11 Adar · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Yosef Rosen of Dvinsk – the Rogatchover Gaon
Rabbi Yosef ben Fishel Rosen of Dvinsk (1936) - the Rogatchover Gaon - author of "Tzafnat Paneach."
Yahrzeit - 11 Adar
Resting place - Daugavpils, Lithuania
Here is how eyewitnesses described him: "Of short stature, quick-moving, with a beautiful ascetic face and a head covered in gray locks down to his shoulders." "The rabbi never walked, he only ran."
He never had enough time. Never. Perhaps even now, in the eternal world, he still doesn't have enough time to grasp the full infinity of the Creator and His Torah. Many years later, an elderly Jew, Reb Moshe, who had been a student of the Rogatchover in his youth, recalled a story he had heard in class.
In a certain town, a Jew died, leaving his three sons 17 goats and a strange will. "Give half to the eldest, two-thirds of what remains to the middle son, two-thirds of what remains after that to the youngest, and the rest to charity."
They puzzled over it and tried every way - nothing worked out; halves and sixths of goats made no sense. They went to the rabbi. "I don't know what your father wanted to teach you, but I will give you a goat from the charity fund." Now everything worked out at once: 9 goats to the eldest, 6 to the middle son, 2 to the youngest, and one returned to the charity fund. But how could this be - all 17 goats accounted for, distributed among the heirs exactly according to the will - when before it simply wouldn't work out?! The Rogatchover fell silent and gazed at his students for a long while.
"You, young men, study Torah - that is good, that is right. But do not think that the result depends only on the effort you put in. Your efforts are the 17 goats, but without the 18th, nothing can be done with them. A gift from Ha-Shem is needed - understanding - and it is granted not for brilliant knowledge and deep analysis, but for simple, wholehearted fulfillment of the mitzvot. Be sincere with Ha-Shem - and then, wondrously, out of the most hopeless situation He will show you a simple and clear way out."
The power of prayer arises the same way. It depends not on the art of meditation, knowledge of the structure of the text, or even on the "kavanot" (deep intentions) of the one praying - but on the wholeness of his life, the sincerity of his relationship with the One to Whom the prayers are directed. Especially if, during prayer, a moment of true repentance, "teshuva," arrives, transforming your entire reality.
Yosef (called "Fishelevich" in Russia) Rozin was born in 1858 in the small Belarusian town of Rogachev, south of Mogilev. Today this is the Gomel region; then it was Mogilev province. The town lies where the Drut flows into the Dnieper. In Belarusian, "rog" also means "shoal," "spit," "point," "corner." Might this "corner" explain the sharp-edged, ironic, at times even biting character of the sage?
The coat of arms of the town of Rogachev resembles a shofar and an open book against a bright, sunny background. The "sun of Jewish scholarship," which rose in Dvinsk and still warms us today, was born in this little town. In the 19th century, Jews made up roughly 60% of the population. One of the first Chassidic communities in Belarus arose here (although before the 19th century the territory of Belarus was called "Lita" in Yiddish, and the local Jews "Litvaks"). Rogachev was destroyed and rebuilt many times over; its history has not been an easy one - wars, fires, Cossack raids... Interestingly, Rabbi Meir Simcha is not called "the Gaon of Baltriманца," but "...of Dvinsk (Daugavpils)" - even though he led the "Litvish" community of the city for about as long, and around the same period, as the Rogatchover led the Chassidic community. Why, then, is one called by his birthplace and not by his more than 40 years of devoted service? Perhaps one explanation is that the Rogatchover Gaon had a fiery temperament and a rather sharp, unyielding character. It is described how he would enter his synagogue (the "Planover minyan"): with a wave he would brush off those rushing to greet him, prayers would begin immediately, and if the chazzan moved too slowly, he would rebuke him for wasting the congregation's time (this was a "shtibl" - a synagogue where one group of worshippers would replace another). In general, he answered greetings only in passing, barely noticing them. Those who came with questions - unless the questions were substantial - he might turn away sharply, and his nickname became: "I have no time." Those seeking a rabbinic blessing he usually sent to his friend, Rabbi Meir Simcha ("go to the Kohen"). And if someone not, by the Gaon's standards, brilliantly prepared - say, someone who did not know the Babylonian Talmud by heart - dared to ask him for rabbinic ordination ("semicha"), he might chase them out, stamping his feet after them. And so, although the townspeople loved and revered him without measure - for his great knowledge, sharp mind, wisdom, gift of foresight, incorruptibility, and absolute honesty - it is said that "the townspeople never grew close to him." There was a saying that he was "a better rabbi for angels than for mortals."
