{"id":1993,"date":"2022-03-24T13:50:33","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T17:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/?p=1993"},"modified":"2022-03-24T13:50:34","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T17:50:34","slug":"harav-domeh-lmalach-hashem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/harav-domeh-lmalach-hashem\/","title":{"rendered":"Harav Domeh l\u2019Malach Hashem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An Orphaned Nation Bereft by the Loss of Its Crown Jewel Maran Sar HaTorah Hagaon Rav Chaim Kanievsky Zt\u201dl<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Y. Strauss<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speechless. The shocking tidings this past Friday morning caused young and old alike to freeze in disbelief. The person whose picture hangs in many of our homes for the children and adults to look up to, who had been part of our nation\u2019s character for over half a century, answering questions, guiding, and bestowing brachos<\/em>, was no longer with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could it be true? Could the sun still shine without the light of R\u2019 Chaim illuminating the world? Could we really greet Mashiach without him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reality set in, the joy that we all felt just hours earlier on the happiest day of the year was replaced with a scathing sense of loss and fear. R\u2019 Chaim! We all felt a connection to this angel of a man whom many of us never even met. Somehow, the knowledge that in that humble house in Bnei Brak lived a Yid whose very existence protected us all gave us a cushion of comfort upon which we relied during trying times. We knew we were safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sar HaTorah<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was the undisputed gaon<\/em> of the dor<\/em>, unparalleled in his knowledge of every area of Torah\u2014including the most remote areas of Halachah and Aggadah<\/em>, Nigleh<\/em> and Nistar <\/em>alike. In an era in which titles are used freely, when the words \u201cgaon<\/em>\u201d and \u201ctzaddik\u201d are used to denote a position, R\u2019 Chaim stood out as truly deserving of the greatest title of all\u2014sar haTorah<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attempting to portray such a Yid is an impossible task not just because his greatness in Torah, in hasmadah<\/em>, in dveikus<\/em> to Torah\u2014and through it to Hashem\u2014defies description, but because the concepts that made up his existence are way beyond our comprehension. Can we wrap our minds around how a mere mortal could rise to such heights, to become one with the heilige<\/em> Torah itself? Can we possibly comprehend that a person could be so removed from this world that he needed to ask which brachah<\/em> achronah<\/em> to make after every meal because he did not know what he had eaten? That a person could awaken and tell his family that he was making a siyum<\/em> on Maseches<\/em> Brachos<\/em>\u2014the masechta<\/em> with the most words\u2014because he finished it in<\/em> his<\/em> sleep<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We cannot understand it. But still, studying the ways of a malach<\/em> like R\u2019 Chaim should propel us to raise our sights, to see the impact the ko\u2019ach<\/em> haTorah<\/em> has even in this world, to realize that greatness can be attained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R\u2019 Chaim never held an official position. He was not one to speak at public events, choosing single-word answers over lengthy discourse. He barely traveled, but his word was heard around the globe. Repeating a chiddush<\/em> or a psak <\/em>of the Gaon to a friend at a simchah<\/em> or a family event was as normal as saying over a vort<\/em> from the Chafetz Chaim or the Chasam Sofer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His sefarim<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The countless sefarim<\/em> that he wrote\u2014ostensibly every shanah<\/em> me\u2019uberes<\/em>, when he had an extra month to work on them\u2014illuminated the Torah world with their clarity and erudite breadth. The sugyos<\/em> that R\u2019 Chaim chose to write about, mostly unchartered territory, demonstrated a deep-seated love toward the Torah and a desire to see every facet of it