Looking for a Leader

Rav Nosson Tzvi would say the word “lernen,” and his face would light up. He showed the way to reach greatness — one chavrusa following another, one seder after another — and it became the Mir-Brachfeld way as well.

It took a similar fortitude for Reb Noam to ascend the mountain. He didn’t grow up in the Bnei Brak cheder system and he wasn’t learning Sefer Hamitzvos in exchange for Crembo treats on Shabbos afternoons. His father, Dr. Yoav Alon, is a respected professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rechovot — and quite proud of his son, the rosh yeshivah.

Noam began his post-bar mitzvah yeshivah education in the Bnei Akiva-oriented Yeshivat Nechalim, although his older brothers had already felt drawn to a more chareidi lifestyle. Noam, true to his nature, didn’t simply follow them without carefully observing their choices and considering the path before him.

In Nechalim, he won a Mishnayos be’al peh contest, displaying his powers of concentration and focus. He became very close with Rav Simcha HaKohein Kook, the chief rabbi of Rechovot, who publically proclaimed that young Noam would go on to become a great talmid chacham. Noam eventually moved over to Yeshiva l’Tzei’irim of Rechovot, and then switched to Yeshivas Ohr Yisrael in Petach Tikvah, under the aegis of Rav Yigal Rosen.

As Noam Alon rose to the top of the yeshivah, discussions were taking place at the dining room table in the apartment on Jerusalem’s Rechov Ha’ameilim. Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, rosh yeshivah of the largest yeshivah in the world, was looking for a shidduch for his eldest daughter, Golda.

Rav Tzvi Partzovitz — today one of the roshei yeshivah of Mir-Brachfeld — was at the time a maggid shiur in Ohr Yisrael. He came to Rav Nosson Tzvi and urged him to take the young man as a son-in-law. The Alon boy was a tremendous masmid who’d completed all of Nashim-Nezikin b’iyun. But neither that, nor Rav Tzvi’s insistence, were enough to persuade Rav Nosson Tzvi.

What finally convinced Rav Nosson Tzvi was a report from one of Noam’s roommates. Even though Ohr Yisrael is a yeshivah run with a rigorous schedule and bochurim aren’t permitted to learn past curfew, Rosh Yeshivah Rav Rosen had given Noam special permission to learn late. His roommate related that when Noam would come back to the dormitory in the middle of the night, he would take his shoes off at the door of the room, so as not to wake any of his roommates. This spoke to Rav Nosson Tzvi.

And there was something else as well.

The Rosh Yeshivah himself had traveled the rough road: Having grown up in Chicago, he’d fought his way into the yeshivah world, learning with those younger than him, relying on a rotation of private chavrusas to help him reach the level of the other talmidim. His great-uncle, Rosh Yeshivah Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, oversaw his growth, taking great pride in each small step — and in time, the American bochur was recognized as the biggest masmid in yeshivah. Rav Leizer Yehuda selected him as a chassan for his own granddaughter, Leah Finkel.

Now, Rav Nosson Tzvi was seeking his own son-in-law, but he wasn’t looking for the genius who’d coasted to greatness: He wanted someone who could lead, and a leader needs to taste hard work along the way. He wanted a young man who had the drive to keep learning and learning.

Against the Odds

The yeshivah that Reb Noam now leads is itself a product of Rav Nosson Tzvi’s determination. In the winter of 2000, Reb Meir Brachfeld, builder of the Achuzat Brachfeld community adjacent to Kiryat Sefer, offered Rav Nosson Tzvi a tract of land on which to establish a yeshivah. At that point Mir Yerushalayim already had an enrollment of over 4,000 talmidim, with the number growing each zeman.

Rav Nosson Tzvi, worn down by illness and overwhelmed with the budget for his own yeshivah, seized the offer. The Rosh Yeshivah first opened a kollel, and after just a few months, announced that he planned to open a yeshivah.

He had every good reason not to do it: Rav Nosson Tzvi shrugged off the well-meaning talmidim and family members who tried to dissuade him and did it anyway. He selected a group of good bochurim from among those learning in the chaburah at the yeshivah’s Friedman building in Jerusalem, and he purchased a prefab caravan. Mir-Brachfeld was up and running, with 17 bochurim. The Rosh Yeshivah hired Rav Aryeh Leib Auerbach, who led a chaburah in the Ner Gavriel beis medrash of Mir Yerushalayim, as the first maggid shiur. That Elul, just a few months after the kibbutz in Brachfeld started learning, the yeshivah began to accept bochurim into shiur alef, the first year of yeshivah gedolah. Forty-five bochurim, the cream of the crop of Israeli yeshivos ketanos, composed the nucleus.

In the early years of the new yeshivah, Rav Aryeh Finkel would travel from Jerusalem twice a week to deliver shiurim, as did Rav Refoel Shmuelevitz. Later, Rav Aryeh was formally named rosh yeshivah of Brachfeld. In 2007, Rav Nosson Tzvi’s oldest son-in-law joined the staff as well, saying a chaburah to the older bochurim.

