“RABBI’S MUSINGS (&
AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Behar
19 Iyar 5782/May 20, 2022
Avos perek 4- 34th day of Omer
לזכר נשמת חו"מ נטע
יצחק בן אלכסנדר
REAL COOL
Years ago, I heard about a man named Rabbi Meir Shuster, a
fixture at the Kosel, who would scan the plaza looking for unaffiliated Jews visiting
the wall. He would approach them and politely ask them if they had the time.
When they would reply, he would use that opening to gently engage them and
convince them to attend classes about Judaism. It was said that he was the
catalyst for bringing countless Jews back to their faith.
I assumed Meir Shuster was a “cool guy”, suave and
charismatic, with a wonderful sense of humor. He was probably extremely worldly
and well versed in politics so that he could maintain a conversation with those
he met and sought to reel in.
Over two decades ago, before I was married, I spent a
Shabbos in the home of Rabbi Label Karmel, to help assist with a JEP shabbaton
that Rabbi Karmel was running. Rabbi Shuster happened to be in Lakewood for
Shabbos that week and we ate the meal together at the Karmel home.
At first, I was unsure who the sagacious looking
individual was. When my friend approached him to ask him if he had the time and
he smiled, I realized that he was the legendary Rabbi Meir Shuster. I was quite
surprised. Here was perhaps the most uncool person I had ever met. He looked
like the righteous scholar that he was. He definitely did not appear to be
someone who could be one of the most successful people in Jewish outreach in
the world.
Seared in my memory is Rabbi Shuster singing the
zemer Yom Zeh Mechubad, his eyes closed in blissful concentration
and one hand lifted in the air.
So, if it wasn’t his charisma, what about him touched the
souls of so many thousands of Jews? What was the secret of his kiruv ability?
It seems clear that he attracted people with his
sincerity. He was humble and unassuming, yet real and authentic. When he spoke
about Torah, his love for it touched those he was speaking with.
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky noted that the Hebrew word for
influence, hashpa’ah, comes from the same root as the word shipuah,
slant or incline. There are two ways to water a garden. One can irrigate the
vegetation directly, which requires effort and constant wetting. A more
practical way is to build a slated roof from which the steady flow of rain will
automatically irrigate the vegetation.
A mashpia, one who influences others, does
not do so as much with speeches and moral diatribes, as much as with the force
of his personality, through his living emotional example of how a Torah Jew
conducts himself in all his affairs. His emotional attachment to Torah and
mitzvos spills over and oozes out of his being and is felt by those in his
orbit.
The
gemara (Ta’anis 22a) relates that Rabbi Beroka met Eliyahu Hanavi in the marketplace
and asked Eliyahu if there were any b’nei Olam Habah in that marketplace?
Eliyahu pointed to two individuals. Rabbi Beroka approached them and asked them
what their profession was? They replied that they were badchanim who
cheered people up. Rashi elaborates on their response, commenting: “We are
happy, and we make others happy.”
Rav Henoch Leibowitz zt”l noted that Rashi makes it a
point to say that, not only did they make others happy, but they were happy
themselves. The rule is that one cannot give something that he doesn’t have. In
order to make others happy, one must be a person who himself feels inner
happiness. If you don’t feel it, you can’t convey it to others, no matter
how good of an orator or actor you are.
The recent passing of Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein has
created a profound void in our broader community. The truth is that in certain
ways Rabbi Wallerstein was “cool”. He knew the lingo and the stories and
examples he related in his lectures were very contemporary. At the same time,
he was very sincere and real. Through that combination he was able to connect
with and inspire countless others.
I can’t say that I was personally close with Rabbi
Wallerstein. Though I heard many of his lectures and was inspired by him, I
only met him on a few occasions. One of those times was when he spoke in my
shul when I was the rabbi of Kehillat New Hempstead. We were schmoozing after
the speech and Rabbi Wallerstein related that on his decade birthdays (30, 40,
50, etc.) he accepted upon himself something new in his Avodas Hashem, as
gratitude to Hashem for allowing him to reach that milestone.
If my memory serves me correctly, he told me he began
wearing Rabbeinu Tam tefillin when he turned 50.
Rabbi Wallerstein would often quote lessons he learned
from great people like Rabbi Shimshon Pincus zt”l, and personal anecdotes from
conversations and meetings with Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman zt”l, Rabbi Gamliel
Rabinowitz shlit”a and many other tzaddikim. He spoke lovingly about Shabbos,
Emunah, Hashem, and constantly doing things on behalf of Klal Yisroel
There is no doubt that a large part of his influence was
the result of the fact that he was personally growing. He was always looking
for ways to further his own Avodas Hashem and that ceaseless inner drive
spilled over.
If we want to create changes, we can do so by seeking our
own personal growth. Our influence upon those around us will be inevitable.
Gandhi purportedly quipped, “Be the change you want to
see in the world.” How we act inevitably influences others most significantly
through our example.
Shabbat
Shalom & Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and Chani Staum