The Jewish world owes HaRav Chaim Yisroel Belsky, zt”l, an enormous debt of gratitude. His second yahrzeit looms large (this Motzaei Shabbos/Sunday, 19 Shevat/February 4) and I feel obliged to put pen to paper. This is about a call to awareness and respect. It’s about loss and a celebration of life. Most of all, it’s about thanks.
Rav Belsky was a once-in-a generation individual; a pioneer and an advocate for the entire Jewish people. One’s background, country of origin, or religious affiliation made no difference. He was there for all of us.
As the halachic authority for the OU he helped travelers with kashrus and the ability to survive and thrive in their travels.
He repeatedly helped laymen to discern halachic fact from fear, keeping them on an even keel. He readily answered questions, even if he’d never met the questioner before. All one had to do was pick up a phone or just show up at his house or the yeshiva.
He helped women navigate the halachic turmoil that arose regarding wigs, food preparation, and Pesach products. He was there to help in difficult divorce and abuse cases.
He was a mohel whose involvement with mikvaos (ritual baths) around the world helped ensure that Jewish babies were born within the guidelines of family purity.
All of us were children and then teenagers, and he was a leader and avid supporter of Pirchei youth groups – and led a unique learning program in Camp Agudah for many years.
If you were his student, you were his son.
If you had no place to go, you could always go to him. He was there for everyone in a way that is difficult to comprehend.
How can we not say Thank You? How can we not stop and give kavod and express hakaras hatov?
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Rav Belsky’s life story is not the point of this article. ArtScroll already undertook that task, and it is highly recommended reading. I can tell you that there is an encyclopedic addendum to that book which will never be written but will live in the hearts of the countless number of individuals who have their own personal stories about him.
I am simply writing this as a faceless talmid sharing my feelings with others. I belong to a group of people who daily yearn for another chance to sit with him and bask in his glow. Every Monday and Wednesday, from 2:30 to 4 p.m., I and many others were privileged to be in the daled amos (close proximity) of a gadol. It was our time. No interruptions, no phone calls. Just us and Rebbi.
To enter the room and see Rebbi making his coffee and humming a tune was to witness pure simchas hachaim – joy of life – at the highest level. To hear him start the shiur – “Nu, Rabbosai” – was an experience without parallel. He was calling us into his world of halacha and psak.
Sometimes you don’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone. But we knew how lucky we were. Rav Belsky took us on a journey through Yoreh Deah toward attaining semicha in the expectation that we would all be scholars one day. He believed in his students in a way we never believed in ourselves.
When I first entered the shiur, I found it somewhat immature hearing grown men call Rav Belsky “Rebbi” when speaking of him. I felt much more comfortable referring to him in the third person – “Well, the rav said” or “the rosh hayeshiva mentioned,” which seemed age appropriate.
And then one day I found myself saying, “Rebbe said in the last shiur” and it felt right. In fact, it felt so right that anything else suddenly felt completely wrong. I had become a talmid. I was one of many, but I was a talmid, and he was my Rebbi.
He opened his heart, his mind, and his home to us. I so looked forward to Chanukah, Tu B’Shevat, Purim, and Lag B’Omer in his house. Something unexpected and exciting always came up: A fact, a song, a fruit, a story. Never a dull moment.
Anyone who was familiar with his home would agree. Even if Rav Belsky had been a simple, unlearned man, ArtScroll still would have put out a book about him – a book about a home filled with such chesed, such kindness, as to leave the community in awe.
Sometimes, to the outside world, great scholarly intellect hides extraordinary middos (character traits). One of man`s main goals is to emulate Hashem in this world, to live a life of Kiddush Hashem. To look at Rav Belsky and observe how he acted, how he spoke, how he responded to stress, served as a constant reminder of Hashem’s kindness.
For that lesson alone, I am forever grateful.
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It`s Sunday, a week before the yahrzeit, and I’m uneasy and restless. Soon we will gather in Yeshiva Torah Vodaas for a Yom Iyyun. If last year’s yahrzeit was any indication, I know that while we will put our best faces forward as we celebrate his life, privately we will weep bitter tears. The loss is still palpable. At times we are inconsolable.
For millennia we have mourned the loss of our Holy Temples by sitting on the floor and weeping. We long for the day we will build the Third Temple. But while Tisha B’Av starts out with heavy mourning, as the day goes on we begin to focus on the rebuilding. We end the Kinnos with a tune and hope of redemption, of returning to Eretz Yisrael.
I say to Rav Belsky’s talmidim, as your tears flow, think about how Rebbi would want us to honor him. He was a doer, a visionary. He cherished life and encouraged forward progress. He told us how he loved music, history, writing, math, science, astronomy.
He understood people, settled business and family fights, saved marriages, and had the finest sense of humor you could imagine.
He loved the Jewish people, respected all mankind, and relished learning and teaching Torah.
He loved and talked about Hashem with such powerful emotion, and he loved his talmidim with all his heart and soul. We equally loved him back, and to him we are thankful daily for teaching us and allowing us into his life.
I have found much chizuk talking to fellow talmidim. We are a big family. Just the other day I met a close talmid of Rebbi, and he shared personal stories with me. It was very comforting. I encourage everyone who knew him to tell their stories and think of what Rebbi would want each of us to do to honor his memory.
I think every talmid can access that beautiful, calm, baritone voice and hear his words of encouragement and direction. Additionally, many of Rav Belsky’s tapes and CDs are easily available. The Chumash shiurim he gave during his last year were videotaped and can be seen at Torahanytime.com (website and app). In a startling moment, Rebbi comes face to face with you in a very unique and powerful way.
To those who did not know him, I say: Find a teacher, a spiritual guide, a Rebbi. It will enrich your life in ways you cannot imagine. We all have different personalities. If your experience with one or another rabbi was less than satisfactory, don’t throw in the towel. You may just need to search a little harder to find a person with whom you can connect.
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I will share something you can do to honor Rav Belsky’s memory. I once asked him after a shiur how a person can fulfill the commandment ve’ahavta lere’acha kamocha – love your brother like yourself. It seems impossible. Rav Belsky thought for a moment and replied, “Start by being happy for someone else’s success.”
It’s a simple suggestion, but upon further review you realize the depth of the message. I encourage all to join his family and talmidim in honoring the memory and legacy of Rav Belsky and thanking him for all he did on behalf of world Jewry.
I can think of no better way to do so than by learning and actualizing his teachings – the teachings of our Rebbi.
Yehi Zichro Baruch.
May his wonderful family, his talmidim, and all of Klal Yisrael be comforted on the upcoming yahrzeit and may we be zocheh to see the coming of Mashiach speedily in our days.
