T he Language of Faith Prepared for the wedding of Getzy and Shaina Markowitz g"a,wv rst j"f Adar 28, 5770 • March 14, 2010 By Getzy Markowitz To Chana, Who was fluent in the “Language” I herein transcribe. Table of Contents Chapter I An Introduction, A Match Made in Heaven 7 Chapter II The Tzadik of Chaifa, Rabbi Tanchum Donin 9 Chapter III The Nurer Rav, Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai Markowitz 14 Chapter IV Shea-Beshenkovitze, Rabbi Yehoshua Laine 19 Chapter V Zeide Aharon Leib Lein 25 Chapter VI Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Perlow 30 Chapter VII The Raskins, Zeide Shloma Raskin 35 Chapter VIII The Chosson’s Namesake, Shneur Zalman Yissochar Getzel HaLevi Rubashkin 41 5 Chapter I An Introduction A Match Made in Heaven “Your G-d will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.” -Isaiah 62:5 When she studied at a women’s seminary in Brazil, my winsome bride would routinely glance through volumes of antiquated Chassidic publications that were preserved by her headmistress. Often, Shaina would happen upon journalistic accounts of the pious lives of her beloved ancestors. A year before Shaina studied in Porte Allegre, I was a student at the Rabbinical College of Australia and New Zealand in Melbourne. My afternoon Talmud instructor would often digress from textual lessons and teach us through relating the examples of rabbinic and Chassidic giants. One of the men he often spoke about was the late Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Perlow, a former rabbi of Melbourne. Rabbi Perlow was the author of Lekutei Sipurim, and, of my prized bride. He was Shaina’s maternal great-grandfather. Zeide Mordechai is considered among the great rabbinic leaders and Chassidim of the last century. A classic Talmudic epigram that is parroted at nearly every wedding, and certainly at all Sheva Brochos, tells the tale of the espousal for which I laud our Creator. The rabbis of the Talmud taught man to trade all of his possessions in exchange of marrying the daughter of a Torah scholar. Such a match, say the sages, is comparable to the blending of the “grapes of one vine, with the grapes of another vine, which is a lovely and acceptable thing.”1 1 Talmud, tractate Pesachim 49a 7 The mystics teach that a couple’s true matchmakers are their heavenly ancestors, who arrange their descendants’ marriages based on the terms of destiny. Ours is a match planted a century ago in the vineyards of our ancestry. As Shaina’s great-grandfather records in his well-studied memoirs, he was a student of my own grandfather’s grandfather, the sainted and martyred Rabbi Yehoshua Lein of Beshenkovitz. In 1906, Zeideh Yehoshua taught a lad whose great-granddaughter would represent a popular Talmudic teaching. While Moses fathered two children, the Torah considered his nephews, Aaron’s sons whom he instructed, to be his as well.2 For Judaism views a teacher of Torah as his disciple’s spiritual father. Thus, if I am to marry a daughter of scholars, then I am to be blended with a grape of a timeless reciprocal vintage. Tradition reveals that the souls of our dearly departed attend the weddings of their progeny.3 In composing this anthology, it is my hope to introduce you to some of these figures. I wish for you to take home the stories of the lives that will inspire the building of our home. The marriage ceremony culminates with the shattering of glass in remembrance of Jerusalem. We pray that G-d raise His children up whole, that we all experience the sensations promised by our prophets: “There speedily be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and the sound of happiness, the voice of a groom and the voice of a bride.” Finally, as we encounter the Talmudicaly told coalescence of antiquated clusters, I thank and praise G-d...”creator of the fruit of the vine.” Getzy Markowitz 10 Shevat 5770, Hong Kong 2 Rashi’s commentary to Numbers 3:1 3 At a Chabad wedding the groom customarily repeats a Chassidic discourse that was taught by the Rebbe. The study is based on the original discourse that was delivered by the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe at “the Great Wedding,” of his daughter Chaya Mushka, to the Rebbe Menachem Mendel, on Kislev 14, 1928, in Warsaw. Before beginning the consequential talk, the Previous Rebbe addressed the assemblage of hundreds of Europe’s most prominent rabbis, and Jews who had traveled from across the continent to attend the wedding of the Rebbe’s daughter: “The souls of a couple’s forebears come from the World of Truth, to attend their wedding. Generally, three generations are present, but for some additional generations arrive...” (Free translation) Having made the introduction, the Previous Rebbe went on to effectively introduce the souls he was likely referring to. In his talk, addressing the theme of a Jewish wedding, he quoted explanations of all the preceding Chabad Rebbes, giving rise to their presence, for “He who repeats words of Torah in the name of their author should regard it as though their originator of the insight is present before him.” 8 Chapter II The Tzadik of Chaifa Rabbi Tanchum Donin “Yehuda Ben Teima used to say: ‘Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, and strong as a lion to do the will of your Father in heaven.’ ” -Ethics of the Fathers 5:20 Israel’s third-largest city is built on the slopes of Mount Carmel, and its pulsation of Jewish life is set upon the shoulders of Jewish giants. In terms of Torah establishments and institutions, Haifa, on the Mediterranean coast, was once a parched wasteland. Today, she is a jewel on the oceanfront, and on the forefront of Jewish communities in the Holy Land. My uncle and aunt’s house overlooks the city, and it offers a breathtaking view of the area, sea, and port by which countless Jewish immigrants arrived to the British Mandate. However, the reflective outlook when one stands in their home is ever more spectacular. From there one sees the life and accomplishments of one man who glorified Torah, and gave it a haven in Haifa. Rabbi Tanchum Donin’s undertakings preceded my uncle and cousin’s Chabad Houses as a bastion of Jewish education. His incomparable contribution came before just about anyone. A grandson, father, and grandfather of Chabad Chassidim, Tanchum himself conformed to the Lithuanian-Torah lifestyle, categorized by a disciplined and devout life of Torah study and observance. Still, as did his father, Tanchum prayed according to the customs of Lubavitch. In classic Chabad fashion, he worked tirelessly to strengthen and promote the observance of Judaism, even before the adaptation of this model within the Lithuanian camps. Once asked by a visitor 9 what had brought him to build a Mikva4 in the courtyard of his home, Saba5 Tanchum smilingly replied, “I am the sixth generation of Chabad Chassidim, our forefathers were followers of the Admor Hazoken6.” The odds were against the young Tanchum ever amounting to much. He lost his mother when only a four-month-old infant, and grew up in an environment not hostile, but certainly not hospitable, to religious life. Yet, the boy grew to become, and remain, reverently referred to as “The Tzadik of Chaifa.” Tanchum, along with his three siblings, first stepped onto the soil of the Jewish homeland in 1920. His father Reuven brought his children to Eretz Yisroel7 after resolving to leave his native Russia, for the dream of emigrating to the land of our forefathers. Like the Israelites in the wilderness, the family took a long and roundabout route to the promised land. They sojourned in Asian wastelands, and Egypt, before crossing into what would later become Israel. As a twelve-year-old new arrival to Chaifa, Tanchum found himself in an environment which did not posses the highest standards of Jewish observance that he had been raised with. So, even though a youth, Tanchum arose early one day, and as Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkanus8 famously did, he slipped away, setting out for Jerusalem. Subsequent to Tanchum’s mysterious disappearance, someone mindful of the boy’s resolve and enthusiasm suggested that perhaps he had taken off to study at a Yeshiva. He was right. Following the risky trip to Jerusalem, Tanchum enrolled at the Yeshiva Etz Chaim. Given the precious few Jewish academies established then, even in Jerusalem, they discovered Tanchum at Etz Chaim, where the new arrival was excelling. Tanchum was observed by the Yeshiva’s leadership who took interest in the talented student - an investment that would yield great gain for the city of Haifa, and for Israeli Jewry. The renowned Rabbi Aryeh Levin,9 dubbed the “Tzadik of Jerusalem,” and “father of the prisoners,”10 took particular interest in Tanchum. 4 Ritual bath 5 Lit. Grandfather 6 Lit.the Old Rebbe. A title of the first Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Shneur Zalman. 7 Lit. Land of the Jews 8 A prominent sage during the Tannaic era (1st and 2nd centuries). Eliezer was born to a wealthy Jewish family not far from Jerusalem. Eliezer worked his father’s lands, as was the family occupation, yet the young Eliezer yearned for Jerusalem and her Torah academies. One day, seizing an opportunity to leave home, Eliezer made off, leaving behind a life of privilege, for the hope of the privilege of studying Torah. Rabbi Eliezer grew to become one of the greatest sages of Israel. He married Eymah Shalom, the daughter the Nassi (leader of the Jewish people) Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel.