10th Yartzeit of Rav Lichtenstein zt"l
Dear Friends,
I will be posting more than usual this week.
Today I’m sharing something on the occasion of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein’s 10th yartzeit. Tomorrow I’ll repost some pieces in commemoration of Yom HaZikaron. And perhaps something else for Yom Ha’atzmaut.
Today was/is (depending on your timezone) Rav Aharon Lichtenstein’s 10th yartzeit. What follows is mostly the same as what I wrote last year, though since BH there are 100+ new readers since then, I’m re-posting. And if you read this last year, click on the hespedim link and read one you haven’t read before. Most importantly, learn some of his Torah. Here is a link to By His Light.
And here is a link to a recently released, never-before published talk of his in Tradition.
Despite having spoken probably less than 1,000 words with Rav Lichtenstein, being in his presence for two years forever changed my life. The most significant reflection of that being that our oldest son is named after Rav Lichtenstein zt”l.
As most of what I wrote regarding Shevet Levi in my Jewish Press article is based on his teachings, I am sharing very brief reflections + links to previously written reflections of mine/my father’s, for those not familiar with this gadol b’Torah.
Most relevant to the current topic are his article The Ideology of Hesder, and thoughts sent out on his 9th yartzeit by Rav Ron Yitzchok Eisenman, an independent-minded charedi Rav in Passaic, both of which are linked/copied below.
Despite having visited many gedolim over the years, I never heard anyone daven as he did, until I davened vasikin one Shabbos at Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman’s home. I never heard a shiur from someone with such total command of Shas & Poskim until this year, when I started going to shiurim of Rav Ariav Ozer, successor to Rav Shlomo Fischer at Yeshivas ITRI. And the stories of his legendary middos abound in endless hespedim, linked below.
All hespedim/reflections on Rav Lichtenstein
My father’s reflections, Rabbi Hillel Goldberg, for Cross-Currents:
For students of Rav Beryl Gershenfeld, here are reflections from my father when Rav Lichteinstein was still living, including an anecdote involving Rav Gershenfeld
My own reflections, for Jewish Action
Relevant to the current topic of limmud Torah/IDF service, here is Rav Lichtenstein's article The Ideology of Hesder.
And here are the words of Rav Eisenman.
The Short Vort
Good Morning!
Today is Rosh Chodesh Iyar 5784, and May 8, 2024
A Humble Giant
Today is the ninth Yahrtzeit of Harav Aharon Lichtenstein (May 23, 1933 – April 20, 2015).
I had the privilege of learning Torah, and perhaps more relevant for me was the privilege of simply observing him in his day-to-day life.
This Shabbos at 5:30, Rav Lichtenstein will be the subject of my Shabbos afternoon Shiur.
I have written in the past about Rav Lichtenstein- or as he was called lovingly by his talmidim, Rav Aharon.
A few years ago, when I wrote about Rav Aharon on his Yahrtzeit, a fellow came over to me and said, "You wrote very nicely about Rav Aharon. I told my children that he was certainly a Talmid Chochom."
He then surprisingly added, "However, I made sure to stress to my children that, even though he was a Talmid Chochom, he is not in our camp." (full disclosure: this person is an alumnus of Yeshiva University)
I remained silent at the time to avoid offending this person. It was obvious that he felt he was protecting his children by making sure they knew "he is not from our camp."
However, now Klal Yisroel is living in a time of danger (see today's headlines: "Biden Says the U.S. Will Not Supply Israel With Weapons to Attack Rafah")- I feel the need to set the record (as I see it) straight as unity and togetherness is what we need.
And exclusion and dividing into "camps" is the last thing we need.
For the last sixty years, I have been privileged to spend most of my waking days learning, teaching, or helping spread the Torah, whether as a Talmid, a Rebbe, or a Rav.
As my entire life has revolved around Torah learning and teaching, I have had the merit of meeting and learning from the greatest Torah teachers of the last half-century.
I do not consider myself the Talmid of this Torah great or that Torah great.
I am not presumptuous enough to think of myself as having earned the title of "Talmid."
However, I have had conversations, listened to Shiurim, and been privileged to speak privately with many world-renowned Torah giants.
If there are three common denominators that all of these Torah greats share, irrespective of their various degrees of embracing the world around them- they are:
1. An almost compulsive desire to learn Torah at all times
2. Meticulous observance of Halacha.
3. The possession of sterling Midos Tovos
I have met many Gedolei Yisroel, and they all possessed the three traits enumerated above.
Rav Aharon Lichtenstein was no exception.
I recall many times approaching Rav Aharon at this table in front of the Beis HaMedrash.
He would be engrossed in a Sugya (topic).
Sometimes, I would stand there for twenty minutes or more until he noticed another person had entered his space.
His concentration and his Hasmada were legendary.
His adherence to Halacha was unquestioned by all.
Yet, perhaps above all, was his Middos Tovos.
A man who was shy by nature and avoided the spotlight at all costs-, his concern and care for his fellow human beings were the culmination and epitome of a true man of Torah.
I will speak at length about this on Shabbos.
Yet, one incident will suffice.
He was once on a bus heading to the north of Israel.
Back then (I think it has changed since then), the bus companies allowed people to stand (even on intercity buses), and the bus could be filled to "standing room only."
He entered the bus, sat, and ostensibly would have continued to sit for the four-hour trip to the north.
He sat there for two hours, learning the Torah diligently.
Exactly two hours into the ride, he rose and said to the young non-religious woman standing near him, "Please sit down."
She refused by saying, "K'vod HaRav, this is your seat."
He responded, "We both paid the same fair. The only difference is that I entered the bus first. However, that doesn't grant me rights to the seat for the entire trip. The Torah teaches us to pursue Tzedek (fairness). It is only fair that you now sit for the remaining two hours of the trip."
When I think of Rav Aharon, there is one thing I can say with all my heart and soul.
If membership in "our camp" depends on Torah learning, Mitzvah observance, and Middos Tovos, then Rav Aharon Lichtenstein was certainly a member of OUR CAMP.
Yehi Zichro Baruch
Ron Yitzchok Eisenman
Rav
Congregation Ahavas Israel
Passaic, NJ