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IN-DEPTH FEATURES
Part II: After the Alter
The first part of this too-short introduction to Kelm
discussed the Alter of Kelm, his biography, his influence and
his conduct. This part follows the history of Kelm after his
passing.
The material is based on Beis Kelm, the recently-
published sixth volume in a series devoted to the spiritual
heritage and the towering personalities of Kelm
mussar. The series, which is published by Machon
Sifsei Chachomim. 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.
His Son and Spiritual Heir
While the Alter's passing unquestionably marked the end of an
era, the wellsprings of Kelm remained just as prolific. Reb
Simcha Zissel left a son and two daughters. The son, Rav
Nochum Ze'ev Ziv zt'l, had received his education from
his father. As a youngster, he learned both in Kelm and
Grobin. He also spent some time in Aishishok, the town of
perushim near Vilna. For a time after his marriage he
lived in Sydnik and then he moved to Koenigsburg, where he
was of great assistance to people who arrived in the city in
seeking cures for their health problems.
Reb Nochum Ze'ev corresponded with his father throughout his
life. The imprint of his father's education and of his Kelm
training were recognizable in everything he did. Whoever came
into contact with him and witnessed his calm and tranquility,
his meticulous behavior and his orderliness, saw in him a
classic product of Kelm. In 5670 (1910), some twelve years
after his father's petiroh, Reb Nochum Ze'ev returned
to Kelm to assist his brother-in-law, Rav Tzvi Hirsch Broide
zt'l, in running the yeshiva. Reb Tzvi Hirsch passed
away only three years later and all the responsibility for
the upkeep of the Talmud Torah came to rest upon the
shoulders of Reb Nochum Ze'ev, who faithfully replicated
every nuance of his father's approach.
The following story was told by HaRav Eliyohu Lopian and
recorded by his talmid, HaRav Gedaliah Eisemann
ylct'a. The Alter once arrived at the yeshiva where
Reb Nochum Ze'ev was learning to visit his son and monitor
his progress. He reached Reb Nochum Ze'ev's lodgings, only to
find him absent. Reb Simchah Zissel surveyed his son's bed
and closet and then declared that he saw no reason to make
any further inquiries about his learning. "I see that all his
belongings are in place," he said. "There is no confusion;
everything is where it belongs. I am thus quite sure that he
is well ordered and methodical in his learning too."
In one of his letters, Reb Simchah Zissel wrote, "I am used
to saying that when it comes to people who are capable of
knowing the inner [spirit of the] wisdom of mussar,
with a reasoned and acceptable approach, I have found none
that equal you, my brother, my dear relative and my dear son
ny'v, and one other special individual whom I know to
be capable of understanding."
When Reb Simchah Zissel became sick, he saw his son as his
natural successor. HaRav Yechezkel Levenstein zt'l
related that in a letter that the Alter wrote to Rav Yitzchok
Blaser zt'l, he mentioned that he could not find a
suitable personality to replace him in the Talmud Torah. The
only one, he wrote, who could and who ought to assume his
mantle was his son, except that he was worried about taking
his son's time away from learning. Reb Chatzkel pointed out
that Reb Simchah Zissel expressed this reservation even
though Reb Nochum Ze'ev was known to spend several hours each
day attending to business. Even while thus occupied, Reb
Chatzkel said, Reb Nochum Ze'ev's thoughts dwelt on holy
matters and his father was aware of this.
Reb Nochum Ze'ev passed away during the First World War, on
erev Shabbos, the second of Shevat 5616 (1916). He was
buried in the cemetery in Kelm, close to his father's resting
place.
A Tzaddik's Departure
The following descriptions of the wondrous manner in which
Reb Nochum Ze'ev departed from this world reveals him as the
giant of the Kelm approach that he had been practicing
throughout his life. No trace of the terrible pains that he
was experiencing showed in his facial expression. He was
completely calm. The gentile physician who attended Reb
Nochum Ze'ev, Dr. Grozad, was asked why he had seen fit to
inform his patient that he only had a certain amount of time
left to live. He replied that from his personal acquaintance
with the patient, he knew that the knowledge would do him no
harm, since he viewed death as being a transition from one
world to another.
On the last night of his life, Reb Nochum Ze'ev delivered a
shmuess to the talmidim on the topic of "The
day of death [is better] than the day of his birth"
(Koheles 7:1). He spoke on the subject of death with
the serenity of a young man, who views his own demise as a
very distant event. He had delivered the shmuess
previously in the Talmud Torah. This time, he added that
he was glad to be thinking such thoughts on the day of his
death.
