The Steipler Gaon, Zt'l -- 25th Av 5760, His Fifteenth Yahrtzeit

Reb Yaakov Kanievsky - The Steipler

 

by M. Musman

Introduction: Gone But Still With Us

Is there a need, now that fifteen years have passed, to describe the Steipler, zt'l? Our first reaction is: No! Does the memory of a godol of his stature, to whom all were bound, fade from our hearts and minds over such a short time span?! Those who were close to him, who are now themselves among the elders, recorded their impressions and conveyed his ideas at length.

Others, amongst whom are the teachers and leaders of our generation, who had the opportunity to visit him, and who at any rate used to hear about him as one of the contemporary gedolim, have their own impressions to draw upon. He can never be forgotten by any of them as long as they live.

However, the generation now reaching adulthood has no personal memories of him at all. For them, like it or not, he is part of history, albeit recent, but history nevertheless.

Yet, all of us without exception are living in a Jewish world that he played a major role in shaping. Although he held no public post or position, his was the last word on the myriad private and communal issues that were brought before him. All of us, to whatever degree, live our lives according to the ageless ideals which he passed on to us.

He was one of the gedolim to whom Klal Yisroel are instinctively drawn, and upon whose head they thereby place an invisible but universally acknowledged crown of leadership. He was thus, and will forever remain, part of all of us.

His was a vital, pulsing yiroh, that struck a chord in the souls of Klal Yisroel's faithful, and bade them hearken. It was the stuff out of which the talmidim of Novardok, amongst whom he was numbered in his youth, built up an empire of yeshivos in prewar Russia and Poland. Although Novardok did not undergo the same degree of postwar regeneration by descendants and talmidim as the other mussar yeshivos did, the Steipler was one of the most powerful single forces that emanated from any of them, to impact on the renascent Jewish world.

His kedusha was palpable. He avoided anything that was in the slightest unseemly or whose permissibility was in the slightest way called into question. He distanced himself from all possible sources of uncleanliness. He sprang back, as though physically assailed, from any unexpected encounter with something Chazal taught should be avoided.

The mere prospect of unwittingly transgressing an aveiro, though he was alerted in time to avoid it, caused him hours of discomfort and distress. He loved his fellow Jew and gave freely of his time to all who came to him in search of advice, comfort, solace and guidance. He shared their pain and directed them as to how to achieve whatever relief or comfort that was possible.

He was approached on all subjects from the most serious to the trivial, but as long as he saw that a petitioner was genuine, he would devote hours responding to whatever concerned him. Time and again, events unfolded according to the precise wording of his replies. Everyone knew that an answer from the Steipler was in truth a message from Heaven. His humility extended as far as his greatness, and then some.

To those entrenched in a world of falsehood, the way he wrote and spoke about himself might bring a smile of understanding to the lips or evoke a shudder of respect, but for him, every word of it was the utter truth. He was genuinely unable to understand what there was about him that made people want to accord him the honor that so greatly pained him.

Despite his perception of his own worth, he never faltered when it came to articulating a response to a challenge to the integrity of Torah and Torah leadership in Klal Yisroel. Together with ylct'a HaRav Shach, he worked to strengthen the growing Torah camp, to have its voice clearly heard, and to rebuff all attempts to sully its purity. His soul was repulsed by evil, even if it tried to disguise itself under the mantle of unity, compassion or some other worthy ideal.

His heart swelled when truth was compromised, and the words which emanated from his throat and flowed from his pen in consequence were acknowledged by all faithful Jews to be those of the Shechina. And the beginning and the end of it all was Torah. Torah was all he had ever had and Torah made him everything that he was. The stories of his total immersion in Torah study as a youth are legendary and he maintained the same level of commitment throughout his life.

His seforim became contemporary classics; his chiddushim on virtually every part of Shas are studied by bnei Torah the world over; his guidance and advice to aspiring talmidei chachomim, young and old, were circulated in yeshivos and are still widely publicized. He personally honored all bnei Torah, great and small alike. He taught that single-minded devotion to Torah study was both the path to personal growth and fulfillment as well as the only balm for the generation's many ills.

He worked to see Torah grow and flourish, which it did in his lifetime and has continued to do since. The Torah world that he left pained and bereft fifteen years ago is undoubtedly larger and stronger than ever, yet there is much that we still have to learn from him and his life. Reviewing his teachings and reexamining his life are the best ways of knowing what his advice to us would be today.

Glimpses of the Steipler This article and its sequel could scarcely contain all that such a review ought to convey. The best places to find the Steipler's teachings and the story of his life are his own seforim, Sha'arei Tevunoh, Chayei Olom and Bircas Peretz and the numerous others that have been published about him in the last fifteen years.

The first volume of personal recollections, Halichos Vehanhogos Mimoron Ba'al HaKehillos Yaakov, which was written by two talmidei chachomim who were close to him, appeared within a year of his petirah. It has been joined over the years by many other similar works such as Karaino De'igarto, a collection of his letters, the multi-volumed Orchos Rabbeinu, containing halachic rulings as well as stories and historical vignettes both from and about the Steipler and the Chazon Ish, the volumes of Peninei Rabbeinu HaKehillos Yaakov, the biographical Chomas Eish (translated into English as Pillar of Fire) and others.

To mark the tenth yahrtzeit, Rabbi Avrohom Yeshayohu Kanievsky, a grandson of the Steipler (and son of ylct"a HaRav Chaim Kanievsky), published Toldos Yaakov. Drawing upon his own memories, what he heard from his father, family members and other reliable witnesses, as well as the letters and published works of and about the Steipler, he wrote what is probably the most comprehensive and the most accurate book of all (though of course every individual adds his own unique perspective).

In his introduction, the author notes that he wrote with great brevity (which greatly increases the impact), and tried to include only things that would be of educational benefit. A large amount of material was left out, he says, either because he was unable to vouch for its accuracy, or for its benefit to the reader. The book certainly achieves its aim, to serve as a work of mussar.

To open it and read any page is to be connected to a world of holiness, purity and love of Torah, that awakens a strong yearning within the reader's heart to strive to retain the connection. For our articles marking the Steipler's fifteenth yahrtzeit, we present personal glimpses of him through the eyes of people who knew him at different periods of his life. The articles are rounded off with a more topical then ever selection of quotes from the Steipler on the differences between present day generations and previous ones, and on raising and educating children. Other material will also be included, as space permits.

Contemplating His Footsteps By HaRav Ben Tzion Bruk, zt'l Just seven weeks after the Steipler's petirah, on the fourteenth of Tishrei 5746, HaRav Ben Zion Bruk, who was some five years his junior, was also niftar. The connection between these two gedolim extended back to HaRav Bruk's childhood in Rogatschov.

The Alter of Novardok had established a yeshiva ketana there and in 5678 (1918), he dispatched his talmid, Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky, who was then just nineteen years old, to lead and guide the yeshiva. HaRav Bruk was one of the first talmidim in the yeshiva. Years later, as an elderly man, HaRav Bruk used to spend Pesach in Bnei Brak, and he would visit the Steipler.

