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Kelm: Reb Yeruchom Levovitz zt'l, Mirrer Mashgiach — 60th Yahrtzeit, 18th Sivan 5756
By Moshe Musman
These essays were originally published in 1996, 28 years ago.
Part III
For Part II of this series click here.
The Last Shared Burden
During the winter of 5696 (1935-6), a proposal to ban shechita was debated by the Sejm, the Polish parliament. Reb Yeruchom suffered great anguish from this antisemitic threat, which he interpreted as a decree from Heaven to strip Klal Yisroel of the mitzvos that confer kedusha upon us. The danger never left his mind during the weeks that the debate lasted. He followed its progress literally from one hour to the next.
In the yeshiva, Reb Yeruchom instituted the saying of Tehillim and Ovinu Malkeinu, explaining that a threat of such magnitude made it imperative to do teshuva. The urgency of the hour did not fall short of the Aseres Yemei Teshuva. The extent to which Reb Yeruchom cleaved to Torah and mitzvos became apparent as his health began to suffer under the burden of the distress he bore.
When he began to feel unwell, it was clear to all that he had literally worried himself sick over the threat to Klal Yisroel and to mitzva observance. Though his situation grew worse, doctors were unable to identify the nature of his illness. During the weeks of the sefira, he delivered what would be his final series of shmuessen, on the theme of Uva'al habayis docheik (Da'as Chochmah Umussar chelek I, pp.407-17).
In these shmuessen, he urged keeping pace with the swiftness of the Shechina, in the hurried final period of the golus. It was vital to `run' together with the Shechina in order to keep up. There was no time to wait.
A Memorial Plaque in Mir today
It was during this period that Reb Yeruchom's rebbetzin a'h, remarked to the rosh yeshiva that she saw the hand of Hashem in her husband's illness. She attributed it to the fact that for the past few years, she had agreed to his accepting a salary from the yeshiva. [The leaders of Kelm supported themselves independently and take no money from the Beis HaTalmud of Kelm. When Reb Yeruchom's daughter married HaRav Yisroel Chaim Kaplan zt'l, her father told her, "How glad we are to be making your wedding without needing any of the yeshiva's money!"]
The rebbetzin therefore declared that once Reb Yeruchom recovered, she herewith renounced any salary and accepted the support of family upon herself, as she had done in earlier years.
HaRav Wolbe writes, "No page is long enough to contain a description of the period of Reb Yeruchom's [final] sickness, from when he became bed ridden, on yom rishon, parshas Bamidbar. Still ringing in the ears of those who heard them are his repeated cries, as he lay suffering, of "A dank dir, Tatinke, far di yissurim, — Thank you Father dear, for the suffering!"
"On his last day in this world, yom sheini, parshas Shelach, the eighteenth of Sivan, it was apparent that he knew that this would be the day upon which he would be taken from us. He refused to eat and took his leave from Dr. Adler, the chareidi doctor who had treated him.
The last words that were heard from his lips shortly before he passed away were, "Shehacol niheye bidevoro."
At the levaya of Reb Yeruchom
The gaon Rav Yosef Kossover zt'l, one of Reb Yeruchom's senior talmidim, recalled when Reb Yeruchom had explained the brocho of Shehacol at length, in the light of the comments of the Gra on the brocho, `Uvorei es hacol' (bircas Yotzer of Shacharis).
`The expression which appears in the posuk is "Uvorei ra," and the term "es hacol," [employed by Chazal in the brocho] is a euphemistic one. They nevertheless have the same meaning, for the brocho of Shehacol niheye is made over every type of curse. This is because evil is mixed into everything, like the protective covering of a fruit, and it is an intrinsic part of creation.
Apparently, this was Reb Yeruchom's final thought and his brocho to his Creator, as he ascended to heaven.
As Reb Yeruchom passed away, his rebbetzin addressed her children saying, "Did you know children? Ehr iz doch gevein a mal'ach oif a emes! He was truly a mal'ach!"
At the close of the levaya, a senior talmid was eulogizing him and included the wish that, "Now, we are waiting only for techiyas hameisim. When we merit rising, we will run immediately to meet our master and teacher!"
Upon hearing this, Reb Yeruchom's rebbetzin, dumbfounded and broken, whispered, "He could not bear such things!"
Travel papers of one of the Mir community
The long periods of separation from his family hardly diminished the presence of Reb Yeruchom's spirit in his home. His influence upon his family was profound. Alongside his kedusha in thought and deed, his talmidim saw that his interaction with his wife was marked by great respect and closeness.