accessible to the masses. Among these are a sefer<\/em> on kiddush<\/em> hachodesh<\/em> and machatzis<\/em> hashekel<\/em>, a kuntres<\/em> on the kashrus of locusts, and a pirush<\/em> on Sefer Rezuel Hamalach<\/em>. He also elucidated on Zera\u2019im<\/em>, eglah<\/em> arufah<\/em>, Perek<\/em> Shirah<\/em>, geirim<\/em>,and avadim <\/em>with brilliant clarity. His pirush <\/em>on Talmud Yerushalmi<\/em> explains this most difficult miktzo\u2019a<\/em> so even a layman could learn it. He also wrote a sefer<\/em> to answer the Maharsha\u2019s questions on the entire Shas<\/em> and a sefer<\/em> that marshals the words of Chazal on unexplained pesukim<\/em> in Tanach<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To say he was a bridge to the gedolim<\/em> of yesteryear, such as his uncle the Chazon Ish and his father, the Steipler Gaon, would be limiting who he was. But he was that too. He knew every psak<\/em> of the Chazon Ish, every hanhagah<\/em> and chumrah<\/em>, and he championed them to all of Klal Yisrael. One of the first sefarim<\/em> R\u2019 Chaim wrote was Shoneh Halachos<\/em>, a kitzur<\/em> of Mishnah Berurah<\/em> incorporating the psakim <\/em>of the Chazon Ish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In just a few words<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His psak<\/em> was held in high acclaim, and the multitudes followed his every direction, whether with regard to which name to add to someone in need of a yeshuah<\/em> or whether to do a certain shidduch<\/em>. His word affected change even in shamayim<\/em>. The miraculous wonders that emerged from the confines of 23 Rashbam were the stuff of legends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lines of desperate people who waited on the cement steps that led to the kodesh<\/em> hakadoshim<\/em>, the sefarim<\/em>-lined room where heaven and earth met, to hear the words \u201cbrachah<\/em> v\u2019hatzlachah<\/em>\u201d knew that his word held sway in the upper spheres. He was a virtual Urim<\/em> V\u2019tumim<\/em>, giving directives with apparent ease. One person was told to learn Maseches<\/em> Chullin<\/em>, another to put his pei\u2019os<\/em> in front of his ears. The childless yungerman<\/em> was told to publish a sefer<\/em> of his chiddushim<\/em> and merit a yeshuah<\/em> that way. Each case was dealt with individually and given an answer immediately. Incredibly, if the same question regarding the same person was repeated on different occasions, the answer was inevitably he same, while others asking similar questions got different answers. Thousands upon thousands of brokenhearted Yidden were helped by the few words that emerged from his holy mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the ko\u2019ach haTorah<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was always a mysterious aura that surrounded him as he sat quietly, calmly making his way through the entire Torah for the umpteenth time with the thirst of a man returning from the desert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stories that abounded about the remarkable siyata d\u2019Shmaya<\/em> that he had have been part of our lore for decades, such as how the grasshopper landed on his window for him to better understand its simanei<\/em> kashrus<\/em>; and how the bachur<\/em>\u2019s chronic allergies disappeared when he accepted upon himself to learn a seder<\/em> kavua<\/em> with R\u2019 Chaim, only to return with ferocity after the bachur<\/em> took off one day from his seder<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another remarkable and almost supernatural ability that R\u2019 Chaim had was the ability to know how many times a word or ma\u2019amar<\/em> Chazal<\/em> appears in different parts of the Torah. He famously knew how many times Moshe\u2019s name appears in Torah better than the computer search that had included \u201cmashah<\/em>\u201d (Devarim<\/em> 15:2) and \u201cmiseh<\/em>\u201d (Shemos<\/em> 12:4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His hallowed eyes, purified with the kedushas<\/em> haTorah<\/em>, saw what no one else\u2019s did. A bachur <\/em>was once reprimanded for not being careful with waiting between fleishigs<\/em> and milchigs<\/em>; R\u2019 Chaim had seen the image of a goat on his forehead, a sign of having transgressed the issur<\/em> of lo<\/em> sevashel<\/em> gedi<\/em>. A brokenhearted person involved in a fatal car accident was consoled with one written word: \u201cAmalek.