A Talmid Reminisces About His Rebbe by Reuvain Stein

This article originally appeared in Yated Neeman, Monsey NY. and is reprinted here with their permission

I had just begun to attend Rav Gifters brilliant shiruim when his medical problems began.

As time passes and one has a chance to reflect on how the Rosh Hayeshivah had influences one's life. I was truly amazed! The Rosh Yeshivah had been the cause of my staying in the Yeshiva High School. He had helped me get my first job and there are things that I do every day in my davening and learning that I gained from him. I felt as I approached his yarzeit I had to record some of my memories.

The Rosh Yeshiva emphasized and stood for learning Torah. His greatest joy was learning and you could see it on his face and hear it when he spoke. He constantly stressed that it wasn"t just an intellectual pursuit but it was life itself. He felt that in order to succeed, one had to toil in learning at least as much as a businessman lives in his business. A person should live in learning and it should carry over into all activities. He felt that anyone could become great in learning if one put the effort into it. He mentioned that he had a friend in Europe who had a head as "dense as a table" He saw that with much work, that individual became a great scholar. He said to us "Do you think that the smart ones stood in front at Har Sinai and got a greater portion?" The Torah can belong to all of us. He felt that each one of us could learn the entire Shas and he encouraged us to finish mesechtos and offered prizes to do so. He constantly mentioned the pitfalls of interruptions. He felt it was essential to learn even during the breaks. He felt it was important to get exercise. He mentioned that in Europe he remembered the bachurim taking sleigh rides but they spoke in learning during the rides. He mentioned that husbands should help around the house and that he even did the dishes but thought in learning while he was doing it. He felt Bein Hazmanim was a perfect time for the study of short mesechtos. He often quoted the gemorrah in Kesubos 62B how Rabbi Akiva studied twelve years straight and went home and overheard his wife saying that she wouldn"t mind if he studied an additional twelve years. The gemorrah says he turned around and went back and studied another twelve years and became the Great Rabbi Akiva with 24,000 students. The Rosh Yeshiva asked why it says "he turned around and went back". He should have visited his wife for awhile. It must be that the greatness he achieved was that he didn"t interrupt his learning. Two periods of twelve and twelve would have not equaled 24 years straight.

He would point that when referring to the years Yaakov Ovinu spent learning, Rashi [Toldos -9] says he was "nitman" in the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever for fourteen years. The word "nitman" (Hatmana - buried) means to totall submerse. In Hilchos Shabbos the word is used to describe a method of cooking were food would be buried in hot coals and would cook totally submerged for long periods of time. He pointed out that these 14 years were to prepare for the 14 years that the Shevatim were conceived in order to invest the birth of the Jewish people with the holiness of learning.

The Rosh Yeshiva quoted the Maharsha (Pirkei Torah Vayigash) in Bava Kama that Yaacov sent Yehudah to Goshen first to set up a Beis Medrash. Why was Yehudah chosen when there were other tribes that excelled in Torah? The answer is that Yehudah represented the power of Malchus (Kingship) and kingship was needed to set up Torah centers. Most of us Americans have never seen a real monarch and it would be hard to fathom the spirit of kingship. Chazal tell us Mon Malki, "who are kings"? -- Rabanan the scholars. The Rosh Yeshiva embodied to all of us the feeling of Malchus.

The Rosh Yeshiva had that spirit about him. When he entered the room one sensed it. When he spoke, you could hear total silence. We loved him but we were in total awe of him. Sometimes, when a student was being tested he could not answer the Rosh Yeshiva because of the awe of the Rosh Yeshiva. It was a special feeling being in the presence of someone who we felt the whole world rested on his shoulders. The Rosh Yeshiva was always meticulously neat and on time. Order was very important. He once entered the shiur room and the majority of the students were late and he left. If something was called for a certain time, it had to start then. Everything had to be clean, neat and in place. Once the Rosh Yeshiva said something, it was done. The Rosh Yeshiva made a comment in one of his speeches that when we daven we should prepare ourselves to stand in front of Hashem at least as much as we would prepare ourselves to meet a president or important official. Wouldn't we tuck in our shirts and put on a tie? The next day many of the bachurim started to wear ties for davening.

The most amazing thing about the greatness of the Rosh Yeshiva was his humility. He made a special appearance every year to speak in the high school before the Yomim Noraim. He would ask us to carry him through the day of Judgements.

The Rosh Yeshiva would personally inspect the dorm rooms. He felt that a true Ben Torah would keep his room in a way that reflected that. He once left a note on a room that was not neat enough. It said that the Bachur should study the portion of the Rambam where he discusses how a scholar should keep his things. When the Rosh Yeshiva returned from Eretz Yisroel, he moved into the dormitory. He did not wish to settle in a house in Chutz La'aretz. The dorm was adequate for boys but hardly a place where the head of the Yeshiva would stay. The Rosh Yeshiva (and his rebbetzin) moved right in. One cannot imagine the impression it left on us for life -- how simply and humbly the Rosh Yeshiva lived and his attachment to his students.

The Rosh Yeshiva was an incredible speaker who could keep an audience spellbound. There were many boys in high school who could not yet speak yiddish who would attend the Rosh Yeshiva"s Yiddish shmoozen because the message he would deliver transcended the language. My parents had wanted me to leave the yeshiva after high school and attend college without years of full-time Beis Medrash study in between. They had opened a bank account for college the day I was born and had always insisted that I go upon graduation. My older brother is a doctor and my sister is a lawyer. My father is a lawyer. The Rosh Yeshiva offered to meet with my parents when they came for my high school graduation. They insisted that delaying college was not up for discussion. They met with the Rosh Yeshiva for the first time. After the meeting, they turned to me and said, they had no idea what a wonderful place this was and if I wished to continue learning with such a special, great person, they would be supportive.

He often spoke at high school graduations or in the high school about secular studies. He felt that it was extremely important for a Ben Torah to understand and communicate excellent English in order to teacher others. He quoted S'forno that when Moshe Rabeinu was to come in front Paroh and he told Hashem how could he go if he's k'vad and k'vad lashon. K'vad Peh means he spoke with a K'vad Lashon was that he was away from Egypt many years and he could not address Paroh in the appropriate language.

The Rosh Yeshiva's vocabulary amazed us. He addressed the Law Department of a local university on Jewish jurisprudence and knew all of the appropriate terminology. He was disappointed when a Torah book in English came that was not well written. He was extremely helpful and supportive of the Artscroll undertaking. He could not understand why students did not apply themselves to English studies. If one is going to take away time from learning for it, should get the most out of it. He once stopped to watch students play ball. The students wondered if he approved. He told them to hit a home run. If one does something, he should do his best.

I had left the Yeshiva to learn in Eretz Yisroel. Before Rosh Hashana, I sent the Rosh Yeshiva a letter wishing him Gut Yuhr. I certainly did not expect a card back. I was totally shocked when a letter came back. The Rosh Yeshiva took time to send me a card with a message of chizuk and signed "Love, Mordechai". May his memory be a source of inspiration to us all.