The hakomas matzeivo of the Lakewood mashgiach,
HaRav Nosson Meir Wachtfogel, zt'l, took place last
week on Wednesday at Har Hamenuchos. The son of the
Mashgiach, HaRav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, came in for the
occasion.
Speaking at the cemetery were HaRav Elya Ber, HaRav Shmuel
Shechter, a long-time chavrusa of the Mashgiach, HaRav
Yaakov Eliezer Schwartzman, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas
Lakewood in Yerushalayim, and HaRav Leib Heiman, rav of the
Gra Shul in Bayit Vegan. HaRav Don Segal led the
Tehillim.
HaRav Heiman said that R' Nosson knew himself and that a
person should know himself in order to be a true and fully
effective oved Hashem. All the maspidim
stressed the importance of learning mussar as being
one of the central themes of the life of the Mashgiach.
At one of the earlier hespedim, HaRav Shechter said
that the Mashgiach was scheduled to be honored at the
Lakewood dinner this year. After this was announced, about
two weeks before his petirah a talmid
approached him and asked him why he consented to such a
thing, which he had always avoided. The Mashgiach answered
him that it will never come to be. HaRav Shechter said that
we see here that Chazal who say that whoever flees from
kovod, is pursued by kovod, mean that
kovod pursues him but does not necessarily catch
him.
