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IN-DEPTH FEATURES
In a letter, Rav Dessler zt'l wrote, "Please do me a
favor and arrange that the gaon R' Y. L. should
deliver his shmuess before me because I am simply
ashamed to take the lead in his presence. He is one of the
last remaining true seekers of mussar, who speak
within themselves, addressing themselves" (Michtav
MeEliyohu vol. IV, pg. 363).
HaRav Shach zt'l once said, "I am more grateful to Reb
Yechezkel for having drawn me close to mussar study
than I am to my mother who brought me to yeshiva to
learn."
"And especially now, when heresy and apostasy R'l are
about, nobody can make any excuse for exempting himself from
learning mussar. One shouldn't say that mussar
study is difficult or make other excuses because these are
the yetzer hora's arguments; if half an hour used to
be enough, we now need much, much longer" (Or Yechezkel,
Igros #162).
After Shanghai Reb Yechezkel said, "Shanghai was a successful
period. We toiled in Torah, we worked at tefilloh and
we labored at mussar study -- they were five years of
success."
To mark the thirtieth yahrtzeit of the mashgiach,
who was one of the last mussar giants of our
times, we present the following outline of him as a
mussar personality.
How the Mashgiach Readied Himself
"And I would like you to know, my friend, that I have great
satisfaction from the precious bochurim that you sent
me . . .the bochur Yechezkel from Warsaw has been here
but a short time but it seems that he has arrived well
prepared to succeed . . ." Thus wrote Rav Tzvi Hirsch Broide
zt'l of the Kelm Talmud Torah, to Rev Yeruchom
Levovitz zt'l of Mir. What preparation had "Yechezkel
of Warsaw" undergone prior to his arrival in Kelm?
It is said that Reb Yechezkel's preparation for Kelm took the
form of a year and a half of yearning. As a youngster, he was
learning in Radin when Reb Yeruchom visited the town. Tens of
talmidim gathered at Reb Yeruchom's lodgings to listen
to his pearls of mussar wisdom. One of the things that
he said was, "Chazal tell us that the Torah instructs us to
wear techeiles with our tzitzis because
`techeiles' [the color] is like the sea; the sea is
like the sky and the sky is like Hashem's Throne of Glory"
(Zevochim 88). Chazal realized that these sights would
draw us closer to faith. Can it be that we drape ourselves in
tzitzis, contemplate the sea and the blue of the sky
above and yet fail to strengthen our faith? A person can be
surrounded with all the images that the Torah wants him to
see yet he still makes his way in the world like a blind man
groping in a brilliantly lit room. Only by adopting a
mussar approach is one liable to pick up the message
that Hashem transmits through our tzitzis and the blue
of the sky!"
That shmuess shook Reb Yechezkel to the core and
kindled a new spirit within him. He became friendly with Reb
Yeruchom and, on his advice, decided to travel to Kelm in
order to drink deeply from its wellsprings of
mussar.
In later years, the Mashgiach commented that following the
shmuess, he felt that his tzitzis were not
proper tzitzis, that his tefillin were not
proper tefillin and that his faith was not proper
faith and as a result, he devoted his entire life to
strengthening faith. Reb Yeruchom's words smoldered within
him for a year and a half, feeding his desire to gain entry
into the mussar crucible of Kelm. This was the
preparation that brought Reb Yechezkel to Kelm "well prepared
to succeed," so impressing Rav Tzvi Hirsch.
Reb Yechezkel wrote, "I heard from my master and teacher Rav
Hirsch in the name of the Alter of Kelm that three levels
must be attained in order to acquire mussar. He told
me what two of them are but not the third. One must have
feeling, for without it, one is like a cadaver. One must also
have `a gutte kop (a good head).' We lack an
elementary understanding of mussar and even those
shmuessen that we do attend, we hear only
superficially" (vol. VI, 20).
He said that when he came to Kelm, he told Rav Hirsch that
the impression of what he learned in mussar works only
remained with him for a day at the most. Rav Hirsch took
exception to this and said, "Would that its effect last for
an hour!"
