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A LL i n k ii n tt h e CC h a i n

One talmidah described her impression of Rabbi YitzchokLeib Kirzner in these words: “He was the number-one personfor me who stood for and was the living link in the chain fromHar Sinai until now. I feel that he was the link to all theEuropean yeshivos of the past. ... He helped many baaleiteshuvah connect to that world of bnei Torah, and he made itmuch less intimidating and very welcoming.”

Indeed, both his parents had their roots in that lostEuropean world. Rabbi Kirzner combined the best of twoworlds: the Litvish and the Chassidish. His father, Reb ZeligKirzner, z”l, grew up in the White Russia area in a Litvishfamily. Reb Zelig studied in the Mirrer Yeshivah and in 1941fled to Shanghai with the yeshivah. His mother, FraidelWenkert, an only child who lived in Vienna, came from a longline of Tchortkover chassidim. Her family also fled toShanghai during the war, and their shidduch was made inShanghai. The rest of Rabbi Kirzner’s family perished.

S e n s i t i v i t y , SS c h o l a r s h i p ,a n d SS p i r i t u a l i t y

After the war in 1947, the Kirzners came to the UnitedStates. Although they first settled in Harrisburg,Pennsylvania, where Rabbi Yitzchok Leib was born

(6 Nisan 5711/April 12, 1951), eventually they moved toNew York. He was the third of five children, four boys anda girl, who was the youngest.

Dovid Kirzner, Rabbi Kirzner’s eldest brother, describesthe Brooklyn neighborhood where they grew up: “Theneighborhood around Avenues K, L, and Nostrand was notfrum; at that time there were mostly secular Yidden or non-Jews on the block. We grew up with a sense of pride in whowe were … we felt privileged. The family felt aresponsibility to reach out to other Yidden. We broughtpeople home who showed an interest.” It was acollaborative effort of the family, he says, and he feels thatthis atmosphere “had a lasting impact” on his brother.

According to Dovid Kirzner, Yitzchok “stood out in thefamily; he was different. He had a seriousness about him,and even as a child he had great middos. He had atremendous sensitivity to other people’s feelings andneeds. He intuitively understood other people... He had agreat sense of humor, which was in no way a contradictionto his seriousness. He made everyone in the family laugh.

“He was a good kid. Everyone was proud of him — evenas a child. He would take the initiative to help; you didn’tneed to ask. He was very easy to get along with.” He was awell-behaved, scholarly kid, and according to his mother,he was by nature “very connected to spirituality.”

Rabbi Yitzchok Leib Kirzner,zt”l

B r i n g i n g u s u p to t h e To r a h , Pa rt I

B y T z i p p o r a Z a s l o w

Rabbi Yitzchok Leib Kirzner, zt”l, was a unique and dynamic figure in kiruv work, Jewish outreach, during the 1980sand early 1990s. A Jew from any background could attend his shiurim and emerge with deep new Torah insights andsoaring inspiration in Yiddishkeit; a Vizhnitzer chassid from Meah Shearim, a recent baalas teshuvah, a Jew with noJewish background at all, or a Boro Park rebbetzin — all would attend the same shiur and be transformed.

Rabbi Kirzner knew how to reach the heart of every Jew — the heart that seeks a connection with Hashem. In a shiuron Tehillim 39, explaining the power of Dovid Hamelech’s Tehillim, Rabbi Kirzner said, “[Dovid Hamelech] was takenout of the group of Klal Yisrael and became a model of what the lev, the heart, of every Jew, is … and therefore, thethings that [Dovid Hamelech] worked out … are representative of the music of the heart of the neshamah of KlalYisrael. … After all is said and done, the deepest desire of the Yid is ‘tochalti lecha hi, my hope is to be with You’”(Tehillim 39:8).

PHOTO CREDIT: ROSLYN DICKENS

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Rabbi Kirzner studied in TorahVodaas in Williamsburg and theMesivta of Crown Heights. Hecontinued learning in the shiur ofHarav Feivel Cohen, shlita, in Flatbush.Rabbi Kirzner was also greatlyinfluenced by the teachings of HagaonHarav Yitzchok Hutner, zt”l, RoshYeshivah of Yeshivas Rabbeinu ChaimBerlin in Flatbush. Although he wasn’this talmid, he attended the Rav’s“maamarim” for several years, and theyhad a strong effect on him. HaravChaim Segal, zt”l, also had a stronginfluence on him. These rebbeim had anotable impact on his personaldevelopment.