On one of those visits, when HaRav Bruk was accompanied by his son, the Steipler remarked that the former's father had been, "one of the best and most distinguished of the bochurim." After the Steipler was niftar, HaRav Bruk would occasionally burst out crying and there was scarcely a mussar shmuess when he did not mention him. He told stories about him that were not generally known and many used to visit him to hear about the Steipler, regarding which HaRav Bruk remarked, "It's very important to recount and to reveal his worth." The following (very slightly rearranged) is part of the hesped which HaRav Bruk delivered for the rebbe of his youth:

At that time, it was customary even for senior bochurim to have their meals in the homes of the townspeople. Because he could not spare the time, our master, ztvk'l, would not go to the houses to eat. The householders would send a messenger to bring his meals to the yeshiva. We were thus witness to his tremendous application to learning, and the extent to which he attached importance to every moment of learning.

Even when the messenger was late and didn't bring the meal on time, he didn't bother looking for it at all but sat learning, even though he was really hungry and even though he could have found the messenger in a very short time. It was not just with food that we witnessed this trait of disregarding physical needs for the sake of Torah but with sleep as well. He was not particular where he slept and he had no fixed lodgings. He slept in the beis hamedrash near the door, even in the depths of the Russian winter. I remember that we were then learning maseches Yevomos and he would deliver a shiur, following which he would spend a very long time in tefillah, his Shemoneh Esrei taking a whole hour. The Sharshover -- Reb Yitzchok Sharshever, zt'l, -- who was then in Rogatschov, explained that our rebbe was apparently afraid of stumbling by enjoying some pride after saying the shiur, and therefore underwent this submission in prayer.

While he was in Rogatschov, he would learn mussar for half an hour a day. If he missed any of his shiurim, he wouldn't go to sleep on erev Shabbos until he had made up what was missing. Years later, when I was in his home in Bnei Brak, he showed me a volume of Chovos Halevovos, whose pages had all come apart and he told me that it was that sefer that he used to learn from in Rogatschov.

His vigilance and righteousness were astounding. He would not light a cigarette from the candle that stood on the omud in the beis hamedrash (because he was afraid of making mundane use out of sanctified property), and similarly, when others used to take coals out of the oven to light cigarettes with, he would not open the oven because every time it was opened it lost a bit of its heat.

He was especially careful about the mitzvo of succah, and would sleep there on Shemini Atzeres, even though it was close to freezing. He slept there alone and paid no attention to the cold and frost. Our master and teacher, the Alter, ztvk'l, visited Rogatschov three times a year and he was glad to see the yeshiva's development under our master's influence.

Rogatschov and After When he was caught and sent to Mohliev, it was chol hamoed Pesach. I was young, not yet bar mitzvah, and the Rav of Rogatschov [the author of Ne'os Yaakov, zt'l] therefore permitted money to be sewn into the lining of my coat and allowed me to travel by train to Mohliev on the night of Shevi'i shel Pesach.

His incarceration provoked a great commotion and a large sum of money was collected to make his release possible and have him freed from the army. [In fact the Steipler had to spend an entire year in the Russian army.] When he was caught by the Russians and sent to the army in Moscow, I sent him small volumes of gemora (the Russians only allowed small booklets to be sent).

I sent half the Shas in this way, and he learned it in depth. Another occasion when the Rav of Rogatschov helped our master was when the latter was sleeping by the door of the beis haknesses, which disturbed the townsfolk who wanted to have him removed from there. The Rav prevented this and asked them not to disturb him since he was a great scholar. Our master used to take part in the va'adim, and would speak to the young bochurim. His ideas were a combination of intricate thinking and innate understanding.

To this day (some sixty-seven years later), I still remember one of the things he said: The Chovos Halevovos (in Sha'ar Yichud Hama'aseh) explains that one of the ways that the yetzer hora attacks a person who has common sense is by bringing arguments which are founded on false assumptions and whose conclusions are therefore not necessarily correct. He explained that this was what happened with the sin of the eigel. When he ascended Har Sinai, Moshe Rabbenu promised to be back punctually. The yetzer hora argued that the sixth hour of the day had arrived, and he had not yet returned.

He showed them Moshe Rabbenu's bier hovering in the air. The eirev rav believed this and said that Moshe Rabbenu had died, while the tribe of Levi argued that the calculation was wrong. They said that the days should be counted from the day after he had left and accordingly, Moshe Rabbenu should not be expected before the following day. As for the vision of the bier, they said that that was mere imagination. The eirev rav said, "The sixth hour has arrived, so it must be true that he's died." We see here that one false argument is used to bolster another; this is the way the yetzer hora operates.

This is approximately what I heard from our master's lips in Bialystok. When he was in Bialystok, he had a place in the beis hamedrash Moishe Melech. In the upper level, was a large collection of all kinds of seforim. He would sit closed up there learning day and night. He would deliver a shiur to the bochurim there as well, and several of the outstanding ones were close to him. In Rogatschov, our master wrote an entire sefer on maseches Nedorim, but it was hidden. In Rogatschov they used to say that when our master had been in Homel, he learned for twenty hours at a stretch and then went to sleep.

Due to his extreme weakness, he couldn't be woken even when they banged on his door. I remember my bar mitzva in Rogatschov. Our master taught me how to tie the knot of the tefillin, and how to fold the tefillin after removing them. I arrived in Eretz Yisroel at approximately the same time as he did.

He was appointed rosh yeshiva of the Novardok yeshiva which our master HaRav Dovid Bliecher and the gaon and tzaddik HaRav Mattisyohu Shtiegal, ztvk'l, established. I was very happy to see him again, after he had been saved from the Russians. I could see how he still walked with youth, and that Chazal's words, "Everyone who learns Torah for its own sake merits many things . . . and it makes him grow and elevates him above all things . . . " had been fulfilled in him.

Torah Yearning By Rabbi B. Yisraeli We visited the home of one of the talmidei chachomim who wrote Halichos Vehanhogos Mimoron Ba'al HaKehillos Yaakov, and after some supplication on our part, he agreed to answer our questions.

Q. Surely there must be some more insignificant pitchifkes, which you didn't publish in Halichos Vehanhogos. A. Pitchifkes?! Was there any such thing about the Steipler?

Q. We mean things that there was no point in putting on record in a book, but which you remember, or things that you saw during the time you spent with the Steipler, before the crowds started flocking to his door, before he needed to conceal himself and lock his doings away from the public eye. Thirty or forty years ago, when the talmidim of Yeshivas Beis Meir could watch him and when you, as one of the talmidim, managed to serve him more than others. We heard that you used to go into his room at least twice every day, to call him for mincha and ma'ariv. Most probably, there was something to see, at least in a brief glance, when you stepped into his chamber.

A. What a talmid in yeshiva saw, I don't know, because in order to "see" something, you first had to "be" something! However, even I could see pitchifkes, as you put it. I went into his room thousands of times and it was always with the same fear and respect. Always. The rosh yeshiva HaRav Zalman Rotberg would wait for him to come for all three tefillos. Therefore, our teacher agreed that someone should come and call him when the time for tefillah arrived, so as not to burden the congregation, who were waiting for him.

