Close To Torah

I was a young Yeshiva student when I first received Rav Scheinberg’s most famous blessing. “You should have success in all your endeavors.” He said it with such feeling and personalized emotion that I thought he had handpicked the words for my beracha specifically. I found out later that this was the blessing he was most famous for. I thought about the fact that this Gadol HaDor gave hundreds of berachos a week and thus he must have invested much thought into choosing the best wording for his beracha. I realized that the word “endeavor” denotes the effort and toil that one puts into something. Rav Scheinberg was expressing what he himself embodied all of his life: Success is only found through toil and hard work, not through berachos!

Indeed, Rav Noach Orlowek shlit”a (Baltimore Hespid, March 25, 2012) told over the story that when little Chaim Pinchas first came to America in 1919 his parents enrolled him in public school just as all the other Jewish children attended. An anti-Semitic classmate of his began to bully and harass him. One day the boy pushed Chaim Pinchas down a flight of stairs causing him great injury and pain. When his parent’s found out about the terrible abuse that he had been subjected to they immediately pulled him out of public school and hired a melamed at great cost to teach him Torah. Rav Scheinberg later recounted that he was deeply grateful for the favor that the anti-Semitic child did for him as it afforded him the rare opportunity to learn Torah in America!

My Goal

From the onset I need to state that I did not learn under Rav Scheinberg in Torah Ohr, however, from the time that I met him in 2000 I made an effort to visit him on many occasions with shailos (halachic questions), to receive berachos and for advice. I consider him my Rebbe as he taught me hundreds of halachos and even more about how to live life as an Oved Hashem. There are enough true stories about him that show his genuine greatness; we do not need to make up or spread inaccurate stories. I have friends and relatives who merited to learn under Rav Scheinberg and they have shared stories and recollections with me. I strived to verify every story found here to the best of my ability if I did not know the story firsthand.

Sincere Tears

Rav Aharon Feldman shlit”a (Baltimore Hespid) expressed a powerful and eloquent point: Chazal say that the tears shed in mourning over a righteous person who passed away are the most precious before Hashem. Why is this so? It is because those tears show that we wish to emulate that person from the depth of our heart. Rav Feldman pointed out that when we contemplate the greatness of Rav Scheinberg, his Torah, his middos, his giant stature, we feel pride and joy to be a part of the Am Hashem which produced such a special and amazing human being. This is justified and healthy; we should be proud. But let us not forget the most important feeling that should come with this recognition: Rav Scheinberg is michayav us, he obligates us, his life and legacy begs of us to strive for greatness as well. We are proud and we also must strive to emulate him to the best of our ability. The following thoughts and recollections are written so that we, his students, can recall his message and his legacy; so that we can apply his lessons to our lives and draw closer to Hashem.

Life of Toil

Rav Scheinberg zt”l dedicated himself to Torah and Avodas Hashem. His life revolved around caring for his Talmidim and fellow Jews and encouraging them to connect with the beauty of Torah. The first time that I visited him was Chol HaMoed Succos of the year 2000. It was a quiet evening and I decided to try to see him. I walked up the stairs of 2 Panim Meiros and knocked on the front door. The Rebbetzin welcomed me in and asked me my name and where I was from. I spoke with her and then she directed me to go to the Sukkah to get a beracha from Rav Scheinberg. When I entered the tiny Sukkah I looked around and didn’t see anyone. Then I looked down and saw a heap of Tzitzis on the bed. I realized that the Rav was taking a nap. I slowly backed out trying not to make any noise. The Rebbetzin saw me and asked if I had gotten a beracha. “No,” I replied, “the Rav is sleeping, I’ll come back later…” Before I could leave the Rebbetzin announced, “Chaim Pinchas, Chaim Pinchas, someone is here to see you!” I tried to stop her but it was too late, Rav Scheinberg called me into the Sukkah and stood up with a warm smile. This was the first of my many trips to the Scheinberg house and it was not the last time that I would leave speechless!

Shaking and not knowing what to expect I apologized for waking him and asked the Rav for a beracha. With a smile and chuckle, Rav Scheinberg wished me success in all my endeavors. Holding my camera out, I sheepishly asked the Rav if I could take a picture of him. He looked at me and said, “what will you give me?” I didn’t know what to say… what could I possibly offer him… Then he said, “I want you to learn 10 extra minutes a day….” I was a man of my word and so I asked him, “for how long?” He just smiled and shrugged as if to say- how ever long you can! His smile told me to snap the picture which I promptly did. I left with a great story but with an even deeper and more worthwhile lesson. Rav Scheinberg showed respect to every Jew and he wished to encourage as much Torah study as possible even if it meant him posing for pictures. If it would produce Torah learning it was well worthwhile!