Faith
One of a person's tasks is to repent of his wrongdoing. Reb
Yechezkel taught that a basic aspect of faith is the belief
in a person's ability to alter his natural inclinations. "The
reluctance of common folk to learn mussar is tainted
with heresy. People don't shrink from mussar because
of the sad chant that accompanies its study or because of the
demands that it makes but because of their feeling that it
represents a thorny path with no escape."
The Mashgiach employed many different illustrations in order
to dispel fallacies about faith. For example, he expressed
his displeasure at the fact that people will devote
themselves utterly and completely to the welfare of someone
who is dangerously ill, up to the point of his death. As soon
as he is dead, all awareness of the need to help him
vanishes!
He constantly spoke about faith and was continually
developing new and profound insights into faith. Rav Shlomo
Wolbe related, "I once traveled for an hour-and- a-half to
Bnei Brak, climbed up to his room and spent a minute-and-a-
half with him. He told me, `Go and tell the bochurim
that there is a Creator in the world, and have a safe trip
back home!' We can pray and constantly repeat phrases such
as, im yirtzeh Hashem, Hashem ya'azor, be'ezras Hashem
and bisiya'ato deShmaya, without truly knowing that
there is a Creator. If we actually felt the Creator's
Presence, we would become different people.
"On his last Shabbos, which was Shushan Purim, he grew very
excited and cried, `What will remain after everything else?
What there was before everything else! What was there? Hashem
Himself! And what will there be? Hashem Himself! And now too,
we have Hashem Himself -- there is none besides Him!' And he
immediately concluded: `And that is Purim!' "
Mussar's Benefit
"Some folk argue," Reb Yechezkel said, "that mussar is
of no benefit and that one sometimes sees mussar
scholars who possess bad character traits. But they are
mistaken. According to them, mussar is only concerned
with character but that is wrong.
"Mussar implants a different outlook upon life within
a person's heart and imparts virtues to him. Without
mussar a person can imagine that he fears Heaven but
be completely mistaken. Mussar shmuessen are not mere
discourses. They build an entirely new world."
He related that the Alter of Kelm was once ill and it was
dangerous for him to speak. His friends asked Reb Yisroel
[Salanter] zt'l to instruct him to refrain from
delivering shmuessen. Reb Yisroel's response was,
"It's true that danger to life is involved but preventing him
from giving his shmuessen also involves danger to
life!"
The Mashgiach also repeated the Alter of Kelm's response to
those who argued that mussar did not influence them to
change their ways and that they were thus in a worse position
because they were more blameworthy and that it was better for
them not to engage in mussar.
He replied that while it was true that they were blameworthy,
that paled beside the reward they would get for the very
realization that they arrived at while learning mussar
(vol. VII, 18). Furthermore, engaging in mussar feels
new and unfamiliar. It is difficult for a person to break
habits and uproot traits. In trying to do so, he subdues his
yetzer hora and serves Hashem. The mussar
student is thus a servant of Hashem!
Reb Yechezkel also taught that only through mussar is
it possible to recognize Hashem in every aspect of life. The
difference between those who learn mussar and those
who don't is as stark as the difference between light and
darkness. There is hope that the former will emerge from the
darkness into the light but not for the others (Igros
#60).
Chazal say that the posuk, "You reduce a person ad
daco, to lowliness," (Tehillim 90:3) refers to
"dichducho shel nefesh, to life's lowest ebb." We
shouldn't think that this suffices to rectify the sin for the
posuk continues, "and You say, `Repent, people.' " In
other words, you must still continue repenting, more and more
and more (HaRav Dovid Povarsky, quoting the Mashgiach).
Reb Yechezkel once compared a person who refrains from
learning mussar to someone who hides his head under
the blanket because he is scared of thunder and lighting. Not
seeing the lightning doesn't affect the risk. Neither does
refraining from learning mussar alter the truth about
a person's situation (vol. IV, 215).
Pillar of Truth
Simchas Torah night in Ponovezh Yeshiva -- a night when
bnei yeshiva relate to their learning with joy and
companionship, when a pact of closeness with the daf
gemora is finalized. It is a night in which all the
bochurim share equally, when the top students in the
yeshiva and the weakest ones are united. In the middle stands
the Mashgiach, listening to the rousing singing of Tov li
Toras picho (The Torah of Your Mouth is more precious to
me than thousands in gold and silver) (Tehillim
119:72), with which the bochurim have been
storming the beis hamedrash for a long time.
