Wed, Dec 11 4:27pm sharp! Maariv at the Gate (daven Mincha before)

4:55pm [Miami to Frankfurt,Germany - Luftansa Airlines]

Thurs, Dec 12 Pick up in Frankfurt by Joram Inbar [+491-762-0845707]

9:00am Shachris in Frankfurt shul

9:45am Breakfast

10:15am Half hour learning session [gemora makos]

11:00am Kivrei Tzadikim

1:00pm Lunch

3:30pm Mincha and Maariv in airport

5:50pm [Frankfurt to Eretz Yisrael - Elal Airlines]

11:00pm Arrival in Ben-Gurion Airport [pick up car]

[food will be served]

Fri, Dec 13 Shacharis at the Kosel

Learning for an Hour

Visiting Gedolim

Kabolas Shabbos by Belz Bais Medrash

Seuda at the Hotel

Tish by Toldos Aharon

Shabbos, Dec 14 Shachris

Seuda at the Hotel

Learning

Visit Gedolim

Sun, Dec 15 Shachris at Ponevezh Yeshiva

Learning in Ponevezh

Visit of Gedolim

Mincha at Lederman Shul

Visit of Rav Shach’s and Steipler’s Kever

Mon, Dec 16 Visit of kivrei tzadikim in eretz yisroel

Tzfat- Meron

Tues, Dec 17 Har Hazeisim

11:50pm: Departure from Ben gurion airport to Newark

Wed, Dec 18 Shachris in Elizabeth

Leaving Newark at 9:29am arriving to Miami at 12:42pm

HaRav HaGaon Rav Moshe Sternbuch שליט”א // HaRav HaGaon Tuvia Weiss שליט”אHaRav HaGaon Yitzchok Sheiner שליט”א // HaRav HaGaon Dovid Soloveitchik שליט”א // HaRav HaGaon Eliezer Yehuda Finkel שליט”א

HaRav HaGaon Shmuel Vozner שליט”א // HaRav HaGaon Chaim Kanievsky שליט”א // HaRav HaGaon Aharon Leib Steinman שליט”א HaRav HaGaon Nissim Karelitz שליט”א // HaRav HaGaon Yitzchok Meir Morgenstern שליט”א // HaRav HaGaon Yitzchak Yosef שליט”א // HaRav HaGaon Yaakov Hillel שליט”א

HaRav HaGaon Yitzchok Zilberstein שליט”א // HaRav HaGaon Yaakov Edelstein שליט”א // HaRav HaGaon Osher Weiss שליט”א // The Belzer Rebbe שליט”א

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HaRav Yaakov Yehoshua was born in 5441 (1581) in a small shtetl near Reisha. His father, R’ Zvi Hirsch, named him after his grandfather, the Moginei Shlomo (the name Yosef was added in his later years when he was ill). His Torah teachers were his uncle, Reb Shmuel, rov of Reisha, and the gaon R’ Gavriel of Nicholsburg, zt”l. He later learnt with his relative, the holy R’ Chaim Reitzes, zt”l. When he became of age, he married the daughter of the parnes, Rabbi Shlomo Landau, zt”l. Immediately following his marriage, while he was living with his father- in-law, he began to teach many talmidim. He also toiled in Torah together with his brother-in-law, R’ Zvi Hirsch Charif, the rov of Halberstat, writing chidushei Torah together. After his rabbonis was killed in a tragic fire, he married the daughter of Rabbi Yissochor Ber and his wife, Matel, a”h. The latter was well known for her wealth and charitable deeds and was called “Di Reiche Matel.” After the passing of the Chacham Zvi, the Pnei Yehoshua became rov in Lvov in 5478 (1611). However, the townspeople did not accept his strong, unwavering stance with regard to mitzvos and the way he feared nor favored no man, no matter what his status. They embittered his life until, after six years, he left Lvov and in 5490 took up the rabbonus in Berlin. There too life was not too peaceful and after a few years he moved on to become rov of Metz. His last post was from 5500 (1640) as rov of Frankfurt-am- Main, after the petiroh of Rabbi Yaakov Popiresch, zt”l. On 14 Shevat 5516, as Shabbos was approaching, the Pnei Yehoshua was niftar at the age of seventy-five. After Shabbos he was accompanied by throngs of Jews and their rabbonim to his final resting place. The first to eulogize him was the Nodah Biyehudah, zt”l, who announced that although the Pnei Yehoshua had requested that there be no hespedim, he would nevertheless disobey, since one must mourn the death of Rabbon Shel Kol Bnei Hagolah. His great sefer, Pnei Yehoshua, is a basis to understanding gemora and Rishonim. Gedolei Yisroel over the years were effusive in their praise of the Pnei Yehoshua. Some of their comments are: The Nodah Biyehudah writes in one of his teshuvos that the words of Rabbeinu are like darts hitting the bull’s eye of a target. The holy Chasam Sofer, zy”a said that since the days of the Rashba there has not been a sefer compiled like that of the Pnei Yehoshua. The Koznitzer Maggid said that the Ruach Hakodesh would appear in the Beis Midrash of the Pnei Yehoshua to confirm the truth of his Torah.