\u201d R\u2019 Chaim\u2019s segulah<\/em> of drinking wine for Havdalah was not working, a petitioner said. \u201cYayin<\/em> nesech<\/em>,\u201d R\u2019 Chaim replied, and the man realized that the non-Jewish aide who helped his ailing father-in-law often touched the wine. His eyes saw far and near as he promised, reassured, and advised countless individuals in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing but Torah<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of R\u2019 Chaim\u2019s secret was his ability to completely ignore all distractions. His father, the Steipler Gaon, attested that \u201cven mein Chaim\u2019ke lernt, hert er garnisht<\/em>\u2014When my Chaim learns, he hears nothing\u201d when a visiting rav<\/em> asked that the room be emptied so that they could discuss something in private. The tumult that constantly surrounded him\u2014the gabba\u2019im<\/em> and petitioners, the photographers and tourists\u2014did not seem to bother him in the slightest. He was doing what he loved most, and he had the ability to block everything else out. Anything that wasn\u2019t related to Torah was irrelevant to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Six-Day War, as military vehicles drove by his home heading toward the battlefield, his chavrusa<\/em> testified that the only thing the word \u201ctank\u201d would have meant to R\u2019 Chaim was whether it was considered a kli<\/em> ha\u2019asui<\/em> lanachas<\/em>, a halachic term regarding whether a large item can be mekabel<\/em> tumah<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A visiting guest asked him about the Twin Towers shortly after 9\/11. \u201cIch ken zei nit<\/em>\u2014I don\u2019t know them,\u201d R\u2019 Chaim responded. If it wasn\u2019t Torah, it was foreign and uninteresting. In fact, he didn\u2019t even know the names of the streets he would walk every day to and from kollel<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duties of the mind<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

R\u2019 Chaim was renowned for the siyum<\/em> he made each Erev Pesach on kol<\/em> haTorah<\/em> kulah<\/em>. But what is less famous is what went into that siyum<\/em> each year. The siyum<\/em> was comprised of Tanach<\/em>, Talmud<\/em> Bavli<\/em>, Talmud<\/em> Yerushalmi<\/em>, Tosefta<\/em>, masechtos<\/em> ketanos<\/em>, Mechilta<\/em>, Toras<\/em> Kohanim<\/em>, Sifra<\/em>, Midrash<\/em>, Zohar<\/em>, Rambam<\/em>, and Shulchan<\/em> Aruch<\/em>. R\u2019 Chaim set up a schedule that enabled him to cover all these within the span of one year, and he would refer to these as his \u201cchovos<\/em>\u201d\u2014these were debts that had to be repaid, and pushing off the payment period was not an option. The severity with which R\u2019 Chaim viewed these chovos<\/em> actually caused one of his mechutanim<\/em> to panic when the Gaon informed him that he would not make it to all the sheva<\/em> brachos<\/em> of the new couple because he had chovos<\/em> that were pressing on him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did he manage to finish all this in 12 months? He would awaken at midnight to start paying off his debts. He would learn eight blatt<\/em> of Talmud<\/em> Bavli<\/em> along with the corresponding gemaros<\/em> in Yerushalmi<\/em>. After finishing a perek<\/em> in Gemara, R\u2019 Chaim would learn that perek<\/em> in Tosefta<\/em>. Additionally, he would learn one perek<\/em> in Tanach<\/em>, three perakim<\/em> in Rambam<\/em>, five pages in Shulchan<\/em> Aruch<\/em>, three pages in Mishnah<\/em> Berurah<\/em>, and one daf<\/em> in Zohar<\/em>. All of these limudim<\/em> were in addition to the regular iyun sedarim<\/em> that he held.