Awakening At Twilight

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Written by David J. Seidemann, Esq.

Thursday, 23 June 2011 11:41

From The Other Side Of The Bench

How will you spend your glory years? What will you do when you no longer have to catch the early morning train to Penn Station? Is it ever too late to begin anew or, for some, to begin for the first time? I hosted a BBQ for my law students last Sunday, and once again, as last year, we boasted perfect attendance. You see the students actually believed me when I said that if they wouldnâ€™t show up I would fail them.

One student from last year showed up as well as, coincidentally, he called me the day before the BBQ to inquire whether he could intern for me this summer. Remembering his stellar performance in the classroom and his effervescent personality made my decision to hire him easy. He starts next week.

One of my students this past semester asked me if he could bring a friend to the festivities. It would be my pleasure, I responded, and all the work was worth it just for this one young man. He was a journeyman, as they say. He had been to no fewer than six high schools in three and a half years, numerous post-high school yeshivas here and in Israel, and just couldnâ€™t seem to find himself. As much as he couldnâ€™t find himself, thatâ€™s how easily trouble found him.

As we sat around the table in my backyard, the Chasidim, the Litvish, the yeshivish, and not so yeshivish, the students with earrings, in strict hassidic garb, in shorts and t-shirts, the power of that unity moved this young man. At around 7:30, we put our steaks down and decided to daven Minchah. This young man with muscles that would serve him well in a fight and the scars to show he had been in his share, asked me if it was too late in the day to put on tefillin. The entire BBQ was worth it for that one moment. Who knows the last time he had put on tefillinâ€”and I wasnâ€™t going to ask him.

I was so moved, as were the other attendees. An hour or so later I was even more stunned when he asked me if I thought he had the skills to apply to college. Thatâ€™s what one young man did in the twilight of my BBQ, in the twilight of his youth.

And then there are those who decide to spend the twilight of their lives in another interesting fashion. Under the direction of Rabbi Dov Bressler, a group of about 30 men learn every day at Shaaray Tefilah in Lawrence. Some began learning with Rabbi Eliyahu Romnick, shlita, when the kollel was under his direction. Others began learning with Rabbi Bressler over 30 years ago in Far Rockaway, and now the two groups have merged. Ralph, the retired schoolteacher, has been there for 15 years; Willy, the carpenter, for 30 years; Milton, the retired board of education employee, has been learning there for 20 years; Morty, the retired LIRR computer programmer, has been soaking up the Talmud there for five years; Robinson, the retired engineer, has turned the folios for 31 years. An amazing feat when you consider he never learned in yeshiva.

Sender Schwartz not only inhales the fumes of Torah but works tirelessly to make sure the kollel continues to operate. The breakfast held to raise funds this last Sunday was a huge success thanks to Senderâ€™s efforts.

Mr. Merlis, a retired schoolteacher with 62 years in the system, is now a student. Itâ€™s never too late to begin. And itâ€™s not just retirees who have found their way to the books. Some of the members were between jobs, some rearranged their schedules to begin work at 11 or noon so they could soak up the words and teachings of Harav Bressler. Merlisâ€™s son, Mark, learned in the kollel when he found himself in between jobs.

Adler, 5 years; Gross, 6 years; and Tuchman, 10 years; and the list goes on and on of those people who said to themselves that this is what a Jew does when the rest of life slows down.

But the prize goes to Irwin Frank whose story is one for the books, the holy books that is. G-d bless him, he is 83 years old and began learning with Rabbi Bressler some 39 years ago. But for a chance meeting with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach many decades ago, Irwin would never have seen the inside of a Gemara.

Irwin was quite a distance from Torah scholarship. His only other prior exposure to organized Torah observance was his bar mitzvah over 70 years ago.

In or about 1950, Irwin Frank found himself at Columbia University. His interest in life was Far East religions. Rabbi Carlebach prevailed upon Irwin to accompany him to the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Rebbe had a second conversation with Irwin and that was all it took to propel Irwin Frank to a life of Torah observance and Torah learning. And not just an occasional class, but learning every day.

Looking back, he told me he would never have believed that some 39 years later he would complete approximately 10 masechtas, or tractates, of the Talmud.

I asked Mr. Frank what exactly it was that the Lubavitcher Rebbe told him that moved him to give up eastern religions for the religion of our fathers. As his eyes welled with tears, Irwin told me that what the rebbe told him was so personal that he couldnâ€™t share it with me. Whatever it was, it worked. And it worked not just in the 1950â€™s when they met, it had a lasting effect all the way into the twilight years of Irwin Frankâ€™s life.

And hereâ€™s the catch. Irwin doesnâ€™t learn all day. He leaves the kollel at around 11:00 a.m. every morning to go to . . . work.

Yes, at age 83 Irwin still goes into his plumbing supply store that is the pride and joy of his life. Actually his pride and joy are his two children and four grandchildren, all of whom are observant and all of whom thank Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Dov Bressler, and all of the study partners Irwin Frank has had along his journey these almost 40 years.

So where will you be spending the twilight years of your life?

David Seidemann is a partner with the law firm of Seidemann and Mermelstein and serves as a professor of business law at Touro College. He can be reached at 718-692-1013 or ds@lawofficesm.com.