Shira Greenberg's Doros Acharonim Notes

Rav Elchonon Wasserman
Rav Elchonon Wasserman was the mean student of the Chofetz Chaim. He became the Rosh Yeshiva in Beranovitch. He tried to give as much as he could to his students. He was in America collecting money for his yeshiva when the war broke out and when he heard what was going on, he felt he couldn’t leave his students so he went back to be with them. His family was safe for a while. He had gotten visas for his family to leave the country, but right before they left one of his sons broke his leg and therefore they couldn’t leave. He was caught and when he was, he accepted it as the decree of Hashem. He wrote Kovetz Mamarim, which was a compilation of different essays, including Ikvisei D’Mashicha. He was the first to put his time where they were in respect to the world and the time of Mashiach. The gave the people of the time strength. ‘Let Mashiach come, but I’m scared to be there when it happens.’ The Chofetz Chaim said that save yourself from pain of Mashiach by learning Torah and doing chesed. If we deserve it Hashem will make Mashiach come closer and if not he’ll come at the set time. Yaakov wanted to tell his children when Mashiach would come but Hashem didn’t let him because either people will be discouraged or they’ll kick back because he’s going to come anyway.
Rav Elchonon Wasserman hid in the Friedman house, but was captured and murdered . When he was asked why the Holocaust happened, he gave this Mashal: A farmer had a guest at his house. The guest saw the farmer plow the ground, and the guest thought he was ruining the land. Then he planted, ruining the ground even more. Then the plants grew, so the guest thought now he understood what he had to ruin the ground, for the beautiful plants. But then the farmer cut them down, ruining the plants. Then he grinded them, ruining them even more. Then he baked them, ruining the plants even more. But then the farmer brought his guest a loaf of delicious looking bread and finally the guest understood. The Nimshal is that Hashem does what may seem bad to us but it is really for our benefit.
Rav Elchonon Wasserman’s son, Rav Simcha Wasserman, lived in France and then America. In LA, he made a yeshiva called Ohr Elchanan, a kiruv school. He then moved to Israel and continued to do kiruv there. Rav Simcha Wasserman didn’t have any children. His home was open to all and everyone felt comfortable there. Rebetzin Faige Wasserman (booklet) was someone that everyone could relate to. She was very smart and warm. She accomplished so much, but was first and foremost an tzinuah. She wanted to die first as not to feel the pain of losing her husband. Then she decided that it wasn’t honor for her husband, such a gadol, to have no one sit shivah for him, so she decided that she wanted to die second. Her wish was fulfilled and Rav Simcha Wasserman died in her lifetime, but a week after he died, she died.
Velozhin
Velozhin was open from 1802 to 1892. It was in Russia during the time of the
Enlightenment. yeshivos in general were a place where boys learned with the Rav of their
town or a neighboring one. If they learned in a different town, they had to worry about
where they’d sleep and what they’d eat and other such concerns. The towns made
rotations, called Essen Teg, where each night someone else would feed the boys. They
usually slept in the shul. Rav Chaim Velozhin, a student of the Vilna Gaon, decided to
make a yeshiva with a dorm so they boys wouldn’t have to worry about anything besides
their learning. It was the mother of all yeshivos because many other yeshivos did the
same thing afterwards. Rav Chaim Soleveichik and the Nitziv were Roshei Yeshiva in
the yeshiva. Rav Baruch Ber was Rav Chaim Soleveichik’s student.
The yeshiva closed because at the time, the Russian government wanted the yeshiva to learn Russian subjects with Russian teachers. Russia was not the best place for Jews to begin with, with Conscription Laws, where young boys were drafted into the army for a very long time. The problem with teaching Russian subjects was that since the yeshiva was supposed to be a protection for the boys against the outside world so that when they left yeshiva they would be fortified with Torah to fight the bad ideas. If those ideas were taught in the yeshiva itself, there protection would be diluted. Mashal: A poor man has a lot of sick people in his family so he gets antibiotics but dilutes it so he only has to buy enough for one instead of many. However, the diluted antibiotics doesn’t help. Nimshal: Teaching secular subjects was diluting the fortification against such beliefs. Self-hating Jews went to the government and told them that Velozhin wasn’t good for Russia and should be closed down. The government gave a date and Russian officials came and announced that everyone had to leave the school immediately and had to leave the city within three days. They locked up the yeshiva and it was closed. The students left and opened new yeshivos all over Europe.
Rav Baruch Ber
Rav Baruch Ber set up a yeshiva in Kaminetz, Poland which closed because of WWII. The Nazis took over Poland on erev Rosh Hashana. The Nazi’s gave Kaminetz to the Russians, who the Jews feared more than the Nazis. The Russians didn’t let the yeshiva remain opened. Rav Reuven Grozovsky, a leader in America after WWII, was very upset that the land was given to the Russians. The Bolsheviks (Russians) knew who Rav Reuven Grozovsky was because he had spoken out against Jewish Communists. Rav Reuven Grozovsky wanted to move the yeshiva to Vilna, but some people in the community not in the yeshiva didn’t want to be left behind, so Rav Reuven Grozovsky decided to stay. Then Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky sent a message from Vilna to move the yeshiva to Vilna immediately, even if that meant that they had to travel on Shabbos. But Vilna was under the Russians too! Slowly the students slipped out of town, but the Bolsheviks kept close watch on Rav Reuven Grozovsky’s house. One night his family and he escaped. A little while later Vilna was given to free Lithuania which meant that they were free for a while.
