Guest Post by Zalman Alpert, Judaica Reference Librarian at the Gottesman Library of Yeshiva University from 1982–2014
As I wrote in an earlier contribution, Gottesman Library was used by many Rebbes and scholars of the Chasidic community, but few important rabbis of the Yeshiva community used the library.
An important exception I recall was Rav Ruvein Fein, the late Rosh Yeshiva of Torah VaDaas in Brooklyn. Although he did not personally come to the library, he did send one of his talmidim as his shliach.
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| R. Reuven Fein |
Rav Fein was a grandson of Rav Yehuda Leib Fein Hyd, the last Rav of the city of Slonim, a city noted for it's famed rabbis.
My rebbe, Rabbi Shimon Romm of RIETS, told me that he picked up his oratorical skills from listening to the drashoth of Rav Fain, while R Romm was a student in the Slonimer Yeshiva of Rav Yagel. R. Romm considered Rabbi Fain as the best rabbinic speaker in the Litvishe sector of Poland (Eastern Poland).
In 1992 I was able to assist Rav Fein's talmid in locating some shtiklech Torah that his grandfather wrote for the rabbinic journal, Shaarei Torah in Warsaw among whose editors was Rav Mendel Kasher. Using Gottesman Librarys holding of pre-War Torah periodicals, this was a challenge but hardly impossible. I didn't think much of this until a while latter when I received a hand written thank you note from Rav Ruvain, expressing his gratitude and explaining what this meant for him.
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| The Thank you note from Rabbi Fein |
Receiving a thank you from a leading gaon was meaningful for me as well, and is something I never forgot.
Rav Feins yorhzeit is the 25th day of Sivan
Zekher Zaddik Livrocha
Thank you R. Zalman for your post, always a pleasure reading
ReplyDeleteI would like to note that רב פיין lived in the Us only briefly during his youth and only arrived back in the United States in 1982 after the passing of Rav Eliyahu Chazan. I suspect that R. Fein wasn't steeped in the nuances of the American Yeshiva politics and didn't have reservations for Yeshivas University like other American Bred Rashe Yeshivot such as Rav Gifter
Are you referring to a specific comment or story of R Gifter and YU? It's well documented that R Gifter maintained a close relationship with his rebbe from YU, R Poleyeff. Something which cannot be said for R A.Miller.
DeleteRav Gifter said in 1991 “the NY Times was mechadesh that Norman Lamm is a rabbi”. The report carried the title “Gifter slaughters Lamm for Passover”.
DeleteI have heard from 2 different talmidim of Rav Gifter that he was livid when they decided to leave Telz and go to YU. One of them recounted how he was told by Rav Gifter to ignore his father's wishes that he go study in YU and run away from home.
There are numerous anecdotes and instances where Rav Gifter made his displeasure with YU known, despite his studying there as a youth. His relationship with R. Poleyeff notwithstanding.
Yasher Koach Zalman
ReplyDeletePlease please write more. I especially enjoyed your post with the Rav Aharon circulation cards!