THE REBBITZIN - part 2

“When she served us our food”, continues Reb Yaakov Eleizer “it was always accompanied by a chazal a story of a godol, some instruction - a Mussar Haskel taken from daily life: The bread our grandmother served us was smeared with Chazal.” (Hesped)

If a grandchild would comment that the food is good, the Rebbitzin would gently correct him/her and say; “Essen iz gut? Ain toiv elloh Torah!” Food is "good"? There is no "good" other than Torah!

She would often write letters to her grandchildren in camp (which are still in their possession); warm grandmotherly letters filled with concern about health, with requests that the older children watch over the younger ones and so on.

Here too the “bread was smeared with Chazal”

In a letter to a granddaughter on the occasion of her birthday, the Rebbitzin blesses her with a “Chayim aruchim vitovim” a long good life. She then hastens to write Ein tov eloh Torah - there is no good other than [what involves and leads to] Torah, Shene’emar-as it is written: “Ki lekach tov nosati lochem Torosi al ta’azovu.”

When she would serve them their meals she would always enjoin them to eat so that: “You will have strength to learn Torah”. [This writer remembers the Rosh Yeshiva zt'l feeding a young grandchild -from his own plate- at the same time encouraging him with his beautiful loving smile to eat, saying: “Ess ess, du darfsts vaksin ah godol” (eat, eat so that you can grow up to be a godol). Or the Rebbitzin would say “Eat kinderlach-kdei ir zult hubbin koiach tzu deenin der Eibishter, so that you have strength to serve Hakodosh Boruch Hu.

There is a letter to a young granddaughter who it seems was a poor eater in which the Rebbitzin writes: “Ani m’vakeshes mimeich – I beg of you to eat more – kdei shetihyi Brioh Ushleimoh La’avodas Hashem Yisborach – so that you will be healthy and able to serve Hashem Yisborach.

A talmid (this writer) remembers walking with the Rebbitzin after the Rosh Yeshiva’s passing to the bank to store tape recordings of the Rosh Yeshiva’s shiurim in a Safe Deposit Box. The Rebbitzin tried to keep out of sight explaining that she was afraid people would think she was protecting gold or diamonds when, of course, they are all valueless. [She was in fact very careful with money; she knew exactly what she spent and how, never spending a penny more than necessary - as is the way of Tzadikim who know that whatever they are given by Hakodosh Boruch Hu is for an important purpose. To quote her daughter-in-law, Rebbetzin Rishel Kotler, “In her house every pencil was used to the end, every penny was saved, to be added to the ‘Pushka’ of the Yeshiva”. Nevertheless, when a grandchild once lost a twenty dollar bill and was agitated about it the Rebbitzin comforted her saying that a loss of money is not worth getting upset about].

She once told the same talmid that while money can be used for good purposes she is afraid that it can lead her grandchildren away from Torah and she davens that they be protected from it. On another occasion she exclaimed to this talmid with her beautiful mixture of happy enthusiasm, modesty and kedusha, “Without Harbotzas Torah (disseminating Torah) and Kiddush Shem Shomayim B’Rabim (sanctifying Hashem’s name in public), ‘vos is der gantzer leben’! What is the value of life; ‘vos vos is der gantzer leben’!? “What after all is the value of life!?” [The rebbitzin meant as opposed to a life devoid of Torah and Kiddush Hashem. As for deciding between, or balancing Lilmod and L’lameid, see other chapters ]

These values were deeply understood lessons which she learned in the homes of her parents and husband - homes which she would describe as the Yam (ocean) on which she travelled her entire life...

At times, if someone had asked her to daven for them and so on, she would say “People think I’m a “Shtikkle Mentcheleh-somewhat of a person. I really should be one after all. But the truth of the matter is that I’m nothing more than a Poshiter Shifchoh, a simple maid servant”. Nevertheless she commented more than once that: chazal say “A Shifchoh saw (revelations) on the Yam Suf (Red Sea) which even (the prophet) Yechezkel Ben Buzi didn’t see,” adding: What a “Yam” I was “zocheh” to walk through my entire life.

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