One of Reb Nochum Ze'ev's daughters recorded the events of
the last days of her father's life in her diary, which she
wrote in German. On yom revi'i, the twenty second of
Teves 5676, approximately ten days before her father's
petiroh, she wrote:
"Father spoke about suffering and about how one must bear it
willingly and moreover, accept it lovingly, for it too, is
the result of Hashem's kindness. Hashem's mercy and His
kindness never cease. Therefore, we ought not to think that
suffering that comes from Him, yisborach, is as
dreadful as it seems.
"He is giving himself over utterly into the protection and to
the will of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. In the meantime, he
was unable to hold himself back and overcome his weeping.
"Father also related the parable of the doctor who amputates
a patient's limb in order to save his life whereas when all a
person's property is seized, he only needs to pay in
installments."
Rav Yechezkel Levenstein related that during Reb Nochum
Ze'ev's last days, his sister, Rav Tzvi Hirsch Broide's
widow, sat next to him. She heard him praying that his
suffering should not be so difficult for him to handle and
that he should have the strength to bear it. She was
astonished at this form of prayer and she asked him why he
didn't ask instead that the suffering vanish completely? Reb
Nochum Ze'ev replied, "Although I am not on such a high level
as the tanna who welcomed suffering (Bovo Metzia
84b) saying, `Come, my brethren and friends,' I still do
not reject it. It is enough for me to ask Heaven to alleviate
my pain a little."
"They are His messengers and we must receive them honorably,"
he once remarked when his pains escalated.
Reb Nochum Ze'ev's tranquility in his last moments was
amazing. Two days before his passing, he spoke to his family
about their meeting each other again at some future time. He
vividly described what they would tell each other. When he
saw the gloomy expressions of his three young daughters, he
chided them, "Don't you believe that you are about to enter a
better and stronger protection than mine?!" as if to remind
them that in a short while, they would become charges of the
Father of orphans . . .
The day before he passed away, he called one of the town's
wagon drivers and paid him. It transpired that he was
concerned about his wife and one of his daughters, who could
not walk properly. He therefore arranged himself that a
carriage would convey them to the town cemetery . . .
"I envy your still being able to see the Chofetz Chaim," he
told those who were standing around his bed. Rav Yechezkel
Levenstein demonstrated Reb Nochum Ze'ev's punctilious
adherence to halochoh. Before dying, he warned people not to
touch him, in accordance with his status as a goseis
(someone who is critically ill) who must not be moved. "Even
when dangerously ill," Reb Chatzkel said in amazement, "he
did not lower his guard."
Reb Nochum Ze'ev's three orphaned daughters married the top
students of the Kelm Talmud Torah: the eldest married Rav
Doniel Movshovitz zt'l, Hy'd, the second married Rav
Gershon Miadnik zt'l, Hy'd, while the third married
Rav Eliyohu Eliezer Dessler zt'l, son of Rav Reuven
Dov Dessler zt'l, who had been one of the Alter's
outstanding talmidim. Rav Dessler later became
renowned as the mashgiach of Ponovezh Yeshiva, where
he arrived after establishing Gateshead Kollel, which exists
to this day. The first two brothers-in-law, Reb Doniel and
Reb Gershon, led the Kelm Talmud Torah until its destruction
by the Nazi murderers.
"Like One of His Great Disciples"
Reb Nochum Ze'ev had two sisters. The Alter's daughters were
known for their wisdom in matters of yiras Shomayim
and mussar. The elder of the two, Rochel Gittel,
married Rav Chaim Yitzchok Ziv z'l, who was a member
of the Alter's family. The two of them toiled to support
themselves and were renowned for their righteousness. It was
said that her conduct was worthy of one of the gedolei
hador. Once, when she needed to undergo major surgery,
she refused to receive anaesthesia, so that her mind would
remain clear.
After her father's petiroh, Rochel Gittel and her
mother settled in Eretz Yisroel. They lived in the famous
Chotzer Strauss in the Old City, which was a lodestone
to members of the circle of early baalei mussar. Every
day, the Alter's daughter would prepare cups of tea for the
scholars who learned in the yeshiva there. She passed away
childless and was eulogized by her mother.
