The extraordinary life and achievements of HaRav Yitzchok
Yosef Zilber zt"l are very different from what most of
us today know, boruch Hashem, but nonetheless the
outstanding qualities that he exhibited are of a kind that
can inspire each and every one of us.
For more than half of his life in This World, HaRav Zilber
stood stubbornly against the entire atheistic Communist
system of the Soviet Union. He refused to concede anything to
the powerful atheistic environment in which he found himself,
and struggled with all his abilities for every halachic
detail that he could. He never initiated any compromises
beyond what he was absolutely forced into by powers beyond
his control.
For example, he was not satisfied to eat the first meal in
the succah and afterwards to eat only foods that do not
require a succah. He insisted -- with all his resourcefulness
-- on even finding a succah to sleep in! He explained how he
covered over a small indentation in the earth in a way that
made a kosher succah that was not evident to a passerby
unless he knew that there had once been an indentation there.
Once inside he could sleep there undisturbed.
Naturally he had stories of life-and-death issues such as the
education of his children and surviving in Stalin's gulag,
but he also faced day-to-day challenges. For example, he once
taught an entire class in high school mathematics without
speaking because he was interrupted between Geulah and
Tefilloh when one is not allowed to talk. At the time,
he had to leave home before the earliest time one is allowed
to daven in the morning, and he generally put on
tefillin and davened during a short recess in a
hiding place that he made between two doors. Once he was
caught by the bell exactly at that awkward place in
davening and he returned to teach his class using only
gestures. The students thought he was angry with them and he
later used their assumption to explain his behavior.
Rav Yitzchok's mesirus nefesh did not end when he left
the Soviet Union. Even after he moved to Eretz Yisroel he did
not relax and take life easy. Freed from the pressures of an
atheistic state, Rav Zilber applied himself to harbotzas
Torah with the same selfless dedication that had
characterized his first 55 years in the Russia of Lenin and
Stalin and their successors.
He continued in his utterly sincere path of trying to serve
the Ribono Shel Olom through whatever opportunities
presented themselves, seeking absolutely nothing for himself.
Out of a tremendous love for others, he worked with young
people, with old people and with all ages in between, trying
to bring everyone closer to Torah and mitzvos. With each he
worked at his or her own level, whether it was coaxing
someone to do just a single mitzvah or encouraging a
potential talmid chochom to grow greater in
learning.
These are principles that are important to everyone. Those
who are exposed to today's world must have some level of
mesirus nefesh in order to resist the temptations of
modern life. And we must never forget that the yetzer
hora does not care about what he gets from us. He will as
happily take small transgressions and omissions as large
ones. It is vital for everyone to fight against him with the
same uncompromising standard that he uses and that Rav
Yitzchok Zilber used. Struggle for each detail.
If we can learn these lessons, it will surely be a fitting
memorial to HaRav Yitzchok Yosef ben HaRav Ben Tzion Zilber
zt"l.
