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IN-DEPTH FEATURES
Reviving a Forgotten World
HaRav Yeruchom Levovitz, the famous mashgiach of
Mir in Europe, wrote: "To me it is obvious that anyone who
entered the Talmud Torah in Kelm, even once, was moved to
repentance." (See full quote below) It is in this vein that
we are presenting this collection of recollections of Kelm
now at the beginning of Elul when all thoughts turn to
teshuvoh. Although an entry into the thought and
spirit of Kelm certainly does not have the full impact of a
physical visit, this is the best we can do today.
Halevai that it has this impact on us!
It is ironic, though perhaps hardly surprising, that we are
far better acquainted with many of the offshoots of Kelm than
we are with "Kelm" itself. HaRav Dessler zt'l, HaRav
Chatzkel Levenstein zt'l and HaRav Elya Lopian
zt'l, each of whom played a major role in building the
postwar yeshiva world, were all products of Kelm. Even today,
we still feel the influence of one of Kelm's earlier
products, HaRav Yeruchom Levovitz zt'l, the famous
Mirrer mashgiach. Though he was niftar in Mir
before the war, his many prominent talmidim carried
his memory with them to other lands, where they perpetuated
his teaching and his standards.
But how much do we know about the founder of the Kelm
approach to mussar, the Alter of Kelm, HaRav Simchah
Zissel Ziv zt'l? How many of us know, for example,
that he was one of the three foremost talmidim of
HaRav Yisroel Salanter zt'l? What do the names, HaRav
Tzvi Hirsch Broide zt'l (the Alter's son-in-law) and
HaRav Doniel Movshovitz zt'l, Hy'd, the last leader of
the Kelm Talmud Torah, mean to us? Who were HaRav Nochum Zev
Ziv zt'l and HaRav Gershon Miadnyk zt'l,
Hy'd?
Beis Kelm is the title of the recently-published sixth
volume in a series devoted to the spiritual heritage and the
towering personalities of Kelm mussar. Previous
volumes in the series, which is published by Machon Sifsei
Chachomim, presented some of the writings of the members
of this school of mussar, such as their
chiddushim, notes and records of spiritual
undertakings. The new volume illuminates the lives of the
great men who led the Talmud Torah for the eighty years of
its existence, first in Grobin and later in Kelm.
Their stories are not meant to serve as mere biographies but
as a means of arousing yiras Shomayim and as a spur to
personal mussar growth. Indeed, it is impossible to
read about the Alter and remain unmoved. Every line written
about him prompts the reader to measure himself against the
exalted levels of humanity that he attained. The question,
"and where are we?" that automatically surfaces,
compels us to take new stock of our own situations.
The book is a laboriously documented collection of hitherto
unpublished stories and notes that were collected from some
of those who had firsthand knowledge of Kelm. For example,
there are stories and notes gathered from HaRav Elya Lopian,
by ylct'a his talmid HaRav Gedaliah Eisemann
and stories related by HaRav Nochum Abba Grossbard
zt'l, which were recorded by his talmid, HaRav
Chaim Friedlander zt'l. This article and those that
follow it, survey the wondrous characters of the men that
presided over one of the most famous schools of mussar,
where many of the great men who planted and nurtured
HaRav Yisroel Salanter's mussar approach within the
yeshivos, developed.
The Alter
The Alter was awe-inspiring. He didn't leave behind anyone
who could even be regarded as a shadow of himself. The source
of this bold evaluation was someone who measured his words
carefully -- no less a figure than the Mirrer mashgiach
Reb Yeruchom, as quoted by HaRav Chatzkel Levenstein.
On another occasion, Reb Yeruchom shared his recollections of
the Alter's beis hamedrash. "When we were fortunate to
hear the Alter [speaking] in the Talmud Torah, our minds and
emotions felt as though we were standing at Har Sinai
hearing the voice of Hashem. This was due to the singular
influence of looking at him, [contemplating] his holiness and
his very profound wisdom."
Reb Yeruchom's acquaintance with the Alter was brief. In one
of his shmuessen in Mir that appears in Daas
Torah, Reb Yeruchom told his talmidim, "I would
like to reveal something to you that all my life, I have
never revealed to a soul:
"I came to Kelm as a bochur, an ordinary bochur
like any other. After I merited hearing our master and
teacher, the man of genius and piety, Reb Simcha Zissel --
just a short time afterwards - - he passed away. In my
bitterness, I went [and stood] behind the wall of the room
where he was lying. I stood there all day crying and
screaming. I neither ate nor drank. I still remember what I
was telling myself: `I had only just begun to understand what
man is and what his obligations are. My eyes had just begun
to be opened after hearing you speak a few times and now, you
have left me . . .'