"I would have expected otherwise," he remarked later in
amazement, "from bnei Torah who live in the world of
truth and who roar Tov li toras picho mei'alfei zohov
vochesef, time after time for so long! Where were you
yesterday during night seder? And how come on Friday
night after the meal, your shtender, that is laden
with thousands in gold and sliver, was abandoned?"
In Kelm, Reb Yechezkel undertook absolute subservience to the
truth. Upon arriving in Kelm, Rav Hirsch suggested that he
study Shaar Habitochon in Chovos Halevovos. Reb
Yechezkel responded that he was still far from attaining the
trait of trusting fully in Hashem. Rav Hirsch was displeased.
"And other levels you have attained?"
When Reb Yechezkel was ready for marriage, Rav Nochum Zeev
Ziv zt'l (the Alter's son) inquired as to whether he
was interested in a wealthy match and received a negative
response. Rav Nochum Zeev rebuked him: "Do you really hate
money that much?"
Reb Yechezkel replied, "Wealth . . . a daughter of wealth
[i.e. who is strongly bonded to money, as opposed to simply
having it] that is what I despise."
He would avoid any utterance that was not the absolute truth.
Talmidim relate that when they asked the
Mashgiach the time, he would give the hour and the
minute and add "approximately" because it was impossible to
mention the exact number of seconds.
Towards the end of his life, he tried to refrain from
emotional crying while learning mussar or reviewing
his deeds. "An elderly man tends to cry," he explained. "If
genuine tears are affected by external factors, that is the
worst form of falsehood -- falsehood powered by emotion!"
It is known that Reb Yechezkel refused to eulogize HaRav
Yitzchok Isaac Sher zt'l, because a grandson of his
had passed away at that time and he felt that if he spoke, he
might be affected by his personal loss.
While in Kelm, when he lodged in Rav Hirsch's home, Rebbetzin
Nechama Leibe a'h, Hy'd, the Alter's learned daughter,
asked her husband to try to arrange for Yechezkel to undergo
voice training since she felt that he would become a public
influence. Rav Hirsch told her, "He is a man of truth and he
will speak words of truth. When one speaks the truth, it is
understood whatever the delivery!"
The author of a new sefer once applied to him for a
letter of approbation. The Mashgiach replied, "Why do
you need a testimonial? A sefer itself testifies about
its author. Moreover, one has to write in very exaggerated
terms; even the term gaon isn't enough. Since the ways
of mussar have accustomed me to refrain from using
exaggerations and overblown adjectives, my testimony will be
of no benefit" (Igros #177).
Self Discipline and Training
In a shmuess that he delivered in the yeshiva
following the Mashgiach's petiroh, HaRav Dovid
Povarsky said: "Someone who wants to climb higher in serving
Hashem must reflect on his faith and strengthen it. This will
increase his acceptance of the yoke of serving Hashem.
"We witnessed this in the Mashgiach's case. It was wonderful
how nothing at all could budge him from his station of
service. Nowhere else could one see such a thing. We must
consider his conduct in this respect and learn from him how
to control and regulate the way we conduct ourselves. We have
seen how much someone like us, who lived in our own time
(even though he belonged to an earlier generation) was
steeped in this. Wherever he went, he was subservient to the
yoke of authority. The Mashgiach's memory must remain with us
and when we recall all this, it will be meritorious for the
yeshiva" (Mussar Vodaas, vol. I, 33).
Quoting the Alter of Kelm, the Mashgiach would say, "
`Train a youth according to his capacity; even when he grows
old he will not stray from it' (Mishlei 22:6) -- `It'
[also] refers to his training and education [not only his
path]. He will always seek to learn and work on himself. He
will never reach a stage where he believes that he has
attained perfection."
Care About Halochoh
This continual state of preparedness and tension led to his
meticulous observance of day-to-day halochoh. One
motzei Shabbos, he was seen returning to the beis
hamedrash in the middle of the seder, going over
to his place and opening a siddur. It turned out that
he had to finish saying Veyitein lecho and the
Shaar Hatziyun writes, "It is good to say Veyitein
lecho in the place that one prays."
