Page 3 - HaMizrachi Tisha B'av 5782 USA

FROM THE
Editor

An Afternoon with Rav Steinsaltz zt”l

n the 6th of Av we will Chicago later told Rabbi Yehiel Poupko Isaac Bashevis Singer once said, “only
commemorate the third that “Rabbi Steinsaltz spoke to us for small fish swim in schools.”
yahrzeit of Rabbi Adin Stein- an hour and offended us from begin- Schmoozing together in the kitchen,
O tz zt”l, one of the most ning to end! But he was right about Rav Steinsaltz’s conversations moved
sal
impactful and colorful rabbis of our everything he said…” On Jewish-Chris- seamlessly back and forth, from the
generation. tian dialogue, Rav Steinsaltz said: “We Talmud to mystery novels and from
My wife’s uncle was a close friend and dance together, but we don’t dance the the world’s deepest lake (Lake Baikal,
supporter of Rav Steinsaltz for many tango. Just the cha-cha!” in Russia) to the Tanya. Rav Steinsaltz
years. When his mother passed away One of my teachers at Yeshiva Uni- was fascinated by almost everything,
about 13 years ago, Rav Steinsaltz versity was Rabbi Ozer Glickman zt”l, including science, sports, and people.
wished to pay a shiva call, and needed whom we affectionately referred to as “I am also interested in people – some-
a driver to bring him from New York the “ROGue” (Rabbi Ozer Glickman). times I even like them!”
City to the shiva house and from there Rabbi Glickman was a Jewish Renais-
to the airport. Knowing of my fasci- sance man; a Torah scholar, philoso- There are many biographies published
in the Orthodox world that portray
nation with Rav Steinsaltz, the family pher of the law, banker, musician and
arranged for me to be the driver. great rabbis as, in Rav Steinsaltz’s
more; a man who could not be placed words, “plastic saints” – as perfect
I quickly learned to expect the unex- inside a box or “classified” as a partic- people who never made mistakes.
pected. After settling into the car, he ular type of Jew. Rav Steinsaltz was cut Rav Steinsaltz, however, understood
asked me to tell him about myself. from the same cloth; he was a man of that perfection is for angels; that it is
When I explained that I was the assis- extraordinary curiosity and wisdom our striving that makes us uniquely
tant rabbi at the Young Israel of Staten who was too complex and authentic human. He wrote that “every man is
Island, he said: “I have family in Staten to be categorized. He was a rebel in a contradiction… a combination of the
Island. But let me ask you – what con- spirit, the “rogue” among the rabbis, holy and the trivial. One has to inte-
nection does a sane man like you have who perceived the world differently grate it all into some workable unity by
with Staten Island?” But he was just than mainstream Torah scholars. As building one’s life as though it were an
getting started. He said: “Assistant annex in the court of the Holy Temple,
rabbi? Some assistant rabbis are just the inner chambers of which one can
meant to arrange chairs. Are you one never be sure of entering.” If anyone
of those?” has ever succeeded in living these
words, it is Rav Steinsaltz himself.
Rav Steinsaltz was brilliantly, devi- May his memory be a blessing, for all
ously funny; he was the antithesis
of self-important rabbis who take of Klal Yisrael.
themselves far too seriously. Speak-
ing about the rabbinate, he said “the
Chief Rabbi of Rome is the only Chief
Rabbi I like, since he’s a part-time Chief Elie Mischel
Rabbi.” And he had no qualms about
speaking bluntly, or even sharply; he Rabbi Elie Mischel
didn’t mince words. In our discussion Editor
regarding interfaith dialogue, he said:
“The Jewish machers forced me to meet
with nine Catholic cardinals and give
them a shiur. The cardinals didn’t
want to meet with Reform or Conser-
vative rabbis – only Orthodox!” After  A version of this tribute originally
the shiur, Cardinal Frances George of appeared in the Jewish Link.
(ARTWORK: ILAN BLOCK)
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