Always Available

When bochurim return to yeshivah, whether from an off-Shabbos or a longer break, they’ll find a table at the entrance laden with a welcoming assortment of rugelach, cakes, and kugel. It’s a typical Mir-Brachfeld baruch haba, appropriate for a yeshivah that honors the legacy of Rav Nosson Tzvi, who would tell bochurim visiting his home for a chaburah to “raid the fridge.”

But what makes this yeshivah special, the boys say, isn’t the generosity of the hanhalah but the availability of their rebbeim. Just as Rav Nosson Tzvi kept the door to his dining room open throughout the day, the Brachfeld Rosh Yeshivah is constantly available. He leaves his home in the Sanhedria Hamurchevet neighborhood of Jerusalem at 6:15 in the morning, returning at 8:00 at night. But even once he arrives home, his schedule revolves around yeshivah matters.

From 9:00 until 11:55 each evening, he’s closeted alone in a room, without people or phones, as he prepares the shiurim for the next day. At 11:55, his phone is back on for half an hour, as he fields calls for those seeking advice, largely on the subject of shidduchim. Those sacred three hours don’t leave Reb Noam with much time to attend simchah events though. When his students get married outside of the city, he usually only comes for the chuppah and then goes to a nearby shul to prepare shiur. Shabbos with his family in tow is often spent in the yeshivah as well.

Reb Noam delivers shiur each day at 12:00 — for shiur gimmel bochurim in the winter and shiur alef in the summer. “The Rosh Yeshivah used to devote half a year to the kibbutz [bochurim who have finished shiur gimmel], because he was the rosh kibbutz before being appointed rosh yeshivah,” said a talmid. “But once he took the helm, he wanted to get to know the new boys entering shiur alef and develop a relationship with them as soon as they arrive in yeshivah.”

Fire at the Shtender

Reb Noam’s daily schedule reflects his strict discipline in utilizing every moment of his time. Every morning at precisely 7:00, he walks into the yeshivah for Shacharis, which begins 15 minutes later. During those 15 minutes, he listens in to the mussar vaad of the mashgiach, Rav Reuven Hechster.

After davening, the revolving door of chavrusas begins. The Rosh Yeshivah has numerous such chavrusa sessions throughout the day — after Shacharis, at lunchtime, and after Minchah, even on Shabbos. The topics and seforim vary: he has chavrusas in Ramban, Minchas Chinuch, Derech Hashem of the Ramchal, Mishnayos Taharos, and Gemara according to seder of Shas. His chavrusas, selected from among the bochurim, are also part of the legacy of his father-in-law, who maintained a famed network of chavrusas with bochurim, so that anyone who wanted would be able to have private learning time with him.

Who Reb Noam chooses to learn with is based on various factors, but sometimes those considerations are obvious — like the time he refused to give a bochur permission to travel abroad in the middle of the zeman, and as a “consolation” chose him for a chavrusa.

Every other Wednesday, Reb Noam walks up the stairs to the aron kodesh and delivers his shiur klali. The structure is consistent: It begins with a Mishnah and the pshat in the Gemara. It then builds up from the bottom in an organized, clear fashion, with questions that delve deep into the sugya. As he proceeds, his voice rises ever higher — when he gets fired up in the midst of the shiur, he doesn’t really need a microphone anymore. He turns from side to side, his face unusually bright with combined exertion and enthusiasm.

“At the same time,” says a talmid, “He can explain a concept to a struggling bochur three or four times, over and over, until he sees that the boy grasps it. That’s real Toras chesed.”

A Place in the Heart

Reb Noam’s personal attention and warmth are his trademarks, and every bochur has his own anecdote to share. “Six hundred boys learn here,” one talmid says, “and he knows them all by name. Come on Friday night and see how they pass by to say Gut Shabbos to him. He smiles at each one and bentshes each one by name — Motty, gut Shabbos, Yaakov, gut Shabbos, Shuki, gut Shabbos…. Really though, I don’t get excited from the fact that he remembers names because we know he has a phenomenal memory. I’m impressed that it makes no difference if the boy is stronger or weaker. Reb Noam sees them all as sons. ‘We’re all one family,’ Rav Nosson Tzvi always used to say, and he passed that on to Reb Noam.”

The bond with Rav Nosson Tzvi — whom the Rosh Yeshivah reverently refers to as “the Shver” — was very deep, and he often grows emotional when discussing his father-in-law. Talmidim remark that Reb Noam won’t stop crying for the Shver until techiyas hameisim.

Rav Nosson Tzvi directed his eldest son-in-law to start wearing a frak, though it was Reb Leizer Yudel who publically proclaimed, at his father’s levayah, his father’s wish that Reb Noam should be a leader in the yeshivah.”

And so, a month after Rav Nosson Tzvi’s passing, the beloved young ram, Reb Noam, was thrust forward: He walked into the packed beis medrash to deliver the first shiur klali surrounded: Rav Leizer Yudel and the other roshei yeshivah of Mir Yerushalayim on one side, Rav Aryeh Finkel, along with the new rosh yeshivah’s rebbeim — Rav Yigal Rosen and Rav Simcha HaKohein Kook — on the other.

