By Rabbi Abraham Hoffenberg
This article originally appeared in Yated Neeman, Monsey NY. and is reprinted here with their permission
Most people reading this column never met Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, but it may very well be that if you want to know what he was all about, all you had to do would be to look at his talmidim.
That vision became poorer this week with the passing of Rav Avraham Abba Freedman.
Many of you never heard of him, never met him, but for those who merited knowing him, he was a living embodiment of his rebbe's ideals.
There is one word that sums him up and his life. Tzadik. Ask anyone who knew him to describe him. Tzadik is the first word that will flow off their lips.
He was more than a tzadik. He was a tzadik nistar. He didn't try to hide his tzidkus, he didn't practice humility. He simply did not know he was a tzadik.
Rav Freedman lived his whole life as he thought his rebbi would want him to. He never wavered.
The rebbe sent him on a mission, and he was on that mission from the day he stepped foot in Detroit-years ago. Until his passing this past Shabbos.
Chaim (not his real name) was a promising student. Though only in the fourth grade, he and his younger brother showed amazing potential. In the early '60's, there weren't too many boys with his hasmodoh-or potential-in Detroit. His Rabbeim and teachers predicted a great future for him. "If he stays in yeshiva past elementary school, the sky's the limit," they agreed.
Unfortunately, his father did not. One winter day, he showed up at the school and demanded to take his son home. "I've had enough of your religious stuff," he fumed. "I'm sending my son to public school, where he' ll grow up to be an all-American boy. After all, I want him to attend college, and have all the opportunities I can give him. He may become a doctor, a lawyer, whatever he wants!"
"Calm down," said the boy's Rebbe, Rav Avrohom Abba Freedman, a gentle smile camouflaging the fierce determination that was his trademark. "Give him another year or so. He's doing so well here. We have a fantastic secular program as well."
The father relented-until his son graduated from elementary school. By then, young Chaim was committed to a Torah lifestyle, and determined to continue his education in a yeshiva high school. Rabbi Freedman arranged for Chaim to travel to a prominent yeshiva in New York, where he quickly became a rising star. The father gnashed his teeth in frustration, but he was outnumbered two to one.
There was, however, the small matter of his younger brother. Josh was two grades Chaim's junior, and far more impressionable. This time, his father was determined to have his way. "I'm gonna show you!" he raged at Rav Avrohom Abba. "You won't steal both my children!"
He forcefully removed Josh from yeshiva and sent him to public school. The poor child cried for days, refusing to get onto the school bus. Finally, his stern father relented. After several years, Josh stealthily followed his younger brother to New York.
The shell-shocked father thought he'd go out of his mind. He stormed into Rabbi Freedman's classroom and began to holler. "First one kid, and then the other! How can you do this to me, Rabbi? I thought that you'd take one kid, and leave the other with me. But now you stole both?"
Rabbi Avrohom Abba smiled patiently and waited until the man ran out of steam. Then he slowly explained.
"Wait a minute, sir. You've got a big mistake here. First of all, there is no 'yours' and no 'mine'. These boys don't belong to either of us. They are Hashem's children, and as such, entitled to a yeshiva education.?"
Fast forward forty plus years. Today the elder son is a prominent Rosh Kolel, and his younger brother is a successful mechanech in a well known yeshiva. Think of where they would be today if the father would have had his way. What a loss for Klal Yisroel that would have been!
Back then, few realized the potential gain vs. the loss, and fewer cared. Rav Avrohom Abba Freedman was the exception.
Rav Avrohom Abba Freedman Zt'l, who passed away last Shabbos Parshas Yisro, was an individual before his time. By account of all who knew and came into contact with him, Rav Freedman was responsible for the renaissance of the Torah community in Detroit, and the development of hundreds, if not thousands, of Rabbeim and mechanchim in the Torah world today.
