Hesped of HaGaon Rav Nota Schiller z"tz'l Rosh Yeshivas Ohr Somayach
by Rabbi Shlomo Wiener Dean – Yeshivas Ohr Somayach
Harav Nota Schiller z"tz'l was not just a Rebbe for his Talmidim, but rather he was really a father to his Talmidim. Torah Jews have both a biological father and also a spiritual father. Since most of Rav Schiller's many Talmidim had no Jewish education or mesorah from their secular families, he was their spiritual father. He taught them to revere Torah and Mitzvos, and how to approach life.
Rav Schiller z"tz'l didn't just believe that a Baal Teshuva should be a person who is observant, i.e. keeping Shabbos, Kashrus, and putting on Tefillin. He wanted his Talmidim to be "regular" frum Jews that can fit in seamlessly into a frum community. His desire was that wherever his Talmidim end up living they are regular "card carrying" members of their respective Frum communities. Whether they live in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Passaic, Edison, Toronto, Chicago, London, Johannesburg or Melbourne they should be indistinguishable from their contemporaries who were raised observant. They should not have "Baal Teshuva" painted across their forehead.
How was the Rosh HaYeshiva z"tz'l able to successfully achieve this goal? How was he able to get his Talmidim to be "regular"members of the frum community? He achieved this by stressing to his Talmidim the preeminence and importance of learning Torah. He insightfully understood that if the Baal Teshuva did not "catch up"" to his Frum From Birth contemporaries in learning, he will be severely hampered in his ability to raise a frum family. That is why the Ohr Somayach graduates are so successful in staying observant after they leave Yeshiva, and that their children are also following in their parents' footsteps. When a Baal Teshuva can prepare Gemara with Rishonim by himself without using Artscroll and when he can open a Mishna Berura by himself, then he feels like a "regular" frum Jew, and he raises healthy frum children. That was part of the Hashkafa that the Rosh HaYeshiva established in Ohr Somayach.
But we must ask ourselves, how was the Rosh HaYeshiva z"tz'l able to impart this tremendously valuable and important Hashkafa and message to his Talmidim? How was he successful in passing on this message to his many Talmidim? Part of the answer was due to his personal example. Whenever you walked into his office, he would immediately begin to tell you Chiddushei Torah. He would continue to tell you Chiddushim until you had to leave to give a shiur or to meet someone. That personal example was worth a thousand words! Secondly, the Rosh HaYeshiva always brought in the leading Talmidei Chachamim of the generation to impress upon the Talmidim the importance and centricity of learning Torah. Great luminaries such as Rav Aharon Feldman Shlita, Rav Nachman Bulman, ztz'l, Rav Moshe Shapira z"tz'l, and Rav Dov Schwartzman z"tz'l all had major teaching roles in Ohr Somayach. Currently, Rav Yitzchak Breitowitz Shlita and Rav Asher Weiss Shlita have prominent roles in Ohr Somayach.
In Parshas Chaye Sarah, Avraham Avinu sends his servant Eliezer to find a Shidduch for his son Yitzchak. He makes two requirements for the shidduch to proceed. Firstly, the girl must be from his family in Chutz la'áretz, and not from the Canaanite girls who dwell in the land of Israel, and secondly, she must come to the land Israel to live with Yitzchak. What are the odds of such a shidduch being successful? Practically none! However, since Avraham Avinu believed that this was the right shidduch for his son, he didn't compromise in his principles. He demanded that Eliezer follow his instructions exactly, even if the odds were stacked against him. And since Avraham Avinu stuck to his vision and principles of what is right, HaShem Helped him to find the perfect shidduch for Yitzchak.
We find the same thing with the Rosh HaYeshiva z"tz'l and his lifelong partner in Ohr Somayach, Rav Mendel Weinbach z"tz'l. When they planned to start a Yeshiva for Baalei Teshuva, everyone discouraged them, and said that it is impossible to bring Jews back to teshuva. Today, we understand the reality of the Baal Teshuva movement as a given fact. In fact, 30% of the Torah community in Eretz Yisroel are Baalei Teshuva or the children of Baalei Teshuva! But when the Roshei Yeshiva z"tz'l started Ohr Somayach in the 1970's it was considered impossible that secular Jews would return to Torah observance. These two great Tzaddikim were discouraged in their efforts, and were told that they were wasting their time. But like Avraham Avinu, they persisted against all odds, and continued with their project. And look at the success which they achieved! Tens of thousands of families who have become Torah observant and true Bnei Torah through Ohr Somayach! Four generations of Talmidim where the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren have all remained observant and are Bnei Torah! We can learn from the example of these great Tzaddikim that we must persist with our Torah projects even when the task in front of us seems insurmountable. When we stick to our vision and principles, we are given great siyata dishmaya.
