{"id":2635,"date":"2023-02-24T16:37:29","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T21:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/?p=2635"},"modified":"2023-02-24T16:37:29","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T21:37:29","slug":"rav-abba-bronspigel-ztl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/rav-abba-bronspigel-ztl\/","title":{"rendered":"Rav Abba Bronspigel ZT”L"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Bridge to the Past, an Inspiration for the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rav Abba Bronspigel A\u201dh<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zev Kilstein<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a time when Rav Abba Bronspigel suffered from terrible back pains and was forced to lie flat on his back, sometimes even on the floor. Once, it got close to the time for him to say shiur<\/em>, so he told his son, \u201cChaim, I have to say shiur<\/em>. Pick me up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stunned, Chaim said, \u201cHow can I pick you up? You\u2019re on the floor in pain!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rav Bronspigel didn\u2019t back down. \u201cPick me up,\u201d he said. \u201cI have to say shiur<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chaim was able to pull him up, and Rav Bronspigel hobbled over to the shul. Soon enough, the previously bedridden rav <\/em>was jumping excitedly while delivering the shiur<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story, one of many, sums up who Rav Bronspigel was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early days<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rav Bronspigel was born in 1938 in Modzitz, Poland, during one of the darkest times in history. Surviving on countless miracles, he eventually arrived in America, where he went to Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. Due to his lack of formal education during the war years, he was initially behind his peers in learning, but he quickly grew to become their equal. Eventually, he was considered among the top talmidim<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afterward, he switched to Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchok Elchonon, where he became a talmid<\/em> of Rav Yerucham Gorelick (who was a talmid <\/em>of the Brisker Rav) and Rav Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik. He would later guard the dignity of Rav Soloveitchik by denouncing how some claim he supported their modern causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spreading Torah<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rav Bronspigel became a rosh yeshivah<\/em> at Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchok Elchonon, where he taught for over 40 years. His teachings demonstrated his amkus<\/em>, charifus<\/em>, bekius<\/em>, and klarkeit<\/em>. He loved to talk in learning with his talmidim<\/em> and was among the few maggidei shiur<\/em> who was available to them in the beis medrash<\/em> during first seder<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He would challenge them, saying, \u201cDon\u2019t take my word for it; look up this point yourself,\u201d and, \u201cCome back to me and let me know if I\u2019m saying it over right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In learning, he would caution them to make sure they understood the gemara with Rashi <\/em>and Tosafos<\/em> before moving on to the popular writings of the Acharonim. As he put it, \u201cYou [first] have to learn to play the piano\u2026\u201d and, \u201cYou have to be an observant<\/em> Jew.\u201d His strong commitment to the correct way to learn set the standard for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His shiur<\/em> grew in popularity and size; in the 1990s, over 100 talmidim<\/em> wanted to participate. At the same time, Rav Bronspigel led a kehillah<\/em> in Boro Park for many years. Later, he became a rav<\/em> in Monsey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the year 2000, he was asked to be the founding rosh yeshivah<\/em> of Beis Medrash L\u2019Talmud at Lander College for Men. He headed and taught at Beis Medrash L\u2019Talmud for 12 years, until he was physically no longer able to continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, he was zocheh<\/em> to teach Torah for over 50 years to thousands of talmidim<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahavas haTorah<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, he almost never missed giving a shiur <\/em>regardless of his age or the weather. He would surprise everyone by coming even when it was snowing. As long as he could drive, he went. As he aged, he would arrive at yeshivah tired from the trip and lacking the energy to say shiur<\/em> for the full amount of time. Even so, he wouldn\u2019t stay home and give up the chance to teach Torah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the levayah<\/em> this past Sunday, maspidim<\/em> mentioned his remarkable ahavas haTorah<\/em>. His children would see him learning day and night at the table, and his oldest child remembers falling asleep hearing his father singing in learning. This ignited a fire in his talmidim<\/em>, many of whom had weaker backgrounds and were unfamiliar with the idea of having an ahavah <\/em>and a cheishek<\/em> for learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He would speak about topics that many of his talmidim<\/em> hadn\u2019t heard before, such as emunas chachamim, ahavas haTorah<\/em>, Torah lishmah<\/em>, and earning a parnassah<\/em> as opposed to having a \u201ccareer.\u201d These ideas molded how they continued to spend their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love for his talmidim<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He truly cared for his talmidim<\/em> and they knew it. When he would meet up with alumni, he would ask, \u201cHow are you doing? Do you have parnassah? <\/em>Are you kove\u2019a ittim l\u2019Torah<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he would attend their chasunahs<\/em>, he would dance until he was completely out of energy, to the extent that he would sometimes stagger or almost fall from exhaustion. When that happened, he would take a short rest and then start again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A talmid<\/em> remembers calling the house a little late to ask a question about a previous shiur<\/em>. When he asked if it was alright to be calling then, Rav Bronspigel replied, \u201cBefore ten o\u2019clock, don\u2019t hesitate to call. After ten o\u2019clock, hesitate, and then call.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another talmid<\/em>, who wasn\u2019t one of the top talmidim<\/em>, tried his best to understand the shiur<\/em>. At the end of the zman<\/em>, when he turned in his exam, Rav Bronspigel, who knew that the talmid<\/em> felt insecure in his level of learning, said, \u201cYou\u2019ve been coming to shiur<\/em> every day, right? I see you on Sundays too. I\u2019m giving you an \u2018A.\u2019\u201d It was exactly what the talmid<\/em> needed to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bridge to the past<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing Rav Bronspigel was getting a glimpse of how things were in Europe. One of his sons recalls how he would sit at the Shabbos table after the seudah<\/em> and get caught up in a chassidishe niggun<\/em>. He would be so immersed in it that his face would glow like fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From time to time, he would carefully paint the retzuos<\/em> of his tefillin<\/em> as if he were handling a treasure. When he would take out his arba\u2019ah minim<\/em> to perform the mitzvah, he would look at them in admiration and wonder. Watching him just look at his arba\u2019ah minim<\/em> was a sight to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he would give tzedakah<\/em>, he would say to the collector, \u201cThis is not from me. It was meant for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yiddishkeit<\/em> was so alive for him that at Kol Nidrei<\/em>, he had such a fear of the Yom Hadin<\/em> that he would cry as if someone had passed away. On Shabbos, he was Shabbos\u2019dig<\/em>; on Yom Tov, he was Yom Tov\u2019dig<\/em>. He was always fully ready for Shabbos 30 minutes before the zman<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was not attracted to unimportant things. When his children wanted to go to Niagara Falls, he said, \u201cTurn on the sinks and watch the water go down.\u201d The appeal didn\u2019t register with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His bein adam l\u2019chaveiro<\/em> was exemplary as well, especially his hachnasas orchim<\/em>. He would see someone on the street and say, \u201cYou don\u2019t look familiar; do you need a place to stay?\u201d Guests stayed in his home for days, weeks, and months. He even let people he barely knew live in his house when he was away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May we learn from his ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yehi zichro baruch<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Bridge to the Past, an Inspiration for the Future Rav Abba Bronspigel A\u201dh Zev Kilstein There was a time when Rav Abba Bronspigel suffered from terrible back pains and was forced to lie flat on his back, sometimes even on the floor. Once, it got close to the time for him to say shiur, […]<\/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":[20],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635"}],"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=2635"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2636,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635\/revisions\/2636"}],"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=2635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevoiceoflakewood.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}