If I had to pick a Torah personality I thought my grandfather emulated, I would choose Yosef HaTzaddik. As we are told, Yosef was the mashbir – the provider. Zaidie was the provider for his whole family and for others. The Jewish Press offered jobs to everyone in Zaidie’s family and to many others who were in need of work.
The Torah tells us that Yosef was successful in Egypt, even though he was surrounded by an idolatrous society, because the Word of Hashem was always on his lips. Yosef recognized Hashem in everything he did, and that kept him humble. This humility characterized Zaidie’s life as well. Even though he put in much hard work and many sleepless nights for many years, he never took the credit for himself. He was always thanking Hashem for everything he was blessed with. And like Yosef, he longed to see the days of the final geulah and the return to Eretz Yisrael.
Zaidie’s message was a message of hope. At the completion of his shiurim on Shabbos he would end with the story from the Gemara (Makkos 24) about a conversation Rabbi Akivah had with the other tannaim upon seeing the Beis HaMikdash destroyed. The other tannaim were crying but Rabbi Akivah was laughing. Rabbi Akivah explained that the fact that Uriah’s prophecy of destruction had come true guaranteed that the prophecy of Zechariah concerning the geulah – of old men and old women sitting in the streets of Yerushalayim and children playing in the streets – would come true as well. Zaidie would end the shiur with the famous words of the tannaim: Akivah nichamtanu, Akivah nichamtanu – Akivah, you have comforted us.
I am so grateful to Hashem that I had the privilege of knowing Zaidie and Bubbie. I am so thankful that I know the legacy they left behind. I am always trying to walk in their path. In these turbulent times I am thankful that I have their personal example as a guide, for myself and my husband, my children and grandchildren. And that is my comfort.