"I stood there like that all day . . . All my life I will
feel that if Hashem yisborach merits me with a little
understanding and knowledge, all my life I shall feel that it
is only thanks to that occasion, to that day."
A Single Movement
An adherent of one of the chassidishe groups once
asked the Alter's son, HaRav Nochum Zev to sum up his
father's greatness in a few words. "Who was the Alter? Where
did his greatness lie?" he wanted to know.
In later years, HaRav Elya Lopian recalled what HaRav Nochum
Zev's reply had been:
"In his fear of Heaven, Father was like someone who has a
knife stuck in his throat -- one careless movement can pierce
him."
In being maspid the Alter at his levayoh, his
friend and colleague HaRav Eliezer Gordon zt'l, Rov
and Rosh Yeshiva of Telz, said that aside from the Alter's
greatness in Torah, he had never heard a single word from him
that was not related to Torah and to fear of Heaven.
This testimony was not based on a casual acquaintance. The
Alter and Reb Leizer Telzer had learned together under HaRav
Yisroel Salanter and they knew each other very well. During
the period that Reb Leizer had served as rov of Kelm, he
would visit the Alter's home every Shabbos morning following
tefillah. They would sit for several hours discussing
divrei Torah.
Reb Leizer, who was known as a fiery and tempestuous genius,
would repeat his chiddushim to the Alter, whose
scholarship he valued highly, to agree to or to take issue
with. At the Alter's graveside, Reb Leizer said that his
friend had been fluent in three sedorim of
Shas, at a level where he knew every single piece of
Rashi and Tosafos word for word. He was also fluent in all
four divisions of Shulchan Oruch and could locate any
given halochoh with pinpoint precision. Reb Leizer's remarks
were transmitted by HaRav Leib Chasman zt'l who was
present at the levayoh.
The Alter of Kelm scaled heights of greatness that few reach.
HaRav Yechezkel Levenstein related that the Alter lost his
sense of taste for a period of ten years. Reb Chatzkel
explained that the love of pleasures, which the sense of
taste is one of the principal means of indulging, is liable
to hinder a tzaddik's progress in the spiritual realm
because there, unlike with material acquisitions, no
immediate pleasure is experienced. Sometimes, he noted,
Hakodosh Boruch Hu traces a path for righteous
individuals, arranging special circumstances for them, in
order to facilitate their serving Him.
He Didn't Look the Same Anymore
The Alter's love for his fellow creatures knew no bounds.
HaRav Elya Lopian related that once, when the Alter saw some
gentiles at a funeral, he sighed and commented, "Until a
moment before his death, he could have converted and become a
Jew" (from the notes of HaRav Gedaliah Eisemann).
In a similar vein, HaRav Chatzkel Levenstein related that
when the Alter was once present at the funeral of a gentile,
he said to his companions, "Now though, he sees the
truth."
He felt the pain of a gentile. A lost opportunity of gaining
a share in Olom haboh bothered him, even if the loss
was a non-Jew's.
"Such is the trait of a pious man", explained Reb Chatzkel.
"Even though he himself is very far from sin, he still shares
the burden of the [general] community, for he desires
good."
Reb Chatzkel also pointed to another of the Alter's
outstanding traits -- his fear of sin. When the Alter once
spied a Jew reaching into a gentile's wagon in order to steal
a little straw, he was terribly disturbed and he bore a
dejected appearance for the rest of that day. His son-in-law,
the tzaddik HaRav Tzvi Hirsch Broide, who was with him
at the time, thought that he was simply feeling unwell.
That evening, when HaRav Tzvi Hirsch asked his father-in-law
how he was feeling, he was astonished when the latter
replied, "How can one live peacefully when one sees so much
sin in the world?"
With such fear and loathing of sin, the Alter might be
expected to have had little sympathy for sinners and no great
concern for their fates. Yet his heart was even touched by
the fates of gentiles. Their very failure to become Jewish
and observe Torah distressed him.
He was merciful towards Jewish sinners and he evinced genuine
love for them. HaRav Elya Lopian told the following story,
which illustrates the extent to which the Alter was
distressed at the suffering of the wicked, even though they
had brought it upon themselves:
"Towards the end of his life, our master and teacher . . .
HaRav Simcha Zissel of Kelm suffered from anemia and he
always looked pale, with no color in his complexion at all.
From the moment Shabbos began until it ended however, his
face was aflame. His weekday paleness disappeared and he
looked ruddy and flushed, like a strong, healthy person. We
all witnessed this -- whoever learned in Kelm -- every
Shabbos.
