The Weekly Shtikle - Toledos
The Weekly Shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas my Opa, Tovia Yehudah ben Yoel, a'h.
This week's shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas my rebbe and Rosh HaYeshivah of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, Harav Yaakov Moshe Kulefsky, zt"l (Yaakov Moshe ben Refael Nissan Shlomo) whose Yahrtzeit is today.
Two years ago, I wrote a piece for a Ner Yisroel Alumni publication on the occasion of R' Kulefsky's yahrtzeit:
Rashi (27:1) details a discussion in the midrashim as to why Yitzchak's vision was impaired. First, he quotes the Midrash Tanchuma that it was caused by the smoke from the incense that Eisav's wives would burn for idol worship. The second suggestion, from Midrash Rabba, is that the angels were crying at the akeidah and their tears fell in his eyes. Rashi's third and final explanation is that Yitzchak became blind so that Yaakov could receive the blessings.
The third explanation is quite different from the first two in that it fails to offer any cause for Yitzchak's blindness. It would seem that the third opinion is suggesting that there was no cause at all. It was simply a Divine decree with a purpose rather than a cause.
When I first arrived in Ner Yisroel and began in Rav Kulefsky, zt"l's shiur, he had already lost most of his vision. I am not aware of what it was that caused his vision to go. At the same time, we are certainly not in any position to be guessing at what it was HaShem had in mind. But looking back, I can't help but feel that to a certain degree, his impaired vision was brought about for the benefit of us, his talmidim. We watched Rav Kulefsky endure and overcome his impaired vision. He would have the dapim of gemara blown up to a large size. When it became increasingly difficult for him, he would simply have it blown up larger and used a magnifying glass and a lamp. He never gave up. It was a true lesson in mesiras nefesh for Torah.
Normally, in publicly displayed photos, especially of revered gedolim, it is unusual, perhaps disrespectful, to accentuate their handicaps. However, it is not uncommon to find pictures on walls of Rav Kulefsky in his study with his bright light and his enlarged texts. Certainly, it is the tremendous mussar value that makes these photographs appropriate.
Rav Kulefsky would always point out Rashi's explanation of (Devarim 30:12) "lo bashamayim hi." Indeed, the Torah is not in the heavens and we need not ascend to the heavens to learn Torah. However, what this pasuk is really telling us is that if it were in the heavens, we would be required to do so. Rav Kulefsky did not have the Torah available right before his eyes as we, who are blessed with proper vision, do. He was a true, living example of this Rashi.
I'm sure that anyone who was in Rav Kulefsky's shiur has the picture of his sweet smile etched in his brain, expressing the sweetness of Torah which was his hallmark. But the memories of his ameilus and mesiras nefesh serve as a lesson to us of how hard we must work and how me must not let even the most difficult of circumstances get in our way of achieving that.
If the above is indeed on the mark, it is truly fitting that the yahrtzeit of Rav Kulefsky, zt"l, coincides with parshas Toledos.
Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com
Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
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posted by Shtikler | 2:19 PM
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