The Alter's second daughter, Nechomoh Liebe, was better
known. She had a reputation as being the greatest expositor
of the Kelm approach and a faithful reflection of her great
father. In the introduction to his mussar work,
Yesodei Hadaas, Rav Moshe Rosenstein zt'l, who was
one of the Kelm Talmud Torah's finest products and who served
as mashgiach in Yeshivas Lomzhe, wrote some words of
acknowledgement and estimation of this great personage:
"The fourth to whom I am indebted is the daughter of our
master and teacher Rav Simchah Zissel, the widow of Rav Tzvi
Broide, who is as great in wisdom, in understanding, in fear
of Hashem and in fine character traits, as one of our master
and teacher's great disciples, Moras Nechomoh Liebe .
. . even a part of whose praises I am too small to relate . .
.
"While I was in Kelm, I was a guest in her home for several
years and I had the opportunity of contemplating her ways and
her conduct, the paths of wisdom and yiras Shomayim
that she followed and her good deeds. We learned a great deal
from her; everything she did -- all her good deeds and her
good and upright conduct, showed the great wisdom of our
master and teacher zt'l whose daughter and whose great
and distinguished disciple she was. Besides the spiritual
benefits that we received from her, from her wisdom, her fear
of Heaven, her righteousness and her capable deeds and
traits, we also received many material benefits from her. May
her good memory never be wiped from our hearts."
These lines alone are sufficient evidence of the heights that
a female member of the Alter's household could attain. This
valiant woman showed her mettle during the final days of her
husband's life. She did not let a syllable of complaint
escape her lips, neither during his illness, nor after his
petiroh. She encouraged others and saw to it that the
studies in the Talmud Torah would remain undisturbed by her
husband's death.
Nechomoh Liebe lived to an old age. She was murdered together
with the other members of the Talmud Torah when the Germans
massacred the Jewish population of Kelm.
The Alter's Son-in-Law
The Alter's son-in-law and Nechomoh Liebe's husband was the
tzaddik Rav Tzvi Hirsch Broide zt'l. He was the
Alter's nephew, the son of the Alter's brother Reb Leib
Broide z'l. He learned in Grobin and Kelm and it was
said that he was inseparable from the Alter. As a classic
Kelm product, Rav Tzvi Hirsch's daily timetable was arranged
with pinpoint precision. People said that one could set one's
watch according to Rav Tzvi Hirsch's comings and goings.
Even while his only son lay ill, Rav Tzvi Hirsch continued
his usual regimen of holy service, despite the fact that he
remained at his son's bedside day and night. During this
period, he would sleep for a quarter of an hour at a time. He
attested that, "I learned a great deal as well and I guarded
myself to ensure that they wouldn't confuse my mind. Nobody
knows whether I was preoccupied." When his son passed away,
Rav Tzvi Hirsch accepted Heaven's decree lovingly and no
signs of mourning were evident on him.
His enormous and constant mental efforts undermined his
health and he used to suffer from terrible headaches but he
did not allow them to divert him from his usual timetable. He
would bandage his head and continue immersing himself in
thought. Professor Schreiber from Koenigsburg, who treated
him, told him to make less mental effort. Rav Tzvi Hirsch
replied that since man was not an animal, a person could not
carry on living without thinking.
His scrupulous observance of halochoh and his fear of sin
were remarkable. Rav Yechezkel Levenstein related that, "I
heard from the Mirrer mashgiach ztvk'l that in Kelm he
saw how our master and teacher, the gaon and
tzaddik Rav Tzvi Hirsch Broide ztvk'l, used to cut
his fingernails on erev Shabbos and how he would try
and file them nicely. He told him that his reason for doing
so was, since he used seforim that did not belong to
him, he might scratch someone else's sefer slightly
with his nail. He therefore took care to make them smooth and
rounded, so that they should do no harm, for such is the
perfect appearance of man, who is concerned because of the
slightest possibility of damage befalling his fellow human"
(Or Yechezkel).
On another occasion, Reb Chatzkel related what happened,
"When Rav Tzvi Hirsch returned from a visit to Eretz Yisroel,
Rav Nochum Ze'ev asked him what life was like there. Rav Tzvi
Hirsch answered very sparingly, not divulging a thing about
the life there, speaking instead about Eretz Yisroel's
spiritual endowments. Later, he explained that he was taking
care to avoid stumbling over the sin of the spies."
This visit took place in 5667 (1907). Rav Tzvi Hirsch had
left for Eretz Yisroel in order to be together with his
father, whom he honored to an unparalleled degree. He
regretted the fact that he was unable to minister to his
father since the latter had settled in Eretz Yisroel and he
resolved to follow him and settle there himself. He was
inspired to take this step by Chazal's teaching that Yaakov
Ovinu was punished for the twenty-two years that he spent
with Lovon, during which he did not honor his parents.
