Being in the presence of Rabbenu the Gavad of Tchebin was
always an experience of "gilu bir'odoh — rejoice
in trembling." There was the spiritual uplifting in joy,
combined with great awe. On the one hand, we felt like dwarfs
in the presence of a giant among giants, seized by an
overpowering trepidation of his greatness. And yet, his pure
countenance exuded reviving dewdrops, for he radiated
goodness, kindness and wholesome love. He would lower himself
to the level of every small child, and his speech and manner
were the epitome of simplicity and refinement — which
served to melt away the fear and awe.
My father, HaRav Shlomo Zalman z'l of Pressburg, was
the Rebbetzin's brother so that when I came from Switzerland
as a young boy to study in Yeshivas Mir in Yerushalayim, I
became a privileged and frequent visitor in the Gaon's
home.
The first time I went in to him, I was very excited and
emotional. I was in a quandary. Who was I to speak to my
illustrious uncle, the posek hador? What would I say
to him?
But as soon as I entered the room, I immediately felt at
ease, as if a tremendous calm and relief was settling over
me. A sweet feeling suffused my heart with the pleasant
feeling that swept over me. Maran greeted me with a radiant
face and began conversing comfortably with me as if we were
old friends.
What Did Maran R' Chaim Shmuelevitz Say?
Ever since that first meeting, I would go to him every Friday
night. I eagerly awaited this visit. He didn't test me on
what I had studied during the week, but asked, rather, that I
repeat the shiurim given by the rosh yeshiva HaRav
Chaim Shmuelevitz, which he enjoyed greatly. Incidentally, he
was constantly visited by yeshiva students from Chevron
Yeshiva, who declaimed their chiddushei Torah to him.
He heard them out very patiently, with a glowing expression,
and would encourage them most enthusiastically.
Whom Did Maran Chide?
I can remember only two times that he rebuked me. The first
was when I innocently told him that a recent immigrant from
Russia had become engaged to a young Jerusalemite girl which,
I noted, was somewhat surprising at the time. About to wash
for a meal (which he always did in the same room where he
ate), he immediately assumed a serious expression and said to
me, "I don't wish to hear any such expressions ever again
from you. There are matches that are suitable and those which
aren't. There are no sivugim, categorizations and
labeling [a play on the word zivugim] among the Jewish
people."
The second time was when he saw me overly-interested in
something not directly connected to Torah study. His rebuke
was overt, with undertones of affection, as he declared, "Do
you know that the author of Minchas Chinuch never
gazed beyond his immediate four cubits?" That allusion was
sufficient for me.
I recall a certain simple Jew, owner of a kiosk in Rechavya,
who used to daven minchah-maariv regularly in Maran's
home. He once had a distasteful run-in with one of his
customers and, inflamed and embittered, poured out his wrath
before all those present, including Rabbenu. The latter took
him aside and spoke to him at length until he finally
succeeded in calming him down.
Some time later, that man found Rabbenu overwrought and
deeply anxious about some communal matter. In his simplicity,
he went over to him and said arrogantly, "Didn't the Rov say
that one must not get angry?"
Rabbenu answered him pleasantly, admitting humbly, "True, to
tell another person off is easy enough . . . "
It was this atmosphere, this kind of relationship, that made
one feel so comfortable in his presence. He was full of
sweetness and emes.
Formidable Strictness and Sweetness in Tandem
At that time, there was one cab company on Jaffa Street which
operated on Shabbos. A few religious hotheads decided to pour
some kerosene on one of the cabs and burn it. To be sure, the
media took up the incident with glee.
Upon my usual visit to Rabbenu, I found him concerned and
angry. He expressed his fear that the incident would have
terrible repercussions on the yeshiva community, saying, "In
theory, I am in full agreement with Neturei Karta
[extremists], but in practice, we must not behave in such a
manner and should divorce ourselves from them."
There were times when he was as unyielding as iron. He used
to say that he owed a debt of gratitude to a rabbi who had
exerted himself in getting him out of Bucharia and into
Eretz Yisroel. Whenever he met him upon his frequent
strolls in the park near his home, he would stop to converse
with him in a very friendly manner, reflecting the deep
appreciation he felt towards him. But when the issue of
National Service for Women came up and this rabbi refused to
join the ranks of those opposed to it, Rabbenu ceased taking
walks in that park, explaining, "I cannot bear the idea of
facing that man!"
Truth and steadfastness on the one hand, balanced by
pleasantness and caution on the other.
What Did Maran Do after the Pesach Seder?
I had the honor and privilege of being at Maran's Pesach
seder, which he conducted with efficient alacrity and
haste, with a sense of heightened, contained tension.