"Once, one of those close to him came to him on erev
Shabbos kodesh with some good news: 'We've just heard
that the big apikores, the editor of Hameilitz,
has died. Blessed is Hashem who killed him!' "
From another source, HaRav Simcha Zissel Bakst zt'l,
we learn that the bearer of these tidings was none other than
the Alter's son, Reb Nochum Zev. The former's father, HaRav
Aharon Bakst zt'l, Hy'd, who was the rov of Shavli and
who was another of the Alter's close disciples, was also
present at the time. The editor of Hameilitz,
Alexander Cederbaum, put his publication at the disposal
of the group of maskilim who, amongst other schemes,
had been responsible for the closure of the Volozhin yeshiva.
Cederbaum himself took part in the struggles waged by the
maskilim and he tried in every possible way to hinder
the spreading influence of the mussar movement.
Reb Elya's story then describes the Alter's reaction: "When
the Alter heard this, a look of melancholy appeared on his
face and his face didn't look the same that Shabbos as it did
every week. When asked about this he said, `What are you so
surprised about?! We ought to feel so sorry for that
rosho, who is now standing before the Throne of
Judgment and pulling his hair out as he remembers how he
spent his life toiling to uproot religion.' "
Impurity Cannot Bear Holiness
Reb Yeruchom testified that the Alter was well aware of what
transpired in the world, though no newspaper entered his
home. The Alter once expressed his disgust and loathing for
the heretical publications of the maskilim, using the
story of a gilgul which was then current among
Lithuanian Jewry, to make his point. It was said that the
gilgul was drawn towards those who had read and been
influenced by the heretical literature of the
maskilim. On the other hand, it could not bear the
proximity of a Heaven-fearing person. It said that it felt
sickness and loathing when approached by such a person.
Clearly, impurity yearns for the companionship of impurity
and cannot bear the company of holiness.
According to Reb Yeruchom's version of the story, the episode
of the gilgul had taken place in the town of Novardok,
about a generation before the Alter's birth. Reb Yeruchom
related that, "They tried everything but were unable to
banish the spirit. When they mentioned that they would take
it to the Vilna Gaon, it couldn't bear hearing the Gaon's
name. Impurity cannot bear holiness."
The journals of the maskilim, the Alter said, were
like that gilgul. Like it, they found holiness
disagreeable and hated men of faith and character. Their
writers lauded and saluted every lowly and base impulse. "If
we see those papers praising someone whom we regard as a
great man," the Alter concluded, "something must be afoot and
he ought to be investigated. He may be putting on a righteous
front, while his heart is full of abominations."
Otherwise, why would the haters of religion be praising
him?
No Movement Without Reason
Wondrous stories circulated in Kelm about the amazing degree
of control that the Alter had over his every limb and over
each of his senses. Reb Yeruchom would extol this ability,
describing how every movement that the Alter made was the
result of forethought. Even the movements of his eyes were
carefully controlled.
For example, the Alter never let his gaze wander sideways.
When he needed to look at something that was to one side of
him, he turned his whole body in that direction and looked at
it straight on. Generally in Kelm, turning one's head to the
side, unless it was for a very good reason, was considered
something to be ashamed of.
HaRav Nosson Wachtfogel zt'l, who was mashgiach
in Lakewood, related the following story:
"My teacher, HaRav Doniel Movshovitz who was one of the
leaders of the Kelm Talmud Torah, never refrained from
discussing any topic that cropped up, even when there was a
widely held preconceived view on the matter . . . Whatever
the subject, Reb Doniel would examine and argue and would try
to establish the truth. Yet, when the discussion turned to
some aspect of the Alter's conduct or outlook, he would annul
his own opinion and would stake his very soul in order to
fathom the Alter's thinking. He toiled in order to comprehend
the Alter, whom he considered to be someone that it was
imperative to understand.
"When asked to explain his special approach to the Alter's
conduct, Reb Doniel said that his great admiration for him
arose after he had monitored his movements and actions and
had discovered that he never made even the slightest movement
without first having thought about it. The Alter did nothing
without forethought. He didn't open an eye or move his little
finger without a reason or without preparation. Everything
was calculated, befitting the level of an earlier
generation.
" `So,' Reb Doniel concluded, `how can we imagine that we are
capable of fathoming someone who didn't move his little
finger without thinking about it first?' "
Among Reb Yeruchom's discourses, we find the following
comments on this subject:
"The Alter of Kelm explained the meaning of the terms,
kalus rosh (irreverence) and koved rosh
(decorum) as being simple translations. Kalus
rosh, he said, is exactly that: having a light head.
