Klal Yisroel is mourning the great loss of one of the last Torah giants from a previous generation with today’s passing of Rav Yissachar Meir ZT”L, Rosh Yeshivas Hanegev in Netivot.
The great Rosh Yeshiva who has been suffering with a severe case of diabetes for many years was hospitalized in recent months. As Klal Yisroel beseeched Hakadosh Boruch Hu with Tefillos his condition took a slight turn for the better. Alas, this morning in Bnei Brak he returned his pure Neshomoh.
Rav Yissachar who passed away at the age of 83 was born in Lemberg, Germany. As a young man he was a Rosh Yeshiva in Morocco with over 300 talmidim. Ultimately he settled in Netivot where he literally transformed a desert wasteland into a town that embodied the essence of Torah. With small seedlings of his Yeshivat Hanegev the town is now home to many Yeshivas, Kollelim and Batei Midrashim; all in dept and gratitude to the Rosh Yeshiva.
Although he was never blessed with children in his eyes he was. He said many times in his shiurim that he “has thousands of children”; meaning his beloved Talmidim.
Many of today’s Torah leaders throughout Eretz Yisrael and the world were once Talmidim of Rav Yissochor Meir. In fact Rav Moshe Shurkin SHLIT”A and Rav Dov Lev SHLIT”A, both talmidim of Yeshivat Hanegev are both currently in the Yeshiva as Mashgiach and Ram respectively.
The Levaya is expected to be held Sunday morning in the Yeshiva that was his home for the last 50 years and will continue to the Beis Hakvaros in Netivot.
A more extensive memorial will follow.
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12 Responses
Lemberg is not in Germany
Isn’t Lemberg (the German name for the city of Lviv) currently in the Ukraine, and pre WWII was in Poland?
boruch dayan emes. the loss of a great gadol.
As a young boy I never made it in the yeshivisha world. I went to many different yeshivas throughout the US and Canada and finally made my way to Eretz Yisroel. Even when there I did not fit in, until I visited the Negev for Shabbos. I ended up staying in Yeshivat Hanegev for 8 years and became very close with the Rosh Yeshivah zt”l and his Rebbitzen. They took me in for who I was, and made a mentch out of me. My Rosh Yeshivah zt”l was very smart and down to earth and was a living example of a good father and mentor. He studied Torah day and night but always made time for his children/talmidim if they needed his advise or help in any way. I want to wish his Rebbitzen Arichas Yomim. She was a devoted wife and partner to the Rav zt”l and any time someone needed extra TLC away from family got it from them. I spent almost every Shabbos at their house and was made to feel like one of their children and felt like this was home.
Rav Yissochor zt”l will be greatly missed and his petira should be a meilitz yosher for all of K’lal Yisroel.
I wasn’t a talmid, but I ate one Shabbos meal by him. He was zocheh to bring Torah to a Midbar (literally).
BDE. Yihee Zichro Boruch.
He was born in HAMBERG, Germany.
We’d appreciate more posts like #4 to inspire us. As the article states, he left no children. His talmidim sharing with us and inspiring us with memories of their Rebbe’s greatness will add to his ilui neshama.
to feel a little bit of the loss of the rosh hayeshiva click on the link http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/141476
WOW! #4 must have been really close to the rav. It’s so nice that people leave such moving comments – thank you
Rav Yissochor zt”l was the personification of mesirus nefesh (utter devotion and self-sacrifice) for Torah. A talmid of the Ponevezher Rav, Rav Yosef Kahaneman zt”l, Rav Yissochor started Yeshivath Hanegev in 1961 with a handful of talmidim in a ramshackle tzrif (shack). Through his and tblc’t the Rabbanit’s hard work and devotion over many years, and with much help from Above, he developed in Netivot the extensive array of Mosdot Yeshivath Hanegev, including Yeshiva Gedola, Yeshiva Ktana, Yeshiva L’Tze’irim, Bais Yaakov, Seminary, Kollelim, the Shlom Bonayich housing complex for avreichim, and much more.
Rav Yissochor was instrumental throughout the years in bringing to Netivot, and providing services (ranging from housing and food to education and guidance) for, needy Jewish youngsters from a variety of countries and backgrounds, including refugees from Moslem countries, children from Chernobyl after the reactor accident devastated their city, and children escaping persecution in Iran and the former Soviet Union.
But the crown jewel was always the Yeshiva itself, for which Rav Yissochor would spare no pain. Wanting to bring top-level talent to the yeshiva, but aware that Netivot was rather out of the way, he persuaded numerous Torah personalities to spend part of the week at the Yeshiva. These included Rav Chaim Friedlander zt’l, who served as mashgiach, Rav Leizer Plochinsky zt’l, who was Rosh Kollel, the unforgettable tzaddik Rav Reuven Gershonovitz zt’l, and ybl’c Rav Doniel Lehrfield shlit’a, who was for many years a sho’eil u’maishiv in the yeshiva.
A couple of anecdotes to illustrate the Rosh Yeshiva’s mesirus nefesh for Torah and for his talmidim:
* I remember joining Rav Yissochor and the Rabbanit for a Friday evening se’uda. He was falling asleep at the table. The reason? He customarily made a mishmar, learning all through Thursday night. But, unlike most people who make a mishmar, he would not sleep on Friday, but stayed up until Shabbos. He delivered a sicha Friday evening in the yeshiva, then went home after Ma’ariv to begin the se’uda, and by that point had trouble staying awake.
* One time when Rav Yissochor went on a fund-raising trip to Europe, he recorded a shiur for the bochurim, and sent it over on a cassette tape, so we wouldn’t have to go a week without his shiur. As we listened to the shiur, we heard that the Rosh Yeshiva was speaking in a very low voice, almost a whisper. Rav Yissochor explained that he had been out all day on behalf of the yeshiva, and only after his hosts had gone to bed, did he have a chance to open a sefer and learn. He was recording the shiur at 2 AM, and was whispering so he wouldn’t wake anyone in the house!
That is mesirus nefesh! Chaval al D’Avdin!
The Rosh Yeshiva zt”l once went to Panama to raise money for the yeshiva while he had a BROKEN LEG!! When asked Why he did not postpone the trip he answered “if I miss even one month of paying the yeshiva’s bills or the salary of the Rabanim and kolel, people might say that Rav Yissocher does not pay on time, and there may be a Chilul Hashem. Even for Sofek chilul Hashem one must be Moser Nefesh!!!”.
We should all learn from Such midos, and May his z’chusim be a merit for all of klal yisroel.
I am the Rosh Yeshiva’s cousin. He and my father share the same name and were both named after their grandfather, the Rav of Regensberg, tz”l who died in 1925. This grandfather saved many, many neshamos from the haskalah movement in Germany and R’ Yissochor followed in his way. There is no way to describe the efforts that the Rosh Yeshiva extended or the way he influenced the lives of so many.
The Rosh Yeshiva was born in Hamburg, not Lemberg.
When I was a young teenage girl, the Rosh Yeshiva told me to teach my brother all the Navi that I learned in school, because boys do not learn enough nach in Yeshiva. This brother soon became a talmid of Rav Yissochor and is today a Rav in an Aish Hatorah shul.
My condolences to his wife, who is a tzidkanis and was truly the strength of the Rav. Also to his one surviving sister. R’ Yissoschor’s nephew, yichye, is the great tzaddik R’ Chananya Chollak, who is the founder and power behind Ezer MiTzion, Eretz Yisrael’s great tzedaka organization.
May the Rosh Yeshiva be a meilitz yosher to all of Klal Yisrael.
Antelope – I am a grandaughter of his sister everything you wrote is so true, we will all miss him