The rav lived as though he were not in Dvinsk at all, but on "planet Torah." Or "somewhere over there," in Rogachev. But perhaps the truth is simply that a strong, tightly-knit community had formed in Rogachev, and those who came from it continued to feel a close bond with their hometown. Did you know that it was Chassidim from Rogachev who, in 1810, after a 250-year gap, revived the Jewish quarter of Hebron? Yosef's mother was the granddaughter of Rabbi Gershon, one of the closest disciples of the founder of Chabad, the Alter Rebbe, and his father, Rabbi Fishel, was a Chassid of Kopys, an offshoot of Chabad. When the boy was 5 or 6 years old, his father brought him for a blessing to his own teacher, the Tzemach Tzedek (1789-1866) - the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, an outstanding halachic authority. The sage blessed the boy to become a great scholar of Torah, and at parting added: "You should study the tractate 'Nazir' well." On the way back the little boy kept asking his father: "Why 'Nazir' - I must study the whole Talmud!?" Later he concluded that the teacher had probably been hinting that he should become a "nazir" - devoting himself entirely to lofty pursuits and distancing himself from the mundane. Some say the rabbi's long hair reflected the nazirite vow he had taken; others say he simply cut his hair no more than once or twice a year so as not to be pulled away from his studies. The boy displayed brilliant abilities even in childhood; by age 10 he had surpassed all the teachers in the area and began studying independently, guided by his father.
The next stage - after his bar mitzvah his father sent him to Slutsk, to study under the head of the community, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (the "Beit HaLevi"). There, his chavruta (study partner) for a year was the Rav's son, Chaim Brisker, five years his senior. Imagine - a 13-year-old boy studying as an equal with an 18-year-old genius of logical analysis! Another step followed - Shklov, the yeshiva of Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin (the Maharil Diskin). All those named are among the greatest sages of the Jewish people of recent centuries, and, incidentally, "Litvaks." Perhaps this reflects the influence of the Tzemach Tzedek, who devoted enormous effort to ending the rift among the people between the "Misnagdim" and the "Chassidim." Then, still in Shklov, came study under the Chassidic mentor Yehuda Leib of Kopys, which made the Rogatchover a true Chabad Chassid.
The Rogatchover usually finished his prayers among the first to do so and hurried back to his Torah study, over which he pondered day and night; almost all his thoughts were of it. (It is not my place to compare sages, but it seems to me I have met only one person like him: Rabbi Avraham Shor - here, in Brooklyn. Even among true servants of the Creator, this is rare.) Witnesses relate that the Rogatchover could write two letters on different subjects simultaneously with both hands, while at the same time looking into a volume of Talmud. Time!
Remarkably, as if in contrast to all this, the Rogatchover was an open, warm-hearted man who was deeply involved in community affairs. He supported the needy, using his enormous authority, and gave lessons in the yeshiva every day. Toward young people he was warmly indulgent: "Everyone can live in their own way and believe in G-d according to their own outlook." Truth and sincerity mattered more to him than details of dress or ritual - so long, of course, as these did not cross into violation of the mitzvot. He proved this tolerance in practice - his own son-in-law was a "Litvak," Rabbi Aba David.
The final conclusion of all who wrote about this sharp-tongued, biting, ironic, and impatient man was: "He was an utterly captivating personality who left an unforgettable impression on everyone who saw him." Christians, on the one hand, nicknamed him "the mad rabbi" (who was always running somewhere, framed by a thick mane of hair down to his shoulders), while on the other hand, they preferred to settle disputes with Jews before him, "the real rabbi," relying completely on his wisdom and impartiality.
In 1925 a convention of Latvian rabbis gathered at his initiative and made important decisions on strengthening Torah education for children. The "Keren Chinuch" fund was established to support religious schools; at the Rogatchover's proposal, every community was obligated to maintain religious schools, and it was suggested that all Jews be taxed 1 lat a year for this purpose (roughly 75 tsarist, already inflated wartime rubles). But this project was not realized due to technical obstacles.
Rabbi Yosef voiced his views on political matters, in particular on the elections in Latvia, drawing criticism for it, of course ("what do these rabbis understand?!"). Shortly before his death in 1936, relying on Torah logic, he predicted the inevitability of a great war: "The situation of the Jews now is not good... when all nations are so isolated and so hostile to one another... I simply see no other way."
