By Rabbi Avrohom Yehuda Rubinfeld
He was renowned as a lamdan of the highest caliber. Recognized as a genius at a level paralleled by few. His level of ameilus and hasmada was legendary. His counsel was sought after by myriad talmidim. He had an enormous heart available for all. His was the address for so many downtrodden people, underprivileged members of the community.
But at Mesivta Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, he was known simply as “Rav Pinchas.” It was a term that encompassed all the above – and so much more. It was a name that simultaneously evoked feelings of trepidatious awe and respect, together with a sense of warm, comforting reassurance.
And on the afternoon of Thursday, 20 Adar 5785, it carried a shocking jolt of anguish as word rapidly spread that Rav Pinchas was niftar. Yes, his health had been failing in recent years. True, of late he was seldom able to make an appearance at the yeshiva. But it was still completely unexpected. A shock that rattled talmidim to their core. Indeed, the entire yeshiva was in mourning. Bereft of its kohein gadol.
Rav Pinchas was niftar.
The morning began as every other. He davened Shacharis assisted by one of his children and shortly thereafter went to lie down. A short while later, his heiligeh neshomah returned to Hakadosh Boruch Hu.
Rav Pinchas was niftar.
A lifetime of close to 90 years came to an abrupt end. An almost ninety-years-long symphony of limud haTorah sang its final note. A kaleidoscopic tapestry, one that screamed “kulo omer kavod,” came to an end. A larger-than-life figure, a rebbi of thousands, a bastion of support, a wellspring of advice and comfort to so many, was no more.
Rav Pinchas was no longer with us.
***
Rav Pinchas was born on the third day of Nissan, 5697 (March 15, ‘37), to Reb Eliyahu Tzvi and Sara Faige (nee Frankel) Kahn. Reb Eliyahu Zvi was the eighth grade rebbi at Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin in addition to delivering a daily blatt shiur for baalei batim. He was a Litvishe Yid who salivated when saying a sevara. The tremendous taanug of limud haTorah was palpable in his every word, indeed emanating from his very essence, and was absorbed via osmosis by his children.
When young Pinchas was but a few days old, his father, who struggled to provide even the basics, purchased a gift for his newborn child: sets of Mishnah Berurah and Minchas Chinuch.
Growing up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, NY, young Pinchas attended Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin Elementary School, then located on Prospect Street. He continued on to the mesivta high school and bais medrash, learning under such luminaries as Rav Shlomo Freifeld and Rav Aharon Soloveitchik.
Ashrei Yoladeto
Rav Pinchas was blessed with incredible genius. He had lightning-fast grasp and a phenomenal memory. The rosh yeshiva, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, would comment on more than one occasion that Rav Pinchas was “ah lamdan m’beten imo.”
His mother would comment that yet before his upsherin, she could see that he was different, as in contrast to others, his favorite activity, at two years old, involved opening up seforim and turning the pages.
These unique comprehension and retention capabilities notwithstanding, his ameilus and hasmadah were in a league of their own. Throughout his life, he never ceased chazering again and again, the zelbeh shvereh Gaon, the zelbeh pshat in Rav Akiva Eiger. Each time with another angle, a new kneitch. His ameilus was not a means to an end, but entry into a blissful existence, one of pure sha’ashuei Oraysa.
It was this that was given over to the children through chinuch and by example. Once, after speaking with someone who had called to discuss serious behavioral issues with his children, he commented to one of his sons who was there that he didn’t have these concerns with regards to him. “With you,” he commented, “I’m only worried how will you be meyashev Rav Akiva Eiger’s kasha.”
Vehe’emidu Talmidim Harbeh
In 5725 (‘65), only twenty-eight years of age, Rav Pinchas began his life’s calling of harbotzas haTorah and ha’amadas talmidim. His first position was at Yeshiva of Eastern Parkway, where he taught the tenth grade. Two years later, he moved with his young family to Baltimore, taking a position as R”M in Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim of Baltimore. He returned to New York two years later. Although having only spent a relatively short time there, the impact that he had – not just on his talmidim, but on the entire community – was enormous. Decades later, a community member of that era would remark that when Rav Pinchas left Baltimore, “Baltimore was crying.”
Rav Pinchas returned to New York, where he joined Rav Feivel Cohen at the helm of Yeshiva Nachalas Haleviyim. He spent the next decade delivering shiurim, nurturing talmidim, and tending to all their needs both b’ruchniyus and b’gashmius. That blissful period would come to an end when Yeshiva Nachlas Haleviyim was forced to close in ‘79 due to financial difficulties and changing demographics.
