by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky

Rabbi Kamenetzky is the Associate Dean of Yeshiva of South Shore in Hewlett NY. He is a weekly contributor to Yated Ne’eman and the author of Parsha Parables, a three-book series on Parshas Hashavua. This article was adapted and annotated based on the author’s extensive research for the article on Rabbi Shach that appeared in Yated Ne’eman immediately after the petira.

The lifetime of an individual whose every fiber proclaimed the supremacy of Torah should merit volumes of reminiscences. And so we attempt to remember Rabbi Shach – knowing that we are trying to recall a century, each hour of it worthy of a volume – in a mere few pages. Several thousand words surely cannot pretend to capture and convey the slightest glimpse of more than a half million hours of avodas hakodesh.

Snippets of his greatness recounted here, then, must be presented for what they are: morsels of an enduring life whose every moment encompassed K’vod Shamayim, conveyed by the kind of astonishing stories we have seen and read and heard in the few months since his petira (passing).

Beginnings

On 29 Teves, in the small village of Vaboilnick, Lithuania, Elazar Menachem Man was born to Rav Azriel and Bas Sheva (nee Levitan) Shach. There may have been some prescient signs of greatness, as his birth-date coincided with the yahrzeit of the Gadol HaDor and manhig of World Jewry from his home in Yerushalayim, Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin zt"l, a point that Rabbi Shach’s mother made to him on several occasions. It is unclear whether Rabbi Shach was actually born the year of Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin’s passing, in 1898, representing a true phenomenon of “v’zorach hashemesh uva hashemesh, the sun rises as the sun sets,” or whether Rabbi Shach was born four years earlier, as is indicated on some official government documents, never known as the standard-bearers of precision in a tumultuous and bureaucratically-inaccurate Europe.

What we do know is that Rabbi Shach’s life left an impact on the lives of friends, acquaintances and thousands of talmidim. Eventually, an entire nation was touched by his vision, leadership, amkus (depth) and humility; and his foresight altered the course of history through his influence on the most scrutinized country in modern history.

As powerful a force as he was, Rabbi Shach respected the insights, sensitivities and counsel of others. He understood the ramifications of every word spoken, be it by a loyal Torah Jew or otherwise. He would respond felicitously to any critical situation, whether it called for a visit, a mecha’a (protest), a kol korei (public proclamation), a kapitel Tehillim, or just tears.

Seeds of Greatness

Perhaps the seeds of his sense of responsibility were sown when he was but four years old, and his yarmulke fell off. He picked it up a bit too slowly for his mother’s expectations, and sure enough, he soon saw her crying. “Lazer, how could you fail to jump quickly to get your yarmulke? What will be with your Yiras Shamayim (fear of Heaven)?”

His mother’s tears made such an impression upon him, that for the rest of his life, if his yarmulke would slip while he was putting on tefillin, or while he was asleep, he would rush to straighten it. Even as a zakein muflag – well past 90 years of age – his talmidim relate, if his yarmulke slipped off his head in the middle of his sleep, he’d awake in a sweat, referring on occasion to his mother’s words ringing in his ears!

As a youngster, Lazer begged his parents to permit him to fulfill his dream – to which eventually they agreed, permitting him leave home, and “exile himself to a place of Torah” – specifically, to Ponevezh, a larger town some 38 kilometers away.

On the very next morning after he obtained their permission, the seven-year-old boy began a lifelong journey that ultimately came full-circle, as the young Lazer would eventually be known by his first stop – the Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh.

While there, Rabbi Shach was influenced by Reb Itzele Ponevezher. He often described watching the great tzaddik daven with tremendous kavana and hislahavus (concentration and enthusiasm), emotions that would leave a lifelong impact on his own tefilla.

In those days, being “away from home” meant years at a time, not just the few months between Yamim Tovim. Rabbi Shach would recount how, upon reaching bar mitzva, he simply put on tefillin without making any announcements. Indeed, these early years conformed with Chazal’s formula for growth in Torah: “Pas b’melach tocheil… v’chayei tza’ar tichyeh – Eat bread… with water, and live a life of deprivation” (Avos VI, 4).

Slabodka Years

After a few years in Ponevezh, he traveled to Slabodka and began learning with Rabbi Yechezkel Bernstein, the Divrei Yechezkel.