In his sefer, the Chidoh writes that he merited to meet the Pnei Yehoshua in his house, “and I merited to greet the Shechinoh for some days, and his countenance is like that of a mal’ach Elokim.”

* * * Fire! Fire! The cry of panic was heard throughout the town. A small spark had caught, and before long the whole city was a burning cauldron. Among the victims of this tragedy were the mother-in-law, wife and daughter of the

Pnei Yehoshua. The Rabbi, too, found himself surrounded by flames with no escape route. Without losing himself, he made a neder to Hashem, swearing that if he would be saved from this life- threatening situation he would strengthen his Torah learning and delve into one sugya for days at a time. As he was promising his neder the wall of flames parted, allowing him to pass through unscathed. Following this miracle he began writing his sefer Pnei Yehoshua. It should be noted that Reb Menachem Mendel of Kotsk retold that before Rabbeinu began writing his sefer, he completed Shas 36 times! One day during the morning hours, the Pnei Yehoshua sat wrapped in his tallis and crowned with tefillin, learning until his talmidim arrived. When they did not turn up as usual, he was concerned but continued studying. After half the day had passed, his talmidim finally arrived, shivering from the blizzard and cold wind they had encountered on the way.

Rabbeinu asked them the reason for their delay and as he looked up to face them, he noticed, at the same time as his talmidim, that his beard had been stuck to the table with the day’s frost and ice. The Pnei Yehoshua commented, “It looks like it’s indeed very cold.” Up till then he had been so engrossed in his learning that he had been unaware of the fierce cold that had prevented his pupils from coming. The holy countenance of the Pnei Yehoshua was an image beyond our imagination. As the Rav Hakodosh Rabbi

Moshe of Savron, zt”l recounted. It was during the period that the Pnei Yehoshua was living in a small shtetl close to a forest. One morning, adorned with tallis and tefillin as usual, the Rabbi was on his way to shacharis when he noticed that the streets were unusually quiet for this time of the day. He wondered where were all the teeming crowds that usually streamed their way to shul and work. The answer became frighteningly clear when suddenly a lion that had strayed from the forest jumped into his path. Removing the tallis from his face, the tzaddik bared to the lion the full force of his holy countenance. Immediately, the lion turned on its heels and fled back to the forest. When the Chacham Zvi was on his travels through Poland he posed a difficult sheiloh to the Gedolei Hador. The Pnei Yehoshua’s answer was much to his liking and the Chacham Zvi asked him what was his position. When he was told that Rabbeinu was leader in a small town and even there was not too well accepted, he told the Pnei Yehoshua, “Know that you are destined for greatness to a much higher degree!” When the Chacham Zvi returned to his hometown Lvov, the kehilla in Lisk asked him to choose a rov for them.

The Chacham Zvi replied that if they would give him a wage of 50 guilden, he himself would be their rov. It was agreed that the people of Lisk would come in three months time to escort the Chacham Zvi with great honor to their town. Meanwhile the Chacham Zvi sent a message to the Pnei Yehoshua, instructing him to prepare himself as rov of Lisk. The three months were up and, as designated, a delegation arrived to Lvov to escort the Chacham Zvi home. “I hereby present to you Rabbi Yehoshua,” announced the Chacham Zvi to the startled dignitaries. “He is like me in learning and in his ways. Do not change the wage from what we agreed upon and you will all be successful.” After their initial shock, the men of Lisk accepted the emissary of the Chacham Zvi and the Pnei Yehoshua became rov of the great kehilla of Lisk, beloved and respected by all!