He said over only one dvar Torah, in the name of the
Malbim, on the phrase, "From the onset, our ancestors were
idolaters . . . " The Gaon said that the progressive
freethinkers, the Maskilim, claim that we, chareidim, are old-
fashioned. But we are able to rebut that they are even more
antiquated, dating all the way back to the time in history
when our ancestors were idolaters. Thus, we are more modern
and progressive than they!
Having completed the seder, he took out a gemora
Pesochim and studied from it until the very late hours of
the night.
The Test on Chezkas Habbatim
During my first zman in yeshiva, we studied Bovo
Basra. I was tested by the Rosh Yeshiva on the second
half of perek Chezkas habbatim.
With a inflated sense of self-satisfaction, I went to my
uncle and asked him to test me, as well. At first, he tried
to avoid it, but finally gave in and asked me one question. I
was altogether surprised that it had nothing to do with the
material I had learned. Indeed, he asked how we derived the
rule that for the water libations in the Beis Hamikdosh
(Nissuch Hamayim) that drawn water (Mayim
she'uvim) was invalid.
At first, I was dumbstruck, not having anticipated such a
question at all. I was about to give up, when I suddenly
remembered a passage in Tosafos on the last page of
the chapter I had learned (daf 60b) that after the
destruction of Bayis Sheini, there were many sages who
refused to eat meat or drink wine. R' Yochonon asked them why
they did so. They replied, "Because there are no more
sacrifices or wine libations."
"If so," he replied, "then you must refrain from drinking
water as well, because the Nissuch Hamayim has also
been suspended." They could not answer him.
I mentioned this exchange: "Tosafos asks there that they
could have resorted to drinking drawn water, which was
invalid for the purpose of nissuch hamayim," whereupon
my uncle smiled broadly in acknowledgement.
What Did the Chazon Ish Say?
I moved to Bnei Brak after my marriage and studied in the
Kollel Chazon Ish for several years. I was a frequent visitor
by the Chazon Ish. Whenever I traveled to Yerushalayim, I
visited my uncle, who would invariably ask, "And what does
the Chazon Ish say?"
I could not help being impressed by the mutual admiration
which they shared for one another. The Chazon Ish often said,
"By the Tchebiner Rov, the entire Torah is fresh and
vital."
The Chazon Ish's Comment
Someone once sent a question to Rabbenu, to which he replied
in writing. But before sending it off, he first transmitted
the responsa to the Chazon Ish. The latter read it, thought
briefly, then added his comment between the lines.
When the letter came back to the Tchebiner, he turned to me
with a smile. Aware of my close connection to the Chazon Ish,
he noted, "Do you know why the Chazon Ish wrote his notes
specifically between the lines?"
He answered his own question. "The Chazon Ish has already
dealt with this matter in a responsa of his own, and the
truth is as he concluded. There is no controversy here.
Rather, I dealt with this issue in general terms, while the
Chazon Ish investigated the details of the question and
revealed an additional aspect which warrants leaning towards
one side. He noted his comment between the lines, rather than
at the end, so that one would not be able to use my answer as-
is."
"You Do As the Chazon Ish"
Before moving into my own apartment, I studied the laws of
mezuzoh, especially those pertaining to a porch, being
aware that there was a difference of opinion among the
poskim as to which side of the doorpost it should be
affixed.
R' Akiva maintains that it depends on whether the porch has
an area of four cubits. Chamudei Daniel (brought in
Pischei Teshuvoh) says that one should always affix it
on the right side of the door as entering the porch. The
Chazon Ish holds the opposite, saying that what is
significant is the side as determined by one going from the
porch into the house and not vice versa.
When I visited Rabbenu to receive his blessing upon the
dwelling, I asked him what to do about the porch
mezuzas. He said that by him they follow opinion of
the Chamudei Daniel, and I began to expound upon the
various aspects of this question. He cut me short and said,
"But you must follow the Chazon Ish . . . "
"Go to Rebbe Yaakov in Bnei Brak . . . "
When he was already advanced in age, I went to him one time
with a difficult halachic question. He said, "At this stage,
I find it difficult to rule in practical halochoh. Go and ask
R' Yaakov in Bnei Brak [referring to the Steipler Gaon]."
And so I did. I went to him, saying that the Tchebiner Rov
had sent me to him. The Steipler heard me out and told me to
return in two days, during which he would examine the
question. When I came back, he humbly admitted that he did
not know what to tell me. "Go back to the person who sent
you," he said.
I went back to my uncle the Tchebiner Rov, and upon hearing
what I had to say, he finally agreed to voice his own ruling
in the matter.
Concern for a Young Talmid Chochom
He once sent me upon an interesting mission to the home of a
noted Torah scholar who later become a most prominent
disseminator of Torah. The message he told me to convey was
that he felt this young man was not sufficiently careful
about his health and that he must rest properly.