During that period, Lazer would cross paths daily with the secretary of Rabbi Yitzchak Elchonon Spektor, Rabbi Yaakov HaLevi Lipschutz. Invariably, when the young boy was returning to the room where he boarded, Rabbi Lipschutz would be on his way home from the Torah institution that he directed. Rabbi Lipschutz would take the time to discuss with young Lazer pertinent issues of the day facing the Jewish community. These unsolicited conversations were almost prophetic in that he would be bearing the yoke of Klal Yisroel’s dilemmas more than half a century later.

Eventually, the young prodigy joined the great Yeshiva of Slabodka, Knesses Yisroel, under the leadership of the legendary Alter of Slabodka, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt"l. While there, he developed a close relationship with Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Sher, Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein, and above all, with Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer. Though he would later study in Slutzk and Kletzk, he frequently expressed an affinity with Slabodka, extolling the praises of its unique approach to ameilus baTorah (laboring in study) and the shviras hamiddos (breaking negative habits), which is a prerequisite of character refinement. He would always refer to Slabodka as “Eim HaYeshivos – the Mother of Yeshivos,” pointing out that “all major yeshivos, both in Eretz Yisroel and America, are an outgrowth of Slabodka.”

His insatiable desire for truth in Torah grew in his formative teenage years, and found expression in verbal debate. As Rosh Yeshiva, he said his shiurim in a manner that displayed his primary objective: He wanted the bachurim to think, to challenge, to argue.

I was shocked at my very first shiur klalli in Yeshivas Ponevezh. I was an eager young American boy, pen in hand, waiting to hear a shiur from the premier Rosh Yeshiva. I expected a formal lecture with talmidim capturing every word, silently and methodically. That was not the case.

A question on the Rambam was posed. Then – as if someone had shouted “fire” in a crowded auditorium – havoc seemed to reign. There were shouts back and forth between the bachurim themselves and then an assault of Torah, directed toward the Rosh Yeshiva. I was astounded – not at the ability of this old man to instill this emotional enthusiasm of the milchamta shel Torah in hundreds of charges ranging in age from 17 to well into middle age, but at the humility that exuded from this Gadol Hador toward his charges.

The Rosh Yeshiva was obviously influenced by his great cousin, Rabbi Aharon Kotler zt"l. My Zayde, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky zt"l, described his initial entrance farher (exam) for Slabodka, which he took with Reb Aharon. The Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein, explained a logical construct from the K’tzos Hachoshen (a classic commentary), and then challenged the young men: “Now argue against it.”

My grandfather recounted to me how he sat in shock: “We were taught that we cannot argue against a revered commentary like the K’tzos.” In contrast, Reb Aharon jumped from his chair: “Shoin ein mohl vell ich dingin’ oif der K’tzos! I most certainly will argue with the K’tzos!”

I remember a shiur klalli, in which Rabbi Shach posed a difficult question on the Rambam. After the usual din, he opened the sefer of Reb Chaim HaLevi (Soloveitchik) and began, “Zugt Reb Chaim….”

Scanning the content looks on the faces of the boys who were familiar with Reb Chaim’s brilliant answer to the question, he snapped the sefer shut and declared, “Altz iz m’yushuv! Everything is resolved!” He then proceeded to move off the platform as if there were no need to think on our own if Reb Chaim did the thinking for us.

After this dramatic gesture, the Rosh Yeshiva returned to point out the difficulties in Reb Chaim’s approach, and offer his own response to those issues.

World War I Years

After Rabbi Shach spent a number of years in Slabodka, World War I broke out, and the bachurim were scattered to different cities. Rabbi Shach, along with hundreds of thousands of Jews throughout Europe, became a destitute refugee on the run. There are conflicting stories as to where Rabbi Shach was during those years. Rabbi Shach relates in a letter printed in the Yated Ne’eman that he returned to Vaboilnick for a while, where he heard shiurim from Rabbi Forer, who later became the Rav in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

In Rabbi Shach’s flight from one town to the next, his first destination was the nearest shul. He would search the shelves for the volume of Shas he was then studying, open the Gemora and whatever sefarim were available, and continue to learn as if there were no war. Devoid of food and clothing, he would spend his days and nights in the shul, sustaining himself with whatever food the residents offered him. In his mussar shmuessen, years later, he would describe how he had slept on shul benches for months, and washed his hands and face with well water – whenever it was available. It is told that for two years Rabbi Shach hid in an attic with only a Sefer Rav Akiva Eiger and a Gemora Yevamos. He did not cut his hair nor shave his beard. He survived, thanks to a woman who brought him food and water every day.