This concern for precision in halochoh lent him the
qualities of profound humility and submission. Each and every
movement was measured and respectful. He never displayed
noisy outbursts; neither did he tolerate them from
talmidim. He cringed from the expressions and
gesticulations that some talmidim made while they
prayed. Besides the dishonesty of such behavior, he felt that
the self-exposure was evidence of a certain brazenness on the
part of creatures upon whom the verdict "it would have been
preferable not to have been created" had been pronounced.
When the shaliach tzibbur clapped his hand on the
lectern to signal the end of a portion of the prayers and the
raised voices of those who had not yet finished continued to
resound, he was annoyed. A person ought to train himself to
conform to order and discipline. It is improper to fly in the
face of communal arrangement because of one's personal
devotions. Additionally, it is correct to submit oneself to
the lead of every shaliach tzibbur, no matter who he
is.
On Simchas Torah, when the circle of dancers started
expanding just as the gabbai announced the end of the
hakofoh, the Mashgiach would make his way into the
middle of the circle and wave both his hands. Simple courtesy
was then exercised, for the Mashgiach if not for the
gabbai.
He used to say that taking an inordinately long time over
saying the Amidah was not evidence of immersion in
prayer but of dreaming rather then praying. "It is most
important to hear what one is saying and to pronounce the
words clearly, not to dream, or to [try to] snatch [the
levels of] angels."
"Her vos du redst! (Understand what you are saying!)"
was another of his maxims concerning prayer. He advocated
following the repetition of the Amidah while looking
in a siddur as training in regulating one's thoughts
(Imrei Daas vol. II, 127).
In Kelm, he once related in a shmuess, strong
disapproval was registered against those who learned
mussar without wearing a hat "because it was difficult
to learn with a hat on." Such an individual was derisively
referred to as a "mussar learner in a
yarmulke." How, it was charged, could one feel any
hardship whatsoever while learning mussar, when one
was supposed to be wholly involved in one's study and far
from any personal feelings? We do not understand such a
demand because we are far from experiencing genuine feeling
while we learn mussar (vol. VII, 341).
"When one hears a mussar shmuess," the Mashgiach said,
"he should reflect upon what he has heard and see what in it
is new to him. There is a well-known saying, `What happens to
Klal Yisroel will also happen to Reb Yisroel,"
meaning that an individual ought not to worry. He can trust
in himself and not feel troubled. Apathy and noninvolvement
are among the foremost reasons that people do not bolster
their spiritual efforts. That is why we see people
participating in a funeral or visiting a mourning house
R'l, without feeling any worry. This has its source in
a lack of yiras Shomayim" (vol. VII, 352).
Greeting Others
Following Yom Kippur, the Mashgiach drew attention to the
importance of receiving other people pleasantly, "outwardly
to begin with, showing others a smiling face. Then there is
hope that he will change inwardly as well."
He wrote, "It is in human nature to become aroused from
speaking about mussar and encouragement and then
leaving it at that. In my opinion, this is [just] mussar
talk. Someone who learns mussar can talk about
mussar but someone who just talks about mussar
and doesn't learn it -- one can't be sure whether he is
really even talking mussar" (Igros #323).
In a shmuess, he explained the gemora which
says that Rabbi Yossi used to refer to his wife as his home
and to his ox as his field (Shabbos 118): "Human
nature is to ignore the good and to bring forward the bad, to
attribute good only to oneself and not to see any virtue or
worthy achievement in anybody else. Rabbi Yossi attributed
everything about his home to his wife for it depended
entirely upon her, just as all the activity in a field
depends upon the ox that tills it. He made a point of seeing
in others only what was good and correct."
In a letter he wrote how even when another great
mussar personality, the gaon and tzaddik
HaRav Zalman Dolinsky zt'l, was in his death throes
yet he did not cease encouraging others to serve Hashem.
"Once he came to Kelm for a Simchas Beis Hasho'eivoh
and was recognized as a man of vitality and a joyful heart"
(Igros #21).
Sharing the Community's Distress
During the Shanghai period, he repeatedly urged sharing the
distress that the rest of the nation was experiencing. He
pointed out that Chazal even encourage sharing the distress
of vegetation: "A tree that casts off its fruits is marked
with red dye so that people should see it and pray for it"
(Shabbos 67). The nature of someone who can feel his
friend's distress is such that he can even feel the distress
of a tree that loses its fruits.
