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DAF HAKASHRUS RABBI BELSKY REMEMBERED RABBI YOEL SCHONFELD RC, Oil ww VOL. s f / NO. 4 ADAR ALEPH 5776/FEBRUARY 2016 SPECIAL HAZKARA ISSUE THEDaf a K ashrus A MONTHLYH NEWSLETTER FOR THE OU RABBINIC FIELD REPRESENTATIVE חבל על דאבדין ולא משתכחין HAGAON HARAV CHAIM YISROEL BELSKY ZT”L AN APPRECIATION RAV BELSKY ZT”L RABBI MENACHEM GENACK An Appreciation CEO, Rabbinic Administrator, OU Kosher RAV HERSHEL SCHACHTER Reprinted with permission from Yated Ne’eman Senior Halachic Consultant, OU Kosher THE RAMBAM writes about the Ri Migash that THE LAST mishnah in Maseches Uktzim states: אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: עתיד הקדוש ברוך הוא להנחיל לכל his intellect in its knowledge of the entire Talmud“ צדיק וצדיק שלש מאות ועשרה עולמות, שנאמר,"להנחיל ,was frightening.” Rav Chaim Yisroel Belsky zt”l, too לאוהבי יש ואצרתיהם אמלא." )משלי ח:כא( had a frightening intellect, which included not only knowledge of kol haTorah kulah, but the scientific and mathematical background necessary to understand Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: In the future, the the Torah and to apply halachah to reality. (For a Holy One, Blessed is He, will cause every righteous while, he even taught mathematics at Yeshiva Torah person to inherit 310 worlds, as it says, “to cause my Vodaas.) Rav Belsky was the nexus between theoreti- beloved ones to inherit, and their treasure houses shall in the verse has the numerical "יש" cal, abstract knowledge and practical, applied knowl- I fill”. (The word edge. Not only did he know Shas, he was actually a value of 310.) mohel. Not only was he a master of the halachos as The Netziv in his introduction to Ha’emek Shayla written, he also knew how to shecht and do nikkur explains that this statement of Rabbi Yehoshua ben on an animal. Levi refers to the 310 areas of technical expertise Torah) תלמיד חכם Rav Belsky had a scientific inclination and a curious which are necessary for a landmark continued on page 20 continued on page 26 OU KOSHER HALACHA YOMIS This column is dedicated in memory of Rav Chaim Yisroel Belsky, zt”l Senior OU Kosher Halachic Consultant (1987-2016) אין עושין נפשות לצדיקים דבריהם הן הן זכרונן )ירושלמי שקלים דף ז.( IT is with great excitement that we present to the general public, OU The original impetus for this project was a desire to disseminate short Kosher Halacha Yomis. We believe that this feature will be of great Halachic tidbits as a zechus for Rabbi Belsky, with the hope he would value and importance to Klal Yisroel. have a refuah sheleima from his illness. As halachic consultant for the OU for more than 28 years, the imprint of Rabbi Belsky is felt in all At the same time, we launch this new endeavor during a week areas of OU halachic policy. Many of the selections of the Halacha of shiva, as we mourn the passing of Moreinu Virabeinu, Harav Yomis are based on psokim of Rabbi Belsky. With the passing of Hagoan, Rav Chaim Yisroel Belsky, zt”l. Our joy and pride is now Rabbi Belsky, we are now dedicating this column in his memory. intertwined with sadness and sorrow. continued on page 25 Published by the Orthodox Union, Eleven Broadway, New York, NY 10004 Please direct your comments to RABBI YOSEF GROSSMAN, EDITOR at 212-613-8212 or [email protected] A GIANT IN OUR MIDST The Legacy of Rav Belsky zt”l at the OU RABBI YAAKOV LUBAN Executive Rabbinic Coordinator LAST WEEK, the OU suffered an enor- together with mous loss with the passing of Moreinu his talmidim in Virabeinu, Harav Hagaon, Rav Chaim Camp Agudah, Yisroel Belsky zt”l, who provided halachic is well known. and spiritual guidance to the OU Kashrus He suddenly Department for more than 28 years. expressed sur- prise at seeing The OU was not the only organization to a star in the sky experience an enormous loss. Rabbi Belsky that he had not had an amazing array of talents and skills, noticed before, and he served in many different capacities. and a call to In each role that he played, his passing left a NASA the next great void that cannot be filled. day revealed Rabbi Belsky was an adam gadol, but even that it was a Rav Belsky zt”l at International Glatt among gedolim, Rabbi Belsky was one of a star that is only for an HHB ASK OU Program kind. There are gedolim in lomdus, gedolim visible on rare in machshava and mussar, gedolim in psak occasions. I was and gedolim in leadership. Rabbi Belsky was once standing with him when classical music Rabbeim that if a student fails, it is often unique because he was a gadol in all of the was playing in the background. Rabbi Belsky because the Rebbi was not proud of the above. loved music and wanted to be a musician