By D. Sofer
This article originally appeared in Yated Neeman, Monsey NY. and is reprinted here with their permission
The Alter of Slabodka would often ask students what they thought about certain top bochurim in the yeshiva. His purpose in asking such questions was to uproot his students' petty jealousy and to mold it into the purely motivated envy of kinas sofrim.
One time, he asked a group of students, "What do you think of Yitzchok Eizek Sher?"
"He's very likable and genial," a student replied.
"What do you mean?" another student cried. "Is that all you can say about Reb Yitzchok Eizek?"
"That's a perfectly fine description," the Alter said with a smile. "It says far more than you think. A person who finds favor in the eyes of man, also finds favor in the eyes of Hashem and is obviously a complete man."
It was very likely Yitzchok Eizek's genial nature that attracted him to the Alter of Slabodka when the Alter delivered a shiur in Yitzchok Eizek's hometown of Halusk.
That shiur was based on Chazal's dictum that "one who shows his fellow whitened teeth [i.e. smiles at him] is greater than one who serves him milk." The shiur had a profound impact on Yitzchok Eizek, who was always searching for ways to assist and gladden others.
Immediately after the shiur, Yitzchok Eizek asked the Alter to accept him into his yeshiva, Knesses Yisroel. As soon as the Alter returned to Slabodka, Yitzchok Eizek followed him there.
He remained a talmid of Slabodka for the rest of his life, eventually becoming the rosh yeshiva of its Bnei Brak branch after World War II.
EARLY YEARS
Rav Yitzchok Eizek Sher, the son of Rav Yosef Chaim Sher, was born in 5635 in the Russian city of Halusk. As a child, he not only displayed unique talents, but also outstanding character traits.
After completing cheder in Halusk, he joined a group of students in the city 's beis medrash and also attended shiurim given by Rav Boruch Ber Lebowitz, who was the rav of Halusk at that time.
From Halusk, Yitzchok Eizek went on to study in Volozhin, which was then headed by the Netziv's son-in-law, Rav Refoel Shapira. In Volozhin, Yitzchok Eizek gained acclaim as an outstanding lamdan with unique middos.
After being inspired by the Alter's speech in Halusk, Yitzchok Eizek joined Knesses Yisroel. There he studied b'chavrusa with Rav Avrohom Grodzinski, hy"d, one of the finest students of the yeshiva, who eventually became its menahel ruchani.
Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, zt"l, who was a student in Slabodka at that time, remembered the young Yitzchok Eizek.
"The kindly and brilliant Rav Yitzchok Eizek of Halusk was the yeshiva's best student," he once remarked. "The Alter would send many students to him for guidance, and appointed him head of the yeshiva's Vaad Hamussar."
EXCELLING IN TORAH AND MUSSAR
In 5663, Rav Yitzchok Eizek married the Alter's youngest daughter, Mariasha Guttel, and moved to Kelm where he continued to learn diligently. In Kelm, he became close with its baalei mussar, especially Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, who played a crucial role in shaping Rav Yitzchok Eizek's personality. He also studied for a brief period in the Mir, where his brother-in-law, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, served as rosh yeshiva.
A short while later, he returned to Slabodka, where he absorbed the Alter's teachings, in time becoming the prime advocate of the Alter's approach.
In 5671, the Alter appointed Rav Yitzchok Eizek to the position of rebbi in the yeshiva. As a rebbi, Rav Yitzchok Eizek was beloved by his students. Despite his easygoing and amiable nature, he had no difficulty imposing discipline in the yeshiva. His students obeyed him out love for him, maintaining an appropriate distance from him even though he was so genial toward them.
In terms of the yeshiva's policy, Rav Yitzchok Eizek's appointment as a rebbi was an innovation. It was the first time the very same person was charged with teaching Gemara and delivering mussar.
The Alter made such an appointment in order uproot the notion that prevailed in certain circles that profound scholarship in Torah and an affinity for mussar do not go hand in hand.
Rav Yitzchok Eizek was outstanding in both his Torah scholarship and his perception of mussar, demonstrating that these two areas are not separate divisions of Torah, but rather inseparable entities.
It is said that he used the same niggun in his Gemara shiurim and his mussar shiurim in order to stress the inseparability of the two. He even entitled his monumental mussar work "Shiurei Mussar," and not "Sichos Mussar," in order to stress that point.
Many of these mussar discourses involved in-depth analyses of the greatness of the Avos and other figures in Tanach.
WORLD WAR I
With the outbreak of World War I, the yeshiva, which was forced to leave Slabodka, moved to Minsk and Kremenchug. This was a very difficult period for the yeshiva, which suffered from both material want and persecution from the Bolsheviks.
During this period, Rav Yitzchok Eizek boosted the morale of the students and strengthened their emuna and bitachon.
KOLLEL BEIS YISROEL
In 5680, after the yeshiva returned to Slabodka, Rav Yitzchok Eizek began to head the Beis Yisroel Kollel, founded by the Alter. This kollel was attended by some of the most outstanding graduates of the Slabodka Yeshiva.
Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzensky staunchly supported this kollel. "A world in its entirety will be built from these avreichim," he wrote in a letter. "They will produce future generations of talmidei chachamim."
During this period, Rav Yitzchok Eizek began to transcribe his chiddushim in halacha and mussar. Some of them appear in an anthology entitled Beis Yisroel, which he compiled. He also published special journals called Shiurei Mussar, which contained select mussar discussions of the Alter.
