A deep pall of mourning descended on the
Torah world at the passing of the gaon, HaRav Zev
Adleman, one of the greatest tzaddikim of our times
who was nifter Wednesday the 6th of Kislev at the age
of 86.
A huge throng, headed by the gedolei
hador, roshei yeshiva, dayanim, and bnei torah
from all strata of the chareidi community. participated in
his levayo which left from the Maayanei Hayeshuva
hospital in Bnei Brak, passed by his home and Kollel Chazon
Ish to the Shomrei Shabbos Zichron Meir cemetery.
News of the petirah spread rapidly,
and his family and students managed to arrange the
levaya very quickly, as he had requested in his
tzavo'o.
As his final behest, no hespedim were
delivered. Emotionial words of hisorreus were
delivered by his friend, HaRav Boruch Rosenberg, the rosh
yeshiva of Slabodka, who spoke about Harav Adleman's
unique personality and his avoda in Torah and
tefillo, and called the community to repent in light
of the great void formed with the passing of one of the
gedolei hador.
HaRav Zeev Adleman was born in Brisk in Sivan
5674. His father, the righteous Reb Avrohom, was very close
to the Brisker dynasty, a bond he continued to maintain in
Eretz Yisroel.
It was in that illustrious home that Reb
Zeev's personality was formed and the remarkable foundations
of his spiritual fiber were cast. Outstanding character
traits, remarkable hasmodo and nobility of spirit
characterized the man who studied together with HaRav Moshe
Soloveitchik, and with HaRav Aharon Leib Steinman in the
Imrei Moshe yeshiva in Brisk.
When he was fifteen, he was forced to flee
Brisk lest he be drafted into the army. He reached Kaminetz,
where he began to study under Harav Boruch Ber Lebowitz, soon
becoming one of his closest and beloved students.
After leaving Brisk, Harav Adleman never
again saw his parents nor his sister and brother-in-law and
their five children, who perished al kiddush Hashem
in Brisk.
In his tzavo'o he asked that their
memories be perpetuated on his tombstone.
In 5697, he arrived in Eretz Yisreol, and
joined the Lomze yeshiva in Petach Tikvah, rapidly becoming
one of its most outstanding students. His entire life
centered around the Torah hakedosha and omal
b'Torah.
In 5705, he married Channa Ita Levi
oh, daughter of Reb Moshe Eliyahu Levi, of
Yerushalayim, one of the founders of the Hachnosas Orchim
institution.
Directly after their marriage, she began to
teach, and he continued to learn in the Kollel Toras Eretz
Yisroel, where such illustrious gedolim as HaRav
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach also studied.
With the aliya of the Teheran Children, he
became deeply involved in the saving of Jewish children, and
opened the door of his home to many orphaned and solitary
people. Many still consider themselves his children.
Together with his wife, they made many
shidduchim, and helped establish many Jewish homes,
especially after the Holocaust.
In 5721, HaRav Adleman and his wife moved to
Bnei Brak, where she became one of the most important
teachers in the Rabbi Wolf seminary. She had come there at
the request of Rabbi Wolf, who had asked her to help found
the seminary. In her capacity as a mechaneches, she
had a great impact on many students.
Due to his wife's position, HaRav Zeev was
unable to accept the position of menahel ruchani of
the Zichron Yaakov yeshiva.
The roshei yeshiva, at the advice of
the Chazon Ish, tried to persuade him to accept that
position, but he refused. One time, the Chazon Ish, who held
him in great esteem, asked him why he had refused that
position. He replied that he wanted to continue learning, and
that his wife found it difficult to leave her teaching
position in Bnei Brak.
The Chazon Ish replied that in that case, he
would no longer interfere in the matter.
He studied for many years with his brothers-
in-law, HaRav Yeshaya Wasserman zt"l and HaRav
Mordechai Springer, zt"l, and together they excelled
in their learning, amazing piety and asceticism, known only
to a few.
For a certain period, he was the menahel
ruchani in the Ohel Yaakov yeshiva in Bnei Brak, where he
delivered mussar discourses.
During the past fifty hears, he was very
ascetic, and separated himself from this world.
Every year, he would maintain a taanis
dibbur from rosh chodesh Elul until after Yom
Kipper. In addition to that, he would maintain a taanis
dibbur every Thursday, Friday and Shabbos, until
completing the study of the parsha, and would fast
every Thursday.
His family testified that throughout the entire week, except
on Shabbos he didn't go to bed, but would study with
hasmoda, until falling asleep over his gemora.
When he would awake after a brief nap, he would continue
studying until 3 A.M. Then he would daven and study
until the afternoon, returning home briefly for a light
meal, after which he would resume his studies.
He wore tefillin nearly the entire day, His
tefillos were well known, enunciating every single
word, as if he were counting precious jewels.
His life was one long saga of deep immersion in Torah,
exertion and toil in avodas Hashem, with deep
humility, which was his most salient characteristic.
The avreichim who attended the mussar shiurim
in his home, noted his special fatherly warmth and traits,
and the pleasant manner in which he managed to penetrate
their hearts and guide them.
He himself, they said, embodied the traits he demanded of
them, especially humility, alacrity, gratitude, and pure and
clean speech. He was a paradigm of shmiras halasohon,
and never spoke ill of anyone.
After the petirah of his wife, in 5745, his health
began to deteriorate, becoming even worse in recent years.
A while ago, he was hospitalized in Maayanei Hayeshua. Even
during that period, he made valiant efforts to daven
in a minyan.
Despite his suffering, he didn't forego even one of his
lifelong practices and hanhogos.
When he missed the minyan in the hospital, he would
ask to be taken to Itzkowitz shul to daven,
even though every movement caused him much pain.
During the past few months, his health deteriorated.
He did not leave children. As a result, the tzibbur is
asked to study for the benefit of the soul of the gaon
and tzaddik, Reb Zeev ben hakodosh Reb Avrohom
zt"l.