The Chofetz Chaim Visit

It has been recounted many times that Rav Scheinberg zt”l visited the Chofetz Chaim with his wife when they were living in Mir. The Chofetz Chaim’s attendant announced to the Chofetz Chaim that a couple had come to see him and that they had come all the way from America to learn in Europe. The Chofetz Chaim retorted, “What’s the big deal?! If the Rebbono Shel Olam came down from Heaven to give us the Torah, a person can come from America to Europe to learn it!” With that the Chofetz Chaim smiled and gave them a beracha that they should have good children. (Anyone who knows the Scheinberg family knows how powerfully this beracha was fulfilled!) Rav Scheinberg recounted this story and it greatly inspired him. I think that it expresses his essence. The source for the Chofetz Chaim’s comment is the Gemara in Eruvin (55a) which says, “If Torah were in the Heaven, we would be required to go there to get it!” The Chofetz Chaim instilled in his young visitor the principle of toil for the sake of Torah. This is the only way to achieve. This was Rav Scheinberg’s greatness. Rav Orlowek recounted that Rav Leizer Yudel Finkel zt”l said that Rav Scheinberg and Rav Chiam Shmuelevitz were the greatest masmidim (diligent students) in all of Mir during their time there.

His Ahavas HaTorah

Watching Rav Scheinberg read the hadran (completion) at the 11^th Siyum HaShas in Eretz Yisrael in 2005 was something that will stay with me for a lifetime. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he read the words in sobs. His love, devotion and joy of Torah were palpable. His powerful display of Ahavas HaTorah penetrated deep into the hearts and minds of those assembled.

Rav Orlowek (Baltimore Hespid) told over that if Rav Scheinberg was informed that the clock in the Bais Midrash was wrong he would inquire as to how it was off. If it was too fast, that would mean that people would cut out learning time and leave Seder early and so he would ask that it be fixed immediately. If it was too slow, he would refuse to let them change it forward. He wanted his Talmidim to have extra seconds and minutes of learning. They would then follow his directive and someone would fix back the clock late that night! Rav Scheinberg often pointed out that we don’t ever hear about someone who is a “Ben-Harvard” because Harvard doesn’t have any children. We talk about a “Ben-Torah” because when we toil, we connect with Torah in a most intimate way and we become like its son.

His Marriage

I find it fascinating that just as Yisro had saved Moshe’s life when baby Moshe had grabbed the crown off of Pharaoh’s head and later Moshe married Yisro’s daughter, so too, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Herman zt”l (1879-1967) sent young Chaim Pinchas to go learn Torah in New Haven to become a Gadol and eventually became his father-in-law. Rav Herman was once waiting in an office together with his wife Aidel and his newly married daughter and son-in-law, Rabbi Chaim Pinchas zt”l and Basya a”h. Rav Scheinberg was sitting next to his own wife and his in-laws were on the outer ends of the two of them. Rabbi Scheinberg joked with his father-in-law saying, “I’m closer to my wife than you are to yours!”

Rav Herman chuckled and then retorted with his own quick rebuttal, a lesson that would last a lifetime: “You just got married, so for now, in order for you to be close to your wife, you must sit right near her physically, but my wife and I have been married for years and we are so close and connected in our hearts that no physical distance can ever separate us! Thus, I am closer to my wife! After 81 years of marriage between Rav Chaim Pinchas and his wife, they certainly achieved closeness. I merited to watch them interact on many occasions and always left inspired.

A friend of mine was in Rav Scheinberg’s house for Chanukah candle lighting. The Rav looked at his watch, got up and told his Talmidim that it was then time to light. As he headed for his Menorah, the Rebbetzin called out, “Chaim Pinchas it’s time to light in two more minutes.” He promptly sat back down and waited. A Talmid asked him why he was waiting if the time had really arrived. Rav Scheinberg smiled and replied, “Shalom Bayis. Whatever the Rebbetzin says is what we do!” How many of us remember the deep love and care which the Rav and Rebbetzin showed for each other. The Rebbetzin would often serve him hot soup and if he got carried away talking with guests she would call out from the kitchen, “Chaim Pinchas your soup is getting cold!”