In the late 1960s he entered theyeshivah in Lakewood and became atalmid of Hagaon Harav Shneur Kotler,zt”l. In Lakewood, he was also close toHarav Shimon Eider, zt”l, and HaravShmuel Blech, shlita.

In Kislev/November 1974 RabbiKirzner married Frumie Kaplan,daughter of Harav Boruch, zt”l, andRebbetzin Vichna Kaplan, a”h, thefounders of Bais Yaakov in America.Rebbetzin Frumie Kirzner became afull partner in her husband’s work.They lived in Lakewood for four yearsbefore they became part of an unusualundertaking.

G o i n g WW e s t :T h e CC a l i f o r n i a

S c e n e

Rabbi Kirzner’s gadlus in Torah wasrecognized early on. In 1978 a small,unique kollel of Lakewood yungeleitwas being started in Los Angeles,and he was invited to join it. Heaccepted the offer and movedto California with hisfamily. As part of thekollel program,

e v e r y

member was required to do somethingfor the community. Hashgachah pratisarranged that Rabbi Kirzner waschosen to give a Shabbos shiur for baaleiteshuvah on the weekly parashah. Hewas, according to his wife, “an instant,wild success.”

Rebbetzin Kirzner notes that he was“fantastic with words, but of course,words don’t make a speech; it was thethoughts and ideas, the depth andclarity of his thoughts that tookeverybody.” He was, she says, “a deepthinker. He had the ability to make avery profound thought clear andaccessible.”

He never talked down to hisaudience. Many people told her that“they were amazed that he could teachto a room [with both] talmideichachamim and beginners. They wereintelligent beginners, though, and hedidn’t water down his material.Everyone felt that he was learningsomething new.”

A SS p e c i a l MM e n t o r

When Rabbi Kirzner was justentering the world of kiruv rechokim, hemet a Klausenberger chassid who wasto have a profound impact on him.According to Rebbetzin Kirzner, RabbiYehudah Turner, zt”l, was fromMilwaukee and had been influenced bythe Twerskis one generation earlier tobecome a baal teshuvah. He wentthrough the whole Litvish educationalsystem, starting with Torah Vodaas.Eventually he met the KlausenbergerRebbe, zt”l, and was pulled in thatdirection. He was also an accomplishedviolinist and shared Rabbi Kirzner’s

love of music. Rabbi Turner’s

health was poor andhe knew that he

couldn’t sleep in asukkah in the cold New York

winters, so he had come to LosAngeles in order to be able to sleep in asukkah. The kollel people used to visithim in the hospital a lot. Rebbetzin

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Kirzner explained that Rabbi Turner“was mashpia” on her husband “to use hiskoach in the world of baalei teshuvah.”

Although Rabbi Kirzner only knewRabbi Turner for a few months before thelatter’s petirah, he “idolized him” andlooked at him as his mentor. At thatpoint, Rebbetzin Kirzner says, RabbiKirzner “was still in kollel full time. Hewasn’t a teacher yet; he wasn’t reachingout to the world.”

After a few years in kollel, he became arebbi part time. He taught in the mesivta ofYeshivah Gedolah of Los Angeles in themornings, and in the afternoons andevenings he gave shiurim for baaleiteshuvah. As a result of Rabbi Turner’sencouragement, he eventually went intokiruv full time.

T h e JJ e w i s h LL e a r n i n gE x c h a n g e ii n LL o s

A n g e l e s

In 1982 Rabbi Kirzner was offered thepost of lecturer and organizer of studiesfor the Los Angeles division of OhrSomayach known as the Jewish LearningExchange, which was geared towardbaalei teshuvah, both men and women. Inaddition to the shiurim he gave, he had asmall, informal shul, a minyan, for hisstudents, in Rabbi Yehudah Lebovics’living room. For the Yamim Noraim herented out a larger space in a buildingand drew a very big crowd.