I would go into his house without knocking and I always had the merit of seeing how our teacher waxed with pleasure, entirely engrossed and bound to Torah, straining himself greatly as he learned in depth. On many occasions, he had to be "aroused" from the gemora. Sometimes I needed the help of the rebbetzin, o'h. "Oi, mincha already," our teacher would exclaim in shock when we interrupted the pleasure of his protracted study that had been going on for hours. Once he smiled and said by way of excuse, "There are a number of clocks here and not one of them works" ([as if] that was the reason he didn't know what the time was).

On rare occasions, he wasn't there for shacharis. I would ask the rebbetzin whether our teacher was not feeling well and her answer would be, "He just went to sleep. He learned right through the night and davened early." I once met our teacher at the minyan vosikin, and I asked his chavrusa if he knew whether today was something special? He said, "I asked our teacher already and he told me, `I closed the gemora to go to sleep and went over to close the blinds. I saw that dawn had already broken.' " Oi (our host speaks with emotion) we would stand by the window of his room at night for hours in those days. We would watch how he paced up and down the room caught and bound up in some Torah thought, and how he would sit down and write a few words from time to time.

With our own eyes, we saw the meaning of "lehis'aneig beta'anugim," to revel in pleasure. Once, a friend and I stood there between one and three in the morning -- nothing could equal those hours, we couldn't get enough . . . a torch of fire burning with Torah, with deep Torah study. Once it happened that our master arrived for tefillah at the yeshiva and commented, "Why do people look into my window?" From then on, we stopped. By the way, it's worth mentioning the break on Yom Kippur.

I had the opportunity to see him after shacharis and musaf. Everybody went out for a break. Our teacher weakly went over to the shelves of seforim, took out a gemora and started to learn. It was as though we'd seen him take a flask of cold water from the shelf, to refresh his tired and thirsty soul . . . He opened the gemora and learned with such joy and thirst, daf after daf, many dapim, with desire. That was an opportunity for everyone to see how Torah flowed in his blood, and that he and it were one. It's hard to describe it to someone who didn't see it.

Another incident that doesn't leave me -- I knocked on the door, and the rebbetzin's response was that he wasn't feeling well and had gone to lie down. "You can go into the room and give him a note." I entered and our teacher was lying down "resting" with a chiddushei Rabbi Akiva Eiger . . . He was resting, on his side, with a large volume of Rabbi Akiva Eiger in his hands. He was resting.

Q. You accompanied him when he went out into the street. You must have merited serving him.

A. No, no. We never managed. Nobody managed. I never even managed to carry his tefillin bag, for example. Under no circumstances would he agree to be served, as is known. It was simply catastrophic to try, to want to, or even to think of helping him. Once, when we took part in the levaya of the Sadigerer Rebbe, zt'l, which took place in the Nachalas Yitzchok cemetery in Tel Aviv, I tried to move someone who was in our teacher's way. I received a reprimand such as I'll never forget! By the way, when we were leaving the cemetery, we tried with all our might to form a wall so that people shouldn't push the Steipler but we weren't successful.

I immediately raised my voice and yelled, "Derech eretz! Derech eretz!" It was the Vishnitzer Rebbe, Reb Chaim Meir, zt'l, who stopped. He didn't continue walking and asked, "Why did someone shout `derech eretz?' " He invited our teacher to walk alongside him, and our teacher walked together with the Admor to the exit. There was one thing that I could do to benefit the Steipler by way of helping and serving him, and I saw that he was happy about it and felt gratitude towards me for it. Because he was hard of hearing, he couldn't hear the chazan during chazoras hashatz.

When we reached Modim, I used to go over to him and bow and bend down. He immediately jumped as though a snake had bitten him and said Modim happily together with the congregation. It was the same for Uvo letziyon, when it was our custom to stand for the kedusha desidro. I stood by him at the beginning of Uvo letziyon, and he understood that we were beginning. He immediately readied himself and went to the omud to say kedusha desidro with everybody.

With that exception, nobody could treat him with any of the customary honors of the rabbinate. Once, we went into his room to hear havdoloh. There were some leftover pieces of challah. One of the talmidim of the yeshiva took a kezayis in his hand, intending to take some shirayim. The Steipler understood what he was about and admonished him with a yell of, "It's robbery!" Once, we happened to see a ball belonging to a grandchild fall and roll under the balcony of our teacher's house (which was on the ground floor).

It didn't occur to him to trouble anybody to get it out. He himself bent down on the sand and crawled inside to get the ball, to do a kindness for his grandchild. In the yeshiva itself, when he wanted to know what the time was, he would go right up near the clock. Since he usually couldn't see (because his eyesight was bad), he made great efforts to strain his eyes in all sorts of shapes, sometimes getting onto a chair in front of the clock, until he made out what the time was. But to ask, to "bother" someone to raise his eyes to look at the clock and tell him what the time was, cholila, it was unheard of. His greatness in all this is known.

Q. How, as a young bochur, did you look at the Steipler? How would a ben Torah who saw him forty years ago have summed him up? A. Actually, where I lived, I knew nothing about the Steipler. However, in the yeshiva ketana in Ramat Hasharon where I learned, we were fortunate to have the renowned gaon HaRav Shemaryohu Greineman, zt'l, as a maggid shiur (for one year), and he sent me to learn in Yeshivas Beis Meir which opened at that time. He told me excitedly that besides the rosh yeshiva and the gaon HaRav Reuvein Fein, there was "a great light," as he put it, "the Steipler is near the yeshiva; it's worth your while."

As to your actual question, we saw that our master's entire existence consisted of fulfilling the requirements of the Shulchan Oruch. His essence was fulfilling the Torah. That was the light in which the Steipler looked at everything in the world. That was how he examined every matter that was brought to him. I'll never forget.

There was a clock on the wall of the yeshiva. For years and years it hung on the west wall of the beis hamedrash. Thousands of eyes were lifted to look at it, and nobody had ever noticed anything special about it. Until the moment arrived when the Steipler needed to go over to the clock. He was alarmed and called to one of the maggidei shiur, "There is a small figure above the clock. It's nose, or some other part should be removed (so that it shouldn't be a complete human form)."

He could hardly see what the time was but he saw the halocho! A red light immediately lit up! A human figure! For that was his entire being. Everyone who was close to him has plenty of wonderful anecdotes about our master on this theme and you don't need me and my ilk, but while we're on the subject . . . It happened several times that he came for tefillah and found that he didn't have his gartel. There was no time to hurry home and get it before the tefillah began but neither was it possible to daven without it.

What was there to do? One of the talmidei chachomim in the yeshiva reminded me how he put his hands up, took off his tie, undid the knot and girded himself with it in preparation for tefillah. To do what had to be done; that was his sole criterion. Once when he was without the gartel, he looked around quickly and found a long piece of flannel material, which he swiftly rolled up into a nice shape and wrapped around himself.

And if we're mentioning tefillah, as it's close to Elul, it's worth noting something amazing that I noticed about him. The al cheit in the vidui on Yom Kippur which he sighed about most, groaning heavily from his heart, was al cheit shechotonu lefonecho be'azus metzach, for the sin of a brazen countenance! I was present when a talmid chochom asked him something about honoring reshoim.