When his Rebbetzin was in the hospital with her final illness she had lost consciousness. The Rav asked the doctor if she was still able to hear him. “Perhaps,” came the reply. Rav Scheinberg bent down and whispered into her ear, “Zacharti lach chessed ne’uryich (Yirmiya 2:2), I remember the kindness that you have done with me in your youth, ‘ahavas klulosiach’, when we were just married, ‘lechtech acharai bamidbar’, you went with me to the desert of Mir in Europe so that we could grow in Torah. You stood by me and the Talmidim and sacrificed so that we could learn Torah…”

Ahavas Yisrael

Rabbi Noach Orlowek told over a story that expresses the care of Rav Scheinberg. A young American bochur who came from a very weak background began to learn in the Yeshiva. Although he showed great promise, after some time he decided that he no longer wanted to stay. Knowing full well that going back to America meant that he would be in a place that he would not be able to grow in spirituality, he never-the-less went to say good-bye to the Rosh HaYeshiva. When he told Rav Scheinberg that he was leaving, Rav Scheinberg burst out crying and could not be consoled. He didn’t put up a fight or try to convince the boy to stay, he just cried from a deep and clear recognition that this boy was selling himself short and putting his neshama in an unsafe situation. The boy was so moved that he told the Rosh Yeshiva, “I see how deeply you care for me, I will stay.” He is now a famous Talmid Chocham and Maggid Shiur. Rav Scheinberg’s love for his Talmidim and all of Klal Yisrael knew no bounds.

We all remember Rav Scheinberg serving as sandak at many brisim. I was attending a friend’s son’s bris and the child would not stop crying. The mohel tried everything but to no avail. They could not find the baby’s pacifier. Suddenly the baby stopped screaming. I quickly moved up to the front only to find Rav Scheinberg rocking the baby on his lap with one hand and letting the baby suck his finger with the other. Rav Schienberg’s love and care started from the cradle.

Often when students were taking leave of their Rebbe to go to America for Bein HaZemanim they would ask him if they could bring anything back for him. He would reply with a smile, “please bring me back coffee!” To the Europeans he would ask for Swiss chocolate! Someone once asked him why he requested coffee and chocolates. He smiled and said, “I’m not asking them to get it because I need it, I’m asking them to get me something so that they will think of me during their vacation.” He was a dedicated and masterful Rebbe par excellence.

Accessibility

I think that it was most amazing just how accessible he was. As a great Tzaddik, he could have easily limited his time spent with the Hamon Am, the common-folk. Yet there was no hype and often no waiting lines. If you wanted to speak to him, you simply called or just showed up at his door. We all had his phone number in our cell phones. We would call and he would answer! One Erev Shabbos my friends and I were making the Yeshiva’s cholent. There were a lot of Yeshiva guys working together and everyone wanted to throw in their secret ingredient. Honey, beer, ketchup, the works, the kitchen was flying. Suddenly someone raised the alarm, “what just went into the cholent?!” “I added margarine, it’s parve….” We looked again and discovered that it was in fact butter and as dairy as can be. Within seconds someone whipped out his cell phone and Rav Scheinberg was on the line. He asked a few questions about the size of the pot and the amount of butter put in and presto- batel b’shishim (nullified by 60 times) it was muttar, we would have cholent! I can’t say that it was the healthiest cholent and I can’t tell you that it was even the tastiest that we ever had, but I can say that it was the most kosher cholent we ever ate! We all laughed together when we sat on Shabbos afternoon enjoying the cholent that Rav Scheinberg had said was kosher! Later we recalled that the reason we called Rav Scheinberg first was because anyone else would have been too busy to reach on a late Erev Shabbos!

Rav Orlowek (Baltimore Hespid) said that he constantly heard from the Rosh Yeshiva zt”l, “If I can do it, so can you!” Rav Scheinberg wanted everyone to know that no matter what your background, intelligence level and abilities, if you set your mind to the goal of growing and learning and you put in the effort you too can succeed! I always felt that the reason that Rav Scheinberg spent so much of his precious time with people was to stress this exact point. He didn’t want people to see him as aloof and unreachable. He wanted to show people that Torah is for everyone and with hard work you can build yourself. Rav Scheinberg stressed, “Time is life” and he would often speak about this idea with tears, begging his audience to use their time wisely.

His Berachos

Before stating these stories it is important to quote Rav Orlowek’s brilliant analogy about stories of mofsim, wonders. Mofsim are like little candies, they taste good going down but once you swallow them they are gone. Amazing stories don’t compare to the hard work and example that the Gadol showed us through his actions.

A friend of mine went to Rav Scheinberg before Pesach Bein HaZemanim and told him that he wanted to learn in Eretz Yisrael but that he needed to stay in America for dating purposes. Rav Scheinberg laughed and said, “go home, get engaged over Pesach and come back here to learn!” The bochur did just that: he went home, got engaged and came back to Eretz Yisrael to learn. Rav Scheinberg’s beracha came true and the young man even got engaged to the granddaughter of a Rosh HaYeshiva who lived in the same building as Rav Scheinberg as an added bonus! He came back to learn in Eretz Yisrael where he and his new Kallah set up their Torah home and family.

