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IN-DEPTH FEATURES by Rabbi Aryeh Gefen
Kamenitz Yeshiva is one of the great Eastern European Torah
centers that reestablished itself in Eretz Yisroel. The
surviving remnant of the yeshiva arrived straight after the
demise of Jewish life in Eastern Europe.
The yeshiva that was to continue the tradition of Kamenitz
was opened in Yerushalayim in 5702 (1942) by Rav Boruch Ber's
son-in-law HaRav Moshe Bernstein zt'l, and his brother-
in-law HaRav Yaakov Moshe Leibowitz zt'l, Rav Boruch
Ber's son. Today, over sixty years later, the yeshiva is led
by grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Rav Boruch Ber
ztvk'l, who strive to perpetuate the approach and the
spiritual legacy of their illustrious ancestor, author of
Bircas Shmuel on Shas and one of the foremost
Torah disseminators of his time.
The Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Yitzchok Scheiner, son-in-law of
HaRav Moshe Bernstein, agreed to spend some time discussing
the unique Kamenitz approach with us, as it used to be and as
it finds expression today, several decades and several
generations on and to speak generally about the role of the
contemporary ben Torah.
A Direct Link
YN: Is there a direct relationship between the
Yeshivas Kamenitz that was wiped out in the Holocaust and
Yeshivas Kamenitz in Eretz Yisroel today?
HaRav Scheiner: The connection is a very firm one. To
begin with, the roshei hayeshiva in Eretz Yisroel, Rav Boruch
Ber's son HaRav Yaakov Moshe, had already been delivering
shiurim in Kamenitz in Europe in his father's
lifetime, as had his son-in-law HaRav Moshe Bernstein. In
addition, a handful of talmidim managed to flee Europe
and they came to Eretz Yisroel, resuming their learning in
the yeshiva that opened here.
Between them, then, the roshei yeshiva and the surviving
talmidim carried Rav Boruch Ber's approach to Eretz
Yisroel. To this day, the family and the talmidim
attempt to perpetuate his legacy and his method of Torah
study while adhering to the ideal of learning Torah in
pristine purity, without compromise and without submitting to
any damaging contemporary pressures.
During its first years, survivors of the war arrived —
talmidim who had escaped Europe with their lives.
Together with an excellent group of students from Eretz
Yisroel, they breathed new life into the spiritual atmosphere
that prevailed then in Yerushalayim. The yeshiva relocated
several times until it found permanent premises and it did
not take long for it to gain its fine reputation that has
spread far and wide.
The finest talmidei chachomim in Yerushalayim of those
days learned in the yeshiva in its first period. There was
also a distinguished kollel attached to the yeshiva,
where an outstanding group of talmidei chachomim
learned. In time, most of its members went on to disseminate
Torah and yiras Shomayim throughout Eretz Yisroel and
the Diaspora.
Renowned Disciples
YN: Who were the talmidim of Yeshivas Kamenitz
that survived?
HaRav Scheiner: Many talmidim remained alive
after the yeshiva in Europe closed; a few of them are still
with us today — may they enjoy long and blessed years
— such as the mashgiach HaRav Gedaliah Eisemann
of Kol Torah, HaRav A. Dolinsky, whose home was in Kamenitz
and others.
Among the talmidim of the yeshiva who settled in Eretz
Yisroel and became renowned throughout the Torah world were
HaRav Nochum Partzowitz zt'l, the Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva,
HaRav Nochum Lasman zt'l, and the Gateshead
mashgiach HaRav Moshe Schwab zt'l. There was
also a group from Grodno Yeshiva that came to learn under Rav
Boruch Ber. Among this group were HaRav Eliyahu Mishkovsky
zt'l, HaRav Shraga Grosbard zt'l, and
ylct'a HaRav Tzvi Markowitz.
Some of them related their own memories of times they spent
with Rav Boruch Ber. For example, HaRav Aryeh Leib Grosnass
zt'l, the London dayan who learned in Kamenitz,
told me, "I was a young boy in Kamenitz Yeshiva and I was
having problems with my passport because I had been born in
Poland and had moved to Germany. During that time, when I was
in constant fear of being conscripted into the army, even the
sight of the shiny buttons on the uniform of a passing
policeman would give me a terrible scare.
"One day, several Polish policemen appeared in the beis
hamedrash. Without hesitation, I jumped straight out of
the window and ran to shelter in a hiding place. For some
reason, my jumping out of the window had many repercussions
in and around the yeshiva. In my distress, I went to my
teacher and rebbe, Rav Boruch Ber, to ask him what I
ought to do.