(Both the woman and Rabbi Shach survived the war. It is told that many years later, at her levaya (funeral) in Eretz Yisroel, Rabbi Shach accompanied the aron (casket) in pouring rain, walking all the way to the cemetery, and participated in the burial.)

Even abject poverty and dire circumstances never led Rabbi Shach to diminish the reverence and awe he had for the minutest detail of halacha. The Shulchan Aruch states that one must honor Shabbos with a clean shirt. And so every Thursday night, he would take off his only shirt and wash it on the roof of the beis midrash. Refusing to return downstairs with only underclothing and tzitzis, he remained in the frigid Lithuanian winter air, waiting for the shirt to dry sufficiently to put it back on, and return to the beis midrash.

In his introduction to his sefer Avi Ezri, the Rosh Yeshiva summed up the difficulties endured in this period:

“How can I thank Hashem for all of the kindness that He bestowed upon me during my youth, when I had nothing? It is impossible to describe the conditions in which we lived during this period when the authorities deported all of the Jews from Lithuanian cities, and I did not know where my parents were. I was alone, and I did not have any way of contacting them. I lived this way for several years, and I suffered terribly.”

Under Reb Isser Zalman’s Wings

After the War, Reb Isser Zalman joined his son-in-law, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, in Kletzk. Rabbi Shach soon followed. At the time, he had no official capacity, but was recognized for his brilliance and his fiery enthusiasm in learning. He would repeat Reb Aharon’s shiurim for the talmidim, explaining the difficult parts, referring to other sefarim, as well. Rabbi Shach was totally fluent in the sifrei haRishonim and Acharonim (classic commentaries, starting from the 12^th century), quoting the sources verbatim.

When Reb Isser Zalman returned to his yeshiva in Slutzk, he took along Reb Lazer, whom he treated like a son. And Rabbi Shach, in turn, came to revere Reb Isser Zalman as a father. Reb Isser Zalman included many of Rabbi Shach’s Torah chiddushim and comments in his sefer Even Ha’ezel, penning his own comments in the margins of Rabbi Shach’s notebooks. Reb Isser Zalman would say about Rabbi Shach, “If you would cut his veins, you would not see blood flowing; you would see Rashbas and Rav Akiva Eigers!”

Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer arranged for him to meet his niece, Gittel, the daughter of his sister, Froma Rivka and Reb Benzion Golomovsky. Rabbi Shach would often speak of his Rebbetzin’s devotion, and how she enabled him to dedicate himself completely to Torah while she sustained him by using her knowledge in pharmaceutics and medicine as a physician’s assistant.

“Even after my wedding, I would go away to learn Torah from after Pesach until Succos, and then from after Succos until Pesach, with her cooperation. All of my Torah is in her merit,” Rabbi Shach would say about his Rebbetzin.

During the next five years of his life, Rabbi Shach learned literally without interruption, by day and by night, periodically taking a brief nap to refresh himself. Rabbi Shach would say that during this period of his spiritual development he “broke his yeitzer hara” (evil inclination) and crossed a new threshold in his lifelong search for purity.

He constantly reviewed his learning, and could not imagine others’ relying on their memories when teaching talmidim. Rabbi Shach would invariably review the entire Mesechta before delivering his first shiur on it.

He once asked a Rosh Yeshiva a few weeks before the z’man what he was giving his shiur on. “Pesachim,” the Rosh Yeshiva replied.

Rabbi Shach asked if he had started preparing the shiurim.

“Not yet,” the Rosh Yeshiva said, to which Rabbi Shach reacted in utter shock.

“Not started yet?” he exclaimed. “Before I give shiur in Pesachim, I eat Pesachim, I drink Pesachim, I sleep Pesachim! PESACHIM! PESACHIM! PESACHIM!”

Witnesses testify that only a short while after Rabbi Shach would retire for sleep and turn off the lights for the night, he would turn them back on and jump out of bed to look into a sefer. This went on throughout the night.

His wife had once removed the fuses, to insure that he sleep properly. Rabbi Shach was later found studying by the small red light of the water heater.