In 5688, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel went to Eretz Yisroel, along with the majority of Slabodka's students, and settled in Chevron. At that point, Rav Yitzchok Eizek was appointed rosh yeshiva of Slabodka's European division, and together with its mashgiach, Rav Avrohom Grodzinski, continued to raise the spiritual level of the yeshiva.
Due to the difficult circumstances, Rav Yitzchok Eizek also had to shoulder the yeshiva's financial burden. He traveled to America on several occasions to raise funds for the yeshiva. While in America, he made efforts to strengthen Yiddishkeit there, delivering mussar discourses in many communities. He also founded an association of Slabodka students for the purpose of strengthening Torah.
After the Alter's petira, Rav Yitzchok Eizek and Rav Avrohom Grodzinski published part of the Alter's writings in journals called Or Hatzafon.
TO ERETZ YISROEL
A few weeks before the outbreak of World War II, Rav Yitzchok Eizek, who was in poor health, went to a spa in Switzerland, and was still there when the war began. As a result, he was spared from the fate which befell the rabbanim and students of the yeshiva in Lithuania, all of whom perished al kiddush Hashem. Rav Avrohom Grodzinski was among those kedoshim.
After much wandering, Rav Yitzchok Eizek reached the shores of Eretz Yisroel. For a while, he lived in Yerushalayim, where he delivered mussar shiurim. Dozens of people attended these shiurim, which were renowned for their rich content and clarity.
When the Nazi troops neared Eretz Yisroel's gates, Rav Yitzchok Eizek delivered one particularly stirring shiur in the Chevron Yeshiva.
"During one wartime period," he began as he rose to the bima, "two people took a walk. Suddenly, they were accosted by a swarm of mosquitoes. One of the men raised his hand and chased the mosquitoes away in an instant. 'Our enemies,' he then told his companion, 'are even less important in the eyes of the Borei Olam than those mosquitoes.'"
These words, uttered at such a time, had a tremendous impact on his listeners, and dispelled their feelings of despair.
Rav Yitzchok Eizek continued to raise people's spirits with articles like this one, which appeared in the journal Knesses Yisroel: "During these days of calamity, when the earth and the seas are like sponges that absorb only Jewish blood and tears, we must recite 'Hatov Vehameitiv' out of gratitude for Hashem's kindness to us. We must also acknowledge that Hashem Yisborach is here, with us, in the Valley of Tears."
FROM THE ASHES
Meanwhile, the Slabodka Yeshiva was flourishing in Chevron. But on Shabbos morning, 16 Av, 5689, the Arab massacred Chevron's Jews.
After the massacre, the survivors reestablished the Chevron Yeshiva in Yerushalayim. Rav Yitzchok Eizek, at the advice of the Chazon Ish, reestablished the European branch of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak.
The yeshiva's cornerstone was laid in Shevat 5707. At that festive event, Rav Yitzchok Eizek declared: "From the day of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, Hakadosh Boruch Hu has nothing in His world except the four cubits of halacha. The same applies to us. After the terrible destruction of Europe's Torah centers, we have nothing but the four cubits of Torah - the yeshiva."
Situated on a hill not far from Givat Rokach, where the Chazon Ish once lived, the Slabodka Yeshiva attracted scores of outstanding students. It was there that Rav Yitzchok Eizek continued to produce generations of talmidei chachamim, and to impress upon them the Slabodka derech.
Under Rav Yitzchok Eizek's guidance, the learning at the yeshiva rose to a very high level. His charismatic and warm personality attracted some of the finest students from Eretz Yisroel and abroad. These students came from many circles, including Chassidic ones. In his unique and genial manner, he encouraged and inspired each of his students, many of whom eventually became prominent figures in the Torah world.
In Eretz Yisroel, he was also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, and would actively participate in its meetings, expressing his opinions on every issue on the agenda. A few days before his petira, he made great efforts to attend a Moetzes meeting held in Tel Aviv, despite his failing health.
He had many plans for rekindling the spark of Slabodka and expanding mussar study in the yeshivos of Eretz Yisroel. However, his poor health prevented him from realizing all of them.
One dream that he did fulfill in Eretz Yisroel was publishing a sefer called Avraham Avinu, distributed by Netzach Press. In this work, he presents figures such as Avrohom Avinu, Sara Imeinu, Eliezer, Rivka, Hagar and Lot from a deep mussar perspective. This work was to have been one of a series on figures in the Tanach. Sadly, he was unable to continue writing the series.
In the sefer Avraham Avinu, Rav Yitzchok Eizek conveys his special approach to Torah study. One of his main points was that as far as the study of Tanach is concerned, yeshiva students never develop the concepts they acquired when they were small children in cheder. These concepts, he insisted, must be expanded as one matures, and the figures of Tanach must be viewed by the adult student from the perspective of gadlus hadam.
PETIRA
Rav Yitzchok Eizek was niftar on the 10th of Shevat, 5712, after suffering from a heart attack. His levaya was attended by thousands. Hespedim were delivered by some of the greatest Torah and mussar personalities of the time, among them the Ponevezer Rav, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman and Rav Eliyahu Lopian.
When Rav Yitzchok Eizek's mita passed the home of the Chazon Ish in Zichron Meir, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein delivered a hesped in his memory.
Today, some 50 years later, the Slabodka Yeshiva on Rokach Hill continues to flourish, and the light Rav Yitzchok Eizek kindled decades ago continues to shine