Next it was my turn. A few months later knowing full well this story I marched myself into Rav Scheinberg’s house when my time came to begin dating in America. All I received was a “beracha v’hatzlacha.” I stubbornly continued to push. “Rebbe, I won’t be able to come back to Eretz Yisrael to learn until I get engaged!” Again, “beracha v’hatzlacha.” And so it would be, Hashem had other plans for me in America until a later time when I was zocheh to meet my dear wife in America while learning in a Yeshiva in her hometown.

A girl once came to Rav Scheinberg to get a beracha for her sister who was pregnant and in her 7^th month. She was so nervous that she told the Rav, “I want to get a beracha for my sister who had a baby…” instead of saying “who is due to have a baby.” Rav Scheinberg responded, “Mazel Tov on the birth may the mother and baby be healthy!” She left sheepishly and when she finally got through to her mother’s cell phone a few hours later she burst into tears as she began to recount how she had failed to get a beracha for her sister. Her mother laughed, “don’t cry honey, I couldn’t answer the phone for the past few hours because your sister just went into labor! Baruch Hashem it’s a healthy girl! She was speechless… as she thought about the power of Rav Scheinberg’s words…

Another friend of mine met Rav Scheinberg at a wedding during which a relative of his was going through a painfully protracted labor of almost 2 days. When he asked Rav Scheinberg to daven for her he replied, “Mazel Tov.” Ten minutes later my friend got the call that his relative had finally given birth to a boy only ten minutes before…

Normalcy

The story is told that a bachur in Torah Ohr began to don many layers of Tzitzis to be like his Rebbe. I was unable to verify this story but it certainly sounds like something Rav Scheinberg would have said. The Rabbeim brought the student to Rav Scheinberg who looked him square in the eye and said, “Be normal!” The student took off the Tzitzis.

Once a student began to recite Shema and was obsessing over the pronunciation of the letters for a very long time. They brought him to Rav Scheinberg who told him to just say each word once and move on. The student retorted that he was afraid he wasn’t pronouncing the words correctly and wouldn’t fulfill his obligation. Rav Scheinberg said, “Say it once and it’s on my shoulders.” The boy was still not fully convinced. So Rav Scheinberg smiled at him and pointed to his own linebacker oversized shoulders that were widened through his tens of Tzitzis, “Trust me, I have big shoulders!” The boy trusted him.

Someone asked Rav Scheinberg about whether he was allowed to use a certain type of toothpaste on Pesach because of its ingredients. Rav Scheinberg replied that since it was not fit for a dog’s consumption it was permitted to use. The guy was a smart-aleck and he went and found a dog, fed it some of the toothpaste and watched as the dog appeared to lick it up. He ran back to Rav Scheinberg to recount his rebuttal. Rav Scheinberg laughed and replied, “that dog was retarded!”

A friend of mine came to Rav Scheinberg to get a beracha and was growing his payos in a then popular style which involved extra-long from head to chin and extra-bushy. Rav Scheinberg motioned for him to bend closer. He whispered to my friend while pointing to a higher spot near his ear, “It looks really ugly. You can cut them here.” I have only publicized this story because my friend wanted everyone to know how touched he was by Rav Scheinberg’s care and love and how comfortable he felt at that moment standing in front of a Gadol BaTorah. He cut them with great fanfare and walked away with a lesson that a Ben Torah must care for the way he looks.

In a shiur in 1989 geared towards teaching women how to clean for Pesach, Rav Scheinberg’s main theme was helping the women take it easy and not overstress themselves with “spring cleaning” which was not required for Pesach. He laid out all of the common cleaning issues and offered the most practical and simple advice in how to clean them according to halacha and where they did not need to go any further than required. Many women expressed how relieved they were to receive this advice. Rav Scheinberg said that women should sit like Queens at the Pesach Seder. He encouraged them not to run back and forth from the table to the kitchen but rather to participate in the Seder and to eat all of the Matza and Marror royally and at the table.

Rav Orlowek (Baltimore Hespid) pointed out that it is rare to find someone so great and in touch with the value of time and yet so relaxed and a pleasure to be around. Rav Scheinberg’s life was filled with a calmness and pleasantness. How could someone be so strong when it came to halacha, Torah haskafa (thought) and what he felt was right and yet so soft like butter and sweet like honey at the same time? The answer, explained Rav Orlowek, was that Rav Scheinberg was in touch with truth and whatever the situation called for he was there to follow the Torah as his guide.