Every minute of learning was precious. Rabbi Shach had a chavrusa, Rabbi Dovid Zimmerman, who learned with him every morning until Mincha, at 1 p.m. Once the Philadelphia Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Elya Svei, came to consult Rabbi Shach on a certain matter. The discussion lasted until 12:45 p.m.

Reb Dovid rushed back into the house in wonder: “There are only a few minutes left to Mincha. Is the Rosh Yeshiva certain he wants to sit down and learn?”

The Years Before the Second War

In 1927, Rabbi Aharon Kotler asked Rabbi Shach to serve as ram (abbreviation for Rosh Mesivta: presenter of a shiur) in Yeshivas Kletzk, a position he accepted and held for five years. Rabbi Shach then went on to serve as ram in Yeshivas Novaradok, for two years. Rabbi Aharon Kotler, in a letter addressed to the universally revered Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski of Vilna, asked him to “use his influence to support Yeshivas Novaradok, especially in light of Rabbi Elazar Shach’s decision to serve as ram there… a great sage in Torah, who is equally effective in imparting Torah knowledge to others.” Rabbi Shach became close to Reb Chaim Ozer, and would talk to him in learning for hours on end.

Once, during a meeting of Europe’s Gedolei Torah and Chassidus, he burst into the room and walked right up to Reb Chaim Ozer and declared with joy, “About the kasha (difficulty) you brought up yesterday, there is a simple answer.”

One of the Admorim (Chassidic rabbis) chastised the impetuous intruder, “Young man, a little derech eretz!”

The Admor of Karlin, who had watched the exchange, asked, “Who was that young man?”

Reb Chaim Ozer answered, “His name is Elazar Menachem Man Shach. To him, relating a teretz was a matter of utmost urgency.”

The Admor of Karlin declared, “I need a Rosh Yeshiva like that!” And so with the guidance of Reb Chaim Ozer, Rabbi Shach became the Karlin Rosh Yeshiva in Luninyetz, White Russia.

On the Yahrzeit of one of the previous Rebbe’im of Karlin, the entire Yeshiva left for several days. Rabbi Shach could not fathom what he considered such blatant bittul Torah and immediately went back home to Kletzk. The Karliner Rebbe could not sway Rabbi Shach to return. “How can I continue heading a Yeshiva where boys abandon ‘the sources of invigorating waters’ for a Yahrzeit?”

After enlisting Rabbi Aharon Kotler’s intervention, the Rebbe persuaded Rabbi Shach to return.

When World War II began to rage in late 1939, Rabbi Shach fled to Vilna and stayed with Reb Chaim Ozer. That year, on Erev Yom Kippur, Rabbi Shach’s mother died; and later that winter, Rabbi Shach’s daughter, Miriyam Raizel a"h, passed away as well. When the family went to the levaya, Reb Chaim Ozer stayed behind to tend to Rabbi Shach’s infant son, Ephraim, holding him on his lap and playing with him until Rabbi Shach and his wife returned from the cemetery.

Escape to Eretz Yisroel

It was not long before the Russians invaded Vilna, forcing the Torah community to flee to nearby Yanove. Joining Reb Aharon there, Rabbi Shach continued to learn with incredible hasmada.

But they soon realized that the noose was tightening and escape from Lithuania would be the only alternative. Rabbi Shach’s uncle, Rabbi Aron Levitan, helped get visas for Rabbi Aharon Kotler to come to America. At the same time, Rabbi Shach’s uncle, Reb Isser Zalman, who by then had moved to Yerushalayim where he was serving as Rosh Yeshivas Eitz Chaim, helped Rabbi Shach and his family get certificates to go to Eretz Yisroel (known then as Palestine), from the British Mandate powers.

At the time, the German General Rommel was poised to attack Palestine, and many tried to dissuade Rabbi Shach from his plans. Nevertheless, together with other Rabbanim and Gedolim, among them Rabbi Lazer Yudel Finkel, Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin, Rabbi Shabsi Yogel, and Rabbi Yosef Chizkiya Mishkovski, the Shach family set sail for Turkey.

The Turkish authorities refused to let refugees disembark on their soil, but a Jewish merchant vouched for the families, and paid for their hotel expenses. Without this unknown benefactor, these great families might have been lost. Finally, after circuitous train rides through Syria and Lebanon, they arrived in Palestine.