As Rabbi Mordechai Wolmark, formerly Rav of Bais Knesses Hagra in Oak Park, commented, "Rav Avrohom Abba's passing during Parshas Yisro was truly telling. His entire life was the embodiment of 'naaseh v' nishmah', of living to fulfill the Ribono Shel Olam's word."
Though he was soft spoken, his determination propelled him to achieve what it would take several lifetimes for an ordinary person to accomplish.
Rare indeed is the individual who combines so much determination and innocence, vitality and far-reaching vision. Rarer still was the yochid who pursued the dream of Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz Zt'l, legendary founder of Torah Umesorah, of going into the "backwaters" and educating young neshamos, holding their hands and guiding them to the sweet wellsprings of Torah.
Rav Avrohom Abba Freedman moved to Detroit to join the fledgling Yeshiva Bais Yehuda while yet a young bochur, at the directive of his Rebbe Rav Shraga Feivel, and remained there until his passing last week. All who knew him agree that were it not for his initiative and direction, the face of Torah Jewry in Detroit, and perhaps in much of the Torah world, would not be the same today.
Rav Avrohom Abba was not famous, in the literal sense of the world. In fact, he was so extraordinarily humble that whenever he smelled fame, he ran in the opposite direction. His son, Rabbi Elchonon Bunim (Bunny), formerly an administrator in the yeshiva, recalls the time he hung an article about Yeshiva Bais Yehuda's accomplishments on the bulletin board.
"It was really strange," mused his son. "I would put the article up in the morning, and by late afternoon, it had been torn off. That evening before I would leave I'd put the article up again, and the next morning, it was gone. I began to secure it with staples or tape, but the 'article thief' was smarter-and faster. I began to get annoyed. Who is stealing all those copies of the article? Why would someone object to an article praising Bais Yehuda?"
"I was determined to catch the 'thief', and asked one of the principals to keep an eye on the bulletin after hours. Sure enough, the principal called me up and said, 'I figured out who's taking the article away. It's your father.'
"I was flabbergasted. That's putting it mildly. In fact, I was absolutely shocked. 'Abba!' I protested. 'Why do you keep on taking the article away?'
'It's sheker!' my father replied. 'the article gives me all the credit. I didn't really do anything at all. I don't want that article on the bulletin, period.'"
Rabbi Freedman's all-abiding humility manifested itself in hundreds of ways. He thought nothing of volunteering for driving duty-sitting into the driver's seat of an ancient yellow school bus and picking up his talmidim in time for early morning minyan. He also did double-duty, rounding up young children waiting at their bus stops to attend public school, and driving them straight to yeshiva! He would deal with their parents later.
(Nowadays, a mechanech who dared enroll children in yeshiva without their parents' permission would likely face kidnapping charges. In Detroit of the sixties, these 'emergency enrollments' were tolerated, if not sanctioned, with most of the parents coming around after listening to Rabbi Freedman's most persuasive speech).
Rabbi Freedman also did "sukkah duty," driving a battered truck filled with yeshiva bochurim to the commercial center of Detroit where large-scale construction was going on back in those days. The energetic bochurim filled the back of the truck with discarded doors, and drove the truckloads to 12305 Drexel Avenue, (the yeshiva's home and center of the Torah community.) After several hours of pounding and hammering, dozens of refugee families and impoverished residents had their own sukkahs. On Chol Hamoed, these sukkahs would be visited by Rabbi Freedman and his bochurim, who would enliven the Yom Tov.
During the fledgling years when the Yated was first printed, Rav Avrohom Abba trekked from table to table at chasunos and knocked on doors, asking people to sign up for subscriptions. He would tell potential subscribers, "A subscription to the Yated Neeman raises the quality of ruchniyus in the home by ten percent." And he meant every word. There is a letter in the Yated archives, written by Rav Avrohom Abba, of which we have culled the following paragraph:
"I'm going around with a very guilty feeling, that I am not being mezakeh nearly enough people with your tremendous newspaper. I will certainly have to give an account on that?"