in talmid, or worse, because the Rebbi wrote Rabbi Belsky was a brilliant, multifaceted his youth. Without batting an eyelash, he him off. Rabbi Belsky’s unlimited love and and talented individual. He was first and began humming the bars of the symphony devotion for each and every talmid was leg- foremost an extraordinary talmid chochom. and identified the composer and the exact endary and beyond description. He had mastery over every aspect of Torah, name of the piece. Then there was Rabbi Belsky, the Rosh including esoteric and obscure areas that Rabbi Belsky was a mohel, shochet, menaker, Yeshiva of Torah Vodaath, for the last five few others knew and understood. He was baal menagen, baal koreh and baal tefilah. years of his life. What a fitting culmination as much at home in Keilim and Kinim as He was a baal hashkofa (he often invited to the 72 years he spent in the yeshiva, from he was in Baba Metzia and Baba Basra. his talmidim to ask him any question that early childhood on. He had tremendous intellectual curiosity troubled them), a darshan and a baal mussar There was also Rabbi Belsky, the Rav of and was self-taught in many different disci- (his talks were always relevant, compelling Camp Agudah and the head of the masmi- plines. He had a strong grasp of mathemat- and down to earth, and he spoke to the dim program. More than simply delivering ics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, heart with eloquent simplicity). Rabbi Belsky shiurim, Rabbi Belsky was a super-Rebbi, anatomy, botany, zoology, musicology, food authored seforim in the areas of halacha mashgiach and counselor rolled into one. technology and history, all of which he used and agada. He wrote eloquently in Loshon He spent the entire day with his beloved for the benefit of Torah study. The legend- Kodesh and in English, and he could write talmidim as he bonded with them and taught ary story of Rabbi Belsky, gazing at the stars in classical style or wax poetic. (He read lifelong lessons. He travelled with them to Homer’s Iliad at age five.) Niagara Falls and went on other camp trips, To appreciate the breath- all the time inspiring his talmidim. Canoeing taking array of Rabbi down the rapids, he would point out unusual Belsky’s talents and animals and plant life, and at bonfires and strengths, consider the barbecues he regaled the masmidim with amazing diversity of posi- inspirational stories and nigunim of old. tions that Rabbi Belsky He took spellbinding nature walks and gave held and the critical role amazing guided tours of the stars and con- that he played in each. stellations to his talmidim, so they would appreciate Hashem’s magnificent world. There was Rabbi Belsky, the maggid shiur in Torah Rabbi Belsky, the dayan, tackled some of the Vodaath. Starting at the most difficult and contentious dinai Torah. young age of 25, he was Rabbi Belsky, the leader of the Vaad a Rebbi for over 50 years Lihatzalas Nidchai Yisrael and the Nasi of and delivered brilliant and the Russian Kehilla, devoted himself to help- masterful shiurim. As a ing Russians reclaim their religious heritage. Rebbi, Rabbi Belsky never In an amazing show of brilliance and sensi- wrote off any student tivity, Rabbi Belsky mastered Russian so that Rav Belsky zt”l explaining nikkur and he believed in every in HHB Ask OU program in Lakewood talmid. He admonished continued on page 21 18 | THE DAF HAKASHRUS RABBI BELSKY REMEMBERED RABBI YOEL SCHONFELD RC, Oil I WAS NOT a talmid of Rabbi Belsky in Yeshiva Torah Vodaath or in Camp Agudah as I did not attend either. My association with Rabbi Belsky was in the OU where I had the great zechus of inter- acting with him on kashruth matters, so my recollections of him are mostly anecdotal. Rabbi Yisroel Belsky was the Senior Halachic Consultant for the OU where he served in that capacity for twenty eight years along with ybl”ch Rabbi Herschel Schachter and Rabbi Menachem Genack. Rabbi Belsky was also the Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath as well as the Rav and director of Torah programming in Camp Agudah for decades. He was 77 years old and received his smicha from both Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l. Rabbi Belsky was renowned for his brilliant mind that mastered so many facets of Torah as it did a myriad of other pursuits. The com- mon denominator is that he made sure it all related to Torah or sim- ply put, his Torah driven mind brought him to be inquisitive about all of Hashem’s Creation. His solid grasp of mathematical equations allowed him to figure in his mind some of the complex formulas necessary in kashruth com- putations.
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