Last Friday thousands of people tearfully accompanied the
distinguished Rebbetzin Mattel Schlesinger o"h on her
last journey in this world. She was the widow of the late
HaRav Yechiel Michel Schlesinger zt"l, rosh yeshiva
and founder of Kol Torah Yeshiva. She was over 96 years
old.
The Rebbetzin was born in Biel, Germany on 29th Elul 5604
(1904) to HaRav Moshe Yehuda Jacobson, an active member of
the local community, and to her mother Channah, who was
known for her chesed activities within the community.
Her father, a descendant of some of the most illustrious
families of German Jewry, was known for his fierce adherence
to pure halochoh and original undiluted Judaism. The
story goes that because of worries about the kashrus
of the local mikveh, his family would travel for an
hour to the mikveh in the neighboring town. In order
not to insult the rov of his town, who supervised the
kashrus of the local mikveh, they would also
dip in this local mikveh the following day.
In this house Rebbetzin Mattel absorbed an intense Jewish
education of Torah and yir'oh. She excelled in her
studies at the local school, her intellectual qualities
merging with her wonderful character traits into a
personality of exceptional nobility.
She was orphaned from her father zt"l when she was
ten years old. This event strengthened her personality and
made her twice as mature as other girls her age. Due to her
outstanding capabilities, as well as her dedication to her
tasks, she was appointed the head of a kindergarten in the
Karlsruhe community for a period of three years, amazing
everybody with her devotion to the education of Jewish
children. When she left this position, the community awarded
her a special certificate, which extolled her amazing
devotion, the special attention she paid to every child and
his problems, and her efforts to inculcate the spirit of
original Judaism into tender young souls.
When she reached a marriageable age she made it clear that
she wanted to marry "the biggest talmid chochom in
Germany," and in 5690 (1930) she married the great
iluy and masmid, HaRav Yechiel Michel
Schlesinger, one of the top bochurim of Slobodke and
Mir Yeshivos, who had acquired a reputation of toiling in
Torah with depth and acuity.
He absorbed the Torah of the great rabbonim of prewar
Europe. In both his Torah studies and his yiras
Shomayim he followed in the footsteps of the
"chassidei Ashkenaz" of the previous generation, his
father Rav Eliezer zt"l and his grandfather Rav
Eliakim Getshick zt"l, who disseminated Torah and
yir'oh in the Hamburg kloiz for many
decades.
Before the sheva brochos week was over, the young
couple said farewell to their family in Hamburg and set off
for Ponevezh, Lithuania. The chosson wanted to join
the ranks of the famous Yeshiva there. The fact that Mattel
agreed to leave her place of birth and the home of her
wealthy family in order to settle in far-off Lithuania, to
lead a life of pure Torah and absolute devotion to her young
husband's spiritual needs, was a source of much astonishment
to all her acquaintances.
The Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Y. Sh. Kahaneman zt"l recounted
in later years the extent of the Rebbetzin's love for Torah:
She gave birth in Ponevezh to her oldest son, Rav Moshe
Yehuda, and would take him for a walk next to the windows of
the Yeshiva. When he asked why she was doing this she said
that because of her husband's great hasmodoh she did
not see him very much, and so she at least wanted to enjoy
the sound of Torah emanating from him. In addition, she also
wanted to get her son used to the voice of Torah from an
early age.
During his time in Ponevezh, Rav Yechiel Michel also trained
to become a dayan, doing shimush in the
beis din of the Ponevezher Rov. He acquired a
magnificent reputation, and was called to serve as a
dayan on the Frankfurt beis din, and as the
head of Rav Breuer's Yeshiva there. As soon as he arrived he
managed to instill a new spirit into the community and the
Yeshiva, and his talent for leadership of the generation in
the path of Torah and yir'oh and for maintaining high
religious standards within the community very quickly
manifested themselves. Rebbetzin Mattel during this period
gave her husband complete moral support, taking care of the
household, and ensuring that he would be able to fulfill his
duties undisturbed.
In 5697 (1937), the Nazis were in power and were making the
life of the Jews a misery by means of officially enacted
legislation and unbridled incitement. The persecutions
became even worse during 5698 (1938-39), and Rav Yechiel
Michel reached the conclusion that the end of German Jewry
was fast approaching. In accordance with a ruling of HaRav
Chaim Ozer Grodzensky zt"l Rav Yechiel Michel
remained in his position, but when the situation
deteriorated, and it became almost impossible for him to
engage in spiritual activities and his own life was in
danger, HaRav Chaim Ozer permitted him to escape and to make
use of his abilities in other places.
Although he was offered the prestigious position of rosh
yeshiva of Torah Vodaas Yeshiva in New York, he preferred to
move to Eretz Yisroel, because there it was not
compulsory to teach children secular studies and because in
Eretz Yisroel -- unlike in the Diaspora -- there was
no concept of "Sunday," which has idolatrous connotations to
it. His rov from Galanta Yeshiva, Rav Y. Z. Dushinsky
zt"l, who had already settled in Eretz
Yisroel, also ruled that he should move there. Rav
Schlesinger's aspiration was to establish a yeshiva in
I>Eretz Yisroel for German bochurim who had moved
to Eretz Yisroel.
With obvious hashgocho protis Rav Schlesinger managed
to escape the German inferno together with his wife and
children on the morning after Kristallnacht, the 11th of
Cheshvan 5699 (1938). A chain of miraculous events, during
which Rav Yechiel Michel hid in the floor of a rented taxi,
led them to the Switzerland, where the rov's brother-in-law,
Rav Yechiel Guggenheim z"l, was waiting for him. Rav
Guggenheim did everything in his power to help the rov and
his family.
During his stay in Switzerland Rav Schlesinger looked for
donors willing to help him in his ambition of opening a
yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel. Although his efforts were
not met with success, he was not deterred and as soon as he
reached Yerushalayim, a few days after Pesach 5699 (1939),
at the beginning of the summer zman he founded Kol
Torah Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, setting a clear Torah path
for German Jewry in particular, and for immigrants from
western Europe and members of the new yishuv in
general, to show them the joys of omol haTorah mixed
with pure yiras Shomayim along the lines of
Lithuanian Yeshivos, nurturing and educating them with his
in-depth shiurim and electrifying mussar
talks.
Rav Yechiel Michel ran the Yeshiva's spiritual and material
affairs with incredible devotion, with Rebbetzin Mattel at
his side, with her love of Torah, her wisdom, and her
disdain of materialism. She had agreed to accompany him to
Eretz Yisroel for the sake of Hashem and His Torah,
despite all the difficulties which she knew would be her
lot. She gave her husband the remainder of her father's
dowry to use for the bochurim in the Yeshiva, and
helped him with the day-to-day needs of the bochurim,
many of whom were refugees from war-torn Europe. She also
helped him by recruiting funds for the establishment and
continued existence of the Yeshiva. Her brother Rav Moshe
Jacobson zt"l also offered assistance to this new
Yeshiva, his brother-in-law's life's mission.
In addition to the financial aspect, the work involved in
founding and maintaining the Yeshiva also took a toll on the
Rosh Yeshiva's health, and after many years of absolute
devotion to the Yeshiva and its bochurim Rav Yechiel
Michel developed a sickness from which he never recovered.
Despite his poor health, Rav Schlesinger gathered his
strength for the sake of the Torah, and in order to
facilitate his continued position as rosh yeshiva he moved
with his family into the Yeshiva building. The family made
do with a room inside the dormitory building, and the
Rebbetzin's determination and purity of spirit helped the
family overcome all the difficulties.
Demonstrating characteristic care and devotion, the
Rebbetzin accompanied the rov on his trip to England to
recruit finances for the Yeshiva's Building Fund. She was
very worried about his fragile state of health. About a year
later, on the 9th of Adar 5708 (1948) the Rosh Yeshiva
passed away, aged 50.
After his petiroh, the Rebbetzin felt a duty to
continue her husband's great labor and, after consulting
with the Chazon Ish zt"l she traveled to chutz
lo'oretz to recruit funds for maintaining the Yeshiva
without taking any remuneration for herself, thus following
her husband's example during his lifetime.