The Pnei Yehoshua - HaGaon HaRav Yaakov Yehoshua Pollack, zt”l

By the mid-1800s, the Reform Movement had in essence taken over Jewish life in Germany; there were very few Orthodox Jews and very little Orthodox power left. To traditional Jewry, Germany had become a spiritual wasteland. It needed a prophet to take it out of the chaos and restore order. That savior came in the form of a very original, strong individual: Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. He was born in 1808 in Hungary and became rabbi in Moravia before coming to Frankfort, Germany. When he arrived in Frankfort, he was hired by a very small congregation of only 11 families. Nevertheless, he quickly built into a very great and strong group that became the bulwark of German Jewry. He also opened what today we would call a “day school,” which innovative for its time. It was called the Realschule. It offered studies of Torah for half a day, and secular studies taught in German the other half of the day. When they taught the secular studies in the Realschule the young men would take off their hats, because that was the way they did it in Germany. On the other hand, among Rabbi Hirsch’s congregants were many men with beards. Many of them wore toupees or other false headpieces so

that their heads w o u l d

n e v e r b e

uncovered. Their extreme loyalty to the Torah and meticulous observance of mitzvos became legendary. Rabbi Hirsch himself went to university. He was very well read in all the classical studies. First and foremost, however, he was a great Torah scholar. His seminal work is a commentary on Bible which he wrote in German. Whereas in Eastern Europe the traditional rabbis only spoke in Yiddish – which was the language of the people – Rabbi Hirsch spoke perfect German and delivered his sermons in German, in addition to his voluminous writings that were in German. Where Rabbi Hirsch differed from Reform is that he did not compromise one iota on observance. He said that Judaism was a religion with a mission. God had bequeathed the Jewish people a mission to civilize the world. The role of each Jew was to observe the Torah and through that he fulfilled his highest ideal. Rabbi Hirsch disagreed completely with the idea of Reform that said that Judaism was a religion that evolved and changed with the times. He saw it as a metaphysical religion, given by Go d to a certain people, and that people would carry it throughout history, wherever they existed. The purpose of every Jew was to be part of that group of people, to find his place as an individual in the whole. Rabbi Hirsch was uncompromising in his stance against Reform. In Germany, the government had awarded administration of the congregations – including the distribution of monies – to the Reform Jews. Only certain religious facets of life were left in the hands of the Orthodox: they took care of the kosher dietary laws, upkeep of

the cemeteries and other these things that the establishment of

Reform did not feel threatened their hegemony. One of Rabbi Hirsch’s greatest and most controversial accomplishments was his fight to obtain government permission to be a separate congregation from Reform. That meant that they could collect their own taxes, make their budget and establish their own rights; they controlled their own religious lives. Throughout Germany, there was a heated debate between Orthodox Jews whether or not this was the right course of action. As a very small, minority should be become independent, as did Rabbi Hirsch’s congregation in Frankfort-am-Main, or should they remain as part of the overall general structure controlled by Reform. Some rabbis chose to stay, but the hallmark of Rabbi Hirsch’s was that he opted out. In the end, Rabbi Hirsch was triumphant. He restored traditional Judaism to Germany. In our time, the Hirschian congregation was transplanted just before the Second World War to Washington Heights, New York, where it has undergone a series of metamorphoses. Rabbi Hirsch’s direct descendant, the late Rabbi Breuer, is an example again of that type of philosophy and weltanschauung. He was an expert in Schiller and Goethe, yet he would study the very obscure Jerusalem Talmud every day (in addition to the normative Babylonian Talmud). He was the perfect example of the person of iron will who was able to hold his community within the realms of Orthodoxy at a time when it would have been very easy to fall away completely.

Rabbi Meir ben Baruch, popularly known by the abbreviation ‘MaHaRaM’ (Moreinu Horav Reb Meir) of Rothenburg, Talmudist and Paytan (religious poet), was born in Worms, Germany, nearly eight centuries ago, around the year 1220. In his youth he studied at Wurtzburg and at Mainz in the Yeshivoth of the leading Talmudists of those days. Later he went to France to study in the well known French Yeshivoth, particularly in the Yeshivah of the great Rabbi Jehiel ben Joseph of Paris. Rabbi Jehiel was known as a saintly Rabbi and outstanding Talmudist, and it was he who defended the Talmud in the reign of Louis IX. However, the Talmud was subsequently condemned by the enemies of Israel to be publicly burnt on Friday, June 17, 1244, (Erev Shabbos Chukath, 5004), in Paris. Rabbi Meir was an eyewitness to this public burning of twenty-four wagonloads of Talmudic manuscripts, and he bewailed this tragedy in his celebrated “Kina” (elegy, mournful poem) Shaali serufah which we say on Tisha b’Av. The following year Rabbi Meir, already a famous Talmudist, returned to Germany, where he became the rabbi of several large communities successively. Finally he settled in Rothenburg, where he maintained, at his own cost, a famous Yeshivah. Among his disciples were many scholars who later became leading Talmudists and codifiers, notably Rabenu Asher ben Jehiel (“ROSH”) and Rabbi Mordecai ben Hillel Ashkenazi. Rabbi Meir, became universally acknowldged as the leading authority on Talmud and Jewish law, and many