"I went into the Rebbe's room and told him the whole
story of my problem with the passport, asking for his advice.
Rav Boruch Ber sat there, tears streaming from his eyes. He
said, `Forgive me, my dear son. You've been telling me your
problems for a quarter of an hour — but what can I do?
My mind is completely taken up at the moment by a difficult
Rashba. I didn't hear a single word that you said, but I
understand that you are in trouble. I can't help you. Go to
my son-in-law Reb Reuven. He, in his great wisdom, will give
you good advice.' And that is what happened."
What does being immersed in a difficult Rashba entail?
Rav Boruch Ber demonstrated that it means that one's mind
isn't at leisure to see or to understand anything besides the
Rashba! The mind is shut off to anything else and can take
nothing else in. Yet the heart still grasps that there is a
young boy here with a serious problem.
The heart responds in its own way even while the mind, which
is absorbed elsewhere can't grasp what the pain is about and
what the problem is. The heart still understands its own
language and can arouse tears.
Life Itself
YN: What does the name Kamenitz represent?
HaRav Scheiner: `Kamenitz' means sacrificing oneself
for Torah. It means having the example of Rav Boruch Ber's
love of Torah before one's eyes, seeing his tremendous
devotion and application, and living with the awareness that
without Torah there is no life.
The story is told that once at a meeting, Rav Boruch Ber
heard one of the speakers describe Torah as oxygen and air to
breathe. He got up straight away and silenced the speaker.
"No, no, Torah isn't air to breathe. Torah is life itself!
Without Torah there's no life. And Torah itself is a potion
of death for whoever doesn't merit it."
On another occasion he commented after someone had spoken in
terms of two paths: the Torah path which leads a person to
everything good and the non-Torah path which leads to sorrow
and grief.
The Rosh Yeshiva said that portraying things in that way is a
distortion. For example he said, if there is a normal, flat
road that leads into a city and there is another parallel
road that is overgrown with thorns and briars that leads into
an abyss adjacent to the city — can it be said that
there are two roads into the city? There's only one road that
leads into the city. It is a delusion to imagine that the
other one is a road or that it leads to the city.
"Once the wicked empire decreed that Yisroel should not
occupy themselves with Torah. Pappus ben Yehuda came and
found that Rabbi Akiva was forming crowds in public and
engaging in Torah. He asked him, `Akiva, aren't you afraid of
the authorities?'
"He replied, `I'll draw you a parable, to which you can liken
our situation. A fox was walking along a river bank and saw a
shoal of fish moving from place to place.'
"He asked them, 'From what are you trying to escape?'
"They told him, 'From the nets that humans spread to trap
us.'
"He said to them, 'If you like, come up onto the dry land and
we'll live together like my ancestors used to live with
yours.'
"They replied, 'Are you supposed to be the shrewdest
of animals? You aren't clever; you're a fool. If we are
afraid while we are in the medium upon which our lives
depend, how much more will we have to fear if we go to a
place where we will die.'
"So it is with us. If this is what happens when we sit and
occupy ourselves with Torah, which the posuk says, "is
your life and the length of your days," (Devorim
30:20) were we to neglect Torah, how much greater would our
troubles be!' " (Brochos 61)
Rav Boruch Ber once asked the following question on this
Gemora: There is only an obligation to sacrifice one's
life to avoid transgressing the three stringent
aveiros — idolatry, immorality and murder.
Moreover, one may not give up one's life for other mitzvos,
because of the command to `live by them' (Vayikra
18:5). How then, was Rabbi Akiva permitted to endanger his
life and to gather crowds of people together for Torah
study?
He explained that in Rabbi Akiva's opinion, Torah's survival
would come about through learning it with crowds in public.
There was no other way to continue life. This was the way to
ensure Torah's continuity at that time. Torah would only be
saved, in Rabbi Akiva's view, by making the sacrifice to
learn with talmidim. Since Torah's survival depended
upon this, he sacrificed himself for Torah's sake.
Changing Times, Unchanging Ideals
YN: How does our world differ from Rav Boruch
Ber's?
HaRav Scheiner: The Holocaust left Klal Yisroel
bereft of its gedolim. Beforehand, there were many
great Torah scholars; those who mercifully remained to lead
the coming generations were the ones whom Divine providence
had selected to guard the path of Torah that has been
transmitted from generation to generation and pass it on in
all its pristine purity.
