HaRav Yisroel Grossman zt"l, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas
Pinsk-Karlin for nearly six decades and author of Halichos
Yisroel, passed away at the age of 85. His petiroh
represents the loss of a godol beTorah and a prominent
posek and marbitz Torah.
Yisroel Grossman was born in Marcheshvan 5683 (1923) in the
Old City of Jerusalem to Rav Moshe Shneur Zalman, who was
held in high regard among Karlin chassidim. His father's home
was full of rabbonim and gedolei Torah in its family
tree.
HaRav Yosef Chaim Zonenfeld zt"l was the sandak
at his bris and he was the first child to be named after
HaRav Yisroel, the Admor of Stolin zt"l, of whom his
father was a well-known follower.
As a boy he studied at Talmud Torah Chayei Olom before
attending the yeshiva of HaRav Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky
zt"l. He studied maseches Kiddushin three times
there and HaRav Dushinsky quizzed him on it from start to
finish. "His nights are like days in his toil in Torah,"
HaRav Dushinsky wrote of him.
Every night he would go to Yeshivas Chevron to study
Ketzos Hachoshen from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. with the
leading talmidim there, who later became prominent
marbitzei Torah. In the Beis Yisroel neighborhood
every Thursday night, Jerusalem's top students would come
together to study through the night under HaRav Gershon
Lapides. After this Thursday night study session he took on a
commitment not to go to sleep on Shabbos night until he had
learned five blat of gemora.
Later he transferred to Yeshivas Kamenitz, where he studied
under the rosh yeshiva HaRav Moshe Bernstein, who was the son-
in-law of HaRav Boruch Ber Leibowitz zt"l. R' Yisroel
Grossman was among the yeshiva's first students and was
constantly assisting the Rosh Yeshiva, and the two edited his
writings together.
R' Yisroel served as the head tester to evaluate which
students would be admitted into the yeshiva. When HaRav
Aharon Kotler zt"l came to Eretz Yisroel for a
visit he gave an in-depth shiur that lasted over two
hours. "There is one bochur who understood the
shiur from start to finish — Yisroel Grossman,"
he declared. When HaRav Moshe Sherer traveled to Eretz
Yisroel, HaRav Kotler asked him to extend his greetings
to R' Yisroel Grossman.
When the Admor of Karlin HaRav Avrohom Avimelech came to
Eretz Yisroel, he was very impressed by the 16-year-old. On
several occasions he stood outside Beis Medrash Beis Yaakov
in Beis Yisroel and the Karlin beis medrash in the Old
City listening to him learn. "Yisroel asher becho
espo'eir," he said of him and the bochur soon
formed an unbreakable bond with his rebbe.
He married the daughter of HaRav Yosef Gutfarb, a renowned
melamed at Talmud Torah Eitz Chaim. She stood at his
side throughout his lifetime, supporting his work in
imparting Torah and yir'oh to the younger
generation.
As a 20-year-old avreich he had the honor of studying
bechavrusa every day with HaRav Yochonon, the Admor of
Karlin-Stolin. When the Admor went to the US he asked the
young avreich, then 27, to head the yeshiva he had set
up in Jerusalem. The Admor accorded HaRav Yisroel great
honor, saying it was an act of kovod haTorah.
As rosh yeshiva HaRav Grossman would sit all day learning at
Yeshivas Karlin. His home was like a yeshiva as well. His
children would sleep in one of the rooms of his two-room
apartment while in the outer room he would sit and learn
almost all night with some of Jerusalem's leading Torah
scholars.
Following the histalkus of his rebbe he cleaved
to the Admor of Lelov, HaRav Moshe Mordechai. The Admor asked
HaRav Yisroel to learn with his son Avrohom Shlomo, who later
became the Admor of Lelov-Yerushalayim.
HaRav Yisroel was actively involved in campaigns to uphold
kodshei Yisroel based on personal requests by the
gedolim of the past generation. He was held in high
regard by the Brisker Rov, the Chazon Ish, HaRav Isser Zalman
Meltzer, the Tchebiner Rov, the Beis Yisroel of Gur, HaRav
Zelig Reuven Bengis and others. Later he formed a close bond
with Maran HaRav Eliashiv ylct"a, and they would often
conduct extended conversations on Torah and halochoh.