There were several factors, such as gaining a livelihood, involved in the question, which led him to inquire whether maybe there was no real issur involved and it was permitted. He consulted our teacher, who told him, "I don't know what ruling to give you; however, I myself wouldn't do it even if I'd be offered a million." That was what everyone always saw about him -- his sole consideration was how the Torah wants people to behave! We were once standing in the street after the levaya of a talmid chochom (the brother- in-law of the Ahavas Yisroel of Vishnitz).

We were waiting until the very last of those accompanying the niftar were out of sight. Our teacher asked whether there were indeed no more melavim visible, and we told him that the buses carrying those of them who were going to Tiveriya could still be seen. The Steipler continued to wait until we confirmed that they were out of sight and then he turned to go home. Just as he turned around, there was a woman standing next to us. He said nothing, but lifted himself with a mighty jump and yelled, "Oi!" as though he'd been bitten by a snake.

The tzaddik Rav Dovid Leib of Vishnitz was standing by us, and was also shocked and amazed at the depth of our teacher's dread. And what was he afraid of? The holy Zohar says that one should be careful not to encounter women on the way back from a funeral (also not while accompanying the deceased), and this is brought in Yesod Veshoresh Ho'avodoh in Sha'ar Hacollel (see there for several details).

All these are just pitchifkes, for how is it possible to tell "stories" about a life that actually was Torah . . . the life of a living sefer Torah! His very being cried out to the generation, "Annul your own wishes before His!"

What Does The Steipler Say? -- Some Highlights of the Years of His Communal Leadership What Does The Steipler Say? was the title of one of the articles eulogizing the Steipler that appeared in the Hebrew Yated (then in its first year of publication) following his petirah. The fact that the question instinctively kept being asked, even though it was no longer possible to consult him, was testimony to the impact of the years of his leadership of the Torah camp.

Fifteen years later, the question essentially still hovers in the air, although there have been vast changes both within our camp and without which necessitate the utmost care in drawing comparisons. The Chazon Ish was the leader who coordinated the beginnings of the small, weak and struggling new yishuv.

He directed its battle to maintain its integrity and its loyalty to Torah in the face of the constant threats of the Zionist establishment to engulf it. His brother-in-law, the Steipler, subsequently tended and guided the flock as it grew in numbers and strength. He warned off attempts to weaken it from within and endeavored to ensure that its voice would be heard in the public forum.

He left the Torah community stronger and more self confident than he received it and its growth has boruch Hashem since continued unabated. Today however, the Torah camp faces unprecedented challenges arising from its own continuing growth and diversification, the ongoing moral decline of the surrounding society and the escalation in the ferocity of the fight against us.

Though he can no longer provide direct guidance, the question What would the Steipler say? is still all important. The following selection from the record of his public leadership clearly spells out a distinct message: "Let it be less but let it be pure!"

To Vote or Not to Vote "Did he sign or didn't he?" -- the question resurfaces before every election. Whether or not to vote and if so, for whom. It is never straightforward. We've chosen the issue of participation in general and municipal elections to begin with, since it illustrates two major features of the Steipler's communal leadership. First, his battle against "the party of deserters" (as he himself called them), namely Po'alei Agudas Yisroel (PAI), and second, the dual leadership which he exercised, together with ylct'a, HaRav Shach.

Although these two gedolim did not have frequent contact with each other, their approach to every issue that was brought before them was identical. The way in which each of them submitted to the other's opinions was also remarkable. "As to the main matter, my humble opinion leans towards the view that it is a great mitzvah to vote for the chareidi list and that this constitutes the saving of religion . . . as for your argument that there are [Torah] prohibitions involved, I have given great consideration as to whether it is worthwhile responding because in truth, it is utterly against my wishes that the members of Neturei Karto, sheyichyu loy't, should change their opinion.

Whilst no prohibition is involved in voting, there is zeal for Hashem's sake in their refraining from doing so . . . You wrote that voting involves acknowledging the validity of avoda zorah; however, this is completely unfounded . . . your honor should know that even for zealous ends, it is forbidden to interpret the Torah at variance with halocho, and what is not the truth does not succeed at all." The contents of this letter (which appears in Karaino De'igarto Vol. I, #203) set guidelines for charting policy in the battle against Zionism through casting votes in elections.

That was his approach to the issue; it was a battle whose sole purpose moreover, was to fight the destroyers of religion, not to advance any group's particular interests. He had absolutely no trace whatsoever of party allegiance, which meant that every time a question arose it was judged wholly on its own merits, free from the distorting influence of party interests. On the other hand, neither was there any place for emotional zealotry when it came to determining the halocho and the course of action that arose therefrom. At that time, the rulings of the Chazon Ish and the Brisker Rov zt'l regarding participation in the elections were being questioned (the questions were actually being fanned by excitability, without checking the facts).

The wish to be drawn into the general fight against Zionism gave rise to the inclination to rule out taking any part in the elections and consequently to view the opinions of those gedolim in this light as well. The Steipler and ylct'a, HaRav Shach however, clearly conveyed the message that all that was involved was the battle. HaRav Shach, before the elections in 5737 (1977): "I am not expressing my own opinions, for this was the view of our master the Chazon Ish, zy'a, and of the Rov of Brisk.

They were all of the opinion that one should take part in the elections. If they would have said not to go, I wouldn't go . . . for when we take part in the elections, a voice of protest is heard . . . and I know that the opinion of our master the gaon Rav Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky . . . is also that one should go . . . I must say further that `they have made me into a liar' when I said that `they were all of the opinion that one should take part.' I know myself that I am not a liar, however, HaRav Kanievsky . . . is certainly not a liar and if he would have heard any hint from the Chazon Ish against taking part, he would not be supporting it now."

The Steipler: "I will just let your honor know that the opinion of the vast majority of gedolei Yisroel approximately twenty years ago was that there is absolutely no trace of issur whatsoever involved, and our master the Chazon Ish ztll'h was among them . . . Regarding the actual question, everyone is obliged to follow the majority opinion in the whole of Torah and in this matter, most of the Torah sages who are with us . . . and who have already departed are [and were] of the opinion that it is a proper obligation . . .

As for his advice to write `with the exception of Yerushalayim t'v,' it is utterly unfounded. Is it not enough that I am getting involved in this controversy? Does he want me to become involved in a disagreement about whether the power of the Badatz is only binding upon members of the Eida HaChareidis or all who live in Yerushalayim?" (Karaino De'igarto #154, 156). This, despite the fact that from another letter his ruling on this point is apparent (K.D. Vol. I #221).

The Battle With PAI To the same extent that he held it was an obligation to vote in elections, he issued a penetrating ruling that "the party of deserters" should be distanced. First a word of historical background about the affair. The Po'alei Agudas Yisroel movement was, as its name suggests, originally an organization of chareidi workers. It had been established in Europe under the banner of the Agudas Yisroel World Movement as a counter force to the irreligious Zionist workers' groups.

Through its youth movement, part of whose membership was composed of natives of Germany, the movement established a number of settlements in Israel, as needed. Integration into the country's agricultural life led the movement's leaders to a series of steps that in effect constituted a gradual merger with Zionist organizations.