The disciples at the Talmud Torah did not regard Rav Tzvi
Hirsch's aliyoh to Yerushalayim favorably, for they
viewed his departure as a great loss. They sent off a letter
to his father, Reb Leib Broide, asking him to send his son
back to Kelm which, they wrote, was in dire need of his
blessed influence. The letter was signed by the senior
talmidim of Kelm. Among the signatures, we encounter
some names of men who later became known as the foremost
expounders of mussar, such as Rav Eliyohu
Lopian zt'l, Rav Isaac Sher zt'l and
others.
Another letter pleading for Rav Tzvi Hirsch to return was
sent to Rav Itzele Blaser zt'l, who was then residing
in Yerushalayim. Rav Itzele was asked to exert his influence
over Reb Leib by explaining to him that the Talmud Torah only
existed in Rav Tzvi Hirsch's merit and without him, there
would be nothing.
The campaign succeeded and Rav Tzvi Hirsch returned to Kelm,
where he continued leading the Talmud Torah until his
petiroh on the seventeenth of Sivan 5673 (1913).
The Next Generation: Shmuessen Like the
Alter's
Rav Reuven Dov Dessler zt'l, occupies an important
position among the leaders of the Talmud Torah in Kelm. He
was born in 5623 (1863) in the port and resort city of
Shivuy. He entered the Talmud Torah when he was eleven years
old and remained there for twenty- five years, until the
Alter's petiroh. The Alter used to praise Rav Reuven
Dov's yiras Shomayim highly and he once remarked that
it would have been worthwhile to have established the Talmud
Torah for him alone.
When the Alter grew weaker and was forbidden to speak, he
availed himself of Rav Reuven Dov's assistance in running the
Talmud Torah and also entrusted him with the task of reading
out the essays that he had written, to the other students.
In 5651 (1891), Rav Reuven Dov married the daughter of Rav
Eliyohu Eliezer Grodzensky zt'l, who was Rav Yisroel
Salanter's son-in- law. His wife passed away four years
later. Rav Eliyohu Eliezer's other son-in-law was Rav Chaim
Ozer Grodzensky zt'l, who was Rov in Vilna and leader
of Eastern European Torah Jewry between the wars. Rav Reuven
Dov's only son was Rav Eliyohu Eliezer Dessler zt'l,
whose teachings, posthumously published by his talmidim
in Michtov MeEliyohu, are among the most
fundamental contemporary mussar works.
Here is the testimony of Rav Dovid Povarsky zt'l about
the time he spent in the Talmud Torah as a young
bochur, in 5683 (1923):
"While I was in the Talmud Torah, the place was being run by
Rav Reuven Dov Dessler zt'l. His disciples held him
in tremendous esteem -- just unimaginable. The more senior
disciples, who had been there in the time of the Alter, used
to say that his shmuessen were delivered precisely as
the Alter's had been. They were a precise and vivid review,
both in their content and in the mode of their delivery, with
the same emphases and the same kind of animation, like a
gramophone [recording].
"The [students] would speak in learning with the rabbonim of
the Talmud Torah and with Rav Shlomo Pianka Hy'd who
was on the staff of the holy Talmud Torah. It should also be
pointed out that the age differences among the students . . .
did not disturb the friendship and the cordial relations that
existed to the same degree between all the members of the
Talmud Torah."
Upon the outbreak of the First World War, Rav Reuven Dov and
his brother Rav Chaim Gedaliah supported a yeshiva that the
Alter of Novardok had opened in the city of Homel where they
resided. The brothers, who were known as wealthy men, put
huge sums into this yeshiva. When Rav Yaakov Katz of Riga
arrived in Homel with his yeshiva, they found lodging in Rav
Reuven Dov's home. The latter also became involved in running
the yeshiva and he attempted to implant some of Kelm's ways
within it.
Following the Communist revolution, Rav Reuven Dov fled
Russia and through miracles, he succeeded in reaching Kelm,
where he led the Talmud Torah from after the War until 5691
(1931). In his later years, he moved to his son's home in
London, where he continued disseminating mussar and
yiras Shomayim until his petiroh on the
twelfth of Teves 5694 (1934).
by Binyomin Schaler
Reb Simchah Zissel had a close friend, Rav Yisroel Dovid
Dessler, with whom he would hold private discussions on
matters of consequence. When he wanted to consult his own
rebbe, Rav Yisroel Salanter zt'l, who was then
living in Germany, the Alter sent Rav Yisroel Dovid as his
emissary to describe his situation and deliver his
rebbe's advice.