The Rosh HaYeshiva z"tz'l was a man of many exceptional talents. He had an amazingly sharp mind and he possessed extraordinary leadership abilities. When he walked into a room, you immediately felt leadership and nobility. He also possessed an amazing command of the English language, utilizing words that most of us did not comprehend. He was also a very gifted writer. He really could have succeeded at anything in life, whether in Torah study, the world of commerce, politics, or anything else. Yet, he gave all of these extraordinary abilities to HaShem to bring His Children home as Baalei Teshuva. He knew that this was his mission in life, and he dedicated every fibre of his being to accomplish this mission. He never thought about himself for a minute. It was all for the Kevod Shamayim and how to bring Jews back to Torah and Mitzvos. Rav Wolbe z"tz'l said that the definition of a Gadol is a person that uses all of his abilities to serve HaShem. The Rosh HaYeshiva was certainly a Gadol who used all of his abilities to increase Kevod Shamayim.
At the end of the Chumash, the Medrash Rabbah says that the evil Bilam was a prophet who was on the same level as Moshe Rabbeinu. This is very very difficult to understand! How could the wicked and corrupt Bilam be a prophet on the level of Moshe Rabbeinu? To answer this question, the great Maharil Diskin explains that Bilam saw all of the same prophetic visions which Moshe Rabbeinu saw. However, those visions stayed in his mind, and were unable to penetrate his emotions and his body. Because his body and emotions were impure, the prophetic visions were not integrated into his being. On the other hand, Moshe Rabbeinu was able to fully integrate his prophetic visions into his being, and he was able to pass them on to the Jewish people. We could say the same thing about the Rosh HaYeshiva z"tz'l. Whatever thoughts that were in his brilliant mind were also in his heart and in his body. He was totally integrated, and therefore was able to pass on his Torah to his Talmidim.
That is why it is very fitting that we are reading the Parshios pertaining to the Mishkan during this period when the Rosh HaYeshiva was Niftar. Our Sages tell us that the Beis HaMikdash (and the Mishkan) are referred to as a "neck." This seems to be a very strange description of the holy Mishkan and Beis HaMikdash! However, we could explain this concept that the Mishkan and Beis HaMikdash were the bridge between the spiritual and the physical in our world. Through them, spirituality was able to descend into our world. The neck of a person is also the bridge between the spiritual and physical parts of a person. The head is the more rational, spiritual part of the person, and the body is the more physical part. The neck is the bridge between the two parts. That is why it is truly fitting that we are reading these parshios during the period when the Rosh HaYeshiva z"tz'l was Niftar. Like the Beis HaMikdash, the spirituality of the Rosh HaYeshiva z"tz'l was fully integrated into all parts of his being.
It is also very fitting that the Rosh HaYeshiva z"tz'l was Niftar during the week that we are busy preparing for Purim. During Purim, the Jews did a major Teshuva for participating in the Seudah of Achashverosh. They not only did Teshuva, but they accepted the Torah a second time out of love. On Chag HaShavuos, we accepted the Torah out of fear, but on Purim, we accepted it a second time out of love. By doing so, the Jews merited the great miracles which occured on Purim. Isn't it fitting that "The King of Teshuva", Rav Nota Schiller z"tz'l should leave us now? During the time of Teshuva! During a time of Kabbalos HaTorah out of love!
We have so much to learn from this great man, and hopefully, with HaShem's Help, we can follow in his giant footsteps. Yehi Zichro Boruch
From the Brooklyn streets of Brownsville and East Flatbush in the 1940’s, a 10 year old public school boy immersed in stickball, basketball and with dreams of becoming a shortstop for his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, enters a fledgling yeshiva katana eager for new students. While his generation is leaving Orthodoxy in droves, his loving rebbeim ignite a spark within him that grows in intensity as he progresses in his learning at Yeshivas Chaim Berlin, under the tutelage of HaRav Hutner and in Ner Yisroel Yeshiva under his rebbe, Rav Yaacov Weinberg. After his marriage, the young Rabbi Nota Schiller, moves to Eretz Yisroel to continue his learning in Rav Mordechai Elefant’s Itri Yeshiva in Jerusalem. After a “chance” meeting with two secular, very bright young brothers (one a student at Harvard the other at Columbia), who are in Israel for a year on a secular Zionist study program, he and his chavrusah, Rabbi Noach Weinberg, make a decision that will change the Jewish World. They’ll start a yeshiva for young Jewish men with limited or no background in traditional Jewish learning. Despite a promising start and the strong encouragement of the Poseik Hador, Rav Yosef Elyashiv, they suffer a number of financial setbacks from a skeptical Orthodox Jewish World, which has almost given up hope of a revival of Halachic Jewry and they’re forced to close. But, after a few years of indefatigable fundraising efforts, they manage to convince a few visionary philanthropists to share their dream and initially fund their enterprise. With just a handful of eager students and a passionate and stellar rabbinic staff they launch what will become the forefather of the Baal Teshuvah Movement that will sweep the Jewish World and change it forever. The Ohr Somayach Podcast featuring some of the most experienced personalities in Jewish outreach today, from Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem. Yeshivas Ohr Somayach located in the heart of Jerusalem, is an educational institution for young Jewish English-speaking men. We have a range of classes and programs designed for the intellectually curious and academically inclined - for those with no background in Jewish learning to those who are proficient in Gemara and other original source material.
