Tzav: 5784 - The Weekly Insight: Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld with a collection of stories about his grandfather, the Rabbi of Jerusalem Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld, in honor of his yahrtzeit, delivered at the conclusion of the Daily Daf shiur…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please.

00:03 Speaker 2 By Divine providence, today is 19 Adar II, the yahrzeit of my grandfather, the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. By Divine providence. So—

00:15 Speaker 1 How many years?

00:15 Speaker 2 A few things. He was born—

00:18 Speaker 1 Eighty years since he passed away.

00:20 Speaker 2 It’s already ninety-two years. He was born in 5609 and passed away in 5692, also in a leap year, in Adar II. So I’ll just tell a few brief stories about his character. He lost his father when he was only four. His father had been one of the Chasam Sofer’s students. His mother tried to raise the children on her own but couldn’t, and she remarried. His stepfather wanted him to study. There was a compulsory education law, so he had to go to a public school. He was a very gifted, very unusual child, and everyone understood that he was destined for great things. His teachers at that non-Jewish school persuaded his stepfather that he should go on to high school and university. He could become a very highly educated man. But he was drawn to Torah study and wanted to learn. In the end, with his mother, he went to yeshivos and studied there, eventually reaching Pressburg, where the Ksav Sofer was. He studied under the Ksav Sofer. A very interesting story happened when he had to—at eighteen, he had to report for military conscription. We have the issue of drafting religious Jews now. He had to report and didn’t know what to do. He had heard of Rabbi Chaim of Sanz, the author of Divrei Chaim. He had heard that he was a tzaddik who gave blessings and that his blessings came true. So he decided to travel to him. It was a long journey, but he went. As soon as he entered his room, Rabbi Chaim said to him, “They want to draft you into the army, to make you a general in the army? You’ll be a general among us.” He said that before my grandfather had even begun to speak or ask for anything. Then he told him, “When you get home, put bandages on your legs.” He didn’t understand what putting bandages on his legs had to do with anything, or what

02:59 Speaker 2 he meant. But that was what the tzaddik had told him. On the way back home, his legs began to hurt. He felt stabbing pains, and his legs swelled up. He was in severe pain. He didn’t know what to do, and he had to appear before the draft board. When he came in, the doctors saw his legs, immediately exempted him from military service and sent him home. Then he remembered that the tzaddik had told him to put bandages on his legs. So when he got home, he put bandages on them, and everything immediately went away as though it had never happened. That’s one story in which he truly experienced a miracle. One thing that characterized him was how firm he was in his convictions. He never yielded or bent before anyone. He stood very, very firm. In 5689, when there was a pogrom in Hebron, the situation in Jerusalem was also very tense. Walking through the Old City among the Arabs was dangerous, a real danger to life. Since he was a mohel, he was invited to perform a bris in the new neighborhoods. Of course, when he was invited, he never refused, and he went. But he went through Damascus Gate, into the Muslim Quarter, which was very dangerous. His family said to him, “Why do you have to go specifically through Damascus Gate?” They told him to go through Jaffa Gate, where it wasn’t so dangerous. He said, “No. Specifically through Damascus Gate.” He went through Damascus Gate, arrived and performed the bris. Afterward, on his way home, his son, who lived there, accompanied him. His son said, “Father, why go through Damascus Gate? Go another way, one that isn’t so dangerous.” He told him, “No, I’m going specifically through Damascus Gate.” Before reaching Damascus Gate, they came to a neighborhood there—

05:08 Speaker 2 those who know Jerusalem will know Musrara. When they reached Musrara, he told his son, “Listen, you mustn’t go. I can go. Those on their way to perform a mitzvah are not harmed, either on the way there or on the way back. I may go; you may not.” He went alone, specifically through Damascus Gate. The Arabs were all sitting there along the sides of the road. When he passed, they all stood up and bowed before him. That’s how he went through Damascus Gate. People asked him afterward, “But why did you have to go specifically through Damascus Gate? If it was dangerous, why did you have to go that way?” His answer was very characteristic of him: so they wouldn’t think, even for a moment, that they had somehow defeated us. That’s why he insisted on going specifically through Damascus Gate, even though it was dangerous. He didn’t want them thinking, “Look, the Arabs have defeated the Jews. They’re afraid to walk here; they won’t take this route.” That’s an example of how resolute he was. So since today is his yahrzeit, may he intercede on behalf of all the Jewish people, and with Hashem’s help, may we have the true and complete Geulah.

06:18 Speaker 3 Amen.