He would sometimes spend a hour in conversation with the rebbetzin after a meal, and some of his senior talmidim listened in hiding, following the practice of senior talmidim throughout the generations. They were amazed at what they heard. One distinguished talmid remarked that what he overheard made a greater impression upon him than Reb Yeruchom's public shmuessen had done!
His Legacy
Two of the oldest and most distinguished talmidim in the yeshiva were discussing the mashgiach during the days of mourning following his petiroh. One of them used to place greater emphasis on learning for long periods and delving deeply into the sugya at hand. The other invested great effort into acquiring wisdom and studying mussar.
Of course, the first talmid also worked on his character, just as the second also took his learning seriously. They simply stressed different aspects of avoda. Each had his own area upon which he concentrated his creativity and efforts.
Once, the mashgiach approached the lamdan and spoke to him. "Look how your friend works on himself! See how he is purifying his character traits!" He was not satisfied until he said, "I value his `loshon hora' more than your learning!"
By this the mashgiach had meant that any negative observations made by the second bochur (besides fulfilling the necessary conditions to render them halachically permitted), were always thought out and worked through. They were offered entirely for constructive purposes and were aimed at inspiring.
As the two of them spoke about the mashgiach, the first bochur told his friend, "Do you know? The mashgiach used you as an example. He called upon me to learn from your ways!"
"Incredible!" the second bochur cried. "He told me to take an example from you — to stress learning, for that is the only way to achieve anything. It is the foundation for all mussar study. `Gehennom will finish but you won't yet be finished!' he warned me!"
Reb Yeruchom demanded a balanced, integrated combination of Torah and mussar. A number of Reb Yeruchom's great talmidim said that with his depth of understanding and fineness of perception, the mashgiach had set them on their feet in learning gemora, showing them how to approach a sugya. Although mussar was very close to his heart (he said, "It is worth being created for learning mussar!"), he also sought ways to elevate his disciples' level of learning. During his last Elul for example, he called for "wearying the mind with learning in depth and developing new Torah", this being the true acceptance of Hashem's rule.
It was not just that he called for learning both halacha and mussar. He himself represented a synthesis of the two. By his example, he laid to rest misconceptions about the demands of a mussar regimen, which had earlier given rise to opposition to mussar in the yeshivos. He showed by example that they were inseparable, that a ben Torah could not possibly reach excellence in one by neglecting the other.
"No wonder," writes HaRav Wolbe, "that amongst his closest talmidim from all the periods of his life, were renowned geonim who perfected themselves in Torah and mussar together. And even those who were not particularly close to mussar, who devoted themselves to learning to the highest level, in the fullness of time, were [also] revealed as superlative masters of mussar."
Being in Reb Yeruchom's presence also corrected another popular misunderstanding about mussar, namely, that occupation with one's faults and shortcomings is likely to lead one into a depressed and dissatisfied state of mind. It was said in Mir that Reb Yeruchom, the baal mussar par excellence, used to say that he was happy with his life and was glad with the portion that had fallen to him.
It is only preoccupation with shortcomings that is dangerous. Working upon negative traits while maximizing positive ones need never involve adopting a negative self image.
This is the idea contained in another of Reb Yeruchom's sayings, which has gained wide currency: "Woe to the one who does not recognize his own faults for he will not try to correct them. However, double woe to he who doesn't recognize his merits, for he has no way to start working upon himself."
HaRav Wolbe writes, "The memory of Simchas Torah with him will never leave us. He used to give a rousing talk, in great excitement. He would end each section of the ma'amar with the melody of Ahsreichem Yisroel, [which] he would sing and dance [to on the platform in front of the Oron hakodesh], his hands raised heavenward. The gathering of his talmidim who were crowded together below, would dance in front of him.
"When he had finished speaking, he came down from the Oron hakodesh and began a dance whose wondrously holy emotion made all the eyes that witnessed it stream with tears. What a glorious sight, to see his hundreds of talmidim, among them truly great men, dancing in tears and song.
"Our master and teacher himself once cried out in the middle of one of these rousing ma'morim, "Ich veis nit voss is halter beiem Borei Olom, der Yom Kippur unzerer, tzu der Simchas Torah! (I don't know what is more beloved to Hashem, our Yom Kippur or our Simchas Torah!)"
True Simchas Torah was the key to the life of Reb Yeruchom and the baalei mussar of Mir.
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