Sefer; his son, Rav Yitzchok Schwartzman; and his son-in-law, Rav Yosef Strasser, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Bais Hatalmud.
Rav Dov leaves behind a family of children who are great talmidei chachomim and marbitzei Torah. His sons are Rav Yaakov Eliezer Schwartzman, Rav Zevulun Schwartzman, Rav Isser Zalman Schwartzman and Rav Yitzchok Schwartzman. His sons-in-law are Rav Yeruchem Olshin, Rav Yisroel Neuman, Rav Avrohom Jurkanski, Rav Yosef Strasser, Rav Yair Bak, Rav Gavriel Sheinberger, Rav Dovid Broner and Rav Dovid Slutch. He is also survived by grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all dedicated and devoted to the path of greatness in Torah that he forged.
Yehi zichro boruch.
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Special thanks to Rav Yeruchem Olshin, Rav Yosef Luria, Rav Moshe Shimon Luria, Rav Aryeh Zak, Rav Zvi Weinreb, Rav Yosef Feldman, Rav Menachem Savitz, Rav Shmuel Yaakov Klein and Rav Yisroel Ganzweig for their assistance during the preparation of this article.