Indeed his name expresses these two forces. Chaim represents vitality and life, a happiness and celebration. Pinchas embodies the kanaus, zealousness of Pinchas in the Torah who was ready to stand up for what was right at all costs. Rav Chaim Pinchas was a man who worked his entire life to bring together his sweetness and strength for the sake of Torah and to serve Hashem fully.

This explains the rationale behind the famous story about the couple who came to Rav Scheinberg to bemoan their dangerous scorpion infestation in their home. They had tried everything but exterminators could not solve the issue. Rav Scheinberg simply opened up Perek Shira and showed them that the scorpion’s verse talks about how Hashem does kindness to all. Perhaps you failed to do kindness with someone and this has brought about your scorpion issue, he suggested. Suddenly, the couple realized that there was someone whom they had failed to help. They immediately rectified the situation and the scorpions disappeared. This was not magic, Rav Scheinberg simply believed in Torah and in Chazal and this was the most obvious solution that appeared to him, because the Torah says so!

His Expertise

Rav Scheinberg was famous for saying that if people would learn Mishneh Berurah they wouldn’t ask 95% of the questions that they presented to him. On the other hand, he always answered with a smile. Often I would present him with complex shialos that I had spent days pondering and developing. Yet he would just get straight to the point regarding the practical halacha. If I tried arguing another way he would just chuckle and explain his opinion a drop more. He had a clarity and expertise that was unparalleled.   

Ahavas Eretz Yisrael

Many times Rav Scheinberg would remark that he felt that many bochorim went back from Eretz Yisrael to America because they missed their “bagels, lox and seven layer cake!” Yet he understood the American mindset and the American needs. He himself made famous that although he hadn’t followed baseball in years, when he heard that the Yankees won the World Series he would feel a twinge of pride and joy. Once, in around 1978, Rav Noach Orlowek (Baltimore Hespid) attested that Rav Scheinberg held a Kiddush. He got up to announce that he was celebrating that for the first time ever the Yankees had won the World Series and he did not feel any connection to them whatsoever! Rav Scheinberg wished to be free of outside influences and pulls but he was not embarrassed to share his struggles with others. He lived in Eretz Yisrael with great mesirus nefesh because that was a place that he would grow in Torah and build his family and Yeshiva in Torah.

Take Advantage

So many of us thought that Rav Scheinberg would live forever. We could not imagine a world without his guidance. We thought that he would be the one to lead us to meet the Mashiach. He cried whenever he said “U’Veney Yerushalayim, rebuild Jerusalem” and at weddings during “Im Eshgachaich Yerusalayim, If I forget you Jerusalem.” He understood what life was all about. My eyes swell with tears when I think about the fact that he is no longer with us. What a loss for us, what an enormous void that has been opened.

I remember that I once brought an entire list of questions to Rav Scheinberg; he answered all of them with a smile. After I had made my trek down the stairs I realized that I had accidentally forgotten to ask the last question on my list. At that time I had an inner struggle as to what to do, should I go back then or next week, should I call, should I just leave. I made a decision that if I had the opportunity to speak to a Gadol HaDor once again, then I must take it! I marched myself right back up the stairs and presented the last question. I apologized to the Rav for the inconvenience and he and Rav Simcha just smiled as I got my answer from them. How many of us feel that we had so many questions we wished to ask him; how many of us wish we could just see him and get a bracha from him one last time. The loss to Klal Yisrael is enormous. Rav Scheinberg was a man who lived a life of completion. His life was one of constant review of Shas and Poskim, one of toil and dedication. He found success in all of his endeavors through his hard work and connection with Hashem.

One Hundred and One

Rav Scheinberg was a Gadol who showed all of us how to achieve great accomplishments through toil. He wished for us to be able to be successful in all of our endeavors through our effort and dedication just like him. The Gemara (Chagiga 9b) says that “one cannot compare someone who reviews his learning 100 times versus one who reviews it 101 times.” We thus see that the number 101, his lifespan, represents the idea of exponential growth in Torah. What is this all about?

Once someone learns something 100 times, he can rest assured that he knows it. He will not be forgetting it so quickly. So why would he review it a 101^st time? Only out of deep love and dedication. Rav Scheinberg spent his life celebrating and expressing his love for Torah and mitzvos, his love of Klal Yisrael and his love of Hashem. He left a legacy of 101 years of review, mastery, contemplation and love. May Hashem send a comfort to all of us who are left in mourning for our beloved Rebbe and may we merit to take the lessons that Rav Chaim Pinchas zt”l taught us by example and become greater people.

Y’hi Zicro Baruch.

The author can be reached at: rabbiytropper@gmail.com

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