The leaders started to gradually dissociate themselves from the Agudah's Torah leadership, with the process gathering momentum after the State was established. In 5708 (1948), they planted their settlements on land belonging to the Keren Kayemet Leyisroel (Jewish National Fund), a step that had been debated years earlier with HaRav Elchonon Wassermann zt'l Hy'd, to whom PAI's leaders had replied with a marked lack of respect. Now they tried to attribute their actions to the "silence" (said to equal acquiescence) of the Chazon Ish.

Thereafter, at every issue that arose PAI justified themselves by the fact that they had the consent of gedolei Torah -- who always remained anonymous. So it was with the mixing of boys and girls in the Ezra youth movement; so it was with the negotiations over PAI's participation in Sherut Leumi (national service for girls). Every time there was a different "godol beTorah" who, they said, supported them. (It was concerning their concession to Sherut Leumi that Rav Kalman Kahana, one of the leaders of PAI, received an astounding letter from the Chazon Ish which stated, "a spirit of foolishness possessed you, that you commit suicide . . . " as well as other fearsome remarks.)

In 5711 (1951), elections were held for the mayor of Petach Tikva. The leaders of PAI supported an irreligious candidate, over his opponent who was religious. In a letter from the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, HaRav Yechezkel Sarna and HaRav Meir Karelitz zt'l forbade this. HaRav Karelitz (the Chazon Ish's older brother) was then serving as the official rov of the PAI movement.

When the politicians stubbornly refused to hearken to this letter, HaRav Karelitz resigned from all positions of rabbinical and any other kind of leadership. The way things then stood was that on the one hand there was Agudas Yisroel, which remained faithful to the Torah leadership, while on the other was PAI, with its institutions, its settlements and its sources of revenue.

All this time, the Agudah's Torah leaders had attempted to bring pressure from the rank and file of PAI members to bear upon the movement's leaders and the two movements still appeared on a joint list for the general elections.

The Rebellion In the elections of 5720 (1960), the list received six Knesset seats, three of which were allocated to the PAI faction headed by B. Mintz. Then it happened. The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah ruled against joining a coalition with the leftist government. However, PAI ignored their ruling and joined.

The secular press hailed the move as "PAI's independence day," -- independence that is, from the authority of the Torah leaders. The response of the Torah community was that leaders, roshei yeshiva and Admorim, gathered to declare that PAI had detached themselves from Agudas Yisroel. The Tchebiner Rov, and the Rebbes of Ger, Vishnitz and Boyan, ruled that their followers must renounce their membership of PAI, even if their livelihoods would suffer as a consequence.

Thereafter, Agudas Yisroel and PAI ran for the Knesset on separate lists. In 5733 (1973), Rabbi Y. M. Levin z'l who served as chairman of the Agudah's central committee, passed away. He had always worked to preserve the movement's unity. After he had been replaced, new winds began to blow within Agudas Yisroel itself, calling for PAI's return to the Knesset list. In view of the approaching elections, a meeting of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah was convened (on very short notice and including rabbonim who had not hitherto sat on the Moetzes).

The Steipler sent a letter to HaRav Shach, part of which read, "regarding the rumor that Agudas Yisroel is considering reuniting with the deserters, who call themselves PAI, who have made a public disgrace of themselves on more than one occasion, and whose ideology is the idol of Zionism, and of `my strength and the power of my hand', R'l, and who without a doubt would be prepared even now to go immediately against the Aguda and the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah if only they imagined that they would have some political or material gain by so doing -- in my humble opinion, it is clear that merging with them would be a dreadful chillul Hashem, for it would be interpreted as a de facto approval of all their scheming and [would show] that insolence against Torah and against the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah reaps handsome benefits

. Please . . . do everything possible to prevent merging with them . . . it is clear, in my humble opinion, that if Agudas Yisroel does merge with them, that very many members will distance themselves, whose only connection with the Aguda at present lies in the fact that it is not together with `the other side.' " At the meeting of the Moetzes, HaRav Shach arose and read out the Steipler's letter.

One of the politicians who was among those invited, and who was in favor of the merger reacted by proposing "that we put it to a vote." Most of the members (including the new ones) supported the merger, with the result of which was called "the United Torah Front." HaRav Shach announced immediately that he was resigning his membership in the Moetzes. HaRav Shlomo Berman, who was a member of the presidium of Agudas Yisroel, also resigned in protest at the way things had been arranged.

During the pre- election campaigning the signatures of these and of other gedolei Torah did not appear in support of Agudas Yisroel. However, since there was no alternative chareidi list, no actual opposition was voiced. Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz, who was faithful to the instructions of the gedolei Torah and who was the first candidate on the Aguda list, was instructed not to resign, but to refrain from making speeches in Yerushalayim and Bnei Brak in support of the Aguda list.

(He was permitted to speak on the Agudah's behalf in outlying communities, for if the chareidi Jews who lived there did not vote for Agudas Yisroel, their connection with the chareidi organization could be lost.) An avreich who asked about voting was told, "This time there's no order to vote, and when you're not ordered to, you don't vote." In that election, the combined list won five seats, which represented the loss of a seat, since before the two parties had always won six.

The Trend Reversed In 5737 (1977), the Gerrer Rebbe, the Beis Yisroel, instructed the party workers to run on a separate list from PAI, in order to unite the chareidim once again and to obtain HaRav Shach's consent to return to the Moetzes. HaRav Shach did so and issued an appeal to vote in the elections.

The Steipler added his own letter of warm support, which he closed with the following lines, "And this has already been publicized and articulated well by . . . the gaon and tzaddik, from the remnants of the Knesses Hagedola, the truly mighty Torah scholars, his honor . . . HaRav Eliezer Menachem Shach." In that election Agudas Yisroel maintained its strength while PAI won only one seat. The trouble erupted again just a year later, when municipal elections were held in Bnei Brak. A joint list was prepared and it was headed by a PAI candidate.

The fact that just a year had passed since PAI had been ejected from Agudas Yisroel and already a way had been found for them to sneak back inside, and in Bnei Brak too, evoked a strong response from the gedolei Torah. The Steipler and ylct'a, HaRav Shach, bade HaRav Chaim Shaul Karelitz to issue a notice conveying their instructions not to vote for the Aguda list.

Some argued that this directive was only intended for bnei Torah themselves, but that their families and those who were not bnei Torah could vote, and this led to an interesting episode. After tefillah in the Lederman beis haknesses, HaRav Chaim Kanievsky went over to the notice board and added, in his own hand, the following words to HaRav Karelitz's note: Both talmidei chachomim and amei ho'oretz, they themselves and their wives, their sons and their daughters.

Before the 5741 (1981) elections, Aguda activists approached the Steipler for a letter of support but he dismissed them and did not grant their request. Rav E. Tabaschnik, who used to frequent the Steipler's home, heard from him at that time that he was displeased at the situation inside Agudas Yisroel and that he did not intend to sign for them at all.

However just a few days later, a letter signed by the Steipler appeared, calling upon voters to vote for the Aguda, albeit phrased in somewhat reserved terms. Rav Tabaschnik took himself off to the Steipler's home to find out what had brought about the change of heart.

