YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira of HaRav Schneur Zalman Yudkin Zt”l, a link to to pre-war Europe whose story and Mesirus Nefesh inspired countless people throughout his illustrious life.
As a child, Shneur Zalman studied at Yeshiva Torah Im Derech Eretz, a school that operated in a gymnasium in Riga, Latvia, and leaned heavily on the teachings of Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch zt”l. Over the course of his long life, Rav Shneur Zalman lived by the tenets of both Rav Shamshon Raphael and his Chasidic upbringing. He would often recount the tremendous mesiras nefesh demonstrated by his father to maintain a frum home in Russia – including one instance in which he was literally thrown into a sewer for the “crime” of making a bris mila on his son.
His father once had no matzos for Pesach, so with incredible mesiras nefesh and kedusha, he used 3 sugar cubes instead of the matzos. With tears in his eyes he explained to his children, “The top one is Kohen, the middle is Levi, and the bottom is Yisroel”… He told his children this is what you need to do when you one day will have Matzos at a pesach Seder. He led the entire Pesach Seder using the 3 sugar cubes, to make sure his children will know how to conduct a pesach Seder one day.
Seeing such mesiras nefesh from his father helped mold the Niftar into the Tzadik he was. Anyone who saw him, saw Kedusha radiating from his holy face.
Rav Shneur Zalman and his family clung to their Yiddishkeit with tremendous Mesiras Nefesh, and eventually settled in Crown Heights, where he was able to live a life of Torah and Avodas Hashem without fear.
He was well known figure in many Shuls, where he would go around fundraising for Kiryat Malachi, and his presence alone put smiles on the face of Mispalelim as he would come through the door.
“He was a true Tzadik,” one individual who knew him told YWN. “He was a special person with an incredible heart and a deep love for those around him and who taught me and so many others what it means to live as a Yid.”
The levaya and kevurah are scheduled to take place at 3 PM on Friday at the Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York.
Baruch Dayan Ha’Emes.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
5 Responses
just an FYI if needed.
A Gymnasium in this context refers to something akin to a high school.
BDE.
I’m not the one to be Maspid such a Tzaddik but being that I was unable to attend the Levaya I would like to share a few words L’zechuso UL’zichrono.
He was a symbol of the quintessential Fartzeitesher Chussid. No words can describe what you saw in his Heiliger eyes. His manner of speech, his overall Middos, his overwhelming concern for another Yid, his Simchas Hachaim is all something that the new Dor will unfortunately probably never see till the days of Moshiach BBY.
One anecdote that he repeated dozens (probably hundreds) of times was of his father taking the children to the window and showing them a fallen tree laying on its side. He told them כי האדם עץ השדה look at that tree! It might be bent it might be dead but it remains as straight and rigid as when it was alive.
For quite a few decades he was a Shabbos guest of my parents [having come for davening to make an appeal]. Although my father was a Ruv and noted Talmud Chuchom, he never ate Fleishig and said that he made a Kabbalah (I think even Neder) not to eat Fleishig by someone else since he travels all over the place and doesn’t want to eat by he person but decline by another.
Is he a brother of Rav Yudkin from Kiryat Malachi? They look like twins – identical twins!
Yaapchik, R’ Zalman lived in Kiryat Malachi before moving to Crown Heights.
Shalom my name is Levi Yudkin, I am a grandson.
If anyone has any stories to share I would greatly appreciate it.
[email protected]
In addition if you can help do Mishnayos for shloshim would be greatly appreciated
https://www.lzechernishmas.com/signup.php?id=12163