Dear Alumni Sheyichyu!
Sholom U’Brocho!
Mazel tov to Chida Levitansky on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel tov to Levi Lavner on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel tov to Mendel Lavner on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel tov to Asher Simpson on the occasion of his engagement. Mazel tov to Eli Steinhauser on the occasion of his engagement. May they use out the period of yokor mikol yokor to its’ utmost! Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Pinny Adler on the birth of their son. Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Yossi Grossbaum on the birth of their son. Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Eli Chitrik on the birth of their twin sons. May they bring them up lTOveCHuMAA”T mitoch harchovo, and to be true chayolim! (If anyone is aware of any mazeltov’s that I omitted please let me know).
Thank you as always for the feedback, it is much appreciated.
R’ Elye Chaim Roitblatt was one of the individuals who gave our generation a live portrait of a chosid of yesteryear. A man of legendary yiras shomayim, limitless sacrifice for Yiddishkeit and a boundless dedication to chinuch, R’ Elye Chaim was the living embodiment of a Jew fully permeated with chassidishkeit.
Already in Russia, under the oppressive communist regime, R’ Elye Chaim was engaged selflessly in teaching children Torah. [R’ Mendel Futerfass, who had hired him, once told him: ‘R’ Elye Chaim, our financial situation is very difficult, and I don’t know whether I will be able to continue paying you. If you decide because of this to stop teaching I will understand, because, even when you get paid, the pittance is barely enough to put food on your table, but how can you be expected to work with no pay? R’ Elye Chaim was incredulous. “R’ Mendel”, he exclaimed, “do you suspect me of stopping to teach just because of a lack of money”?!]
Once, R’ Elye Chaim was giving a lesson to a group of children. The class was taking place in the home of one of the students, and this particular student belonged to a “wealthy” family, according to the standards of those impoverished times. When R’ Elye Chaim came to the house, he noticed a pail with some cucumbers that were pickling (they were making pickles). He turned to the boy who lived there, and asked if he could have permission to eat some of them. The boy readily acquiesced.
[The students were well aware of R’ Elye Chaim’s refined and dignified nature, and how out of character it was for him to “beg”, as it were, from anyone (especially from a child, and a student). They recognized from this – despite their youth – how – having done so - he must have been experiencing near-starvation (with the unsteady “salary” on which he needed to live and provide for his family)].
Now, however, R’ Elye Chaim needed water. After all, the pickling cucumbers were a דבר שטיבולו במשקה, - a wet food, about which the halacha is that it requires netilas yodayim. Together they searched for some source of water with which to wash, but none could be found.
Finally, after a few moments of fruitless searching, R’ Elye Chaim went back to the teaching and did without the badly needed nourishment (this, despite the fact that there are opinions that permit eating these foods (in our days) without washing, and he was clearly experiencing extreme hunger which would justify – under the circumstances – following a more lenient view).
R’ Sholom Ber Vichedsky a”h was one of the students at that class. He once farbrenged with the yeshiva bochurim in Toronto and shared the above story. He told us that he didn’t remember much of what R’ Elye Chaim taught him in those years. But the lesson from the uneaten cucumbers had a profound impact on him, and remained with him to this very day!