Rabbi Samson Rephael Hirsch zt”l

MaharamM’Rothenburg zt”l

MaharamM’Rothenburg zt”l

Rav Nosson Adler zt”l

communities in France, Italy and Germany frequently turned to him for instruction and guidance in all religious matters and on various points of law. Affectionate and rare titles were bestowed upon him in their communications, such as ‘Father of Rabbis’, ‘Light of the Exile’, etc. Rabbi Meir humbly gave his opinion and advice to all enquiries, and his responsa, of which about 1,500 have been preserved, and commentaries are of great importance not merely to advanced students of the Talmud, but also to the students of Jewish life and customs of those days. Rabbi Meir wrote no large single work, but many notes, commentaries and expositions. His writings include: Piske Erubin on the laws of the Erub; Halachoth Pesukoth--a collection of decisions on controversial points of Jewish law; Hilchoth Berachoth--on the blessings; Hilchoth Abeluth on the laws of mourning; Hilchoth Shechitah on the ritual slaughtering of animals for Kosher meat, etc. Those days were full of persecution for the Jews of Germany, and they lived in constant fear for their property and life. In the year 1286, Rabbi Meir took his entire family and set out for the Land of Israel, together with a group of well-to-do friends. In the Land of Israel they hoped to continue their work in behalf of their persecuted brethren. However, while passing through Lombardy, Rabbi Meir was recognized by an apostate Jew who was accompanying the archbishop of Mainz. The archbishop had Rabbi Meir arrested and taken back to Germany. There by order of King Rudolph, Rabbi Meir was imprisoned in the fortress of Ensisheim and held for ransom. The king knew that the Jews would give away their last mark to redeem their beloved Rabbi, and indeed the sum of 20,000 marks was raised for Rabbi Meir’s freedom. Rabbi Meir, however, forbade his friends and followers to pay any ransom for him. In his selflessness he knew that once ransom were paid for him, every noted Rabbi in Germany would be arrested and held for ransom by the greedy and cruel German rulers of those days. Thus Rabbi Meir preferred to remain in prison, and even die there, in order to save many others from a similar fate.

For seven years Rabbi Meir remained a prisoner in that fortress, until his passing in 1293. During this time his disciples were permitted to meet with him, and he was even able to compose several of his works within the prison walls. After he died, his body was not surrendered until 14 years later, when a heavy ransom was paid by a generous Jew, Alexander Suskind Wimpfen of Frankfort. In return Alexander Suskind requested only that after his own death his body should be laid to rest by the side of the saintly Rabbi Meir. His wish was carried out when he died a year later, and in the ancient Jewish cemetery of Worms two tombstones stood erected side by side, one for the great and saintly Rabbi Meir ben Baruch, and the other for Alexander Suskind Wimpfen of Frankfort.

Leaving Greatness In His Wake Sometimes it is hard to recognize true greatness. Sometimes a neshama descends from such a lofty place in Shamayim that it never really lands on earth. It doesn’t adjust to life in this world. Its unconventional ways alienate the people around it, and it ends up spending its time here distanced from the masses known as humanity. Such a Neshama was Rav Nosson Adler. Rav Nosson Adler had many talmidim. Famous among them through his devotion to his great Rebbi through thick and thin, was the Chasam Sofer, Rav Moshe Sofer. Upon his Rebbi’s command he cut off his relationship with his father, and later even left his hometown of Frankfurt upon his Rebbi’s command. Later after he returned and Rav Nosson Adler’s feud with the Kehila reached its breaking point, the Chasam Sofer left Frankfurt together with his Rebbi who was appointed Rov of Boskowitz, and the Chasam Sofer never returned to Frankfurt again. Rav Nosson Adler was born in Frankfurt in 5502/1741. When he was a mere ten years old, the Chida, Rav Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai, who was in Frankfurt from collecting money for Eretz Yisroel, said on him the famous words that the Isha HaShunamis said on Elisha, “I now know that there is a Holy man of Hashem among us”. His main Rebbi was Rav Dovid Tevele Shiff who later became the Chief Rabbi of England. He also learned under Rav Yaakov Shimon HaKohen, a talmid of the Pnei Yehoshua. Rav Nosson Adler was a MiKubal and formed a group around him to conduct himself Al Pi Kabala. He davened with Sephardi Havara, and in his Minyan they did Birchas Kohanim every day. Because of these customs and because their use of kabala was making the community at large fearful, in 1779 the Rabbanim gave him an ultimatum to either disband this group or be put into Cheirem. Rav Nosson Adler ignored this challenge to his ways and openly went against the Kehila. In 1782 Rav Nosson Adler became Rov of