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to be able to finish all of Shas<\/em> and still have time for the small masechtos<\/em> that do not have Gemara, R\u2019 Chaim set aside certain days when he would learn more than the regular eight blatt<\/em>. One rule that he instituted for himself was that the eight blatt<\/em> cannot be from two different masechtos<\/em>; if there were fewer than eight blatt<\/em> until the end of a masechta<\/em>, he would finish it that day so that the next day he could learn eight blatt<\/em> from the new masechta<\/em>. This sometimes led him to learn 15 blatt<\/em> a day if after the original daily eight blatt<\/em> there remained only seven blatt<\/em> until the end of the masechta<\/em>. Maseches Makkos<\/em>, for instance, with its 23 blatt<\/em>, had to be learned in only two days! Add the Tosefta<\/em> and Yerushalmi<\/em>, and the amount of willpower, siyata d\u2019Shmaya<\/em>, and concentration that this feat required becomes even more apparent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some days were more intense than others. There were days when he \u201chad to\u201d learn 50 blatt<\/em> in Yerushalmi<\/em> to cover all the dafim<\/em> that correspond to what he\u2019d learned in Bavli<\/em>. And so would another day of rigorous limud haTorah<\/em>, of paying off yet another day of holy chovos<\/em>, pass. Day after day, week after week, R\u2019 Chaim steadily made his way through the entire Torah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One fascinating aspect of R\u2019 Chaim\u2019s chovos<\/em> is how he managed to cover them despite disturbances that came up. In what was clearly a stroke of hashgachah<\/em>, three out of the four times that R\u2019 Chaim sat shivah<\/em> and was unable to learn his regular sedarim<\/em> occurred on or before a shanah<\/em> me\u2019uberes<\/em>, allowing R\u2019 Chaim to have an extra month to make up the missing time before Erev Pesach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not always was it easy. When his uncle the Chazon Ish passed away, R\u2019 Chaim was so broken that he could barely concentrate on the Gemara that he needed to learn. But a chov<\/em> is a chov<\/em>, and R\u2019 Chaim pushed himself to do it regardless, reviewing the next day that which he had not fully understood earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every waking moment was spent learning yet another word of Torah, never being satisfied with the amount of Torah he had already acquired. Indeed, every moment of the day was calculated so that he could learn for yet another minute. In recent years, R\u2019 Chaim would famously use the word \u201cbuha<\/em>,\u201d the acronym for \u201cbrachah v\u2019hatzlachach<\/em>,\u201d so that he could save more time to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father of Klal Yisrael<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he still made time for those who needed him. He responded to each letter. All his pressing chovos<\/em> and cheshek<\/em> to learn ever more notwithstanding, the Gaon gave considerable amounts of time for all the desperate people who waited to receive the Tzaddik\u2019s brachos<\/em> for parnassah<\/em>, shidduchim<\/em>, nachas<\/em>, and good health. They all knew that one word from his mouth was enough to open the gates of shefa<\/em>, to enable them to receive all that they needed. Sometimes, when time was tight, the Gaon sufficed with a brachah<\/em> for all those gathered, \u201cBuha l\u2019kulam<\/em>,\u201d and that too was enough for them to be blessed with all the brachos<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R\u2019 Chaim zt\u201dl<\/em> is surely sitting in yeshivah shel ma\u2019alah<\/em>, doing what he did during his stay on this world\u2014delving deeply into the words of Torah with the sweetest dveikus<\/em>. He is surely traveling through the olamos<\/em> that he created for himself with his unceasing and relentless limud<\/em> haTorah<\/em>. He is meeting up with the Steipler, the Chazon Ish, Rav Elyashiv, and his rebbi<\/em> Rav Mechel Yehudah, reveling in their spiritual delights as they revel in his. And he is surely imploring Hashem, just as he did while in this world, to open the gates of shamayim<\/em> and be mashpia<\/em> to all the broken hearts of Klal Yisrael brachah v\u2019hatzlachah<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Orphaned Nation Bereft by the Loss of Its Crown Jewel Maran Sar HaTorah Hagaon Rav Chaim Kanievsky Zt\u201dl Y. Strauss Speechless. The shocking tidings this past Friday morning caused young and old alike to freeze in disbelief. The person whose picture hangs in many of our homes for the children and adults to look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[20],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1993"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1995,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993\/revisions\/1995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}