She also devoted herself to raising her eight children on
her own to Torah and yiras Shomayim, the youngest of
the orphans being just six weeks old. Her sole concern was
to raise her children along the path laid down by her late
husband. Living in terrible conditions of poverty, the
Rebbetzin brought up her children in the Torah path, taking
care of their spiritual development with warmth and love,
using her resources of wisdom, and her spiritual and
emotional strength, despite her widowhood and loneliness,
the day-to-day difficulties, and the trials of the period,
both spiritual and material.
Hashem rewarded her efforts to raise her sons and daughters
in the spirit of their great father. Before she did
anything, she would always ask herself first what her
husband would have done, at the same time consulting with
the Chazon Ish and other gedolim about various
matters. The gedolim were amazed by her greatness and
insight and honored her greatly, as was befitting for an
eishes chover who was conspicuous in her great love
of Torah.
Whenever she went to consult with HaRav Shlomo Zalman
Auerbach zt"l -- her husband's chavrusa whom
he appointed as his successor as rosh yeshiva -- he would
stand up for her as an eishes chover.
The Rebbetzin was a role model for all her acquaintances.
She always had the right word for each occasion, showing her
family and acquaintances the correct path in life, and
teaching them how to stand up to life's trials and
temptations. She herself was a living example of what she
preached. Her prayers, which were recited slowly and with
great feeling whilst ignoring her surroundings, were a
wonderful example to onlookers as to how to communicate with
Hashem with one's entire inner being.
The Rebbetzin had the merit of seeing her efforts bear
fruit. Her sons and sons-in-law are outstanding talmidei
chachomim, and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren
are worthy of their great ancestry. She was constantly
involved in all her descendants' development and education,
both young and old. She had an insight into the specific
nature and character of each one of her dozens of
descendants, and approached each one accordingly. Even in
her very advanced years, until the very end, she expressed a
constant interest in the development of each one of them.
Her mind was totally lucid until the end.
On erev Shabbos parshas Behaalosecha she felt unwell
and was taken to Shaarei Zedek hospital. During the week she
became weaker and her condition deteriorated, but she
remained aware of her situation. When her son asked her why
she was sighing, she replied, "I'm not sighing because of
the pain, it's because of my sins."
Last Thursday there was a further deterioration in her
condition, but she encouraged her family to travel to Bnei
Brak for her granddaughter's wedding. At the same time she
turned to one of daughters-in-law standing at her bedside
and said to her, "In a few hours I shall encounter the
divine presence!" In the late evening hours she went into a
restful sleep, in the course of which her soul left its
earthly abode.
The Rebbetzin's levaya, which was attended by many
thousands, left Kol Torah Yeshiva last Friday. Eulogies were
delivered by her eldest son, the Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Moshe
Yehuda, HaRav Shmuel Auerbach rosh yeshiva of Maalos
HaTorah, her son, Rav Eliezer, head of Kollel Volozhin in
Bnei Brak, her son, Rav Avrohom, head of Kollel Beis Yechiel
in Bnei Brak, Rav Yisroel Bondheim, a ram at Kol
Torah Yeshiva, Rav Yehoshua Neuwirth rosh yeshiva of
Chochmas Shlomo, Yerushalayim, her son, Rav Eliakim, author
of Pnei Moshe, and her son Rav Yaakov, all of whom
stressed her greatness as an eishes chayil, the crown
of her husband and "Mother of the Yeshiva" who supported her
husband in founding and maintaining the Yeshiva. They talked
about her strength of spirit over fifty-two years of
widowhood, during which she ran a household and raised her
descendants to Torah and yir'oh.
At midday the Rebbetzin was laid to rest in the family plot
at Har Hazeisim. She leaves behind her an extended and
wonderfully blessed family, headed by her oldest son, HaRav
Moshe Yehuda, who replaced his father as rosh yeshiva and
her sons and sons-in-law: Rav Nosson Zvi Shulman, Rav Ben-
Zion Bordiansky, ram at Kol Torah and Rav Shimon
Shreiber, author of Vezos Liyehudo and head of a
kollel in Tel Aviv.