When he entered the Steipler said to him, "I told you that I wasn't going to write but I heard that HaRav Shach was upset by that, so I agreed to write." Three days later, it was publicized that the [separate] PAI list had been strengthened from within Agudas Yisroel and the Steipler hurried to write a second letter that added, "I now add that in view of this, every vote for a different list literally constitutes demolition and destruction for Jewry, and whoever votes for a different list is among those who leads the public to sin, R'l." In those elections PAI disappeared from the political map, receiving fewer than the minimum number of votes required for one seat and the movement has only declined since.

Girls' Conscription and Sherut Leumi In 5731 (1971), the Steipler was shown an item in the journal Hapeles which stated that the Israeli government had plans to reintroduce legislation making Sherut Leumi (national service, to parallel army service) compulsory for all girls. The Steipler immediately wrote to one of the rabbonim in America, "Please, have mercy on us, on Jewry, and do anything that you find can to be of any help in effecting a rescue. I don't know how, maybe by sending an influential delegation to the Consul, maybe through an article in a newspaper with wide circulation, to beg for mercy, that the blood of shomrei Torah umitzvos should not be shed, to have their daughters slaughtered before their eyes R'l . . . " This letter made a deep impression and the recipient passed it on to a friend of his who asked the Steipler for permission to circulate it in the botei medrash.

The Steipler replied, "The matter needs to be reflected on, because I think that my choice of words implied that I was testifying that they are planning to issue a decree etc. whereas, regarding the facts, I am a dweller of tents who knows nothing of what happens beyond what others tell me.

Last year they told me that there was some plan to make the above decree and then they told me that all they wanted was to ensure that irreligious girls would be unable to resort to trickery and present themselves as religious. However, I didn't know what the true facts were. I wrote my letter to the above rov in response to an article which I was shown in Hapeles of erev Shavuos . . . where everything which I wrote about appeared.

I was aghast, for it appeared that the decree was very close at hand chas vesholom, and that nobody was taking action to prevent it, may Hashem yisborach have mercy. At any rate, it did not occur to me that my letter would be so widely publicized, for when something is to be made public it is imperative to take great care over how it is phrased and the source [of the information] should have been brought, rather than giving the appearance of my testifying about it."

Two days later, the Steipler addressed another letter to the same person. "Regarding my letter of two days ago, now there is an ongoing rumor to the effect that the danger of the evil decree is very great, and I repeat my request and cast my supplication: please, make every possible effort in any direction that you judge might be helpful. You can do whatever you see fit with the letter that I wrote to the rov, shlita."

In 5732 (1972), the law of compulsory national service for girls was reintroduced with added vigor, and the Steipler was again active. Originally, he formulated the following letter: "Concerning the rumor that has come to pass . . . this dreadful decree hovered over us twenty years ago . . . and all the gedolei hador, the mighty Torah scholars who were then alive, trembled and raised a commotion over it and ruled that it was a stringent and fearsome prohibition in any form . . . and all because it is an accessory of immorality, R'l . . .

We feel obliged to make it publicly known that this prohibition against conscripting girls, in any way or form whatsoever, is still fully in force, with renewed vigor, for the burim are slipping lower and none come to ask . . . " This was the letter which he originally intended to publish. However, he eventually decided that he preferred to publish the original ruling of HaRav Tzvi Pesach Frank, HaRav Isser Zalman Meltzer, HaRav Zelig Reuven Bengis and the Tchebiner Rov, and to add a few lines explaining why the ruling was being publicized, that would make it clear that it was still in force.

He then decided that his opinion that the original ruling still applied should appear explicitly and when that had been prepared, he asked that HaRav Shach add his signature so that it would be clear that they both concurred in this ruling. The announcement was signed in this form on the twentieth of Cheshvan 5732.

Two days later, it was decided that the letter should be sent to the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel and, after a slight amendment had been made, it was signed by four of the members of that body (including of course, HaRav Shach). However, since the Steipler was not a member of the Moetzes, his signature was omitted from that letter. It appeared on a second version, which was printed separately alongside the other one. A month later, an additional letter signed by the Steipler and ylct'a, HaRav Shach was sent to the British Chief Rabbi, asking him to intervene.

The Bnei Yisrael Of India When the question of the lineage of the Indian tribe known as Bnei Yisrael arose, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate (at the prompting of the Ministry of Religions), leaned towards declaring them fit to marry Jews.

The Steipler spoke up to oppose this ruling and he and ylct'a, HaRav Shach, published a letter: "Our opinion is that since they have already been forbidden by our teachers, the gedolim of Bovel and Yerushalayim, ir hakodesh, ever since the question arose a century ago and their prohibition spread to all the botei din that had to consider the matter, the prohibition is in full force and they remain forbidden."

In further letters to a meeting of rabbonim which convened on the matter, the Steipler wrote, "It is imperative to turn to all Torah scholars, gedolei Yisroel, the generation's geonim . . . to make a permanent enactment, until the arrival of the Redeemer, that anyone who wishes to marry must first of all prove beyond question that his ancestry is neither chas vesholom from those families, nor from others who have become mixed with them." The strong opposition prevented those in power from implementing their plan.

The Minister of Religions at the time was Dr. Zerach Warhaftig (NRP). When he heard about how fierce the opposition was, he asked for a meeting to be arranged between himself and the Steipler. One day he knocked on the Steipler's door, accompanied by his entourage. When the Steipler was informed who had come, he refused to receive him, explaining, "Whatever I say to him, he'll repeat the opposite in my name and he'll turn my words around to suit himself."

After a number of emissaries had been sent to entreat the Steipler to grant the meeting, he agreed to receive the visitor but said that he would not reply to him on the subject. The Minister entered and asked, "Are they forbidden to marry Jews?" The Steipler answered, "I don't want to reply." The Minister asked, "Must I instruct rabbonim not to arrange weddings for them?" The Steipler answered, "I don't want to reply," and then he said, "This I ask of you -- don't persecute those rabbonim who don't arrange weddings for them.

However, I don't want to speak about the actual question itself." The Minister left the house and was heard saying to the members of his group, "The Rav said that I don't need to instruct the rabbonim not to arrange weddings." The next day, the NRP's newspaper Hatsofe printed the "news" that the Steipler had ruled thus for the Minister Dr. Warhaftig on the latter's visit to his home.

When the Steipler was told about this, he rushed to issue a contradiction. "I have been told that in this Wednesday's edition of Hatsofe it was written that the Doctor quoted me as having said that a rav who permits marriage with one of the tribe known as Bnei Yisrael is allowed to marry the couple but that no pressure should be brought to bear on those who think that it is forbidden. This is utterly incorrect.

I never said that a rav who permits it may chas vesholom do so. Only, because it was clear that they wouldn't listen to me at all [if I would have told them] to cancel the hetter, I asked that at any rate, as a small concession, not to pressure those rabbonim who do not wish to deal with it. I said this explicitly so that it shouldn't be interpreted as though there are any grounds for permitting it . . . " (Based on an eyewitness account).

In this connection, it is worthwhile relating something which the Steipler said the Brisker Rov told him, as an example of the great care necessary when giving halachic rulings. When the "national home" was declared (the Balfour Declaration), people came to ask the Rov if Hallel should be said. He answered, "What does Hallel have to do with this issue? If you had asked about shehecheyonu, that would be more understandable . . . " The questioners went away and then said that the Brisker Rov had said that the brocho of shehecheyonu should be made.

