ה"ב ליל ק"ועש 'פר ,חוקת שבעים ,שנה א"תשפ'ה
Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
With shock, pain and disbelief, I learned (a few weeks ago) of the passing of our former talmid, Michoel Raskin a”h, Michoel ben Yehuda Leib. With heartfelt cries of ad mosai, we share the pain of his family and friends, and extend our wishes for true nechomo, with the speedy realization of הקיצו ורננו שוכני עפר, והוא בתוכם.
Mazel tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Aharon Simon on the birth of their daughter. Mazel tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Berel Lavner on the birth of their son. Mazel tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Levi Vogel on the birth of their son. Mazel tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Tuvia Kasimov on the birth of their son. Mazel tov as well on the occasion of the printing of his sefer on dinei taharah! May they bring them up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be true chayolim! (If anyone is aware of any mazeltov’s that I am missing please let me know).
Thank you very much, as always, for the feedback, it is much appreciated!
Together with the family of anash in Toronto and worldwide, we mourn the passing of ח" הרה ת"והרה 'ר מנחם מענדל בן 'ר יהושע זעליג הכהן אראנאוו. Reb Mendel Aronow a”h was a pillar of strength and the ruach hachaim of the community in Toronto. For me personally, as well as for the Yeshiva, he was and endless source of encouragement of inspiration. He was the solid foundation, our bulwark that ensured that we stay on track and stay the course throughout all challenges and difficulties.
Reb Mendel would say, and it was מרגלא בפומי ', that he is a chosid עד זיבולא בתרייתא, and indeed he was a proud chosid and a living example to all of us right until his final breath.
יהי זכרו ברוך
In accordance with the words of Chazal דבריהם הן הן זכרונם, I am taking this opportunity to share some stories etc. that involved him, or that we heard from him over the years (and a few that I’ve already shared in the past). I am sharing them as I remember them, without any special order:
There was a bochur in yeshiva, many years ago, a very good bochur with a very good head, but he had many questions. The questions were in hashkofo issues, not questions that a "regular" bochur has, and he was very bothered by them, they disturbed him a lot. I tried to resolve them for him, but he was extremely agitated, and could not be calm.
I had received an answer from the Rebbe about a certain matter to consult (or discuss) with the eltere chassidim, so every big issue I would discuss with Rabbi Aronow a"h, and I went to discuss with him how to deal with this bochur.
He listened to my description of the situation, and then he told me the following story:
"Reb Shaul ber Zisslin was a chassidishe Rov and mashpia (Rabbi Aronow was a big mekabel from him). Once a bochur came to him with questions in hashkofo that didn't seem fitting for the bochur. Reb Shoiel Ber listened to his questions, and instructed him 'Gei in mikvah'. The bochur went to the mikva, and when he returned, he told him that he no longer had any questions!"
When he finished relating the story, he told me - based on the story - to check out the yichus of this bochur, because there must be something not kosher about his yichus!
I felt that his conclusion was bizarre. If he wanted to apply the story to the current situation, then he could have said to make sure the bochur goes to mikva every day, or even to check his tefillin, but to get from that to questioning his yichus!!! (And, bichlal, how do I 'check out' the yichus, of a regular Lubavitcher bochur?!).
It turned out that the mother of this bochur was a גיורת, and she converted after he was born (as the halocho is - גר קטן מטבילין אותו על דעת בית דין ). The halocho is that when...
