By Rabbi Baruch Lederman
SAN DIEGO — Hashem (G-d) in His infinite mercy redeemed us from our bitter bondage. Not only did He free us physically, Hashem with boundless love restored our spirits emotionally and psychologically. We have the capacity both to pick ourselves up and to restore and comfort others, as the following true story, documented in Chizuk for the Bereaved Parent, by Baruch C. Cohen, esq., illustrates:
Rav Yisroel Zev Gustman ztl, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Netzach Yisroel in Jerusalem, delivered a weekly Talmud class, attended by Rabbis, intellectuals, religious court judges, a Supreme Court justice and various professors. One of the regular participants was Hebrew University professor and future Nobel Laureate, Robert J. (Yisrael) Aumann.
In 1982 Israel was at war. Among those called to duty was a reserves officer, a university student who made his living as a high school teacher: Shlomo Aumann, Professor Aumann’s son. On the eve of the 19th of Sivan, in particularly fierce combat, Shlomo fell in battle. Rav Gustman mobilized his yeshiva: All of his students joined him in performing the mitzvah of burying the dead. Upon returning from the cemetary, the family began sitting shiva. Rav Gustman entered and asked to sit next to Professor Auman, who said, “Rabbi, I so appreciate your coming to the cemetery, but now is time for you to return to your Yeshiva.”
Rav Gustman spoke, first in Yiddish and then in Hebrew, so that all those assembled would understand: “I am sure that you don’t know this, but I had a son named Meir. He was a beautiful child. He was taken from my arms and executed. I escaped. I later bartered my child’s shoes so that we would have food, but I was never able to eat the food — I gave it away to others. My Meir is a kadosh — he is holy — he and all the six million who perished are holy. In the World of Truth in Gan Eden — in Heaven. My Meir is welcoming your Shlomo.”
Rav Gustman continued: “I never had the opportunity to sit shiva for my Meir; let me sit here with you just a little longer.” Professor Aumann replied, “I thought I could never be comforted, but Rebbi, you have comforted me.”
A student once implored Rav Gustman to share his memories of the ghetto and the war more publicly and more frequently, to which the Rav replied, “I can’t, but I think about those shoes every day of my life. I see them every night before I go to sleep.” Rav Gustman did not allow his painful memories to control his life. He found solace in his students, his daughter, his grandchildren, and in every Jewish child. He and his wife would attend an annual parade where children would march on Jerusalem in song and dance.
A rabbi who happened upon them one year asked the Rabbi why he spent his valuable time in such a frivolous activity. Rav Gustman explained, “We who saw a generation of children die, take pleasure in a generation of children who sing and dance in these streets.” ~ Dedicated anonymously on the occasion of the Yahrtzeit of the Rabbi’s father Mr. Irving I. Lederman, Ozer Yisroel ben Shlomo Zalman.
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Rabbi Lederman is spiritual leader of Congregation Kehillas Torah in San Diego. All his co-writers at San Diego Jewish World congratulate Rabbi and Mrs. Lederman on the engagement of their son Dovid to Miss Chana Frankel, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Mark Frankel of Queens, NY. Rabbi Lederman may be contacted at baruch.lederman@sdjewishworld.com