Mispallalim arriving in shul erev Rosh Hashanah were surprised and pleased to see that the shtender which was taken from the beis medrash shortly following the petira of Maran Rav Elyashiv ZT”L had been returned. It was the shtender the posek hador used during the years prior to his petira, and it simply disappeared shortly after his petira.
According to a BaKehilla report, R’ Aryeh Elyashiv, a grandson, began probing what occurred and how the shtender disappeared and the evidence led in the direction of a certain person, who was quite remorseful but was not sure just how to get it back to the beis medrash, unwilling to be revealed as the person who took it.
Rav Aryeh arranged for a person involved to get the shtender back from the person holding it and the middleman would give it to R’ Aryeh, thereby protecting the identity of the person in possession of it — and that is what occurred.
The late posek hador’s son Rav Moshe Elyashiv used the shtender during Rosh Hashanah.
Learning from the experience, a decision was made that the shtender would no longer simply remain in the beis medrash, but it would be kept in a safe location and brought out for davening and shiurim only.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
When the news originally broke and I left a posting, it was deemed unpostable. During these 10 days of repentance I still hold my opinion of what I believe the Rav would like to see. Lehavdil, unlike a fork used by George Washington that will simply be presented behind glass in a Smithsonian, Rav Elyashiv would much rather see his shtender used to positive use. For example, as the article mentioned, it will be used for shiurim. Unlike a fork, the shtender should not just be eyecandy behind closed glass, but should be used to grow bnei Torah. What an honor!
Although Jewishflorida’s sentiments are good, (I have no clue as to “what the Rav would like to see”) and in theory he is correct, the Shtender, should be used. But in practice he is not. We see that someone already took the shtender. The previous Belzer Rebbe’s Shtender is in the magnificent Belzer Bais Hamedrash, enclosed in Lucite! They are afraid it will be stolen. (Maybe it was taken once) I know that when one of the gedoley Hador was niftar and his family was sitting shiva, the house was open to the public to enter and console the family. This Godol had a massive library, and many seforim “disappeared” during Shiva. When other families connected to the Godol’s yeshiva sat shiva they were told to keep the seforim locked!
It is very sad that people who use seforim, or shtender’s or other tashmishey kedusha, are willing to take them. This is emphasized in Neilah Davening. (
I don’t understand why they needed a middleman. The one that took the shtender should have made believe that he was the middle man and say that he was protecting the identity of the taker 🙂