Boskowitz but there as well there were people who could not get used to his ways. He was ultimately forced to leave after three years and returned to Frankfurt. After four more years in Frankfurt with not much change, Rav Nosson Adler was put into Cheirem that lasted until shortly before his petira in 1800. Rav Nosson Adler did not leave behind any children. His only daughter, the light of his life, was Niftar when she was twelve years old, while he was serving in Boskowitz. The Chasam Sofer relates that Rav Nosson Adler did not complain and accepted the decree with great simcha. However, he relates, the Shabbos during the Shiva when he was called for Maftir, a single tear escaped his eyes during the reading of the Haftorah. He quickly wiped it and returned to his happy self without a trace of sadness. His life and his ways were shrouded in mysticism, allowing only the greatest of the great to understand his lofty level. He did not leave behind any seforim, although a Sefer was published from the cryptic notes in the margin of his Mishnayos. Aside from his legacy that is hard to relate to, he left the world a precious treasure in his talmid the Chasam Sofer. In this world, that is how we know and remember him. But in Shamayim he is known for so much more. Yehi Zichro Boruch!

The foundations of Ashkenazic Jewry in Western Europe, and later Eastern Europe, are really essentially the story of one family: the family of Rashi, an acronym for the name Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki). Many scholarly and more popular books, articles, treatises and biographies have been written about this giant of the ages. Yet to a great extent he remains elusive, almost mysterious in his role as the teacher of Israel. Still, if there is anyone in Jewish life that has achieved immortality, it is Rashi. No Jew who studies the Torah or the Talmud does so without Rashi. Rashi is the guiding hand, the gentle teacher, the unobtrusive commentator who simplifies, explains and inspires all who study Torah. Tradition holds that he was a scion of the royal family of King David. He was born in 1040 in the city of Troyes, which is about 25 miles from Paris in the wine-growing, northern part of France. Indeed, Rashi was a vintner; he was involved in the growing of grapes and the manufacture and sale of wine. Even a cursory review of his commentaries will reveal his immense knowledge and intellectual curiosity regarding not only Talmudic traditions, but all fields of human life and nature, including agriculture, animal husbandry, tool making, commercial law and transactions, anatomy, astronomy, botany, rudimentary medicine and mathematics. The establishment of the Jewish community in France and Germany in the 11th century is nothing short of miraculous. There probably were only 5-10,000 Ashkenazic Jews in the world at that time. (The majority of Jews lived in Spain, North Africa, Babylon and the land of Israel.) France, which was the leading country of Christian Europe, was itself beset by many internal dissentions, mini-civil wars and the inability to form a strong and lasting government. Due to the lack of a strong central government, the

Jews were always subject to the whims of the local warlords. Into this fanatical, intolerant and hostile Christian environment Rashi grew up. Despite of all of these obstacles, Rashi became Rashi and the Jewish community in France built the foundation of all future Ashkenazic Jewry.

Three Legends Legends need not be true to characterize a person. Even if they are not literally true in all their details they paint a picture of the person and the times. Among the legends about Rashi three stand out. In truth, Rashi is a person of such commanding stature – what he accomplished is so beyond human belief – that it is difficult to speak of him any objective or historical terms. Therefore, these legends are as good as any place to begin to get the picture of who he was. The first legend has to do with his mother. While she was pregnant with Rashi she visited the city of Worms. One day she was walking down a narrow alleyway when a French knight on a horse galloped through the street. He was about to ride over her when she flattened herself against the stone wall. Inexplicably, a niche opened in the wall and she was saved. The second legend addresses the question: What merit did the parents of Rashi have to give birth to such a child? Rashi’s father was a dealer in precious stones, which was an unusual profession for a Jew at that time. He had in his possession a particular stone that was well-known in the community of Troyes. One day the church nobleman told him that they wanted to purchase the stone and put it in a crown or crucifix that would be used in the church services. Rather than declining their offer, he denied having it. When they came to search his home they could not find it… for he had thrown it away in the river. That act of monetary sacrifice was the merit that earned him a child like Rashi.

