I mentioned last week that I wanted to write a small piece about what I knew of some of the great, relatively young, leaders of Klal Yisroel who we have lost in the past few weeks. With the passing of Rav Mordechai Joffen zt”l on Friday, the list, unfortunately, continues to grow.
It has been less than two weeks since the petirah of Rav Meir Chaim Gutfreund zt”l, the rosh hamosad, founder, and rosh yeshiva who insisted on being called the menahel of the three Cheder institutions, in Brooklyn, Lakewood and Queens. I thought about the small bit that I knew him through various encounters, and I reflected.
While it’s fascinating to read about gedolei Yisroel whose vast Torah knowledge is all-encompassing, it is often difficult to relate to that level of scholarship for many of us.
But there are those great individuals, who were brilliant lamdonim and shone during their many years in the most distinguished yeshivos in the world, who chose a path that led them to a type of greatness different from the gedolim we read about in hagiographies or whose pictures appear on trading cards or on tzedakah posters. This does not diminish their greatness, because their level of celebrity is probably the opposite of their actual greatness. Rav Meir Gutfreund was one of those people.
It’s truly a shame that not many people outside of his wonderful extended family, his dear chaveirim from yeshiva and the world of chinuch, and all the parents and his many, many talmidim of the cheder, mesivta, and bais medrash that he built with his own blood, sweat, tears, and personal resources, knew him well. I was zoche to interact with him on many occasions, not only because I have grandchildren in the Cheder, but because he generously advised me on numerous occasions regarding chinuch hashkofah and ideas and initiatives that would help Yeshiva Toras Chaim of South Shore, an institution very different from his own chadorim in Brooklyn and Lakewood. His insights were invaluable in both chinuch and in helping the yeshiva sustain itself and build further.
When his daughter was of age to enter school, Rabbi Gutfreund, a lifelong talmid of Bais Hatalmud throughout his mesivta and kollel years, envisioned creating a girls’ school with a focus on the hashkafos of the yeshivos from which he derived his own life outlook. Although there were other Bais Yaakov schools in Flatbush, he decided to visit Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach to seek his advice. Rav Shach gave him iconic advice: “If you are coming as a community representative, and you are asking for the community, I would say that a community needs many things. They need a cheder, a Bais Yaakov, a mikvah, and a matzah bakery, among other things. But if you are asking as a yochid, for your own needs, then I will advise you that a person needs nothing more than the zechus of talmud Torah. Veshinantom levonecha, eilu hatalmidim. Make a cheder.”
And he did.
In 1993, almost 30 years ago, the Cheder was established in Flatbush. It was launched through Rav Meir Chaim’s consulting with the best mechanchim available, in addition to appointing a team of experts to implement the most effective tactics and methods to reach children in this day and age. But his focus never wavered from teaching Torah al taharas hakodesh.
Word spread that the Cheder was started with Rav Shach’s encouragement, and soon it was claimed that the entire direction and pedagogy of the Cheder were implemented by Rav Shach. As a man of truth, Rav Gutfreund was disturbed by this. He could not claim that every decision of the Cheder’s mehalech was guided by Rav Shach. But the rumor persisted, so Rav Meir traveled to Eretz Yisroel some years after the Cheder had opened to apologize to Rav Shach and ask how he could rectify the situation.
As soon as Rav Shach saw him enter the room, the first words he asked were, “Nu? Hos du ge’efened? Nu? Did you open?”
Shocked that Rav Shach remembered him, their conversation, and his encouragement, he answered that the Cheder had indeed opened. Then he presented the issue that he felt terrible about—the fact that, despite no effort or input of his own, people were calling it “Rav Shach’s Cheder.” Rav Shach, with a twinkle in his eye, immediately responded, “Es art eich? Does it bother you if they call it my cheder?”
Obviously, Rav Shach had such confidence in Rav Gutfreund that he didn’t mind the moniker of the Cheder being identified as under his guidance.
Rav Meir Chaim, from his youth growing up under the influence of Bais Medrash Elyon and the talmidim who were so close with his family, to Bais Hatalmud, Lakewood, and beyond, was a true yeshivaman. Torah, in its essence, was part of every fiber of his being, yet he was able to relate to simple people who wanted a pure chinuch for their children.
He had ventured into the business world before founding the Cheder, but he never left the koslei hayeshiva. Ultimately, the koslei hayeshiva never left his essence. His greatness was not only in how he nurtured and guided his rabbeim and talmidim. Even before a parent entered the yeshiva, he took them under his wing. One of the menachmim mentioned at the shivah that when she and her husband came with their son for an interview, Rav Gutfreund noticed something about the bochur. When the boy was out of earshot, Rav Gutfreund sat with them and said, “Your son’s ears are deformed. It will be a social impediment to his growth and there are specialists who can reconstruct or reform the ears to make them absolutely natural and ordinary.”
Indeed, the parents were aware of the procedure they needed, but they explained to Rabbi Gutfreund that the procedure, costing thousands of dollars, was considered cosmetic and would not be covered by insurance. A moment later, Rav Gutfreund left the room and returned with a large wad of $100 bills, enough to cover the procedure.
In his unassuming manner, Rav Gutfreund was able to relate to both distinguished bais medrash bochurim and the youngest talmidim, including my grandchildren, who were crying, asking, “Who will be there to greet us when we come to cheder?”
Over the years, the Cheder developed a reputation as one of the foremost yeshivos in Brooklyn, growing exponentially to include a mesivta and bais medrash, instilling the desire for greatness in Torah in more than 800 talmidim. Its Friedman Family Campus includes the original Cheder elementary school, Mesivta Sholom Shachne, and a bais medrash, which dominate Elmwood Avenue in Brooklyn. In addition, the spacious Ateres Chynka Hall located in the basement of the Cheder building, has become an icon of simcha for the many chasunos it hosts almost nightly for members of the community at large.
But Rav Meir Chaim’s vision did not stop there. He rejuvenated Yeshivas Kamenitz in Lakewood, and it has become another premier makom Torah in a city filled with distinguished mekomos haTorah. Furthermore, just a few years ago, he established Cheder Moshe Rayah Mehemna to serve the Bukharian community with the same high-level chinuch that he instituted in all his mosdos.
Rav Meir Chaim was a tremendous talmid chochom, and a tremendous baal tzedakah and baal chesed, but despite his low-key, humble demeanor, the impact he made across the Torah world in being mechanech thousands of talmidim to become talmidei chachomim, yirei Shomayim and marbitzei Torah will remain his greatest legacy for generations to come.
Yehi zichro boruch.