Rabbi Shach and his family came to Eretz Yisroel absolutely penniless, without even enough money for one day’s food, as Lithuanian border guards had seized their few meager possessions. From the port, they headed directly to their uncle, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer, moving into a one-room apartment at Rechov Modi’in 10, in the old Kerem section of Yerushalayim.

Relationship With the Brisker Rav

At this point, Rabbi Shach had no livelihood and the outlook was bleak. Still he would learn day and night, forging closer ties with his uncle, Reb Isser Zalman and with Rabbi Yitzchak Zev (Reb Velvel) Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav.

The Rav once mentioned to a close talmid that since his father, Reb Chaim Brisker, was niftar, he had no one with whom to “talk in learning” until he met Rabbi Shach.

Throughout those first difficult years without a livelihood, Rebbetzin Shach stood by his side, working tirelessly to support the family, allowing her husband to learn without interruption. When she became ill, Rabbi Shach cared for her, trying his best to do the household chores. He would go shopping, standing in line like everyone else to pay for groceries, murmuring Mishnayos from memory.

After a while, Rabbi Shach was introduced to a Rav who engaged him to teach in his yeshiva in Tel Aviv. Rabbi Shach felt uncomfortable with the school’s ideology, and soon returned to Yerushalayim.

When he appeared before the Brisker Rav with the news that he was once again jobless, the Rav declared, “Praiseworthy are you Reb Lazer! You have made a decision to forego parnassa (livelihood) on a matter of principle! I have a tradition from my father that those who forego parnassa because of a Torah principle will only see blessings!”

The Bnei Brak Connection

The Rav helped support Rabbi Shach until he could find parnassa. Eventually he joined the many great European refugee-talmidei chachamim, who were learning in the Lomza Yeshiva in Petach Tikva. He also said a shiur in Yeshiva Degel Reuvein. During this time, he developed a close relationship with the Chazon Ish, who lived in nearby Bnei Brak.

The Chazon Ish said of Rabbi Shach, “Ha’emes ahuv etzlo, Truth is precious to him.” The Chazon Ish first noted this great midda of Rabbi Shach when one of the talmidim in the yeshiva in Petach Tikva related to him that once Rabbi Shach regretted a nuance of his shiur and approached every single student with the correction.

Eventually Rabbi Shach returned to Yerushalayim to serve as maggid shiur in Yerushalayim’s Yeshivas Beis Yosef. He continued to learn with the Brisker Rav –– the Brisker Rav showing him his writings, probing Rabbi Shach’s every subtle reaction as he read them.

The Rav chided his other talmidim, comparing their reactions to his Torah comments with that of Rabbi Shach. He once related a chiddush on Megillas Rus, but the talmidim did not respond. Disappointed, the Brisker Rav said, “Wait till I tell this to Reb Lazer. He will understand its depth and react with enthusiasm!”

In the Rav’s haskama on Avi Ezri, Rabbi Shach’s sefer, he writes, “Who am I to give an approbation on Rabbi Shach? He is one of the gedolim of our time and certainly does not need my haskama!” Rabbi Dovid Finkel commented, “It was not an approbation. It was a coronation!”

Once the Brisker Rav was saying a shiur. He posed a difficult kasha and attempted to find a solution. Rabbi Shach walked into the room. The Rav’s eyes immediately lit up, and he then delivered a brilliant answer. When Rabbi Shach left, the bachurim asked their Rebbe why he didn’t tell them the answer before Rabbi Shach’s entry. The Brisker Rav responded that the teretz was Reb Lazer’s. They looked on in astonishment, as he said, “I want you to know that the kasha is Reb Lazer’s, the teretz is Reb Lazer’s; it is all Reb Lazer’s! When I learn through a sugya, there are times that I think that I have no solution to a difficult question. But then I think how much enjoyment Reb Lazer will have when I am able to offer p’shat. So I work harder and harder, until I solve the problem. It’s all Reb Lazer’s.”

Joining Ponevezh

In 1951, Rabbi Shach accepted an offer by the Ponevezher Rav, Rabbi Yosef Kahanemen, to join Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky and Rabbi Dovid Povarski, as a Rosh Yeshiva in Ponevezh. Rabbi Shach remained in Ponevezh for the following 50 years, teaching generations of talmidei chachamim who are now at the forefront of the Torah community in Eretz Yisroel. It was there, from his humble apartment in Kiryas HaYeshiva, that he would go on to serve as one of the generation’s Torah leaders.