Those gedolim, who are no longer with us, lived and
learned in a different world. They were the products of
generations that toiled mightily in Torah. The environment
used to be such as gave rise to such truly great figures.
That kind of stature no longer exists; everything must be
built up from scratch. The degree of application to learning
that once existed also differed fundamentally from that of
nowadays. One of the reasons for this is that there used to
be nothing besides Torah with which to be occupied. Many
diversions beckon today; there is even an array of religious
newspapers. Easy possibilities exist for emerging from single-
minded immersion in the tent of Torah.
We have been promised that Torah "will not go forgotten from
the mouths of their descendants" (Devorim 31:21) and
within the Torah world there is great love of Torah that is
still in the process of unfolding. Boruch Hashem,
there are tens of thousands sitting at their
shtenders, applying themselves to in-depth learning.
Torah and the Torah way of life are their main interest. They
are like a wall of rock, withstanding all the trials and
temptations that are so close to us nowadays.
Esteem of the ben Torah and of the yeshiva has greatly
increased over the past generation. Whereas it once used to
be no great honor to be numbered among the bnei
yeshiva — to the point where it was said that a
young woman with a blemish would become the wife of a ben
yeshiva — today, interest in a serious, scholarly,
ben Torah is very respectable. A fine bochur
raises the status of his entire family.
Yet neither should we forget that Rav Boruch Ber had
colleagues who left the Torah path, because of the accursed
Enlightenment and its goals, people like Bialik and his
friends who learned together with him, in the same period, in
Volozhin Yeshiva.
Each period's trials are matched to the generation's
strengths. Perhaps that is the very reason why those who
clung to the Tree of Life attained such tremendously high
levels of Torah.
Another profound difference between the generations is the
comfort and the abundance that exist in our time, as opposed
to the terrible poverty and the tremendous want that used to
be the lot of bnei Torah and of the yeshivos.
Apparently, Torah that is learned in difficult circumstances
endows one with wonderful attributes that confer Torah
greatness. I think that in those places where there isn't
such abundance and economic ease, such as in the places where
true bnei Torah live, there is more Torah than in
other places.
It should also be noted that Rav Boruch Ber's righteousness
and piety and the beauty of his character were beyond our
comprehension. Members of his family relate stories of his
acts of kindness and his boundless giving to others. He was
always devising ways to avoid causing any pain or anguish to
others and ways to help others, as far as was possible.
A Builder Of Torah
YN: Where did the Rosh Yeshiva learn in his youth?
HaRav Scheiner: I learned in the United States, in
Yeshivas Torah Vodaas, from Rav Reuven Grozovsky zt'l,
Rav Boruch Ber's son-in-law and from Rav Shlomo Heiman
zt'l. There was a group of students who would go to
Lakewood to hear Rav Aharon Kotler's shiurim and I
sometimes joined them. Some of them stayed on afterwards to
learn there permanently, among them HaRav Elya Svei. The Rosh
Yeshiva, Rav Reuven Grozovsky, made my shidduch.
Eventually, when I came to Eretz Yisroel, I learned with my
father-in-law, HaRav Moshe Bernstein who taught all who saw
him what love of Torah is and how one should be immersed in
Torah study at all times. HaRav Yisroel Grossman, one of the
yeshiva's finest products, related that in his youth there
was terrible poverty in his home and it was suggested that he
go to work at diamond polishing in order to provide support.
Rav Moshe Bernstein heard about this and accepted him into
the yeshiva immediately and, moreover, gave him a stipend to
sustain him.
Once, Rav Grossman came to the Rosh Yeshiva's home and
delivered an original chaburah of his own. The Rosh
Yeshiva enjoyed his Torah greatly and took out his wallet and
took a handful of coins out of it which he gave to Rav
Grossman without even counting. "That's for the Torah, not
for your regular stipend," he told him. Rav Grossman adds,
"The yeshiva's circumstances were strained at the time, yet
seeing what true love of Torah is greatly encouraged me."
HaRav Boruch Dov Lichtenstein, a great grandson of Rav Boruch
Ber, related, "I was once in a cab being driven by Yaakov
Maman, a very elderly Sephardi who arrived in Eretz Yisroel
as an only child, through the Jewish Agency. His mother
insisted that he not go to learn in an irreligious
institution. When Rav Moshe Bernstein found out about this,
he placed the boy in a religious school and even gave him a
room to sleep in, in the yeshiva. He took the mother in to
work as a cook in the yeshiva's kitchen. With tears in his
eyes, Yaakov Maman told me, "The Rosh Yeshiva, Reb Moshe, was
your grandfather, but he was my father."