 

 

 

 

Exceedingly special Famous Rabbis

please select The Ben Ish Chai Yarzheit 13th Elul Reb Chaim Vital Yarzheit 30th Nissan Rabbi Yonosson ( Yonatan ) Ben Uziel, Targum Yonosson in Amuka 26th Sivan The Rebbe Reb Yehonossan Eibeshitz, Author of Yaaros Devash 21st Elul Reb Eliezer Gordon , Telzer Rosh Yeshiva , Yarzheit 4th Adar 1 The Sassover Rebbe , Rabbi Simcha Rubin, Yarzheit 10th Sivan The Manchester Rosh Yeshiva, Reb Yidel Segal, Yarzheit 22nd Shevat The Shaages Arye and Shvus Yaakov , METZ The Chofetz Chaim - Reb Yisroel Meir Kagan 24th Elul Rabbi Akiva Eiger , Yarzheit 13th Tishrei The Chassam Sofer - חתם סוֹפר Rabbi Moshe Sofer , Yarzheit 25th Tishrei Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum - First Satmar Rebbe , Yarzheit 28th Tammuz Reb Meir Shapiro yarzheit 7th Cheshvan Reb Yankele Leizer of Pshevorsk

Famous Chassidish Rebbes

please select The Baal Shem Tov Yarzheit 6th Sivan The Gerer Rebbe - Rabbi Yisroel Alter Yarzheit 2nd Adar Rabbi Chaim Meir Hager Vizhnitzer Rebbe Yarzheit 9th Nissan The Kopyczynitzer Rebbe: Reb Moshe Mordechai Heschel 17th Nissan The Novominsker Rebbe: Rabbi Nochum Mordechai Perlow 9th Elul Reb Yaakov Yitzchak of P'shischa Yarzheit 19th Tishrei The Satmar Rebbe Yarzheit 26th Av The Sefas Emes Yarzheit 5th Shevat Rav Meir Shapiro Yarzheit 7th Cheshvan Reb Meier Shapiro (JO) (article 2) Yarzheit 7th Cheshvan Rabbi Dov Ber Beidenfeld The Tshebiner Rebbe Yarzheit 4th Cheshvan Reb Menachem Ziemba Yarzheit 19th Nissan Reb Yankel Leizer Reb Itzikel Gewirczman

Chassidish Rebbes are mainly Polish Rabbis whom focused on serving God through love, happiness and kindness.

Famous Rabbis

please select The Aderes: Rav Eliyahu Dovid Rabinowitz - Te'imim (YN) Yarzheit 3rd Adar The Baba Sali, Rav Yisroel Abuchatzeira ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 4th Shevat Alter of Slobodke by his talmid HaRav Meir Chodosh (DD) Yarzheit 29th Shevat Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 20th Adar Rav Meir Ashkenazi zt'l - The Rav of Shanghai - Yarzheit 26th Av 1954 Rav Zelig Reuven Bengis ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 7th Sivan Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim ben Eliyahu , The Ben Ish Chai . Yarzheit 13th Elul Rabbi Aharon Yoseif Baksht (JO) Yarzheit 16th Tammuz HaRav Simcha Ziskind Broide zt"l (DD) Yarzheit 19th Nissan The Chasam Sofer (YN) Yarzheit 25th Tishrei The Chofetz Chaim , Reb Yisroel Meir Kagan Yarzheit 24th Elul The "Chofetz Chaim" (JO) Yarzheit 24th Elul The Chofetz Chaim Comes to Vienna (JO) Yarzheit 24th Elul Memories of the Chofetz Chaim (DD) Yarzheit 24th Elul The Chazon Ish (JO) Yarzheit 15th Cheshvan The Chida, Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulai ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 11th Adar The Chida (DD) Yarzheit 11th Adar A Mashgiach Par Excellence Rav Meir Halevi Chodosh, ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 28th Teves Dr. Leo Deutschlander (JO) Yarzheit 9th Av HaRav Yehoshua Leib Diskin (DD) Yarzheit 29th Teves Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler (JMR) Yarzheit 24th Teves HaRav Yehoshua Leib Diskin (DD) Yarzheit 29th Teves The Rebbe Reb Yehonossan Eibeshitz, Author of Yaaros Devash . Yarzheit 21st Elul Rav Meir Zvi Ehrentreu Z"TL (YN) Yarzheit 6th Elul Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein (YN) Yarzheit 10th Kislev Rabbi Avraham Abba Freedman (YN) Shraga and Golda Frank (JO Rav Binyomin Beinush Finkel of Mir ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 18th Shevat Rav Yisroel Yaakov Fisher (YN Rabbi Eliezer Gordon, The Telzer Rosh Yeshiva . Yarzheit 4th Adar Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok Gerwirczman (JO) Yarzheit 10th Tishrei Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzensky (JO) Yarzheit 5th Av HaRav Gifter ZT"L - Rosh Yeshiva Telz USA Yarzheit 16th Sivan Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glasner yarzheit 23rd Tishrei Rav Tzvi Grossbard (YN) Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (YN) Yarzheit 27th Teves Rav Yosef Yoizel Horowitz ZT"L The Alter of Novardok (YN) Yarzheit 17th Kislev Rav Yitzchak Hutner (Jewish Action) with photos Yarzheit 20th Kislev Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz zt"l (JO) HaRav Avrohom Tzvi Hirsch Kamai zt'l, Hy'd, (DD) Yarzheit 18th Cheshvan Rabbi Avrohom Karp , yarzheit 19th of Elul The Kaf HaChaim (YN) Reb Yaakov Chaim Sofer, Yarzheit 9th Sivan Reb Yaakov Kamenetsky (DD) Yarzheit 29th Adar Kelme - An Uprooted Tree Reb Dovid Kronglas (JO) Rabbi Yoseif Kahaneman The Ponevezer Rov (JO) Yarzheit 20th Elul HaRav Chaim Kreiswirth, zt"l, on his first Yahrtzeit (DD) Yarzheit Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook (WMM) with photos from the world Mizrachi Website Yarzheit 3rd Elul A Letter by Rav Kook Yarzheit 3rd Elul Rav Kook's Mission to America Rav Moshe Landynski zt"l (YN) Yarzheit 18th Adar Reb Baruch Ber Lebowitz (JO) Yarzheit 5th Kislev Rav Alexander Moshe Lapidus ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 10th Adar HaRav Yechezkel Levenstein Zt'l, (DD) Yarzheit 18th Adar Rav Yerucham Levovitz, zt"l (YN) Yarzheit 18th Sivan Reb Yisrael Yaakov Lubchansky (JO The Maharam (YN) Yarzheit 4th Adar The Maharsha (YN) Yarzheit 5th Kislev The Marharshal (YN) Yarzheit 12th Kislev Remembrances of Mir Yeshiva The MeAm Loez (JO) Rabbi Yaakov Culi , Yarzheit 19th Av Rav Chaim Chizkiya Medini (The Sdei Chemed) Yarzheit 24th Kislev Rav Avigdor Miller ZT"L (YN). Yarzheit 17th Nissan Rabbi Avigdor Miller (JO) with photos . Yarzheit 17th Nissan Rabbi Avigdor Miller ZT"L Yarzheit 17th Nissan The Shoel Umeishiv -R' Yosef Shaul Natansohn (DD) Yarzheit 26th Adar The Netziv Reb Natoli Yehuda Zvi Berlin ( Bar - Ilan ) Yarzheit 28th Av The Noda B'Yehuda (YN) Reb Yechezkel Halevi Landau, Yarzheit 17th Iyar The World of Novaradok (JO) HaRav Yehuda Leib Nekritz (DD) Yazrheit 27th Sivan The Or Sameach (YN) Reb Meir Simcha Hakohen of Dvinsk , Yarzheit 4th Elul The Ponevezher Rabbonim: HaRav Itzele Ponevezher , Yarzheit 21st Adar 1 Reb Pesach Puskin (JO) Yarzheit 11th Cheshvan The Rambam (YN) Reb Moshe ben Maimon , Yarzheit 20th Teves The Rif: (YN) Reb Yitzchak AlFasi , Yarzheit 10th Iyar HaRav Yitzchok Isaac Halevi Rabinowitz, zt'l Author Of Doros Horishonim The Rogatchover (JO) Yarzheit 11th Adar 1 Reb Meshulam Roth yarzheit 16th Kislev Rabbi Yehoshua Zelig Ruch (JG), the Lomza Rosh Hayeshiva Rav Yechezkel of Sarna (YN) Yarzheit 6th Elul Reb Meir Shapiro yarzheit 7th Cheshvan The Maharam Schick - Reb Moshe Schick , Yarzheit 1st Shevat Reb Yehuda Zev Segal ZT"L,The Manchester Rosh Yeshiva Yarzheit 22nd Shevat The Brisker Legacy The Soleveitchik Family (JO) Remembering Reb Chaim Brisker - Reb Chaim Soleveitchik (JO) Yarzheit 21st Av Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik [Beis Haleivi] (YN) Yarzheit 4th Iyar Rav Aharon Soleveitchik yarzheit 18th tishrei Rav Zalman Sorotzkin ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 9th Tammuz Rav Yitzchok Elchonon Spector ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 21st Adar HaRav Yechezkel Sarna Part I (DD) Yarzheit 29th Shevat Reb Moshe Schwab (JO) HaRav Shmuel Hillel Shenker zt'l (DD) Yarzheit 27th Teves Rav Yitzchok Eizek Sher (YN) Yarzheit 10th Shevat The Shloh Hakodosh (DD) Yarzheit 11th Nissan Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmulevitz (JO) Yarzheit 3rd Teves Rabbi Michel Dovid Slapobersky (JG) Yarzheit 10th Tishrei Rav Elozar Schach (YN) Yarzheit 16th Cheshvan Rav Elozar Schach (YN) by Rav Mordechai Kamenetsky Rav Elazar Menachem Man Schach ZT"L (JOL) yarzheit 16th Cheshvan Rav Avraham Shaag ZT"L (YN) The Steipler Gaon, Zt'l (DD) Yarzheit 25th Av Rav Teitz , Yarzheit 4th Teves Reb Elchonon Wasserman (JO) Yarzheit 13th Tammuz HaRav Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss, the Minchas Yitzchok zt'l (DD) Yarzheit 11th Sivan Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandl (JO) Yarzheit 6th Kislev