The third legend has several versions. One has to do with Godfrey of Boullion, the leader of

the French knights in the First Crusade. He stopped in Troyes on the way to the Holy Land and asked Rashi if he would be successful. Rashi told him that initially he would capture Jerusalem from the Muslims, but after a period of time the Christians would be driven from Jerusalem

and he would return to France with only three horses. Godfrey told him that if he came back with even four horses he would personally destroy the Jewish community and kill Rashi. The Crusade went just as Rashi predicted, but Godfrey remembered the prediction and made sure that, if nothing else, he returned with four horses. And indeed he did. However, as he crossed under the arch of the city the keystone of the arch collapsed and one of the horses was killed. These legends emphasize the supernatural and paint Rashi as a miracle worker. However, the greatest miracle was Rashi’s accomplishments. That is the first thing that needs to be understood. There is no legend greater than Rashi himself. The legends surrounding him are rooted in the genuine admiration the man and his monumental accomplishments.

The Kuntrus When Rashi was a young man he left Troyes and traveled to Worms (that is why today there is a famous Rashi chapel in Worms) to attend the great yeshiva headed by Rabbi Yaakov ben Yakar, a disciple of the great Rabbenu Gershom, founder of Ashkenazic Jewry. After the death of Rabbi Yaakov ben Yakov, Rashi studied under a great scholar who was a student of the great Babylonian scholar, Rabbenu Hai Gaon. In short, Rashi inherited the traditions of the two great streams of Torah knowledge: Ashkenazic and Babylonian Jewry. When Rabbi Yaakov died in 1064, Rashi continued learning in Worms for another year and then moved to Mainz. By the time Rashi entered the yeshiva in Mainz, it had existed for 65 years. Over those years, a general notebook had been composed – the work of three generations of students, called the Kuntres Mainz (“Notebook” of Mainz). But whereas many of the other students adopted the notebook whole, Rashi sought to improve it. From his youth until his last day, he kept rewriting, erasing, and adding words to it. That perfectionism is the hallmark of his supreme intellectual honesty. Rashi apparently studied close to 15 years in Worms and Mainz before returning to Troyes. He returned with notebooks full of glosses, and from those notebooks he developed his commentary. In his humility, Rashi distributed his first draft of his commentary to the Talmud anonymously under the simple title of Kuntrus. In later generations, Rashi himself would be referred to as “Kuntrus.”

Rashi - Rav Shlomo Yitzchaki zt”l

The House of Rashi While yet in the academy in Worms-Mainz, Rashi married. He had two daughters, Miriam and Yocheved. There is legend that Rashi had a third daughter, Rachel. However, most current scholars discount the possibility of Rashi having a third daughter. Rashi treated his daughters as sons in some ways. He taught them Torah in an age when most women were completely and functionally illiterate. His daughters helped Rashi in his transcription and editing of his commentaries and even offered independent opinions of their own on Torah and halachic matters. Rashi was especially close to his grandsons, and his oldest grandson, Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir (“Rashbam”), completed Rashi’s third edition commentary to some of the tractates of the Talmud after the death of his grandfather. Rashi’s youngest grandson, Rabbi Yaakov ben Meir (Rabbenu Tam) was yet a child when Rashi died, but Rashi had a profound influence on him. Rabbi Yaakov was an exacting critic of Rashi in many areas of commentary — and at the same time he was his staunchest defender against the criticism of outsiders. Rashi’s family and descendants were known as “The House of Rashi” and it was deemed a great honor in all later generations to somehow be associated with that “house.”