While koved rosh is also just that: having a heavy
head. A person whose head is full of wisdom doesn't turn it
sideways and he doesn't laugh readily. When looking at a
layabout however, one sees what he's like in a moment. From
the way he moves it's clear that he isn't weighed down with
any kind of content. His head is quite simply light. At every
rumor and every slight noise, his head wags" (Daas Torah,
cheilek III, 117).
With Wissotsky in Moscow
Before the Alter opened the Talmud Torah in Kelm, he lived in
Moscow for two years. This was a period of his life that is
not so well known. He came to Moscow from Zagor, the
birthplace of HaRav Yisroel Salanter, where he had perfected
his mussar approach. Another of HaRav Yisroel's
talmidim from the Neviezer beis hamedrash in
Kovno had been living in Zagor. This was Reb Kalman Zeev
Wissotsky z'l, an alumnus of the Volozhin yeshiva who
later became famous as a tea magnate.
When Wissotsky moved to Moscow, Reb Simchah Zissel
accompanied him. This was apparently upon HaRav Yisroel's
instructions, out of his concern for the untoward spiritual
effect that the move might have on Wissotsky, on account of
his immense wealth and his numerous connections with
government circles. Wissotsky achieved a great deal towards
drawing cantonist soldiers back to the faith from which they
had been torn as children. He himself stole into the barracks
where they stayed and taught them prayers and
halochos. He celebrated the Jewish festivals with them
and even conducted a seder for them.
He spent enormous sums of money on communal endeavors and on
Torah and mussar institutions. Rabbi Mazah, the
government-appointed rabbi of Moscow, relates in his memoirs
that Wissotsky once called him to his house to ask for his
advice as to how he should distribute his ma'aser
money -- a sum of half a million rubles! When
their conversation had ended, Rabbi Mazah relates, Wissotsky
rose and, while pacing up and down the room, put his hands to
his head and cried in a tearful voice, "Woe to us on the day
of judgment! Woe to us on the day of reproof!"
This then, was Wissotsky. It seems however, that there was
concern among the adherents of mussar that living in
Moscow might have a detrimental influence upon Wissotsky and
lead him astray. The Alter was despatched to accompany
him.
The Alter once remarked that the cleanliness of the streets
of Moscow enabled him to reflect upon divrei Torah as
he walked outside, which he was prevented from doing when
walking elsewhere. It is also said that he noted, thanks to
the city's bustle, he could learn mussar in the
streets without any disturbance.
The circumstances of the Alter's departure from Moscow were
typical of his unimpeachable integrity. The circles of the
maskilim and the intelligentsia did everything
in their power to attract Wissotsky to their ideas and
projects. Apparently, one of them succeeded in gaining a
foothold in one of Wissotsky's businesses. With the clerk's
employment, Reb Simchah Zissel informed Wissotsky that he
would be leaving Moscow. He explained that he was concerned
about this man's influence and it is possible that he even
hinted to Wissotsky that it was "either him or me." The clerk
was engaged though, and the Alter left town.
End of Part I
Despite the fact that there is scarcely a yeshiva bochur
or seminary graduate who has not heard of the Alter of
Kelm, relatively few know much about him, for example, what
his family name was.
Reb Simchah Zissel was born in 5584 (1824) in Kelm. His
father, R' Yisroel, belonged to the well-known Lithuanian
Broide family. His mother, Chaya, was descended from HaRav
Tzvi Ashkenazi zt'l, author of ShUT Chacham
Tzvi.
Reb Simchah Zissel married Chaya Leah, daughter of R'
Mordechai of Vidzh, a small town adjacent to Kelm. Following
his marriage he travelled to Kovno, where he studied Torah
and mussar under his foremost mentor, HaRav Yisroel
Salanter zt'l, in R' Tzvi Neviezer's beis
hamedrash. HaRav Yisroel later sent him to Zagor, to
reinforce the beis hamussar that had been opened
there. For a time, he delivered shiurim in the town of
Kretinga.
After he had spent almost a year in St. Petersburg, then the
largest city in Czarist Russia, the communal leaders brought
Reb Simchah Zissel a signed document of appointment as their
rov. He was unwilling to accept a rabbinical position
however, and he proposed his friend, with whom he had learned
together in Kovno, HaRav Yitzchok Blaser zt'l, for the
position.
When he was almost forty years old, Reb Simcha Zissel
resolved upon opening his great endeavor, the Talmud Torah of
Kelm. Haskoloh was gaining ground everywhere and there
was a real danger of mass defection from religious life in
Lithuania where, just fifty years earlier, the Gaon of Vilna
and his immediate disciples had lived and worked.