The rest of the letter details the list of subscribers that he had convinced to sign up for the newspaper and their addresses. What a testimony to a paragon of idealism and humility!
Rabbi Freedman was the one who made the frequent trips to New York to literally 'snatch' potential Rabbeim and beg them to come with him to Detroit to teach "his children." One of his most prominent conquests back in the sixties was Rabbi Joseph Elias, who agreed to travel to Detroit with his young family, to lead the fledging day school.
"We couldn't say no to Rabbi Freedman," mused Mrs. Elias. "We packed up and traveled to Detroit, where we spent twelve glorious years with the day school. What a warm, welcoming community it was!"
And Rabbi Freedman was the unquestionable role model, the heart and soul of this community, the individual who is credited with its growth as an ihr v'oaim BiYisroel. During his lifetime, he shunned honor and accolades. Now that he is in a better world, this article has been penned as a tribute to all he has accomplished.
Early Roots
Rav Avrohom Abba Freedman was born in Brooklyn in 1920, into a spiritual wasteland devoid of Torah values. The concept of yeshivas and day schools was so foreign as to be nearly nonexistent. The vast majority of Jews identified themselves as "Americans" first. Chilul Shabbos was, sadly, a way of life for many who feared a slow starvation for themselves and their families. The few who remained steadfast and managed to keep Shabbos were both admired as heroes and ridiculed as insane.
Rav Yankel Freedman, patriarch of the Freedman family, lived in Kaminetz, where he became famous as perhaps the only blind man in Poland who knew the entire davening, most of Chumash and Mishnayos baal peh. He was something of a "seventh wonder" in Kaminetz, where young and old would stand around him in awe, listening to his flawless recital of the tefillos. His son Betzalel later emigrated to New York with his wife Minna. It was there that young Avrohom Abba was born prematurely, a frail and weak child.
His early years were a blur of doctors, medicines, special diets and instructions to get "some fresh air." Caring for a sickly youngster and his elder sister was a daunting task, especially since Rav Betzalel was determined to remain a shomer Shabbos, no matter the cost. When the child was still a baby, the family moved to Spring Valley, a rural suburb of New York, so the child would have the refreshing climate which was so important for his health.
When young Avrohom Abba reached the age of chinuch, his father sent him to learn at the famed Mesivta Torah Vodaas of Brooklyn, under the tutelage of Rav Shlomo Heiman and Rav Reuvain Grozovsky. It was there that the promising talmid met the legendary Mike Tress, one of the leaders of Pirchei Agudas Yisroel. Rav Avrohom Abba later attested that Mike was his primary role model, who helped shape his personality and sense of mission for klal Yisroel.
Who can measure the impact of one soul upon another, the koach of a living, breathing role model? Mike's forceful example and fiery exhortations to "do something" for Klal Yisroel were forged on the young child's neshomoh, translating into seventy plus years of service for the Klal.
The promising talmid was zocheh to be close proximity to a great Torah leader from Europe, Rav Elchonon Bunim Wasserman, who spent nearly two years in America raising funds for his yeshiva in Baranovitch. Rav Avrohom Abba developed a warm relationship with Rav Elchonon, whom he accompanied on some of his fund raising missions.
Yet his primary Rebbe and role model was unquestionably Rav Shraga Feivel, legendary Menahel of Torah Vodaas and founder of Torah Umesorah. Rav Shraga Feivel had a vision of talmidim traveling across the length and breadth of America, feeding Torah to the starving masses of Jewish children growing up ignorant of their religion. Torah Umesorah's mantra, of "Committing Generations to Torah," was imbued into his talmidim, who spread out across the US to give life to his dream.
Rav Avrohom Abba was unique in that he adopted this dream as his own.