Rabbi Avrohom Czapnik, who taughtwith Rabbi Kirzner at the JLE for a yearor two and who is now its director, saysthat Rabbi Kirzner “was doing outreachbefore a lot of outreach organizations hadbegun doing their thing.” RabbiKirzner’s former secretary in L.A.marvels at how “he used to driveeverywhere around California givingshiurim. He’d go anywhere. At one timehe was giving shiurim at the engineeringfirm PRW, in law offices, at the Lockheedplant and at Hughes Aircraft.”

Rabbi Kirzner’s secretary also relatedthe following story about the beginningsof the Jewish Learning Exchange. “Theoffice was on Wilshire Boulevard, which

intersected with Detroit Street. Theywere retrofitting the building, making itearthquake-proof to conform to thebuilding code. It was a two-floor officebuilding with seven or eight offices.While they were doing the construction,one of the main pipes burst and therewas a tremendous amount of waterdamage to all the offices, except RabbiKirzner’s office, which even had a sink inthe room... His office was untouched. Itended up being the only functioningoffice in the building. It must have beenhis kedushah that protected the office,”she said.

When the landlord of the buildingdiscovered what had happened, he wasso impressed and so much wanted RabbiKirzner to stay in the building that hereduced the rent. This savings helpedRabbi Kirzner’s efforts to establish andfurther the goals of the Jewish LearningExchange.

Rabbi Kirzner’s secretary describeshim as a “tzaddik, very gentle, eidel, sweet,but forceful when he needed to be.”Rabbi Kirzner was “samei’ach bechelko,”she said, and he was “light andoptimistic.” He showed a “tremendoushakaras hatov for anything I did for him.”

She spoke about Rabbi Kirzner’stremendous sensitivity and respect forwomen. When the mispallelim moved outof Rabbi Lebovics’ home to make theirshul in a rented space, they had toconstruct a mechitzah. “Rabbi Kirznerasked my advice about it. ‘What do youthink would make the women morecomfortable? How should the mechitzahbe set up?’ he asked me, a baalas teshuvah.It was incredible. I told him that thewomen would prefer that it be down thecenter. He was always concerned thatwomen shouldn’t feel cut off. And heloved reaching out to people. Heepitomized the passuk ‘Ivdu es Hashembesimchah’. At the Shabbatons he wasalways so happy.”

A HH a p p y HH o m e

The Kirzner family has elevenchildren — ten boys and one girl, bli ayin

hara. Their home was always open, with“people coming and going” continually,his secretary recalls. The children wouldgive the guests their beds and sleep onthe floor. She said Rabbi Kirzner wasenthusiastic about helping care for thechildren, taking them to doctors and soforth. She remembers the “simchah heradiated when one of his children tookhis first steps in the JLE office. This wastheir fifth or sixth child, not the first.Rabbi Kirzner was so excited, he keptsaying ‘Look! Look!’”

Rebbetzin Kirzner says, “He had no

Rabbi Kirzner with his four eldest sons.

19Hamodia MMagaz ine 16 I ya r 5768

Rabbi Kirzner with his son, MenachemShlomo, in Los Angeles.

Hamodia MMagaz ine May 21, 200820

airs about him. He just loved beingaround the kids … teaching them. Hecreated a happy atmosphere in our homebecause he was at peace with everythingthat he was doing. There didn’t seem tobe any conflict. If you go in Torah’s way,if you just follow Torah totally, you’re atpeace with yourself, you’re at peace withHashem, and you’re at peace witheverybody around you. Everythingabout him was peaceful andsheleimusdig.”

A SS h e ’ e i l a h ff o rH a R a v SS h a c h

Although originally the plan was tostay in Los Angeles for two years, theKirzners stayed for eight. RebbetzinKirzner’s mother, Rebbetzin VichnaKaplan, a”h, wanted Rebbetzin Kirzner towork with her in the Bais Yaakov schoolin Brooklyn but, as Rebbetzin Kirznersays, her “husband’s learning came first.”Rebbetzin Kaplan was waiting forRebbetzin Kirzner to move back to NewYork and work with her.

Then, in August 1986, RebbetzinKaplan was nifteres and there was evenmore pressure on Rebbetzin Kirzner tocome back to New York.