What shall we say about the distress of Klal Yisroel?!
It is awesome to contemplate! The fact that we can feel
tranquil is a sign of [how lowly] our traits [have become]
R'l. We must make spiritual sacrifices for Klal
Yisroel's sake and do all we can for them!"
In an appreciation of Rav Yechezkel, HaRav Shlomo Wolbe
ylct'a described him as having been, "all heart.
Whenever he heard that a family was in any trouble, one could
see how he was shocked to the depths of his heart. The stark
truth mandates [such] kindness [that is] ultimately all
heart." Talmidim relate that one of them once came to
ask him something and Rav Yechezkel immediately bade him be
seated. "How can I sit while someone created in the Divine
Image is standing?" he explained.
HaRav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz ylct'a, related that he
once saw the Mashgiach returning from visiting someone who
was sick. He recalled how he stood, describing the patient's
situation and thinking deeply about it, how he was feeling,
what he thought about when undergoing difficulties due to his
condition and what he suffered at such times. This was truly
sharing another's burden!
Conclusion
The anecdotes presented here shed just a little light on Rav
Yechezkel's wondrous mussar personality and conduct.
In eulogizing the Mashgiach, the Rosh Yeshiva HaRav Shmuel
Rosovsky zt'l said that he had been "a servant of
Hashem all his life, who cleaved uninterruptedly to his
Creator. His stature reached the heavens but at the same
time, he fulfilled the words of the posuk, "Behold I
shall wash away the filth of the daughters of Tzion."
How much thought and concern he devoted to improving others,
to straightening them, [helping them] face to face and to an
even greater extent in their absence. We will be able to tell
our children that we saw what a servant of Hashem looks
like!"
Despite the passage of three decades, his words and teachings
still echo in the hearts of those who listened to him and
those who listen to them, yielding a bountiful harvest
of mussar and yiras Shomayim. Anyone can listen
in, draw closer to his Creator and become a genuine servant
of Hashem!
"He never uttered a word that he was not completely at peace
with . . . He lived at a tremendously high level of tension
in avodas Hashem, that deprived him of the time it
would have taken to leave behind anything in writing."
HaRav Wolbe recollected: "I have known Reb Yechezkel for
almost forty years and I have never found him sitting leaning
against the back of the chair. That is avodoh -- and
he was no youngster! He was a very elderly man. How often do
we see someone who watches how he holds his spoon and how he
puts it into his mouth? That was also avodoh! Do we
have any idea of what it means for someone to work on his
every movement and to control every word of his speech? His
entire day was a succession of small but significant acts. He
made no haphazard, unsupervised movement.
"He told me that he had undertaken that when everybody flew
past him on leil Shabbos to say Gut Shabbos,
`to wish them with all his heart that this should really be a
good Shabbos.' Nobody could guess that he roused himself to
give each one of the four hundred people that passed
him, both at night and in the morning, a heartfelt greeting,
making it a real avodoh.
"He once remarked that when Yitzchok Ovinu is described as
having been "old and satiated with days" (Bereishis
35:29), it means that the days themselves were satiated
and full. They were crammed with avodas Hashem because
every small act was an act of avodoh. He didn't speak
about `big' things, about the Shechinoh or about
cleaving to Hashem. He only spoke about faith, without using
a single unnecessary word!"
For the levayoh of HaRav Aharon Kotler zt'l the
yeshiva emptied out completely. The Mashgiach was shocked at
the ease with which the talmidim completely closed
down a center of Torah study. In a shmuess that he
gave afterwards, he rebuked them.
"Everyone is speaking about kovod haTorah. Are you
really concerned about the Torah's honor -- sleeping till
late and missing the last time for saying Shema and
whiling away long hours in idle talk while the gemoras
lie open in front of us? How, as a group, can we purport to
be concerned about Torah's honor, when all that we do,
without any break, is a terrible injury to the Torah's
honor?
"The wish to attend the levayoh has nothing to do with
Torah's honor but is simply the wish to follow the stream of
those going. It is an act done by rote, without any thought .
. ."
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