Back in 1944, while he was still a bochur, he was sent by Rav Shraga Feivel to Detroit. The legendary Rav Simcha Wasserman had established the fledgling Bais Yehuda Day School, the first in Michigan, and a dynamic, devoted Rebbe was needed to educate the precious children who were enrolled. Was young Avrohom Abba up to the challenge? He didn't wait to be asked twice. A twelve hour car ride from New York, and the first day school Rebbe of Bais Yehuda was ready for his talmidim and his community.
Before he left, Avrohom Abba had one question. He was fully prepared to sacrifice his spiritual growth for the sake of Klal Yisroel.
However, who would guarantee that he would remain an erhliche Yid as before, without the yeshiva world to sustain him?
Rav Shraga Feivel had a ready answer: Come back frequently, to bask in the Torah atmosphere of your alma mater, Torah Vodaas. Maintain a constant, 'vareme' kesher.
And he did. First alone, then with his talmidim in tow. These "New York trips" became the cherished memories of several generations of talmidim.
His ties to Torah Vodaas later became solidified with the marriage of his daughter Malky to the son of Rav Pam Zt'l.
. . .
Detroit, 1944 When Rav Avrohom Abba Freedman arrived in Detroit, he had been forewarned, it just wasn't the same as what he had been used to.
The first Shavous in Detroit for example, Rav Simcha Wasserman, the illustrious Rosh Yeshiva, and his newly hired Rebbe were the only two people awake on Shavous night, learning Torah in the deserted Bais Medrash. What a far cry from the vigorous kol Torah that 'shook the rafters' back at Torah Vodaas!
Sometime during the wee hours of the morning, Rav Simcha and Rav Avrohom Abba dozed off, discomfited by the unnatural silence. It was a harsh awakening to the type of challenges that would face them in the years ahead.
Yet the new mechanech was not to face them alone. During his first year as a Rebbe in Bais Yehuda, Rav Avrohom Abba traveled back to New York, where he met and married his Rebetzin Temma (nee Rapaport, daughter of Rav Shlomo Meyer Hakohen Rapaport, a Litvishe talmid chochom who lived in Williamsburg.) Shortly after the sheva brochos, the young couple traveled back to Detroit, where Temma became an equal partner in her husband's activities as builders and shapers of the community.
The Freedmans raised eight children in their modest home near the yeshiva, imbuing their offspring with the same responsibility and commitment to spreading Torah among Klal Yisroel. Mrs. Temma Freedman had tremendous qualities of adaptability, enabling her to contribute so much to the chinuch of her own children, as well as her husband's talmidim. She believed in their shared mission, and was prepared to go to great lengths to support his avodas haBorei. Today their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are all choshuva Bnei Torah and askonim, a tribute to the exemplary chinuch they have received.
In addition to his responsibilities to the day school, Rav Avrohom Abba focused on helping build the community, step by step. Over five decades ago, he hosted a weekly shiur in his home, which was still going strong until his passing, (though it moved to another location when the attendance grew.) His home was literally an "open house" to his talmidim, who joined his own family for meals on Shabbosim or simply to talk to the Rebbe whom they adored.
The Monday night shiur was later held at the home of Mr. Marvin Berlin A"H, a wealthy baalebos in Detroit, another of his 'boys'. Marvin Berlin was a typical all-American public school kid, who Rav Avrohom Abba carefully took under his wing.
The story of Marvin's introduction to a Torah way of life is a classic. Mr. Berlin was cajoled into attending a shiur by his longtime friend, Mr. Leo Stein. During the shiur, which focused on Kabolas haTorah, Marvin listened attentively as Rav Avrohom Abba described the scene at Har Sinai. Suddenly, Marvin raised his hand and piped up, "Rabbi, this is all very exciting, but how do we know it is true?"
To which Rav Avrohom Abba calmly replied, "An excellent question. Let's continue learning." And they did. A year later, Marvin was a full-fledged Shomer Torah Umitzovs, whose questions continued to be answered.