After the yeshiva opened it was situated in the Knesset
neighborhood. At night, the Rosh Yeshiva himself would clean
up. He wanted nothing for himself — he wore patched
clothes - - but he wanted the best for others. His family
still recalls his learning tune — an enchanting, moving
melody. Apart from that, because of fear of an audience he
didn't sing in public.
His mind was continually occupied with Torah study and he
would discuss Torah with whomever he met. On his trips
abroad, he would immerse himself in learning at every spare
moment, to the point where he sometimes forgot why he'd gone
abroad.
Preserving A Heritage
YN: What is unique about Yeshivas Kamenitz in
Yerushalayim?
HaRav Scheiner: Over the decades that I've been in the
yeshiva, I don't recall a single instance of a bochur
going off the tracks! There is a tremendous force of Torah
studied in all its purity here, without any modernity or
compromise. On the whole, our students come from families of
avreichim and bnei Torah; some are very
distinguished Yerushalmi families, where the head of the
family serves as a rosh yeshiva or maggid shiur etc.
This affects the atmosphere in the entire yeshiva.
One of the roshei hayeshiva, HaRav Chaim Shlomo
Leibovitz, a grandson of Rav Boruch Ber, has been delivering
regular shiurim in the yeshiva for many years and has
trained many talmidim. He has a widespread reputation
as the transmitter of his grandfather's approach, and
bochurim come from other yeshivos to hear his Torah
and to consult him.
Another figure who determined the yeshiva's style for many
years was my late brother-in-law HaRav Osher Lichtenstein
zt'l, who led the yeshiva for decades. With his
pleasant ways and character, he conveyed the ben
Torah's unique image, in immersion in in-depth
learning.
Rav Osher learned from HaRav Shach zt'l in the yeshiva
in Lunenitz and then he went to learn in yeshivas Mir, where
he absorbed the learning approach of the rosh yeshiva and
became close to the Mashgiach HaRav Yechezkel
Levenstein, zt'l. There are letters that the
Mashgiach wrote to Rav Osher expressing his great
esteem for him.
When he arrived in Eretz Yisroel, the rosh yeshiva of Mir,
HaRav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel zt'l, invited him to
deliver a shiur in his yeshiva. Since Rav Osher's
petiroh, his son Rav Boruch Dov has succeeded him as
rosh yeshiva.
There are over a thousand talmidim, kein yirbu,
learning today in all the Kamenitz Institutions. There are
kindergartens and a fine talmud Torah, in Rechov David
in the Bukharian neighborhood, adjacent to Geula. There are
also a yeshiva ketanoh, a yeshiva gedolah and a
kollel for outstanding avreichim, all learning
in the traditional way, in complete purity, without any
compromise or admixture of modernity or innovation.
*
We could have spent many more hours with the Rosh Yeshiva but
there was a light knock at the door. It was the Rebbetzin, a
granddaughter of Rav Boruch Ber, who, as a girl, was
fortunate to have seen her grandfather in her home immersed
in learning and to have been acquainted with his luminous,
warm personality.
"Your chavrusa is waiting" she said, and then added,
"It's all very nice, but there's no substitute for Torah
itself."
That comment perhaps, is worth more than another thousand
words in expressing the original and authentic Kamenitz
spirit.
When HaRav Yitzchok Elchonon Spektor zt'l, the rov of
Kovno, passed away in 5657 (1897), his son HaRav Tzvi Hirsch
zt'l, who served as rov in several places, decided to
establish a yeshiva in his father's memory. The rov of
Slobodka, HaRav Moshe Danishevsky zt'l, assisted Rav
Tzvi Hirsch in opening the yeshiva, which was named Knesses
Beis Yitzchok. HaRav Chaim Rabinovitz zt'l of Shad
(who later became known as Reb Chaim Telzer) was chosen by
the founders as the first rosh yeshiva.
After several years, the need arose to bring in an inspiring
and charismatic maggid shiur to bring the yeshiva to
the forefront of the great yeshivos that were then growing
and developing. In 5664 (1904), on the recommendation of
HaRav Chaim Soloveitchik zt'l, his foremost
talmid HaRav Boruch Ber Leibovitz zt'l was
chosen for the position.