After his studies in Shklov, the Rogatchover married Rachel, the daughter of the wealthy Warsaw merchant Gurfinkel - "pretty, well-mannered, and excellently educated" - who devoted many years to helping the poor; in particular, she became head of "Hachnasat Kallah," a society for aiding brides. The couple spent eight years in Warsaw - Yosef studied day and night, including "secular" subjects necessary for the understanding of Torah. In 1889 he was chosen as rabbi of the Chassidic community of Dvinsk. At first, because of his youth and his difficult character, some of the older Chassidim did not want to accept him as their leader, but his worldwide scholarly fame and his penetrating mind quickly set everything in its place.
What struck visitors immediately was how incredibly quickly the Rogatchover answered questions and solved problems. His phenomenal memory was well known, but in the opinion of Rabbi Meir Simcha, the secret lay not in his memory but in the Rogatchover's tremendous capacity for work - and in the fact that he engaged with Torah constantly, with no interruptions in his study whatsoever. The rav covered material so quickly and so deeply - all the more so since so much instantly surfaced on the screen of his memory - that it seemed as though the Rogatchover were studying the topic being raised for the very first time, right then. Rabbi Avraham Miller, one of the few Torah sages to survive under Soviet rule, described how the Rogatchover studied: "When I was still quite young, my friends and I would marvel at watching the Rogatchover study. On a huge table, the kind found in the banquet halls of old castles, twenty or thirty books were laid out around the edges, and the Rogatchover would walk in circles around the table, reading all of them at once." He continued studying Torah even on the mournful day of Tisha B'Av, when this (apart from readings on the tragedies) is forbidden. "I will gladly accept punishment for studying Torah on this day - Torah is worth it!" And he would quote the Jerusalem Talmud: "If a person burns with Torah - then it is permitted."
All his books, both those the Rogatchover published himself and those published posthumously by others, were titled "Tzafnat Paneach" ("revealer of hidden things") - the name Pharaoh gave to his namesake Yosef, who prophetically interpreted the dreams about Egypt's future. His favorite was the Rambam - he himself published five volumes of commentary on the Rambam's principal code, the "Mishneh Torah." Here is a comment typical of his uncompromising mind: "No one knows how to properly study the Gemara. The Rambam knew - he truly knew how to study Talmud well. 'But what about Rabbi Akiva Eiger, what about the Vilna Gaon?!'... 'The Vilna Gaon was a man of comprehensive knowledge; he absorbed everything into himself. But that is not enough to study the Gemara. In a shtetl near me there lived a melamed, a little rebbele. He wore a shabby hat and could study Gemara a thousand times better than the Vilna Gaon'" (this said of the man who verified and edited the text of the Babylonian Talmud, ridding it of accumulated errors!). Perhaps this love for the Rambam is what drew the Rogatchover close to his Dvinsk colleague Rabbi Meir Simcha, whose only work published in his lifetime, "Ohr Sameach," was likewise devoted to analyzing the "Mishneh Torah."
The Rogatchover left for St. Petersburg in 1914, when Dvinsk found itself on the front line. He was chosen as Chief Rabbi of the capital, and he remained in that role until 1924, helping his fellow Jews survive the tragedies of those years. In early 1925 he was able to return to Dvinsk and once again head the city's Chassidim. Chabad Chassidim relate that he was close with the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rayatz, and that the Rebbe may well have received his rabbinic ordination from him. In 1935, ill, the Rogatchover had to travel to Vienna, but the operation was unsuccessful, and the sage was overcome with severe pain. His wife and children went around the synagogues of Vienna urging Jews to bring the Gaon difficult questions - for while he pondered them, the pain would release its grip on him.
The Rogatchover passed away on 11 Adar (March 5) 1936. After competing with other claimants, Dvinsk won the honor of burying the great man - he was laid to rest between the grave of the "Ohr Sameach" and the remains of 25 Torah scrolls that had been burned in a fire. The rabbinic seat was inherited by his beloved student, Yisrael Alter Fuchs, who together with the teacher's daughter, Rachel Citron, published some of his works. Much still remains in manuscript to this day. Both editors perished in the Holocaust.
The Rogatchover is alive today - just as the Torah, which was his essence, his whole life, his beloved, is alive. Just as the Jewish people are alive.
(Author: Arye Yudasin, https://evreimir.com/175408/otkryvayushhij-tajnoe-ili-istoriya-o-semnadtsati-kozochkah/)
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!