Rebbe Rebbe

Father and son. That is the way I would describe my rela- tionship with Rebbi. He literally took me under his wing ever since I came back from Israel, and we never looked back. From his constant check up phone calls to his hilari- ous jokes, he showed me what a true Rebbi talmid relation- ship should be. He never ever discounted any one of my questions. He never let me feel lesser than him or anyone at the Yeshiva, which always blew me away.

But the biggest af-
fect Rebbi has had
on me other than
the massive
amount of Torah
he taught me was
that he showed me
how to truly be
happy; and that to
be happy is not
hard at all. I re-
member how every morning he would walk in and ask me

how are you!?” And I would respond “great Rebbiיונתן“ how are you?” He would always look at me in confusion as if I was speaking a different language. He would say “I’m amazing, what’s the question??” This taught me life’s great- est lesson. What is the question? Life is amazing when you have Rebbi’s glasses on. He always had the biggest smile on his face, even when he had every reason not to. Being around Rebbi I learnt how to be happy in life, with almost anything that came my way.

There is one story I will always remember. It was a Thurs- day after first seder, and at this time he usually started mak- ing his way back to Lakewood. He had asked me, “Do you mind helping me pack the car?” Of course I said yes, (it was my greatest pleasure to pay him back in any small way). So, we packed the car and he was off to Lakewood. Around 45 minutes later, I got a phone call and it was Rebbi. He started

apologizing profusely out of nowhere. I was trying to cut

him off to reply, “for what Rebbi?” He said, “יונתן, I forgot to thank you for helping me out!” In my mind I truly felt awe for a person of his stature. For him to have been worrying about this 45 minutes into his journey to Lakewood speaks volumes about the person he was. He was so concerned about whether or not he gave his student the proper thank you. Reflecting back, I realize that Rebbi’s gadlus lies in the fact that he made everyone feel special and important, es- pecially his students. Klal Yisrael had a true gem, and now I’m sure he’s resting comfortably next to the kisei hakavod.