There were two major yeshivos in Slobodka: Knesses Beis
Yisroel and Knesses Beis Yitzchok. The first moved to Eretz
Yisroel in 5686 (1926), settling in Chevron, but later moving
to Yerushalayim after the bloody pogrom of 5689 (1929). In
Knesses Beis Yitzchok, Rav Boruch Ber's saintly personality
served as a living mussar work, exemplifying the
sublime character traits of a Torah giant.
Knesses Beis Yitzchok too, knew its share of suffering.
During the First World War, when the Jews of Kovno and the
surrounding area were sent into exile by order of Czar
Nicholas, the yeshiva moved to Minsk, in White Russia. It was
not there for long however before having to move again,
finding temporary asylum in the town of Kremenchug. Even at
this time, with death and suffering hovering over them, Rav
Boruch Ber continued delivering his shiurim to the
bnei hayeshiva from an underground cellar. Here, he
managed to clarify several difficult topics and would often
say later, "I developed my most profound chiddushim
during that dreadful period in Kremenchug in 5678 (1917-
8)."
After much wandering and tribulation, the yeshiva arrived in
one of the suburbs of Vilna, where HaRav Chaim Ozer
Grodzensky zt'l undertook its maintenance until the
troubles subsided. The yeshiva remained in Vilna for five
years. Then, upon the advice of the Chofetz Chaim
zt'l, it reestablished itself in the town of Kamenitz,
which is near Brisk.
In Elul 5686 (1926), the yeshiva in its entirety moved to
Kamenitz and settled there. This was the beginning of the
yeshiva's most fruitful period. In 5699 (1939), there were
306 talmidim learning in the yeshiva itself, another
fifty in the yeshiva ketanoh, a further fifty in the
mechinah leyeshiva as well as seven fine
avreichim in the kollel. All in all, there were
413 talmidim in the yeshiva's institutions.
Rav Boruch Ber appointed his sons-in-law, Rav Reuven
Grozovsky, and Rav Moshe Bernstein, and his son Rav Yaakov
Moshe as maggidei shiur in the yeshiva and they shared
the heavy financial burden with him, as well as delivering
shiurim to the many talmidim.
When the Second World War broke out, the Germans overran
Poland and the tragic consequences are well known. The
yeshiva's leaders and the talmidim fled to Vilna,
which teemed with refugees, among them numerous rabbonim and
talmidei yeshiva who sought shelter with Rav Chaim
Ozer.
The wanderings and the worrying took their toll on Rav Boruch
Ber, robbing him of his health and bringing on an illness
from which he never recovered. With a heart full of pain and
anguish, he sensed the cataclysmic Holocaust that was about
to cut off a sizable portion of the Jewish People, his finest
talmidim and bnei yeshiva among them. On yom
chamishi at night, the fifth of Kislev 5700, his heart
could no longer hold out and his soul ascended heavenward. He
was seventy years old when he died. The rabbonim of Vilna and
the thousands of refugees in the city accompanied him to his
final resting place.
Most of the talmidim of the yeshiva perished in the
Holocaust. Rav Boruch Ber's sons and sons-in-law assumed
leadership of the remnant of the yeshiva, traveling with them
through Japan and China until they arrived in Eretz Yisroel.
Some of the bnei hayeshiva went to America with Reb
Reuven while others settled in Eretz Yisroel with Rav Moshe
Bernstein and Rav Yaakov Moshe Leibovitz.
The roshei hayeshiva in Eretz Yisroel lost no time in
gathering the handful of talmidim and establishing
Yeshivas Knesses Beis Yitzchok — Kamenitz in
Yerushalayim. Within a short time, some tens of
talmidim were learning there. The war was raging in
Europe and rivers of Jewish blood were being spilt, but these
firebrands that had been plucked from the flames were already
a source of comfort for the immense destruction that was
taking place.
Leadership of the yeshiva, which Rav Boruch Ber entrusted to
his son-in-law and son, passed after their petiros to
their own sons and sons-in-law, who continue their work:
HaRav Yitzchok Scheiner, HaRav Chaim Shlomo Leibovitz, HaRav
Osher Lichtenstein zt'l and today his son Rav Boruch
Dov Lichtenstein ylct'a. HaRav Moshe Aharon Stern
zt'l served as the menahel ruchani for many
years. Today's maggidei shiur are Rav Avrohom
Scheiner, Rav Yaakov Krausz and Rav Yisroel Eliezer
Grozovsky.
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