Rabbi and Rebbetzin Kirzner flew to

Eretz Yisrael to ask Hagaon Harav EliezerMenachem Mann Shach, zt”l, the she’eilahof whether they should move back to NewYork so that Rebbetzin Kirzner couldbecome the principal of Bais Yaakov HighSchool and Seminary. It was a difficultshe’eilah because Rabbi Kirzner was sosuccessful in L.A. in kiruv and was fillinga big need there, but at the same time BaisYaakov needed a principal. Harav Shachsaid that they should move back to NewYork, and they did so at the end ofDecember 1986.

The move was a hard one for RabbiKirzner, but he followed daas Torah.According to Rebbetzin Kirzner, he wassacrificing his dream of opening a shul inL.A. “The minyan had been growing andthe shiurim were expanding, and they hadjust recently acquired space in a buildingfor it; it was so exciting for him. … It waslike a dream come true — things werebecoming more organized, more orderly.”

N e t z a c h YY i s r a e l , tt h eJ e w i s h RR e n a i s s a n c e

C e n t e r

At first it was difficult for RabbiKirzner to find his niche in New York. Inthe beginning he was still involved in theJewish Learning Exchange program, andhe taught under its auspices in variousplaces in the New York area. However, in1988 Harav Chaim Kohn, shlita, andRebbetzin Leah Kohn invited RabbiKirzner to teach twice a week at theirschool, Netzach Yisrael, in Monsey, N.Y.,which was specifically designed for baalosteshuvah.

Early in 1989 the Kohns decided tohold classes in Manhattan so that theywould be more centrally located. At thesame time Rabbi Kirzner decided that hewanted to break off from the JLE andcreate his own outreach program inManhattan. They decided to “join forces,”as Rebbetzin Kohn says. They establishedthe Jewish Renaissance Center, a full-timelearning program for baalos teshuvah inManhattan. Rabbi Kirzner taught thereseveral times a week.

Rebbetzin Kirzner says that Rabbi

Kirzner now felt sippuk, satisfaction, withhis kiruv work in New York. “They werevery gratifying years.” His brother Dovidsays, “His kiruv work was part of his ownpersonal growth in learning.” And hisstudents could sense how much heenjoyed learning with them. One talmidahdescribed his shiurim this way: “When hetaught, he conveyed his own personalenjoyment of the learning and that made itinfectious. ... It was so exciting to learnwith him. Sometimes he’d be sayingsomething over, and he would explain it,and then he would explain how incredibleit was.” In giving over the shiur, heexpressed his own feelings.

Rabbi Kirzner had the ability tocommunicate with people who had anadvanced secular education. He related toeach person on his own level. As oneperson described him, “he was up to date… he knew how to speak the language.”He himself often said that his years inCalifornia helped him to learn the lingo.He also had a sharp and delightful senseof humor. His shiurim were sprinkled withwitticisms to illustrate the points he wastrying to convey.

His shiurim had an “edge of intellectualsophistication,” one of his studentsexplained. “He always taught as if theperson in front of him was of the highestintellectual level, even if that personliterally didn’t know the aleph-beis. Thatwas really the secret to his success. Hedidn’t think, ‘Oh, well, you’re a beginner,so I’m going to teach you like a beginner,’but rather, ‘You may not know what thealeph-beis is, but you have a Ph.D. in

Rabbi Kirzner, zt”l, with, ybl”c, Rabbi MosheWeinberger, shlita (L), and Harav ChaimKohn, shlita (R), at the Jewish RenaissanceCenter in Manhattan in the early 1990s.(PHOTO CREDIT: ROSLYN DICKENS)

Speaking at the Agudah Convention in 1991;Rabbi Moshe Sherer, z”l, is at left.

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biochemistry, so I’m going to teach youlike a person with a Ph.D. inbiochemistry.’ He would give the deepest,deepest shiurim.”

Although his shiurim wereintellectually sophisticated, he was able torelate to the feelings of an ordinary Jewand instruct him one on one. Anothertalmid said, “He had the ability to touchpeople’s hearts like no one else.”

Rebbetzin Kirzner recalls that peoplewould “gravitate toward him whereverhe was; they found answers to theirquestions … people confided in him. Hehelped a lot of people through difficult[experiences], make difficult decisions.”