Rav Yisroel Dovid's two sons, Rav Reuven Dov and Rav Chaim
Gedaliah, learned in the Alter's Talmud Torah and became his
faithful disciples. They belonged to the special Devek Tov
group that the Alter established, whose members toiled
unceasingly to meet the most penetrating standards of truth
and to free their conduct from all taint of personal bias and
crookedness.
When they were in their thirties, the brothers moved to the
Russian city of Homel, carrying the rarefied atmosphere of
the Kelm hothouse with them. They fixed times for learning
Torah and mussar together, to which they adhered with
the greatest care. Decades later, when Rav Chaim Gedaliah was
marrying off his daughter, his elder brother included some
personal memories in the letter of blessing that he wrote for
the occasion:
"Just as sages are endowed with the attribute of foresight,
they also have the ability to examine the past. I thus call
to you loudly: `Let the past come before us, as though it is
alive!' "
He goes on to list Hashem's kindnesses towards them, first
for having planted them within such a home, "with special and
outstanding parents, greatly elevated, lovers of doing
kindness and Heaven fearing." He then mentions their
education: "It was the will of Divine Providence to merit us
and to develop us, to let us taste mon and feed us the
honey of the wisdom of mussar."
An especially noteworthy gift was the unity that existed
between the two brothers and their families: "For they
proceeded hand in hand; we have always only assisted one
another and within our dwellings there were only good and
peace, love and friendship, at all times, continually, to the
point where we were able to serve, boruch Hashem, as a
general example."
And further on he noted, "How much of Talmud and its study
did we fix together over the past years . . . how many
projects of kindness boruch Hashem, and great
benefits, have been brought about, boruch Hashem,
through our agency . . ."
Divine Providence had indeed placed the brothers in Homel for
the sake of their occupation in Torah, in tzedokoh and
in assisting others, but the time came when they were called
upon to shoulder the burden of disseminating and supporting
Torah. When the First World War was at its height, a
childhood friend of theirs, HaRav Yaakov Katz, arrived in
Homel together with the yeshiva gedolah that he led.
Rav Reuven Dov provided them with lodgings in his own home
and took part in the yeshiva's management and spiritual
leadership.
It transpired that this work served as training for a
weightier task. When Rav Nochum Ze'ev Ziv was niftar
shortly afterwards, Rav Reuven Dov was called upon to
stand at the helm of the Talmud Torah where he had learned in
his youth. He was assisted by Rav Yeruchom Leibowitz and Rav
Nochum Ze'ev's sons-in-law, Rav Doniel Movshovitz and Rav
Gershon Miadnik.
HaRav Chatzkel Levenstein zt'l, related:
"Rav Moshe Gershon z'l, the father of Reb Doniel
[Movshovitz] of Kelm, told Reb Nochum Ze'ev [his
mechuton] about one of the roshei hayeshivos
who, upon coming into his yeshiva and witnessing the
learning, was tremendously happy and possibly even shed tears
of joy.
"Reb Nochum Ze'ev asked, `Is he also that happy when he goes
into someone else's yeshiva?'
A tzaddik like Reb Nochum Ze'ev asked such a question
. . . because he knew that such a question can be asked.
I heard this from HaRav Abba Grossbard zt'l in the
Yeshiva Litze'irim in Ponevezh:
Here is an example of the extent of the far-reaching demands,
of the self-criticism and of the mussar toil that
typified Kelm. When HaRav Nochum Ze'ev and HaRav Tzvi Hirsch
were returning from the Alter's levaya, they discussed
whether they ought to be concerned that they might be feeling
a degree of ease after the petiroh of their great
father and father-in-law, owing to the 'weight' of his
presence [while alive], such as is felt in the presence of a
great man.
He cited a Sifro (Vayikra 10), which says that at Har
Sinai, when Moshe and Aharon had gone, Nodov and Avihu said,
`These two old men will soon die and we shall lead the
generation.' He said -- I think quoting them -- that they
also experienced some spiritual heaviness because of the
greatness of Moshe and Aharon, for the requirements of being
in a godol's presence weigh upon the talmid's
spiritual attainments and he thus feels "uncomfortable"
when with his mentor. This was why they said that their
conduct towards the generation would now become "easier."
(Heard from the gaon and tzaddik HaRav Gavriel
Rykles zt'l)
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