The Rogatchover Gaon
The Rogatchover Gaon died in 1936. He came from Rogatchove, Lithuania. He was a genius. He learned many things from the Torah. For example, he had never been to Israel but he knew the distances between different places and how to get from one to the next just from learning gemara. He also knew about time and the Jewish calendar from learning. Story: A couple had a premature baby who refused to nurse on Shabbos and yom tov. The Rogathcover Gaon told her that when she nursed her baby she should wear her weekday clothing because obviously the baby thought she as a different woman on and yom tov. The Rogathcover Gaon figured this out based on a situation in the gemara where an ox hit his owner on Shabbos because it didn’t recognize him.
He had cancer and went to Vienna for surgery but it wasn’t successful. Whenever he learned Torah, he didn’t feel the pain as much so his wife kept on inviting people to learn with him until he died.
Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky
Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky came from Lithuania. He was the leader of leaders.
He died in 1941. He lived at the same time as the Chofetz Chaim, but was 30 years
younger. However, he was so great that the Chofetz Chaim used to ask Rav Chaim Ozer
Grodzonsky questions. He was born in Ivye, near Vilna. His father was a Rav and his
grandfather was one before that. He learned in Volozhin. He got married and settled in
vilna and became the unofficial Rav of Vilna (because no one could replace the Vilna
Gaon) starting in his mid 20’s. He had an amazing memory. Story: People trusted him so
they gave him vesm money and he gave it out. He kept a book of all the money he gave.
There was a fire in his house and they couldn’t find the book. He got another book and
rewrote the entire thing and then they found the old one and it was almost exactly the
same.
Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky wrote Achiezer and was the founder of Agudas Yisroel. Many people came to ask his for advice. He was kind to everyone, but he took special care of widows and orphans. Story: Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky was walking and someone asked for directions. A student walking with Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky told him the directions. Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky said they’d walk the man. Afterwards his students asked why and he said that because the man stuttered and it could be difficult for him to ask again if he gets lost. Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky vacationed in Druskenik because of its dry air. When he came the people there were very excited and prepared him one of the best apartments. Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky realized that the kitchen was far from his apartment and since his wife died he had a woman cooking meals for him, so he had to make sure that it was okay with her before he accepted the apartment.
During the war, a limited number of clergy visas were given and they asked Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky who should get the visas, the younger Rabanim or the older ones. No one could really answer that because it meant guaranteed survival for some and a much greater chance at death for others. Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky said that the older Rabanim should get the visas because they would feel the responsibility to work tirelessly to save the younger Rabanim. Also, since they were going to America, which would be the last Torah center before Mashiach, it needed to see what real Chachamim were to bring the geulah closer.
Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky had one daughter who was sick and died at 20. Right before his daughter died, he left for a few minutes and came back. After she died people asked where he went. He said that he went to answer any urgent letters that had been written to him because during shivah he wouldn’t be able to answer them.
When Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzonsky died people went through his papers and they saw a list of resolutions that seemed relatively simple, such as to conquer his anger, to have more concentration, to stop doing work with extra time to spare before Shabbos started, and to strengthen learning and certain circles.
Gedolim After WWII
Rav Aharon Kutler died in 1962. He was very involved in the Lakewood Yeshiva,
Vaad Hatzalah, and Chinuch Atzmai. He was a Rosh Yeshiva in Kletzk. He came to
America in the middle of the war. He did a krud iutd to see if he should go to America or
Israel and he opened up to "And Hashem told Aharon to go to the desert to meet Moshe"
meaning to go to the spiritual desert of America with Rav Moshe Feinstein. He had two
goals: to save European Jewry and to replant Torah in America like it was in Europe.
Many thought that learning Torah wasn’t for the American masses, just for Rabanim.
Rav Moshe Feinstein died in 1982. He was born in Uzda, Russia on the 7th of Adar and was named after Moshe Rabenu. He was a Rav in Luban. He was the Posek of the generation. His decisions are in Igeres Moshe. Story: Someone came to him for a recommendation letter for his safer and this person had openly disagreed with a decision of Rav Moshe Feinstein’s. His students asked how he could give such a man a letter and Rav Moshe Feinstein said that Yom Kippur had passed and he had forgiven the man. In general, Rav Moshe Feinstein forgave his own honor but not the Torah’s honor. Story: An agunah remarried after WWII and after she had children, she found out that her first husband was alive. She blamed the Rav who had given her permission to remarry . Rav Moshe Feinstein asked her to repeat the story, and she did. He asked her to repeat it again, and she did. He said the story was impossible. Eventurally it came out that the woman was lying. That Rav hadn’t given her permission to remmary, she just assumed her first husband had died in the war. When she found out he was alive she blamed it on a prominent Rav who had died so he could not defend himself. Rav Moshe Feinstein defended the honor of a Rav. He was also very humble. Story: A woman came to ask Rav Moshe Feinstein a question, but was told Rav Moshe Feinstein was busy. She said she’d wait for him. The man asked if there was something he could help her with and she said that she had a letter in Russian from her relatives and she needed it translated. The man said that there were many people there who spoke Russian. She replied taht Rav Moshe Feinstein had been doing it for ten years.
Rav Yaakov Kamintesky was the Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Vodas. He was the .guh
rsv. He was very practical and down to earth and was able to answer day-to-day
questions with Torah answers. He was like the ladder in yaakov’s dream that had its
bottom on the ground but its head in the sky. He learned in Slabodka Yeshiva which was
destroyed in WWII. They stressed greatness of a human, know your talents and see your
responsibility to use them for good and to see other peoples greatness and treat them with
respect. He was very truthful. Story: It was very cold out and he realized on the way back
from the post office that he was given extra change so he walked back. The post master
was very impressed and he ended up saving many Jews in WWII because of it. Story:
Rav Moshe Feinstein said that he couldn’t be mesader kedushin at someone’s wedding
because he’d be out of town. That morning he left town as not to lie.