Rav Pinchas was immediately sought out by the Novominsker Rebbe and brought in to the bais medrash of K’hal Adas Jeshurun as co-rosh yeshiva, taking over leadership of the yeshiva the following year, a position he held for the next seven years.
In Elul of 5746 (‘87), he was invited by the rosh yeshiva, Rav Aharon Schechter, to “return home” and begin saying shiurim at Mesivta Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. This was to be his final stop, his “letzteh stantzia,” if you will. He began giving the highest shiur in the yeshiva and maintained that position for close to forty years until his petirah.
Be’ahavosa Tishgeh Tamid
The rosh yeshiva, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, writes (Iggros Ukesovim, 12) that there is singular madreigah of “amida al da’as harav,” which transcends the regular connection between rebbi and talmid that is forged through limud haTorah. Above understanding the Torah that the rov gives over, beyond grasping the intricacies and nuances of his teachings, there is a special level of comprehension where the talmid grasps the immutable connection between the rov’s essence and his limud haTorah, internalizing the “chad hu” between the rebbi and His Torah.
These concepts came alive when in the presence of Rav Pinchas. He was a living expression of ki heim chayeinu. The Rashba, the Ketzos, Rav Akiva Eiger – it wasn’t merely his source of sustenance, it was more than just oxygen, it was his lifeblood, his dam hatamtzis. No matter the time, no matter the place, all that he wanted to talk about – all that interested him – were the Avnei Neizer, the Gaon, and Rav Akiva Eiger.
At times, his rebbetzin would excitedly usher the children over to listen from the bedroom door as Rav Pinchas would handel in learning while he slept. Not a mere utterance, not a small thought, but complete conversations back and forth with himself.
As disease ravaged his body and mind, all he complained about was that he could no longer halt kup in the Rav Akiva Eiger.
Passing his table during Seder would almost inevitably entail being called over. Vos iz mit der Rashba? Vos vet zein mit der Ramban? When asked how he was, his reply was often, “S’iz dah ah shvere Tosafos…”
The shiur was not something that you simply attended. It was a transformative experience. As the rosh yeshiva, Rav Tzvi Fink, expressed at the levayah, “In every shiur he delivered, the splendor and grandeur of the Torah were on full display for all to see. It was impossible to walk out of shiur,” he continued, “without experiencing a tremendous cheishek to return immediately to the bais medrash and continue horeving over the sugya.”
Libo L’vav Kol Yisroel
Years ago, someone was speaking to the Novominsker Rebbe. During the conversation, Rav Pinchas’s name was mentioned, with the person commenting on his tremendous ga’onus. “You speak about his ga’onus in learning,” the Novominsker replied, “but know that he was a gaon in middos as well.”
The rosh yeshiva, Rav Aharon Schechter, would say over from Rav Hutner that Rav Pinchas “has the hartz of a talmid chochom.” It is worth noting that Rav Hutner was not one to offer generic or empty platitudes. Nor did he generally convey his praise of talmidim to others. Rav Pinchas, however, was in a league of his own.
Indeed, His tremendous “kup” was attached to an even larger heart. Ah hartz fun ah talmid chochom. He was the go-to address for scores of people. Talmidim of all ages, at all stages in life, would come seeking guidance. Yungeleit who wouldn’t make a move without consulting him. Bochurim who would seek guidance before and after every date. There was nothing that was out of reach of his towering intellect, his penetrating analysis or his broad shoulders. At the same time, nothing was too trivial for him to involve himself with.
Many people came not in search of advice, but in search of a listening ear and compassionate heart. Rav Pinchas would not – he could not – simply empathize and console, but would take action. There was no other way. He was incapable of standing idle when another Yid was in pain. Often, this meant doing things that were difficult or even downright unpleasant.
The level of hachnosas orchim was incredulous. People of all stripes would find a comfortable bed and warm meal at the Kahn home. Individuals from the lowest levels of society – unkempt, ill mannered, foul smelling – all found refuge in the basement, sometimes for a night, sometimes a week, and at times for months!
Even when alone, his mind was always thinking about others. His children would often find him sitting by himself crying over a Tehillim, beseeching on behalf of tzorchei haklal or the tzarah of a yochid.
For many years, there was a minyan in his home every Motzoei Shabbos for Maariv. Various neighborhood boys would often daven for the amud, with Rav Pinchas saying Kaddish Yasom at its conclusion. A keen observer commented that whenever the shliach tzibbur davened with less-than-perfect ivrah, the Kaddish wouldn’t be perfect either. Who even thinks like that, let alone acts upon it?
