By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com

404 Pages. 2023, Artscroll’s Shaar Press

There is no storyteller like Nachman Seltzer.  And there is no story like that of the development and growth of Roy and Leah Neuberger.  Put them together in a manner that only Artscroll knows how to do, and you have a winning combination of proper Torah hashkafah, Mussar, biography, all wrapped in one.

Reb Nachman employed an interesting literary device – when discussing incidents and stories that happened before his exposure to Torah, our subjects are called Roy and Linda. But when they transpired after they came close to Torah, Reb Nachman calls them Reb Yisroel and Leah.  It is a brilliant device.

What had personally grabbed me, were the certain words that reverberate in Reb Yisroel’s mind – words that were said to him before he had returned to the Torah way of life.  The example that comes to mind is from when he had visited an individual to seek advice about publishing a newspaper.  That person was watching the news of the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War.  The pre-Torah Roy seemed to be unaffected by the what the news was showing.  That person, who was Jewish, looked aghast at the pre-Torah Roy and asked, “What kind of a Jew are you??”

Those words echoed and reverberated again and again within Reb Yisroel’s head for years, and still do.

The book is 404 pages of pure inspiration in Torah growth and avodas Hashem.  This, accompanied with incredible vignettes of fellow travelers in Avodas Hashem, and others.  The book is divided into seven parts – the first, was their life before they were gifted with Torah. The latter parts are their life after.

As far as their early life, think elite schools, a country home, holiday vacations around the United States.  Gashmius, and no ruchnius. Their wedding?  Virtually no Hebrew. No eidim and no Kesuvah.

Roy Neuberger senior, Reb Yisroel’s father was known as the “Wizard of Wall Street” and the inventor of the No-Load Mutual Fund.  He was a man who knew the ins and outs of the market like the Talmudic sage, Shmuel, who knew the streets of Nahardeah. Roy Senior knew Wall Street from before the 1929 crash until the modern era – the late eighties. Roy Senior knew to go short before the crash and to go long at other times.  We also see Reb Yisroel’s description of his father.  He was man of complete integrity. Never greedy and happy when others did well. It is a description filled with kivud av v’aim – notwithstanding the fact that Reb Yisroel’s parents were not observant.  (And this is quite important, because, ledavoneini, some who are new to a Torah life-style do not always model themselves in this manner and it leads, r”l to chillul Hashem.

A Vignette:  Fast forward a little bit where Reb Yisroel is starting a job at a Wall Street investment house.  The firm’s owner tells him that they do not permit Yarmulkahs.  Reb Yisroel is about to quit.  Enter Rebbitzen Esther Jungreiss.  She advises him not to quit, but rather to go to.. [reader:  Prepare for impending shocker] her sheitel-macher, Claire.  Apparently, Claire is also rather adept at making toupees for men.  And, once again, Rebbitzen Esther Jungreiss’s sagacious advice saves the day.

Along the journey, we encounter great Roshei Yeshiva, along with the great leaders of the generation:  Rav Yechiel Perr shlita of Yeshiva of Far Rockaway, Rav Naftoli Jaeger shlita of Yeshiva Sh’or Yashiv, Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky shlita, Rav Malkiel Kotler shlita and discover warm facets of their personalities.

In this book, we become privy, step by step, to a transformation before our eyes.  Reb Yisroel and his Akeres HaBayis, Leah, become bastions of Emunah and Bitachon themselves.  They are mechazek others in so many ways.  We learn to deal with other family members who are not yet frum.  And we learn to do so in a kinder, gentler way.  And speaking of “kinder and gentler”, we also meet President Bush (who’s father coined that very phrase).

Reb Yisroel exemplifies the Torah way even when he stands up for Torah ideals when it is socially awkward to do so.  His genteel and pleasant manner (a product of his parents’ midos and his Torah learning after his Torah journey).

Another Vignette:  Reb Yisroel and his wife are shopping in Gourmet Glatt.  They see an older gentleman  eating from the grapes he is about to be purchasing.  Reb Yisroel, (like Yaakov Avinu when he chided the shepherds for being lazy and stealing from their employer), cannot contain himself and remarks to the man that he is stealing those grapes, because they will weigh less upon his purchase!  Later, at the counter in line to pay, they encounter the gentleman again, and Reb Yisroel anticipates a reaction to his previous “words of Mussar.”  Instead, the anonymous “grape pilferer” thanks Reb Yisroel for his previous mussar.  Mi Ka’amcha Yisroel!

[As an aside, and with apologies, when I read this short little vignette, the question did come up as to what the grape taster was initially thinking.  Was there an underlying Talmudic debate unfolding here before our eyes between Reb Yisroel Neuberger and the anonymous GG shopper?  The Tosfos near the end of the first chapter of Kiddushin came to mind.  Rabbeinu Chananel understands the Talmudic principle of ochel bashuk domeh l’kelev as referring to one who tastes food in the marketplace.  The Baalei Tosfos ask why is this not to be subsumed under regular theft?  The Baalei Tofos answer that Rabbeinu Chananel is referring to food that the owner would not care about – such as less than a shaveh prutah’s worth (see Shulchan Aruch 259:2). What then is the value of one grape?  Is it the value of a Prutah? Silver now hovers at about $21 per troy ounce. A Prutah is equal to the price of a troy ounce of silver divided by 1244. This is generally between 1.7 cents and 2 cents.  Small grapes have a bout 90 grapes per pound.  So, the “grape pilferer” is not a thief when grapes are less than 1.80 per pound.  So perhaps the anonymous GG shopper was thinking it was less than 1.7 cents per grape, and Reb Yisroel was correcting him as to the true price.  Or perhaps, Reb Yisroel felt that since he was eating them one after the other, it is full-fledged theft. Or perhaps the debate between them was a restatement of the Yi’ush shelo midaas debate of Abbayeh and Ravah, but I digress.]

This book is both an excellent and inspirational read.  We can also admire the tremendous and uncanny energy that Reb Yisroel and wife have.  It is no wonder that they produced such wonderful Torah families and have changed so many lives for the better.  The book is available in all seforim stores and on artscroll.com.

The reviewer can be reached at [email protected]