Prof. Yuval Elbashan is the Dean of the Law Faculty at Ono Academic College and in the past was a community lawyer and social advocate for the poor. He met with HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, z’tl, on a number of occasions and despite his staunchly secular and liberal background and his skepticism of religion, he was moved by the Gadol HaDor’s modesty and especially his devotion to the downtrodden.

Prof. Elbashan wrote an article for Globes about his impressions of HaRav Chaim, zt’l, which focused on a very different aspect of the Gadol Hador that religious people almost forget due to their focus on HaRav Chaim’s hasmadah, brilliance in Torah, and his seeming Ruach HaKodesh – the fact that HaRav Chaim, z’tl spent hours and hours of his precious time doing chessed by gladdening the heart of broken people – without fanfare or any thought of being compensated. As Prof. Elbashan wrote: “If only the secular world had someone like this for downtrodden people, someone who is accessible to everyone and not only the wealthy.”

“I arrived at the home of the Sar HaTorah, HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, z’tl, in Bnei Brak laden with preconceived notions. For someone who is the fourth generation of secular Jews, of the type that is zealous only about personal freedom, a phenomenon like this [reverence for a Rav] is viewed as more connected to the world of cults than the world of emunah.”

“I was convinced that I was going to visit a luxurious home where he and his relatives take advantage of the weakest of their believers in order to gain more power for themselves.”

“At the entrance to the street, I was already surprised when the Chareidi student who accompanied me pointed at the Sar HaTorah’s home. It was an extremely shabby home on a regular Bnei Brak street. Along the outside stairs leading to the apartment on the second floor, many downtrodden people were gathered – broken people you would find in the back alleys of every society.”

“They stood in a long line, which wound its way to the upstairs door. The line was monitored by the people in the Rav’s ‘court’ – but they looked totally the opposite of how I imagined the concept of the ‘people of the Rav’s court’ – simple people who volunteered for the task. The suspicious part of me woke up and I asked: ‘How much is this visit going to cost me?'”

“‘Chalilah,’ one of them answered. ‘The Rav doesn’t take money.’ But I insisted and I was directed to a small room on the side of the steps where a tzedaka box was. I was surprised but I wasn’t convinced. But afterward, when I checked it out, I discovered that all the money is indeed distributed to the needy.”

“When I entered the Rav’s home, I was stunned. The Rav lived in extremely modest conditions – more modest than even the most poverty-stricken clients I visited during my years as a community lawyer. A tiny apartment with old-fashioned furniture from the early 1950s, with only the overflowing sefarim hiding its poor condition.”

“The room where the Rav learned, which is next to his bedroom (two simple beds), is the heart of the home. There, next to the table, the Rav simply learned Torah from Neitz until Shekiah and between limud l’limud – even at 2 a.m. – he received every broken-hearted person who wanted an answer for his despair. He gave them hope without accepting payment.”

“Two things particularly impressed me. The first – that a person like him – a person who learns his entire life and is satisfied with little – is a role model for a million people. The contrast to the culture of celebrities that has spread among us – a hallow culture that lends importance to momentary power – filled me with envy.”

“Second – the fact that the Rav uses his lofty status in order to embrace people who are downtrodden. I was in the Rav’s home a number of times and every time I witnessed how people would leave his room with their faces shining from the emunah he instilled in them that their problems can be solved. This was deeply impressive. If only, the secular world had someone similar for downtrodden people, someone who is accessible to everyone and not only the wealthy.”

“In the many hespedim that will be written about HaRav Kanievsky, z’tl, he will surely be remembered for his greatness in Torah, his humility, and the way he led the Litvak sector and in the last decade, the entire Chareidi sector. Alongside all these – which I don’t fully understand – I request to also place the way the Rav instilled hope and chessed day in and day out to those who needed it the most.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)