His shiurim were punctuated with thunder and lightning. He would walk into the room, pose a question and revel in simcha as the bachurim battled with each other and with him!

When Rabbi Shach was over 80, he would sit in the beis midrash, willing to “speak in learning” with any bachur who approached him. He gave each talmid a feeling of belonging, a sense that he was special. Similarly, talmidim could come to Rabbi Shach with their personal problems without embarrassment, and open their hearts to him.

From the answers Rabbi Shach gave to his students, it was obvious that he understood the question better than the person who had asked it. He never told a person what to do, but voiced his opinion in a way that allowed the person to do what he wanted while gently urging him to choose the right path.

Spokesman For Torah Interests

As Rabbi Shach emerged as the foremost Rosh Yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel, he was revered by the Gedolei Yisroel in Bnei Brak, in Yerushalayim, in America, and across the world as one of the foremost spokesmen for Torah hashkafa.

More than a commentary, his words often provided an agenda for action. Rabbi Shach sought means to give religious Sephardim a voice in their affairs, and a fair share in the benefits of the system, which resulted in the creation of the Shas Party. He was in the leadership of Agudath Israel and was the founder of Degel HaTorah. He spearheaded a number of major efforts to reach out to non-committed Jews to bring Torah to them (in such places as Ofakim and Netivot in the Negev), and to bring them to Torah (through such efforts as P’eylim/Lev L’Achim). During the 30-plus years that his was the deciding word in the Government Board of Governors of Chinuch Atzmai, he never missed its weekly Wednesday meetings in Jerusalem. And he was involved in the elevation of the status of yeshivos and the welfare of their students… among other issues.

For many years, Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Shulsinger lived in Bnei Brak, and served as an emissary between Rabbi Shach and the Steipler. He personally attested that the Steipler said about Rabbi Shach “Yad, yad, peh, peh. His hand is my hand and his mouth is my mouth. Whatever he says or writes is as if it were coming from me.”

Rabbi Shach’s reverence and love for Gedolei Yisroel were legend. His relationship with my Zayde, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky l”xz, was warm and mutual.

In the early 1980s, Reb Yaakov suffered an angina attack and his doctor strongly recommended that he undergo an angiogram, a difficult and sometimes dangerous procedure for a man of his advanced age. My brother Reb Zvi, then a talmid in Ponevezh, resolved to approach the Rosh Yeshiva with a request to pray for Reb Yaakov’s welfare. My brother knew he had to present Rabbi Shach with the names of his grandfather, Yaakov, and of Reb Yaakov’s mother, but he had no clue to her name. Reb Yaakov was over 90 years old at the time and in excellent health. Reb Zvi could not recall a time where he had mentioned our grandfather’s name in the Mi Shebeirach for the sick, so he searched Bnei Brak for people who would know the name of Reb Yaakov’s mother. Finally, a cousin told him that her name was Etka. Armed with the information and an update on my grandfather’s condition, he approached Rabbi Shach.

When he inquired about the welfare of our grandfather, my brother turned white. “That is exactly why I came,” he stammered. Immediately Rabbi Shach’s face filled with consternation. My brother continued, “You see, my grandfather was not feeling well and must undergo a procedure. I came to inform the….” Rabbi Shach jumped up from his chair and exclaimed. “We must be mispallel for Reb Yaakov ben Etka!”

My brother could not contain himself. “Rebbe,” he began meekly. “The last twelve hours I have been trying to find out my great-grandmother’s name. Now I see that the Rosh Yeshiva knows her name. How is that?”

Rabbi Shach explained. “Years ago, your grandfather visited Eretz Yisroel. After meeting him, I asked him for his mother’s name. I could not imagine the Jewish world without a healthy Reb Yaakov, and there is not a single day that goes by that I do not say a special prayer for his well-being!”

One of the more famous stories of reverence for Rabbi Shach surpasses issues of simple advice.

During the Gulf War, some talmidim approached Rabbi Shach to ask whether they should adhere to the directives of the government and use gas masks in Bnei Brak. Rabbi Shach thought for a moment, and said that it would be the right thing to do.