The effort and love the Rebbe invested in his thirty-something talmid paid off a thousandfold. Mr. Berlin, renowned CEO of New York Carpet Company, was a visionary entrepreneur with a generous heart. He was a powerful man, whose employees would 'quake in their boots' when speaking to him. Yet he used his magnetic, forceful personality to further 'kvod Shomayim'.
Though blessed with an ample bank account, Mr. Berlin lived simply. He spent most of his fortune on two goals: Torah and mitzvos. Together with his Rebbe, Marvin helped attract many talmidim to Bais Yehuda, and paid their yeshiva education. It was a 'match made in heaven', as they say.
. . .
A Rebbe in Shirtsleeves Rav Avrohom Abba was a mechanech way before his time. Though he never was given formal 'teacher training', he instinctively realized what it took the rest of the world years to discover. In order for a talmid who remain committed to Torah, it must be made pleasant for him. "V'haarev Noh", the words of Torah should be sweetened, and made palatable, easy to swallow and digest.
The young Rebbe drew his talmidim close with stories of gedolim, with frequent trips to New York to watch gedolei Yisroel in action. As one talmid reminisces.?
"We went everywhere together with Rebbe. At least once or twice a year, we would pile into his car for the long trip to New York. Rebbe took care of everything. He filled the car with gas and food, arranged for our lodgings in New York with prominent baalebatim, and planned the itinerary.
"And what an itinerary! On Chanukah we would visit the tisch of the Stoliner Rebbe in the lower East Side, and then go to Boro Park to the Bobover court. We would travel to Lakewood to soak in the atmosphere of yegias haTorah, and join Rav Moshe Wolfson of Emunas Yisroel for davening the next morning. Before Pesach, we would take tours of the Chassidishe matzoh bakeries. We even visited the Skverer Rebbe in New Square. Our experiences were enriching and genuine. Rebbe wanted to give us a taste of vibrant Yiddishkeit in New York.
"At times, we would simply stroll the streets of Boro Park, marveling at the sight of so many shtreimlach, so many little children with curly payos bobbing in the wind, the next generation of Torah Jews. During the summer, we visited Torah camps in the Catskills, and met with the Roshei Yeshiva vacationing there. Our New York trips would often include a ferry ride and trip to the Statue of Liberty. And of course, who could forget the sweet taste of the kosher ice cream cone he bought each of us?
"Though many years have passed, the sweetness of those trips still linger on? Without too much effort, I can recall the thrill that went through my spine as I watched the Bobover Rebbe light the Chanukah licht. And if I try hard enough, I can still taste the ice cream on my palate. Today I am a Rebbe in a day school in Brooklyn? I try to give my talmidim a taste of what Rebbe gave all of us so many years ago at Bais Yehuda."
Not all these Rebbe-talmid trips involved several-day journeys to New York. Often, Rav Avrohom Abba would take his talmidim sledding or ice skating on Motzoei Shabbos, just spending time together, forming a kesher. There were Shabbos learning groups, mishnayos groups on Friday night, and the unforgettable Thursday night mishmor.
Chassidus also came to Detroit at least once a year, with a group of Stoliner chassidim traveling to Michigan to visit their Rebbe's gravesite on his yahrzeit. During this long awaited occasion, the talmidim of Bais Yehuda joined the Stoliner minyan on Shabbos in Detroit.
Yiddishkeit was admirable, Yiddishkeit was exciting, and above all, it was personified by the love the Rebbe showed his talmidim.
To Rav Avrohom Abba, every Jewish child was a potential talmid. As he once told his son, "I don't know if I was the most successful Rebbe, but I certainly knocked on more doors than anyone I know." In the early days of Bais Yehuda, he literally went from door to door, begging parents to send their boys to yeshiva. He would never take "no" for an answer. A "no" was only an impetus for him to try harder. Faced with his unyielding stance, even the most agnostic parents would give in.