During the battle against drafting girls into the IDF he was
even jailed for the "crime" of inciting rebellion. While in
jail he was visited by HaRav Meltzer, the Tchebiner Rov, the
Rov of Pressburg, HaRav Tzvi Pesach Frank and HaRav Bengis,
who said really they should have been spending time
behind bars for the sake of the campaign. He also acted to
save the Rambam's gravesite in Tiberius when it was slated to
be razed.
During the mass aliya from Yemen he worked hard to maintain
their ruchniyus. He bought pairs of tefillin
and traveled to Rosh Ha'ayin where many of them settled,
offering tefillin to anyone interested. He took
children to Jerusalem and placed them in yeshivas he set up
for them. Lacking sleeping quarters he lodged some of them in
his own home and attended to their needs like a father. Today
some of his former talmidim serve as roshei
yeshivos and roshei kollelim.
Among Pinsk-Karlin chassidim he was held in high esteem as a
cornerstone of the kehilloh. Through his talks he
would elevate listeners. For many years he served as baal
tefilloh during the Yomim Noraim at the Pinsk-Karlin Beis
Medrash. He would pour out his soul in prayer in a voice
filled with emotion and his'orerus.
A man of exceptional chessed, sometimes he was unable
to sleep at night due to his concern for a Jew in dire
straits. When the brokenhearted would come to him, he would
graciously provide them letters of recommendation and
monetary support.
HaRav Grossman's health declined in recent years and after
Chanukah he became confined to his sickbed. He recovered, but
needed oxygen tanks. Before Purim, while giving his offspring
chizuk in learning, he said he had started the Shas
anew that year and was already up to maseches
Zevochim, meaning he had learned 1,500 blat by
Purim despite his poor health all winter. Toward the end of
his lifetime he would express gratitude for every day he was
alive, saying these years had been given to him as a gift. He
wrote a fabulous will that articulates his humility and
tzidkus and includes hanhogos for his
descendants to follow. During the period preceding his
passing, because he found it difficult to learn so he would
sit glued to the phone listening to Kol HaDaf
shiurim.
At the end of last week his condition deteriorated, although
his faculties remained intact. On Motzei Shabbos Ki Siso he
had to be hospitalized and on Tuesday morning returned his
soul to his Maker, surrounded by dozens of talmidim
and family members who recited Shema Yisroel and
verses on the Oneness of Hashem and sang "Koh Echsof
beno'am Shabbos" by HaRav Aharon of Karlin.
The levaya set out Tuesday afternoon from the Shamgar
beis levayos, where he was eulogized by the Admor of
Erlau, who bemoaned the great loss of a marbitz Torah
veyir'oh. The Admor of Belz was also on hand. The
procession then went on foot to the Beis Yisroel
neighborhood, where the paroches had been removed from
the aron hakodesh.
The maspidim included the Admor of Pinsk-Karlin, HaRav
Yitzchok Tuvio Weiss the gavad of the Eida Chareidis
of Jerusalem, the Admor of Tzanz; his sons HaRav Yitzchok
Dovid Grossman, rov of Migdal Ha'emek and head of Mosdos
Migdal Or, and HaRav Eliezer Yechezkel Grossman; and his sons-
in-law HaRav Naftoli Nussbaum, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas
Chayei Moshe and ravad of Beis Din Ahavas Sholom,
HaRav Shmuel Tzvi Fried, a member of Beis Din Darkei
Horo'oh.
HaRav Yisroel Grossman zt"l is survived by his sons
HaRav Ben Tzion, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Toras Yisroel,
HaRav Yitzchok Dovid, rov of Migdal Ha'emek, Rav Zalman, head
a ram of Mosdos Migdal Or, Rav Yosef author of Yalkut
Yosef, Rav Yaakov a well-known chessed figure in
Jerusalem and a board member of Mosdos Pinsk-Karlin, HaRav
Eliezer a dayan and moreh tzedek in Ramat
Vishnitz in Haifa and a ram at Yeshivas Yachel Yisroel
and Yeshivas Migdal Or; his sons-in-law HaRav Naftoli
Nussbaum rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chayei Moshe and
ravad of Beis Din Ahavas Sholom, HaRav Shmuel Tzvi
Fried a member of Beis Din Darkei Horo'oh, Rav Ben Tzion
Leibowitz mashgiach ruchani at Mosdos Vishnitz in
Jerusalem, HaRav Boruch Luria a rov at Yeshivas
Vishnitz and a moreh tzedek in Jerusalem's Sanhedria
neighborhood; and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