Ruling According to the Shulchan Oruch
He was accustomed to say that the explanation in Tana
Devei Eliyohu which states that whoever studies
halochos every day is guaranteed a place in Olom
Habo is to be understood as a guarantee to Olom
Habo only to a person who conducts himself daily
according to the laws of the Shulchan Oruch.
When I mentioned this upon occasion to HaRav Efraim
Borodiansky zt'l, he said that this fits with both the
written text and the expressed form very aptly, since the
written form is halichos [conduct, the `walking in
life'], whereas Chazal noted that it should be pronounced
`halochos,' the laws, as codified by our Sages.
Practices in Eating
Rabbenu followed the practice of washing hands before a meal
in the same room where he ate. For mayim acharonim, he
only barely wet the tips of his fingers. When I asked him
about this, he said, "[The reason Chazal gave] concerning the
health hazard of Sedomi salt, this does not apply in our
times. But since the Sages instituted the practice of
mayim acharonim, we must adhere to it."
He always recited Bircas Hamozone with his hat on.
People noticed that whenever he mentioned the Name of Hashem,
his entire body would tremble.
In his final years, when I once went to visit him on Erev Yom
Kippur, I found him in bed, very weak, a gemora held
close to his eyes. This was the joy of his life; it was a
nostrum against pain and suffering.
A Collection of Pearls — from the Gaon of Tchebin
ztvk'l
When he was in Siberia, he studied with a young child whose
father worked felling trees. Rabbenu took it upon himself to
teach the child alef-beis and Chumash. (R'
Leib Teitelbaum)
*
During his exile in Bucharia, he was approached by several
young boys, refugees from the yeshiva of R' Boruch Ber
ztvk'l, who asked him to study with them on a regular
basis. He agreed, and they proceeded by learning during the
day a daf, and at night he would give a shiur
on that material. He always praised them profusely for their
love of Torah. (R' Elya Krautwirth)
*
Upon one of my frequent visits to my uncle, he asked me where
I was holding in my learning this zman. When I told
him, he chided me, knowing the pace of my learning.
"That's how you study? Why, I had an uncle, my mother's
brother Mahari HaKohen, who studied intensely in depth, and
yet he had a regimen of covering ten dapim every
morning before prayers. And even when he was confronted with
a difficult passage, an impasse like an insurmountable
barrier, he would persevere with his regular pace,
notwithstanding!" (R' Moshe Sheinhart)
*
I once visited Rabbenu just as a group of young boys was
leaving. He told me that they had come to him regarding a
difference of opinion among them, that is, `political views'
regarding certain circles. Turning to me, he said, "In my
time we also had controversies, but young students did not
concern themselves about such things."
He sighed deeply and said, "Is it a wonder then, that in
these times we lack a growth of gedolei Torah?" (R'
Moshe Yehoshua Landau zt'l)
*
As young students, we occasionally paid Rabbenu a visit as a
group, to have him test us on our studies. He always greeted
us very cordially, asked us to be seated, and would ask us
questions. He exuded tremendous affection and
encouragement.
I recall one time that we came to his home and found him
already in his coat, just about to leave. As soon as he saw
us however, he divested himself of the coat and ordered us to
enter. He sat down with us with the utmost patience and
geniality.
*
When I was in Bucharia at the same period as the Tchebiner
Rov, I basked, along with the thousands of refugees of the
Holocaust, in his effusive warmth and encouragement. Some
time after I came to Eretz Yisroel, I went to pay my
respects, introducing myself.
He was most gracious and asked me if I would like a glass of
tea. He rose himself and went to the kitchen to prepare it.
All of my efforts to restrain him were in vain; he prepared
the tea, served it, and urged me to drink it — all with
his characteristic affability and kindliness. (HaRav
Yaakov Galinsky)
*
I once went to him right before elections, bearing a text for
a poster written by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. It read:
"Anan shlichuso dekamoi avdinon [We are but doing the
bidding of the earlier generations]." To my initial
shock, he bade me erase those words, but he reassured me with
the following explanation:
"What was the nefarious purpose of the Greeks in abolishing
the practice of chodesh, Shabbos, miloh? Let us say
that we can understand the reason for uprooting Shabbos and
circumcision, but what threatened them with regard to
establishing the new month?
"The answer is that herein lies the power and authority of
our Sages of every generation: they determine our calendar
and our festivals. The subservience of the Jewish people to
their Torah sages is what the Greeks wished to nullify. And
subsequently, we must reinforce their power and
unquestioningly exhibit our faith in the sages and leaders of
each generation [and not say that we rely on doing the
bidding of earlier generations]." (Former Knesset Member
R' Avrohom Yosef Shapira z'l)
May his teachings protect us and may he continue to be a
good interceder for us, Amen.
R' Shmuel Lieberman shlita, was a close confidant of Maran
the Gavad of Tchebin ztvk'l, whose forty-first
yahrtzeit is on 10 Marcheshvan.
