Gur Aryeh Yehuda – Remarks in Memory of Moreinu ve-Rabbeinu,
“There are two places in the prayer service,” my uncle, of blessed memory, once said, “in which the congregation is accustomed to wait for its teacher and rabbi. In the recitation of the Shma and at the end of the Amida prayer. And why is this? Because the recitation of the Shma ends with the words “the Lord your God - true” and the Amida prayer concludes with the phrase “he who makes peace in the heavens.” “And therefore,” my uncle concluded, “these are the two things that a Jewish person expects from his rabbi: that he should state the truth and increase peace in the world.”
[And He Gave the Earth to People] (5765-2005), 75; in English: http://vbm-torah.org/archive/values/07values.htm].
In another place he added: In the Religious Zionist community there are phenomena that we have never seen before. Young men wear large knitted kippot, long sidelocks, sockless sandals and untucked shirts – true “Chasidim.” It is as if they are proclaiming, “I am religious. Even if my kippa flies off in the wind, my long sidelocks will pull me and bind me to the religious camp.” Long sidelocks and tzitzit that dangle at one’s knees have no halakhic-religious meaning; however, they grant one a certain sense of security and express a certain type of fervent religiosity and ultra-orthodoxy. I am not talking only about these phenomena but about matters of values. I hear of yeshivot hesder where the students don tefillin for Mincha prayers. Tefillin add holiness. Halakhically, this practice is not arrogant or otherwise inappropriate; in fact, technically, the opposite is true. But I belong to a different generation. I have been fortunate enough to pray with some of our Gedolim: Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Rav
(5765-2005), 75; in English: “The Fear of God in Our Time – Part 2, http://vbm-torah.org/archive/values/01b-fear.htm].
This was also his approach with respect to the pursuit of peace, which
The child
In the course of his journey, he immigrated to Israel, learned in the renowned Hevron Yeshiva and at the same time turned to the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, in order to learn from Rabbi
If you wish to “understand various aspects of halakha” go to study the Torah of a scholar and try to find what is characteristic of it. The early sages made it clear that the science of comprehending all of the trees of the forest is vast, it is possible – and necessary – to distinguish among the special and distinguishing lines of contour characterizing each tree found there. And so they said: In truth it is stated: The words of Torah are fruitful and multiple, especially in our generation in which everyone publishes his new insights and the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea.
In fact, many words of Torah seem to be copied by one person from the other. At times you think you’ve read new words of Torah and indeed they are already familiar. Two and three Torah scholars prophesy in one style.
At times, from the tumult, a special voice rises to the surface, one that is unique, that is not swallowed up in the general roar. Echoing the words of other sages, it breaks through and rises again, a small still voice, a special voice in its clarity and the beauty of its song.
This was
Originality is one of the outstanding features of
A fundamental principle in his teachings was humanity, simple humanity, whose source is in the heart, needing neither a written source nor an oral tradition. From this principle he derived great halakhot, both in Torah and in derekh eretz.
taught us. “The Torah presents the opposite approach: Every person has a human side, which must not be denied. Even the prophets had doubts and difficulties. The Torah recognizes that man lives in this world, and has no expectation that he behave as if he were living in an ideal and unreal universe” [“Humanity”] And He Gave the Earth to People (5765-2005), 146, available at http://vbm-torah.org/archive/values/17values.htm].
greatly loved the Land of Israel. “My connection to the Land of Israel,” he once told his students, “is a deep connection. From childhood, the Land of Israel and the anticipation of the messiah were real and concrete for me. Let me try to relate one of the most memorable occasions of my childhood. I must have been only four or five, but I still remember everything with total clarity. We were in Cheder (school) and playing in the yard. Suddenly, I saw a great ball of fire come out of the sky - I guess I must have been gifted with an active imagination. I told my friends what I had seen, and we decided that this was a sign that the Messiah was coming! The whole Cheder became very excited. What do children do when they expect the Messiah? We all ran together to the water tap in the yard and washed our hands in order to purify ourselves for the arrival of the Messiah! I can still remember the rush and the crowd at the water tap... There was an old, gnarled tree in the yard and we began to dance around it and sing. [“I will Speak Your Name to My Brother, Before the Community Shall I Praise You”, Alon Shvut Bogrim 3 (5754-1994), 86; in English: “Forty Years Later: A Personal Recollection, http://www.vbm-torah.org/archive/rya0-40.htm].
Each year he marked with his family the miracle of his rescue and his immigration to Israel, and viewed the two as intertwined. As he testified: I did not see myself as gaining total salvation when I had escaped from the Nazis. I only came to view my salvation as complete when I arrived in Israel. I remember that when I took leave of my father - he was forced to remain in the ghetto, while I had received a deportation order to a labor camp - both he and I had absolutely no doubt that we would never meet again in this world. At that time, my father said to me, "I hope that you will get to Eretz Yisrael." This was the supreme expression of hope for salvation. In my heart I knew that we wouldn’t meet again. I took leave of my parents with a heavy heart and went to the labor camp. All that I took with me was a small Tanakh, Mishnayot, and a booklet written by Rabbi Kook. I admit to you today, that during those days I was very pessimistic. Many doubts gnawed at my heart... If only I could die in Eretz Yisrael, even if I did not live there.” [Ibid].
When we stood at his side, members of the family and the students that had accompanied him for decades, during the Shabbat prayers, on those last shabbatot of his life, we were reminded of the dream that was realized.
Indeed, in his complex way, even in the love of Eretz Yisrael that burned within him,
After the crisis of the Yom Kippur War, in which he was bereaved of “eight princes”, some of his closest students, he changed his attitude and from the approach of Gush Emunim, of which
He inculcated one message in his students and it accompanies them throughout their lives. “When you learn Torah”, he taught us, “and you don’t hear the cry of the one pleading for assistance, something is defective in the learning.” And he added: “As long as I think that I can reduce the profanation of God’s name, increase the honor of Heaven, draw individuals near, save Jews from the spilling of blood or save something of Eretz Yisrael, I will let my voice be heard.”
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