When Rav Aryeh was niftar in the summer of 2016, Reb Noam became “the” rosh yeshivah, and in the time since, his imprint has come to define the institution.

Ready for Shabbos

There was another area of Reb Noam’s avodah that paralleled that of the Shver, and it meant a lot to Rav Nosson Tzvi.

As a young avreich, Rav Nosson Tzvi would come home from seder on Friday, and shower and get dressed for Shabbos. Then, even on the long summer Fridays, he would return to yeshivah and learn up until Shabbos, his most peaceful session of the week. The Rebbetzin happily assumed the responsibility of bathing the children and preparing the home to greet the Queen, just as her husband did so in the beis medrash.

Reb Noam, too, has always cherished Fridays.

For the six years he was learning in Ohr Yisrael, he spent every Thursday night in a taanis dibbur (abstinence from speaking). Then he would sleep a bit, wake up, and, in order to save time, he would get ready for Shabbos in the morning. He then traveled to Bnei Brak to learn with one of the maggidei shiur from ten in the morning until just before Shabbos, when he would return to yeshivah.

Reb Noam’s family time — he’s the father of 11 — is at the Shabbos seudah, when he makes sure to engage each of them in conversation and learning. He also makes it a point to attend parent-teacher meetings. “We can’t expect our children to believe that they really are important to us, and that their learning is important to us, if we don’t show it when we have the chance,” he’s told his talmidim.

Tuned In

Like many yeshivos in Eretz Yisrael, Mir-Brachfeld has a group of “eltere bochurim,” who often feel constrained by the strict schedule of the yeshivah. One zeman, these older bochurim in Brachfeld decided to fan out and learn in local shuls, in search of a change of scenery. Reb Noam didn’t like the trend though, but rather than confront the bochurim, he went to speak with Rav Yaakov Edelstein ztz”l and asked if perhaps inherent in the conflict was a legitimate request on the part of these older, unmarried boys.

“Yes,” said Rav Edelstein, “they do deserve a different framework, more suited to them.” And so Reb Noam created new sedorim for this group, and even gave financial incentives so the boys could have spending money necessary for the parshah of shidduchim.

There was one bochur who planned a trip abroad with some vague excuse of a simchah. The Rosh Yeshivah insisted he cancel the scheduled trip, and the bochur protested that the $400 ticket was nonrefundable. The Rosh Yeshivah was adamant, however, and the unhappy boy canceled the trip, but made his displeasure known.

Reb Noam took the shekel equivalent out of his own pocket and gave it to one of the more popular, active bochurim who was always involved in everything going on in yeshivah. “Please find a way to get this money to that bochur,” he instructed the young askan, “but make sure he never knows where it came from.”

One bochur takes me aside; he has a personal story to share but he doesn’t want his friends to hear. “I’m quite heavy,” he says, blushing slightly. “When the yeshivah cut back on the air-conditioning in the dorm rooms, it was very hard for me to fall asleep. I asked one of the Rosh Yeshivah’s chavrusas, someone who is also very close to him, to speak to him about it. Reb Noam took out the keys to his office, gave them to the chavrusa, and said: ‘Go tell so-and-so — and he mentioned my name — that he can come sleep in my private room. There’s a bed with clean linen on it. He’s invited.”

Another bochur mentions how he’d become accustomed to a certain exercise workout, and felt he was suffering without it. Reb Noam saw that the boy was really having a hard time without the workout, and offered to store the exercise equipment in his private room. The talmid was invited to come get the keys and work out when he felt he needed to unwind.

Final Instructions

It’s an interesting combination — Reb Noam on one hand makes sure every bochur has his individual needs met, and on the other, they’re a united family. Really, that’s what the Shver’s legacy is all about.

Rav Nosson Tzvi would occasionally spend Shabbos in yeshivah; Shabbos afternoons would find him in the beis medrash, listening to one boy after another telling him shtickelach Torah. Then at Seudah Shlishis he would announce, “This Shabbos, the following bochurim told me shtickelach Torah.” He would then list each boy who had told him a devar Torah, and then his eyes would glow and he would say “…but the best shtickel Torah this Shabbos was from…”

This modern legend of a rosh yeshivah, father to thousands of talmidim, spent his final Shabbos, parshas Lech Lecha 5772 (2011), in Mir-Brachfeld. At Rav Nosson Tzvi’s levayah, Rav Aryeh Finkel tearfully noted that although the Rosh Yeshivah hadn’t left a written tzava’ah, he had delivered an impromptu parting message for all of his talmidim during that Shabbos — and the witnesses were the bochurim at Mir-Brachfeld. This time, when addressing the bochurim at Seudah Shlishis, there was no contest, no competition. Instead, he said, “Achdus has always been the hallmark of Mir. We must always make sure to remain united.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha Issue 689)