Talmudic Commentary The primary rule of thumb that Rashi adhered to in all his commentaries was: “A person should always teach in the most concise fashion.” If not for Rashi, the Talmud would be virtually a sealed book. It has not punctuation and is written in a sixth century Aramaic dialect. Due to its difficulty, the Talmud was not a book of the masses. The man who opened it to a much wider audience was Rashi. Rashi occupies a unique place in the Jewish world, on par with Moses. Rashi is every Jew’s kindergarten teacher. When little children learn his commentary on the Bible for the first time, it makes perfect sense to them. Then, as they graduate to Talmud, Rashi takes them by the hand and leads them through that vast sea of unpunctuated words, telling them, “The sentence ends here. This is what it means. This is the question. This is the answer.” So as a Jew grows older and hopefully wiser, he realizes that Rashi was not only his kindergarten teacher, but he signed our PhD. Rashi’s love of people shines through every word. There is not one denigrating word in his

entire commentary, which is an extraordinary accomplishment. He never criticizes others even when he disagrees with their explanations and decisions. Rashi is not vindictive even toward Jews who left Judaism. He repeated over and over that “a Jew that has sinned is still a Jew.” He allows for the terrible pressures that the medieval Church placed on Jews to convert. Rashi states that “in our exile we are not independent; we must engage in commerce with the non-Jewish society since our living income is from them. And we are justly in fear of them [and cannot provoke them].”

Commentary to the Bible Perhaps Rashi’s greatest legacy to later generations is his commentary to the written Torah itself. Rashi made the Bible accessible to everybody – from the smallest child to the greatest scholar. The entire Torah exists in Rashi’s commentary to the Bible, including all the morals, ethics, commandments, explanations and the entire basis for the Talmud and Oral Law. Each person draws out of it what he needs on his level, whether he is kindergarten or has achieved the highest levels of scholarship. Rashi’s commentary is also interspersed with Talmudic legends, which are our bridge to Biblical times. With all due respect to archaeologists and their attempt to open a window to life back then, they may uncover genuine artifacts, but they haven’t got a clue as to what the Jewish people were like. A Jew does not feel a connection to King David by seeing his sword in the Israel Museum.

A Jew connects to King David through the stories of the Bible, and those stories come to life through the Talmudic stories cited by Rashi. For 900 years all Jews, from early childhood to mature scholarly maturity, have studied with love, awe and faithfulness the Torah with Rashi’s commentary. The phrases in that commentary have entered the everyday language and speech of Jews everywhere. His words and insights remain as fresh and vital and relevant today as they were on the day that they were written.

Amidst the First Crusade In 1096, toward the end of his life, Rashi witnessed the horrors and massacres of the First Crusade. His mentors and colleagues in Speyers, Worms and Mainz were slaughtered and the great yeshiva of Rabbenu Gershom disappeared. Yet he writes as though he’s sitting in the middle of paradise without a worry in the world except the simple meaning of the text. Through the efforts of the local bishop, whom Rashi knew and befriended, the Jewish community of Troyes was spared the ravages of that Crusade. However, he mourned the fate of French Jewry, correctly sensing that within two centuries it would cease to exist because of continuing pogroms and eventual expulsions. At his death in 1105, the Jewish community in France would begin to decline, though his descendants and students would yet continue his monumental teachings of Torah in France well into the thirteenth century.

Jews in Russia gave Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer of Okup, the founder of the Chassidic movement, the name “Baal Shem Tov”. In Germany as well, Jews called Rabbi Yitzchak Aryeh Sekel of Michelstadt the name “Baal Shem”. Like Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem was a hidden Tzaddik and great scholar, and he was equally versed in the ways of the world. Many people came to see him to ask for advice regarding both spiritual and material concerns. The general public considered him to be a miracle worker, and they sought him out in times of distress. Even non-Jews addressed themselves to him, and he never sent anyone away empty-handed. The people of Michelstadt have said that all the Jews and non-Jews who prayed by the grave of the “Baal Shem” before being drafted into the army during WWI came back safely from the war. The local council placed a plaque on the house where he lived in memory of its “Baal Shem”. Rabbi Yitzchak Aryeh Sekel was born in 5529 (1768) in Michelstadt. His father Matityahu was a simple and upright man who feared G-d and distanced himself from evil. He was a descendant of Rashi and King David. From his youth, the young man demonstrated his exemplary character traits and extraordinary abilities, which enabled people to see that he would become a genius and the glory of his people. He was known throughout the region of Michelstadt as a child prodigy. At the age of eight, there was no one in the tiny city who could teach him Torah any more. When he reached the age of 13, he implored his parents to send him off to study in yeshiva. Yet because they had lost six sons before him, they could not accept the departure of their young remaining son. He understood that he could rely only upon himself, and so he devoted himself to sacred study with all his heart and with all his soul. He studied Torah day and night, and more than once did his mother extinguish, despite his wishes, the candle in his room at a late hour of the night. As soon as daybreak occurred, he arose like a lion, got dressed quickly (lest he fall back asleep), then washed his hands and ran to the Beit Midrash. The young man’s reputation also reached the ears of the Duke of Michelstadt, who asked his father to send him alone, without a guide, to his palace. He wanted to see how he would find his way around in a large palace, and how he would find the Duke’s reception room. The young man easily found the room where the Duke waited for him. “Who showed you where I was waiting for you?” the Duke asked.

