{"id":2480,"date":"2023-01-12T12:26:19","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T17:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/?p=2480"},"modified":"2023-01-12T12:26:19","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T17:26:19","slug":"an-understated-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/an-understated-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"An Understated Giant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tribute to Rav Yisroel Aharon Lebovics ZT\u201dL<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meir Kass<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lakewood community and the Torah world at large lost an understated giant on Sunday with the petirah <\/em>Rav Yisroel Aharon Lebovics zt\u201dl,<\/em> a talmid chacham <\/em>of immense magnitude, a quiet baal <\/em>chessed<\/em>, a man whose every interaction left an indelible impression on those fortunate enough to know him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon not only lived for <\/em>Torah; he lived through it. While many strive to spend their days learning Torah and performing mitzvos, he did it in practice, with limud Torah <\/em>and gemilas chassadim<\/em> encompassing every aspect of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A life of Torah<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born and raised in Switzerland, R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon learned under the esteemed tutelage of Rav Yitzchak Koppelman before embarking to Eretz Yisrael to study under Rav Shach in Ponovezh, with whom he forged a deep kesher <\/em>and learned with b\u2019chavrusa<\/em>. Arriving on US shores in 1978, R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon enrolled in Bais Medrash Govoha, where he blossomed into a ben Torah <\/em>par excellence and nurtured a close relationship with the mashgiach<\/em>, Rav Nosson Wachtfogel, with whom he maintained a deep and personal relationship until the mashgiach<\/em>\u2019s petirah <\/em>in 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R’ Yisroel Aharon continued establishing links to gedolei <\/em>Torah<\/em> for the rest of his life, his primary objective being to gain from his proximity to greatness. Over time, numerous gedolim <\/em>and rabbanim<\/em> became part and parcel of his life and many of them visited his home and held daily sedarim <\/em>with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon\u2019s home was inside the walls of the beis midrash<\/em>; his residence on Lawrence Avenue was but a temporary dwelling in which to raise a family and recharge so he could once against return to the koslei beis midrash<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His chavivus <\/em>for Torah and mitzvos was so deep and comprehensive that properly conveying it is a nearly impossible task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom the moment he woke up until he closed his eyes at night, nothing inhabited his mind other than learning more Torah, davening, and performing mitzvos,\u201d his daughter told this writer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his unquenchable thirst for yedias haTorah<\/em>, R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon received semichah <\/em>on daled chelkei Shulchan Aruch <\/em>from a staggering 17 different batei dinin <\/em>in Eretz Yisrael\u2014a demonstration not only of his Torah prowess, but also of his constant fight against complacency in his Torah growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being makir the tov<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though he repelled all efforts to be mechabed <\/em>him, R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon nevertheless gained almost legendary status for his astonishing level of hakaras hatov <\/em>to those who did him a favor, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was constantly doing for others but refused to be recognized for his chessed<\/em>,\u201d Rabbi Sadya Grama, a neighbor of R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon for more than two decades, says. \u201cYet if someone else did a favor for him, he would never forget it, and when something positive occurred because of that favor, even if it was indirectly connected to it, he would remind you of it\u2014even many years later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon\u2019s family merited to see this attribute of ceaseless hakaras hatov <\/em>on countless occasions. Before making kiddush <\/em>each Friday night, their husband and father would review the past week and openly thank Hashem for every divine kindness he\u2019d experienced; not a single instance of hashgachah pratis <\/em>and tovas Hashem <\/em>was taken for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A familiar scene would play out each Sukkos, as at each seudah<\/em> R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon would hearken back to the days of his youth in Switzerland, when prohibitive taxes on sukkahs would force the kehillah <\/em>to use a communal sukkah. He would juxtapose that experience with his contemporary circumstances, thanking Hashem for providing him with a sukkah of his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a Lebovics family member suffered a severe burn some 20 years ago, R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon and his wife had to celebrate Pesach at a burn center in Livingston, New Jersey as they cared for their child. On each subsequent Pesach, R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon would thank Hashem for enabling him to make the Sedarim at the hospital and for now allowing him to make the Sedarim at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A life of shleimus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

R\u2019 Grama says his late neighbor had an unparalleled combination of greatness in Torah, avodah<\/em>, and gemilas chassadim<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was the embodiment of a ben Torah<\/em>, a prime example of being misavak ba\u2019afar ragleihem shel tzaddikim, <\/em>and a gomel chessed <\/em>beyond what anyone knows, and probably will ever know,\u201d R\u2019 Grama says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery week, he would print out divrei Torah <\/em>pamphlets and distribute them in Kol Shimshon, simply to be mezakeh <\/em>the rabbim<\/em>. And there are so many such examples.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The family relates that on Purim their father would often be gifted platters and showered with thanks from seemingly random strangers. They weren\u2019t strangers at all, but rather individuals and families that he had helped throughout the year in various ways\u2014all without the knowledge of his own family. When questioned by his children about what chessed <\/em>he had performed for them, R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon would simply brush it aside and change the topic of conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was this devotion to others that was the first thing noticed upon R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon\u2019s petirah<\/em>. When he rose from his bed at 3:30 a.m. each morning, R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon would wash negel vasser <\/em>and then place a bowl with a cup filled with water at his wife\u2019s bedside so she could wash her hands immediately upon waking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday morning, Mrs. Rivky Lebovics woke at 4:20 a.m. She noticed that her husband had left the room, but the negel vasser <\/em>that he placed for her each morning was nowhere to be found. Immediately, she knew something was wrong. Leaving the room to investigate, she found her husband, who had collapsed. In death, as in life, the difference he made was immediately recognizable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, what R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon wished for most was the arrival of Mashiach and a return to our home in Eretz Yisrael. Being metzapeh l\u2019yeshuah <\/em>was an integral part of who he was, and he often encouraged his children to perform mitzvosto hasten the Geulah<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following his levayah <\/em>at Bais Medrash Govoha, the aron <\/em>was flown to Eretz Yisrael where a second levayah <\/em>was held, followed by kevurah <\/em>on Har Hazeisim. Upon completion of the kevurah<\/em>, R\u2019 Yisroel Aharon\u2019s son texted the ultimate nechamah <\/em>to family members who had remained in America: \u201cTatty is finally home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pull<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom the moment he woke up until he closed his eyes at night, nothing inhabited his mind other than learning more Torah, davening, and performing mitzvos\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tribute to Rav Yisroel Aharon Lebovics ZT\u201dL Meir Kass The Lakewood community and the Torah world at large lost an understated giant on Sunday with the petirah Rav Yisroel Aharon Lebovics zt\u201dl, a talmid chacham of immense magnitude, a quiet baal chessed, a man whose every interaction left an indelible impression on those fortunate enough […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","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":"","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":[21],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2480"}],"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=2480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2481,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2480\/revisions\/2481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}