Rav Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz, ztâ€™l

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Written by Rabbi Yair Hoffman and vinnews

Thursday, 30 June 2011 11:42

The Oheiv Yisrael of the generation has passed on, and we are bereft not only of leadership, but of a leadership that personified an Ahavas Yisrael that knew no bounds. Truly.

Rav Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz, ztâ€™l, passed away at 97 and was beloved by all.

A personal story. Approximately 30 years ago, three young men travelled to Bnei Brak from Yerushalayim to see the Steipler, ztâ€™l. Before they left, the Mashgiach of their yeshiva, Rav Avrohom Kanarek, said, â€œPlease do me a favor. There is another remarkable gadol in Bnei Brak who has written sefarim. They are filled with depth. We need them for the yeshivaâ€™s otzer hasefarim. Please buy them for the yeshiva. It would also be kedai to meet him.â€

The three of us went to Rav Lefkowitzâ€™s home. It was sparsely furnished. There were not enough chairs for him and the three of us and the elderly rav went to the neighbor to bring two extra chairs. We protested, but he would not hear of anything else.

His hachnasas orchim was so extraordinary that each of us thought we were in the presence of Avrohom Avinu. Avrohom Avinu and Aharon haKoheinâ€”all wrapped in one. He took the time to speak with each of us, finding out all about us, our learning, our families. And he did so in a remarkably loving way. Never before, or since, had we encountered such a deep, sincere, and genuine ahavas Yisrael. After an hour, he asked us what our purpose was in coming. We told him, but our purpose had now changed. Each of us wanted copies of the sefarim of this remarkable Oheiv Yisrael. They were titled Minchas Yehudah.

We devoured them. And Rav Kanarekâ€™s assessment, as in everything, was unequivocally accurate. The profound depth of each piece in the Minchas Yehudah shone brightly.

His ehrlichkeit, impeccable honesty, and profound love and concern for others earned him a huge following among the yungerleit of Eretz Yisrael. A berachah from Rav Michel was the sure sign of successâ€”precisely because of his love for all others and his huge gadlus in Torah.

Rav Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz, ztâ€™l, was a talmid muvhak of Rav Shlomo Heiman, ztâ€™l, of the greatest of the roshei yeshiva of the last century. Afterward, Rav Michel came to Eretz Yisrael, and became a talmid of the Chazon Ish.

Rav Michel was a mechanech par excellence, specializing in the equivalent of our second year high school, teaching in Ponevechâ€™s Yeshiva. He had American talmidim too. Rav Michel Yehudah understood, lived, and breathed chinuch. Mechanchim from across the country and from abroad would flock to him to present a question about a particular talmid, or for a general derech in how to teach. His most important lesson to those of us who sought out his advice was to teach and do things by example.

â€œTo teach your talmidim to be a baâ€™al chesed, show that chesed yourself in all that you do. Make whatever you are teaching a part of you,â€ he would say.

Once I quoted Rav Michelâ€™s mehalech in a blatt shiur in Bava Kamma given by a certain rosh yeshiva. The rosh yeshiva dismissed that mehalech because of what he perceived as problems. I took it as a personal blow and resolved to stay up the whole night if need be thinking how to defend the pshat. At about 3:00 a.m. I had the answer. In the morning, I told that rosh yeshiva and he agreed. Later, I told it over to Rav Lefkowitz, ztâ€™l. He smiled lovingly and said that was indeed the pshat he had in mind but did not write it down in the Minchas Yehudah so as not to confuse the reader.

One accomplishment of the sefer was that it was simultaneously very deep and yet very simple too. This is something that every author would love to accomplish. Yet few do.

Years before modern day mechanchim knew about the importance of building the self esteem of a talmid, he would do it and teach others to do it too. And he believed it. Former talmidim would remark how Rav Michel was the first rebbe who encouraged and believed in them. These were talmidim who had him when he was already past 70. In hearing them describe Rav Michel, one would think that they were referring to a rebbe in his young twenties.

Rav Michel Yehudah was a rebbe for well over five decades, and he had talmidim who were the grandchildren of his earlier talmidim. Three generations of talmidim all enjoyed his presence and would speak lovingly and glowingly about him.

Two years ago, a sefer came out delineating his thoughts on chinuch, on marriage, and on all other aspects of life. The lessons in that sefer are both timely and timeless. Centuries from now it will still be used as a sourcebook for daâ€™as Torah guidance in the pathways of life.

Not only yungeleit and mechanchim recognized him. Rav Lefkowitz, ztâ€™l, was a member of Degel HaTorahâ€™s Moetzes Gedolei Torah and he was revered by every gadol since the Chazon Ish. Rav Shach, ztâ€™l, and the Steipler held him in the highest regard and esteem.

He signed upon a number of kol korehs and tried to give each of them the most profound reflection and thought.

Rav Michel Yehudah has two sons and three daughters. All are engaged in harbatzas haTorah. The eldest son, Rav Moshe Dovid, is the rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Bais Dovid and the mashgiach in the Yeshiva of Beer Yaakov. His next son, Rav Avrohom Yitzchok, is the rosh yeshiva of Beis Medrash Elyon in Eretz Yisrael.

The eldest son-in-law, Reb Binyomin Korlansky, ztâ€™l, who passed away five years ago, served as Rav Lefkowitzâ€™s right hand all his life. He taught side by side with Rav Lefkowitz in Ponevech.

His second son-in-law is Rav Binyomin Dovid Elyashiv, shlita, the son of Rav Elyashiv and author of Yad Binyomin on Shas. The third son-in-law is Rav Moshe Eliyahu Schwartz, the rosh yeshiva of Meor Yitzchok in Chemed.

Rav Michel Yehudah leaves us with two legacies. He was a personal example of a modern day Aharon haKohein and an Avrohom Avinu. Yet he also showed us all how one can combine this with outstanding erudition.