“His lordship the Duke himself,” the boy replied. “I glanced up and looked all around, and I noticed that the windows of the all the palace’s rooms were open except for a single one, it being closed and covered by a curtain. I then understood that your lordship was certainly there, hidden from the eyes of those who came to the palace.” The Duke understood that the boy knew that he had hidden himself in order to put him to the test, and that it was precisely in this way that he had revealed his hiding place to the boy. He asked him, “Tell me, my dear boy, if you had encountered ten servants in the stairways or the halls, and you had asked them where I was, how would you have found me if they gave you different answers?” “In that case,” he replied, “I would have followed the advice of the majority. For example, if three servants had indicated one room to me, three other servants another room, and four other servants yet another room, I would have gone towards the last room.” At the age of 16, this intelligent boy entered the yeshiva of Rabbi Nathan Adler of Frankfurt, and there he met Rabbi Moshe Sofer (the Chatam Sofer, who later became the Rav of Pressburg). Together they studied the revealed and hidden Torah with their great Rav and devoted themselves to emulating him. At the age of 18 he took it upon himself, for the rest of his life, to never eat or drink anything that had animal products in it. Following this vow, he not only abstained from eating meat and fish, but also from consuming eggs, milk, and butter. Rabbi Yitzchak Aryeh Sekel studied Torah in Frankfurt for six years. One of the residents in the Jewish community there, Yitzchak Reiss, gave him his daughter in marriage, and after the wedding he returned to his place of birth, the small town of Michelstadt. He then lived several years in Manheim, where he learned Torah from Rabbi Yaakov Ettinger, who was later known as the Rav of Altona and the author of Aruch LaNer. After the death of his parents, he was forced to go into business to feed his family, but even then he did not interrupt his Torah study, continuing to publicly teach it as well. At the age of 54 he was chosen as Rav of Michelstadt, and there he founded a yeshiva that he directed. During the last 25 years of his life, he was known throughout all of Germany as a worker of miracles, and none of the words that emanated from his mouth were ever in vain. He was known as the “Baal Shem of Michelstadt”, and from near and far students came to hear Torah

from his mouth. Among these were some very wealthy people who came to ask him for advice and received his blessings, but even during this period of prosperity he himself lived in poverty and ate only vegetables and vegetable products. As for the students of the yeshiva, he provided them with an abundance of meat, fish, and all sorts of good things. His heart and home were wide open to whoever came to ask for help or support. Rabbi Yitzchak Aryeh Sekel brought to his home every Jew passing through town, and he fed them lavishly. Sometimes, when dozens of guests were at his home, he went to the market and purchased bundles of straw. He then loaded them on his shoulders and brought them back to his home, where he himself prepared beds for his guests. He was accustomed to saying, “It is forbidden to abandon the poor to Divine mercy. A man should concern himself with them and take care of their needs.” Rabbi Moshe Sofer said, “I have learned the mitzvah of Tzeddakah and hospitality from my friend Rabbi Yitzchak Aryeh.” The following is an account of Rabbi Yitzchak Aryeh’s final days, as told by his son: “He wanted to strengthen our hope that the end wasn’t so close. Lying on his bed, he tried hard to encourage my mother, promising her that she would lack nothing. He also told her that if she came to his gravesite at a difficult time, his soul would intercede for her before the Throne of Glory. “The night of Rosh Hashanah 5608 [1847], we returned from synagogue and wanted to receive our father’s blessing. Yet his weakness was such that he could not pronounce a single word. He spread out his trembling hands over our heads, and we sensed that this would be his last blessing. The morning of Rosh Hashanah, he expressed his ardent desire to hear the Shofar. His soul left this world during the Fast of Gedalia, at seven o’clock at night. He recited Shema Israel aloud, and his soul departed at the word echad.”

The Baal Shem Tov of Michelstadt zt”l