Later, they met Rabbi Chaim Kanievski who said that he felt it was not necessary. When told that his opinion seemed to contradict that of Rabbi Shach, Reb Chaim smiled. “I know something that Rabbi Shach does not know. I know that we have the zechus of Reb Lazer Shach here in Bnei Brak. I am sure that as long as he is here, nothing will happen to our city!”

Rabbi Shach’s influence was felt around the world. Decisions that would determine the makeup of Israel’s government, the balance of Knesset power and thus relations with Arab countries and the United States, rested on his shoulders.

During the period when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visited Israel, the bachurim were enthralled by the startling events. Some would sneak out of beis midrash to hear news tidbits about the goings and comings of leaders and politicians. Rabbi Shach sat and learned with total immersion. His shiurim were given with the usual passion and excitement. I was there, and cannot remember that he even left his seat in the beis midrash on his own volition.

Government officials had to come to the beis midrash and ask Rabbi Shach if he could please step out, as they wanted to ask him some weighty questions. They stood in the upstairs anteroom before the beis midrash. Rabbi Shach took a few minutes to step out and, perhaps, help shape world history, and then returned to his place in the beis midrash as if nothing had occurred. For us, it was the greatest lesson in the supreme reverence for limud haTorah.

Rabbi Asher Bergman, Rabbi Shach’s grandson, relates that Rabbi Chaim Kanievski would appear in Rabbi Shach’s apartment every thirty days to recite anew the beracha of “Shechalak me’chachmaso li’reiav – …Who shares His wisdom with those who fear Him.”1

Actually, in 1993, Rabbi Chaim Kanievski said that although the beracha of Shechalak me’chachmaso li’reiav was designated for those whose Torah wisdom exceeds that of anyone in recent generations, one can still make a beracha pronouncing Hashem’s name on Rabbi Shach. A Gadol Hador has a special siyata d’Shmaya (Divine assistance) and is always worthy of that beracha. “Rabbi Shach,” said Reb Chaim, “is the Gadol Hador.”

Rabbi Shach’s Daas Torah was formulated very methodically. Each situation was analyzed and dissected. A situation that prompted a “yes” to one person could call forth a “no” for another. Some people were told to wage battle, while others were directed to quietly accept the antagonism thrust against them. He told teachers of some students who were becoming religious to send them to one specific school, while other students were directed to different ones.

Once a group of people in a frum section of Yerushalayim were protesting that their street should be closed on Shabbos because there was a religious majority living in the area. Rabbi Shach stated that the concept of majority should not be used as an argument. They must fight for the truth because of its inherent value. Otherwise, in the sections of Tel Aviv and Petach Tikva where transgressors are in the majority, they will sell treifos and desecrate Shabbos openly with impunity!

The Personification of Humility

In striking contrast to the awe and reverence in which he was held, the Rosh Yeshiva remained the paragon of humility.

Rabbi Shach was extremely makpid (particular) never to take advantage of others. He would never allow a bachur to help him find a sefer. It was not unusual to see the Rosh Yeshiva standing on a chair to retrieve a sefer from a high shelf by himself, despite being surrounded by talmidim who would have considered it a privilege to get the sefer for him.

Every day before shiur he would look at his watch. Then he would strain to see the time on the Yeshiva’s wall clock to synchronize the two. He did not want to extend the shiur into the bachurim’s lunchtime.

Even when he was close to ninety, he would regularly carry a number of sefarim from his home to the yeshiva, refusing all offers of help.

The same Rabbi Shach who would be shaping the future of Klal Yisroel would not hesitate to knock on the door of a parent of a Ponevezher talmid and mention to them that he had seen their son walking in the winter cold without a sweater. “Perhaps there is a sweater that he owns and forgot to bring to Yeshiva. Give it to me, and my grandson will take it to him.”

Father of a BESIEGed People

When Rabbi Shach would address topics that were foundations of Klal Yisroel’s raison d’etre, he would become extremely emotional and tears would stream down his face. For example, his opening annual Yarchei Kalla speech was not merely a mussar shmuess given to the hundreds of ba’alei battim, plus multitudes of b’nei Torah flowing out of the Ponevezh beis midrash into the great hall of the Ponevezh Yeshiva. To them and the thousands more who stood on porches around the perimeter of the Yeshiva to hear his amplified words, it was the address from the Gadol Hador, returning to offer a different expression of the same theme year after year – the supremacy of Torah as defined by Chazal, Shulchan Aruch and the Mesora. It was a proverbial State of the Union address to Klal Yisroel. Deviations in any shape or form from Torah norms were viewed as being as catastrophic as a devastating earthquake.