The Talmud Torah opened in approximately 5622 (1862) and it
attracted young students, thirteen and fourteen year olds.
The Alter wanted to shape the personalities of his students
and develop both their Torah knowledge and their progress in
mussar so that they would be able to resist the harsh
spiritual winds that were then blowing.
Some ten years later, in 5632 (1872), he purchased a plot of
land upon which he erected a building for the Talmud Torah.
However, just a few short years later, in 5636 (1876),
trouble began when the institution was denounced to the
authorities, who began to watch it closely and to hound it.
The Alter decided to open elsewhere, in Grobin in the Kurland
province. He arranged for the purchase of a fine building,
situated in a spacious yard. There was a main study hall,
smaller rooms for shiurim, a dining room and
dormitories.
Five years later, the Alter had to return to Kelm. This time,
the move was dictated by his failing health, which began to
deteriorate in 5641 (1881), and which necessitated his
spending long periods in his home, which was in Kelm.
Bochurim from the town and the surrounding areas
gathered around him and the town once again became a
mussar center.
From his home in Kelm, the Alter continued operating the
Talmud Torah in Grobin, where he put his distinguished son,
Reb Nochum Zev Ziv zt'l, in charge. However, running
the institution from a distance proved too difficult and Reb
Simchah Zissel decided to close the yeshiva. He sent a member
of his family to consult HaRav Yisroel Salanter who was then
in Germany.
HaRav Yisroel dismissed the idea out of hand and the Talmud
Torah remained open in Grobin until 5646 (1886). In that
year, the state of the Alter's health almost collapsed and
his doctors warned him that there was real danger to his life
if he continued making the supreme effort that the continued
running of the institution in Grobin demanded. The Alter was
instructed to rest a lot and to go for walks. At this point,
he was forced to close the Talmud Torah in Grobin.
With the closure of Grobin, the focus of his work shifted
back to Kelm, which now reassumed its former prominence. The
Alter established a group that was known as Devek Tov,
comprised of his foremost talmidim. He shared a
special relationship with the group's members, and he worked
on writing out his discourses for them, which demanded more
strength than he had.
A number of his talmidim settled in Eretz Yisroel in
5652 (1892), opening the beis hamussar in
Yerushalayim, under the Alter's aegis and with his support.
Several years later, in 5657 (1897), the famous Yeshivas Or
Chodosh was opened in Chotzer Strauss in the Old City.
The yeshiva was headed by the rov of Yerushalayim, HaRav
Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt'l.
The Alter passed away on erev Tisha B'Av 5758 (1898),
shortly after having recited the morning Krias Shema.
He was niftar while in the middle of Ezras
avoseinu, bringing the first glorious chapter of the
history of Kelm mussar to a close.
"To me it is obvious that anyone who entered the Talmud Torah
in Kelm, even once, was moved to repentance, even if he did
nothing more than coming and witnessing the wisdom that
prevailed there and the fine character traits that were
discernible on every one of the students, each according to
his own level. This alone provided encouragement and prompted
one to repent.
"I felt this myself. The first time I came to the Talmud
Torah, I didn't know anything. Yet with my first step inside,
I felt a change within myself. I felt that I had become
someone different, even though they had done nothing with me
yet."
-- Reb Yeruchom Levovitz zt'l
The source of the title Der Alter, by which most
people refer to Reb Simchah Zissel, is not generally known.
One of the Talmud Torah's best known products, HaRav Chatzkel
Levenstein, once explained the name's significance.
The Alter of Kelm didn't feel worthy of being considered a
talmid of HaRav Yisroel Salanter, despite the fact
that the latter was universally regarded as having been his
main rebbe. Reb Simcha Zissel was of the opinion that
only someone who has acquired Torah from his rebbe can
be counted as a talmid. Although he esteemed HaRav
Yisroel highly, he felt that so long as he did not adopt his
rebbe's conduct as his own and try to follow in his
path in at least some small degree, he should not regard
himself as his talmid. Out of respect, Reb Simchah
Zissel would refer to HaRav Yisroel as Der Alter,
meaning, the Elder.
Eventually, Reb Simchah Zissel's own talmidim started
referring to him by this name. Far from Kelm, the town's name
was added.
The Alter himself writes: "Not everyone who listens to a
great man can be called his talmid, as I heard about
HaRav Chaim z'l [of Volozhin,] who said that he could
not be called a talmid of the Gaon z'l. This is
because a talmid is one who receives wisdom from him
in the proportion that a talmid receives from his
teacher, as opposed to one who receives only a little. It is
impossible to call the one the rebbe and the other his
talmid, for there is a great gap between them."
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