One of the most successful ways to recruit boys to the yeshiva was with the "bar mitzvah project." Rav Avrohom Abba would host a bar mitzvah for a young public school boy, and treat his friends to a lavish spread and his most persuasive speech. Often, two or three boys would follow the bar mitzvah boy to yeshiva.
At times, no matter how hard he tried, the parents of some of these boys were determined to keep their children away from yeshiva at any cost. Rabbi Freedman had a winning argument for them. "Don't send them to yeshiva during the school year. But let them go to summer camp at least for the summer months, free of charge." Who could say no to an offer like that? In most cases, by the time the summer was over, the boys were determined to attend yeshiva in the fall. One young boy was all packed up and set to go to an irreligious camp the next morning, when he 'suddenly' received a scholarship to attend Camp Agudah for free. Rav Avrohom Abba even arranged for the transportation!
In one situation, an obstinate father refused to send his teenaged son to yeshiva. Rav Avrohom Abba was nonplussed. He advised the boy to do well in school, and continue coming to camp in the summer. The boy attended public school during the year, wearing a yarmulka, keeping Shabbos and kosher with great mesiras nefesh. Every summer, he attended a Torah camp free of charge. After he graduated from high school with honors, the boy ran off to yeshiva, and never looked back. Today he is a prominent marbitz Torah in New Jersey.
. . .
Forging Onward Bais Yehuda continued to grow, and soon it was time to establish a Bais Medrash. Though the cause of Bais Yehuda would have been furthered with more boys enrolled in the high school, Rav Avrohom Abba knew it was best for his talmidim to venture forward. Thus he sent his star talmidim-dozens at a time-to Telz, Lakewood, Torah Vodaas, and other prominent yeshivos where they could reach their truest potential.
Rav Avrohom Abba didn't simply send his talmidim to yeshiva-he hovered over them, making sure they had chavrusos and lodgings, and were shteiging. He took care of them long after they left Detroit and were well ensconced in their new environment. During Bain Hazmanim, when the busload of bochurim would come back home, the entire yeshiva would await their arrival, and greet them with song and dance. These out of town bochurim were the pride and joy of Detroit. When they came home, it was a Yom Tov for the entire community.
He was a true father to his talmidim, caring for their physical as well as their spiritual needs. When a young talmid lost his father, Rav Avrohom Abba put an arm on his shoulder, and comforted him with the following words. "I remember when your father was a young boy, about your age, he was also orphaned from his father. He thought the world had ended, but it didn't. He continued learning, grew up, got married and raised a beautiful family, and had a successful parnossa. Don't worry, life will go on for you as well." The talmid later attested that these words were what gave him the courage to go on.
Approximately thirty years ago, when the first wave of Russian refugees came to Detroit, Rav Avrohom Abba took them under his wing. He sponsored their Torah education, taught classes for adults, and took them on trips to New York. Today Detroit is home to a thriving Russian community, due in no small part to Rav Avrohom Abba's devotion to their Torah education.
He sponsored numerous brisin for Russian children and adults, offering young boys a brand new bike if they would agree to a bris. The brisin were lavish affairs, all hosted by Rav Avrohom Abba for the "guest of honor" and his proud parents.
He was the father of the Russian community in Detroit. As one young man said in a moving hesped at the levaya, "Ten years ago, Rabbi Freedman held my hand softly, guiding me, never letting go. It is only because of him that I am frum today."
He was a remarkable optimist, a dreamer with a vision and the courage to see it through.
Klal Yisroel is immeasurably richer for having produced an individual of the caliber of Rav Avrohom Abba Freedman, a humble Jew from Detroit. He is mourned by his extended family; his choshuva Rebetzin, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, as well as the thousands of talmidim he reached during his lifetime of service to the klal. His passing leaves a painful void for Klal Yisroel. TNZB'H.
The author would like to thank the numerous individuals who contributed to this article. We would like to apologize for any inaccuracies or omissions due to time constraints.