Although Rabbi Shach’s leadership of the Torah community was deemed a guiding beacon by other Gedolei Roshei Yeshiva, Rabbi Shach was still concerned with the simplest Jew, no matter how far he may have strayed from Yiddishkeit. Even after 1995, when he grew weak, and officially relinquished his position, declining to sign any more letters or issue further directives, thousands of people still came to him to seek advice.

Rabbi Shach had a special affinity for American bachurim who chose to grow in Torah and remain immersed in learning. Dressed in a style decidedly different from that of Ponevezh bachurim, they would often come to Rabbi Shach and receive warm embraces and chizuk to continue their Torah studies.

A European Jew who had acquired unusual wealth and had been an exceptionally generous ba’al tzedakka, suffered tremendous losses toward the end of his life, and became depressed. The man, who hailed from a Chassidic background, was respectful of all Gedolei Torah, and so his children took him to see Rabbi Shach for chizuk.

The man began to tell his life story. In the course of the conversation, the man told Rabbi Shach that his family were Chassidim of a particular Rebbistive.

“Oy!” cried Rabbi Shach. “That Chassidus has a beautiful niggun that I’ve always admired!”

He named the tune and implored the man to sing it with him. Rabbi Shach asked the children to join in, and together they all began to sing. A few moments later, Rabbi Shach stood up and exclaimed again: “This niggun is not done justice with just singing! It needs a rekida (dance),” and together – the 90-year-old man and his European guests – danced around the rickety table in Rabbi Shach’s tiny home. They continued to do so until a huge smile broke out across the poor visitor’s face. He allowed the realization to sink in that his travails were only a fleeting moment in this temporal world.

Toward the end of his years, in one of his last meetings, he called in the Rav of Natanya, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau (currently Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi). He took Rabbi Lau’s hand in his and started to cry. “I heard,” said Rabbi Shach, “that there are forty stores that sell pig meat in Natanya; that there is a problem in Ashkelon with chillul Shabbos; that they want to institute secular reforms in Tel Aviv.

“I’m over one hundred years old, I have no strength, and people are not listening to me. The only thing I have left is the ability to cry.” Rabbi Shach continued crying for a few more minutes. And then, while crying for Klal Yisroel, he slipped into an exhausted sleep.

Sunset

During the last years of his life, Rabbi Shach removed himself from the public eye. Tired and spent after a century of ceaseless yegia (toil) in Torah and mesiras nefesh for the Klal, he remained at home.

On Thursday night, 16 Cheshvan (November 1), Rabbi Shach, who was already in critical condition, took a turn for the worse.

At 2:40 a.m. Rabbi Shach took his last breath. The news of Rabbi Shach’s passing quickly spread to Jewish communities throughout the world, who were overcome with grief. Transportation was organized in all of the country’s main cities and Torah centers, and hundreds of thousands of heartbroken and bereft Jews headed to Bnei Brak to accompany the Gadol Hador to his final resting place.

During his final years, he had made no pronouncements and addressed no rallies, but in his last will and testament he left us with a parting message:

Since a man does not know when his time will come, I decided that I should make an accounting with myself about everything that has come to pass, especially all of the hidden things regarding which it is possible to err and to cause others to err, whether for good or evil, to think that this is a mitzva, when in fact, it is an aveira. These deeds emanate from negative traits and are the cause of all sorrow. Woe to us from the day of judgment! Woe to us from the day of rebuke! Who can justify himself before You in Your judgment?

Therefore, I request of all the talmidim who know that they benefited from me, whether it be in Torah, or in Yiras Hashem, or in middos, that they be kind towards me and learn for the elevation of my neshama – even one Mishna, or mussar thought. This will have made it all worth it, for I, too, dedicated myself completely for the sake of your success in learning, and if I will be able to act and to advocate on your behalf, I will do so, bli neder.

I pray that I will merit to stand before Hakadosh Baruch Hu in a state of teshuva sheleima.

Yours,

The one who parts from you, with love,

Elazar Menachem Man Shach

May his memory be an inspiration and a blessing.

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