Rav Pinchas was the address for shalom bayis issues, not only for his talmidim but often for people he didn’t know. He didn’t suffice with offering guidance and would constantly get actively involved, at times going down to a home to speak with an irate spouse, ignoring the risk, the danger, and the inevitable bizyonos he suffered.
Rav Yankel Levitz was a talmid of Yeshivas Nachlas Haleviyim for many years. He would comment that in all the years, he never saw Rav Pinchas and Rav Feivel Cohen, the two roshei yeshiva, have an argument.
Upon returning from the levayah of Rav Zelik Epstein, Rav Pinchas related, with visible emotion, something he had heard said over from Rav Zelik. (A similar thought is also attributed to the rosh yeshiva, Rav Hutner.) When learning a shvereh Tosafos or saying a shiur to explain a difficult Rashba, one cannot know the full extent of his success. It is hard to ascertain if he answered properly and whether he correctly resolved the matter. However, when someone comes to you with a heavy heart or a troubled mind and leaves with a smile on his face and a bounce in his step, you know without question that you accomplished.
As mentioned, he would often be heard talking in learning in his sleep. Equally astonishing, and perhaps more so, was observing him often times speaking in his sleep about the problems, the tribulations and the tzaros that had been unloaded upon him. He internalized it. Their pain was his pain. He felt it. He lived it. And he slept it as well.
Aharon Ba’avodaso
Rav Pinchas would say that although perhaps the level and volume of limud haTorah today might surpass those of previous generations, there was something widespread in past times that is sorely lacking today: the strong levels of emunah peshutah that was alive, tangible, and branded into the very foundations of Yidden’s neshamos.
It was this emunah peshutah, and so much more, that Rav Pinchas transmitted to his family. Emunas chachomim. Kedushas Yisroel. Derhoibeneh hasagos. Broad vistas in cheshkas haTorah and kiyum hamitzvos.
In recent years, his mind suffered from debilitating disease. Once, when his mind was not clear, he paused before turning on the light, inquiring first whether it was Shabbos.
He would constantly ask if today was Yom Kippur, and like he did every Yom Kippur for decades, a Sefer Rabbeinu Yonah was in recent months always close by.
The dikduk in halacha and zehirus in kiyum hamitzvos was a sight to behold. His brilliant mind was always producing a plethora of sevaros. Original and ingenious analysis. However, when it came lema’aseh, the Shulchan Aruch ruled supreme. If that was what the Mishnah Berurah said, that was how it was going to be.
Who can forget the wailing and krechtzing during the tefillos on the Yomim Noraim, particularly during Neilah? It sent shivers down the spine of anyone fortunate to hear it.
Rav Hutner would often request that Rav Pinchas have him in mind during Birkas Kohanim, many times providing him additional names to have in mind as well.
***
These lines are by no means intended to summarize the life or quantify the attributes and accomplishments of hakohein hagadol mei’echav, Rav Pinchas Aharon Hakohein Kahn. The rosh yeshiva shunned all forms of hespeidim, explaining that a hesped is an extremely delicate enterprise, intended to appraise and quantify a man’s character and essence, an endeavor clearly beyond our purview.
It is the hope that these words will shed but a ray of light, a mere glimpse into the life of our great rebbi, and perhaps inspire us to strive for greater accomplishments in Torah and avodah.
Chazal compares one’s offspring to a person’s legs: “Bruh kareih d’avuha.” Rav Hutner famously explains that Chazal were not simply alluding to the fact that one’s children are his extension, his continuation in this world. The analogy goes much deeper. A person in this world is “mehalech.” He travels through his short span on this earth doing, producing, accomplishing, effecting. When one is niftar, his “travels” come to an abrupt end. He no longer has the ability to achieve. He is an “omeid,” standing in one place (see Zechariah 3:7).
The only capacity for further accomplishment in this world is through his children. Their actions, their achievements, which stem from the chinuch they received, reverberate around the world and provide further elevation for the niftar. They are his “feet,” enabling him to continue his “travels.”
Rav Pinchas Aharon ben Eliyahu Tzvi Hakohein lived a full life. Kulom shovim letovah. He has risen to the realm of “mochor lekabel sechorom” to bask in the glow of his accomplishments and reap the tremendous rewards reserved for such people. It is up to us to carry onward, to perpetuate his legacy. It is our mission, our duty, to be his footsteps – by following in them.
Yehi zichro boruch.