His MMiss ion ccontinued

Unfortunately, in October 1989, shortlyafter he began teaching at the JRC, RabbiKirzner first suspected that he was notwell. In December, when he received agrave diagnosis, the Kirzners went tospeak to the Rachmistrivka Rebbe, shlita.They asked him whether to tell people ornot, and the Rebbe told them to keep itquiet. (The Kirzners often went to theRachmistrivka Rebbe, as well as to HaravElya Svei, shlita, the Rosh Yeshivah of thePhiladelphia Yeshivah, with theirshe’eilos.)

One of Rabbi Kirzner’s talmidos, whobecame Torah-observant later in life as aresult of Rabbi Kirzner’s shiurim, was oneof the very few who knew about hisillness. She asked him at that time why he

didn’t want people to know that he wassick. He answered, “I didn’t tell peoplebecause … sometimes people call me at3:00 a.m. and I don’t want them to stopdoing that.” He was “matter-of-fact abouthis mission,” she remarked.

Rabbi Kirzner gave a shiur called“Living and Growing with Suffering” aspart of a series entitled “Why the InnocentSuffer.” In this shiur he spoke abouthaving a mission. “If a Jew lives withselflessness to begin with and … everymoment of life is to serve, then suffering isobviously something that G-d is sendingto his emissary, because the servicerequires that kind of a thing at this point...This is a unique capacity that a Jew canhave in terms of suffering — knowing tobegin with that he doesn’t live for himself.… The Jewish view of the gift of life is thatif I was brought into this world and I wasgiven life, I was given life to address acertain spiritual calling and mission thatG-d expects, hopes, and invests in me, thatI will accomplish while I’m here. Sobasically what I’m saying is that we arenot private citizens, but we are alldelegates and emissaries of G-d’s callingsand missions for this world.”

Rebbetzin Kirzner confirms thatalthough her husband was sick, “he didn’tslow down one bit.” He continued to giveshiurim at the Jewish Renaissance Center.He went on to open his shul, KolYehudah, in Boro Park (in 1990), and hegave many shiurim there. (The shul wasnamed in honor of his mentor, RabbiYehudah Turner, zt”l.)

In addition to the classes he gave inManhattan and in his shul, he was giving

shmuessen two nights a week at theRabbeinu Jacob Joseph Yeshivah inEdison, N.J. (Me’oz Latam is a collection ofsome of these mussar shmuessen, and anephew is now compiling another seferbased on these shiurim.)

Rabbi Kirzner had been the mashgiachat RJJ Edison for about two years when hewas offered the position of Rav there,which he accepted. The family was allpacked up to move to New Jersey whenhis health took a turn for the worse. Eventhen, he was still available for his talmidim.Before he left his house for the last time tocheck into the hospital, before hisdeparture to Mexico for an alternativetreatment, he gave counsel to someone onthe telephone. He never wanted to say noto anyone who needed him.

In spite of his illness, Rabbi Kirznertaught at the JRC for three years, untilthree weeks before he was niftar. RabbiYitzchok Kirzner passed away in Mexicoon 26 Tishrei/October 23, 1992, at the ageof 41.

Rabbi Lebovics, in giving kevodha’acharon, pointed out the incrediblehashgachah pratis involved in his passing.Because Rabbi Kirzner was niftar inMexico, it was possible to hold his levayahon Motzoei Shabbos in Los Angeles, inBrooklyn on Sunday morning, and then inYerushalayim the same day. It was azechus, he pointed out, that Rabbi Kirznerwas honored by all those who loved himon both coasts and in Eretz Yisrael. RabbiLebovics also said that in a way “it wasRabbi Kirzner’s chessed, it was like hispersonality … that he allowed everyone tosay goodbye to him.”❚MM

To be continued…

Author’s note: It is a great example of RabbiKirzner’s chessed that he recorded his shiurim sothat we can still benefit from his teachings. Hecovered many subjects in his shiurim. In addition totefillah, Tehillim, Chumash, Navi, Jewish thought,and holidays, he covered topics such as characterdevelopment and relationship development. Oneof his most popular series was entitled: “Why theInnocent Suffer?” To receive a catalog and to ordertapes, call C. Singer at (718) 436-2652.

At a bris: Rabbi Kirzner is third from left.