Famous Sefardic Rabbis

Rabbis who originally came from Mediterranean countries like Spain , North Africa, Italy and the Middle East like Israel, Syria, Yemen and Iraq . The Name "Sefard" is the hebrew word for Spain - hence Sefardic jews originated from Jews expelled from Spain in 1492, who fled to North Africa and even as far as South America with Columbus .

please select The Baba Sali, Rav Yisroel Abuchatzeira ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 4th Shevat The Ben Ish Chai Yarzheit 13th Elul The Chida, Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulai ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 11th Adar The Chida (DD) Yarzheit 11th Adar The Kaf HaChaim (YN) Reb Yaakov Chaim Sofer, Yarzheit 9th Sivan The MeAm Loez (JO) Rabbi Yaakov Culi , Yarzheit 19th Av Rav Chaim Chizkiya Medini (The Sdei Chemed) Yarzheit 24th Kislev The Rambam (YN) Reb Moshe ben Maimon , Yarzheit 20th Teves The Rif: (YN) Reb Yitzchak AlFasi , Yarzheit 10th Iyar

Famous Rabbis - Baalei Mussar

Baalei Mussar Rabbis who believed in strict self control and discipline in the service to GOD

please select Rabbi Segal Manchester Rosh Yeshiva 22nd Shevat Rabbi Gordon Telzer Rosh Yeshiva 5th Adar 1 The Alter of Slobodke by his talmid HaRav Meir Chodosh (DD) Yarzheit 29th Shevat Rabbi Aharon Yoseif Baksht (JO) Yarzheit 16th Tammuz HaRav Simcha Ziskind Broide zt"l (DD) Yarzheit 19th Nissan Rav Meir Halevi Chodosh, ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 28th Teves Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler (JMR) Yarzheit 24th Teves Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein (YN) Yarzheit 10th Kislev Shraga and Golda Frank (JO) HaRav Gifter ZT"L - Rosh Yeshiva Telz USA Yarzheit 16th Sivan Rav Yosef Yoizel Horowitz ZT"L The Alter of Novardok (YN) Yarzheit 17th Kislev Rav Yitzchak Hutner (Jewish Action) with photos Yarzheit 20th Kislev Reb Yaakov Kamenetsky (DD) Yarzheit 29th Adar Reb Dovid Kronglas (JO) Kelme - An Uprooted Tree Rav Alexander Moshe Lapidus ZT"L (YN) Yarzheit 10th Adar HaRav Yechezkel Levenstein Zt'l, (DD) Yarzheit 18th Adar Rav Yerucham Levovitz, zt"l (YN) Yarzheit 18th Sivan Reb Yisrael Yaakov Lubchansky (JO) Rav Avigdor Miller ZT"L (YN). Yarzheit 17th Nissan Rabbi Avigdor Miller (JO) with photos . Yarzheit 17th Nissan In the Words of Rabbi Avigdor Miller ZT"L Yarzheit 17th Nissan The World of Novaradok (JO) HaRav Yehuda Leib Nekritz (DD) Yazrheit 27th Sivan Rabbi Yehoshua Zelig Ruch (JG), the Lomza Rosh Hayeshiva HaRav Yechezkel Sarna Part I (DD) Yarzheit 29th Shevat Reb Moshe Schwab (JO) HaRav Shmuel Hillel Shenker zt'l (DD) Yarzheit 27th Teves Rav Yitzchok Eizek Sher (YN) Yarzheit 10th Shevat The Shloh Hakodosh (DD) Yarzheit 11th Nissan Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmulevitz (JO) Yarzheit 3rd Teves Rabbi Michel Dovid Slapobersky (JG) Yarzheit 10th Tishrei

Famous Rabbis Yarzheit's

A complete list of famous Rabbis and Rebbes Yarzheit's - Anniversary of passing from this world .

Please click on any of the Jewish months below to see the "yarzheit's" of famous rabbis .

Nissan   Iyar   Sivan   Tammuz   Av   Elul   Tishrei   Cheshvan   Kislev   Teves   Shevat   Adar