Rebbi would teach mussar for a few minutes every day after davening, rotating on a yearly basis between the four classic seforim: Mesillas Yesharim, Shaarei Teshuvah, Orchos Tzaddikim, and Chovos Halevavos. Rebbi, of course, taught them with his unique perspective and insight, the core message being that we were responsible to uphold the legacy of the Am Hanivchar and be a Mamleches Kohanim, and that the ideals of Jewish life were ancient and time-tested, as applicable and important in the 20th century as in earlier generations, while all other ideas and philosophies have been discarded in the trash bin of human history.

Rebbi’s Jewish history classes were the fulfillment of the instructions of Moshe Rabbeinu in parshas Ha’azinu (a parshah that held a special place in Rebbi’s educational approach, together with the lessons of the Neviim). Rebbi trained us to see world events, through the ages and today, as the backdrop to Am Yisrael.

I suspect that in Shamayim, Rebbi will continue to give shiur on Rav Tzadok’s seforim, and I imagine that Rav Tzadok himself will attend.

Rebbi let us see him in real-life situations: good times, difficult times, and lighter times. When he traveled to Eretz Yisrael, he would bring back little gifts for the bochurim. Every Erev Yom Kippur, he gave each of us a brachah and a candy. And I vividly remember him on Purim laughing so hard at the good-natured jokes and portrayals of himself and others that he had to bite down on his coat.

Rebbi was always the smartest person in the room, but he simply had no ego; he treated everyone as his equal.

He took great pride in and enjoyed great nachas from the children of his talmidim. Before Pesach, I took my son and his kallah to see Rebbi in his home and to ask for a brachah before their wedding. My son asked him a question that had simultaneous halachic, historical, and hashkafic implications, and breaking his habit of offering concise, brief answers, Rebbi engaged and spoke with us for over 20 minutes on the subject. In classic form, Rebbi quoted the date of an obscure event and directed my son to specific mekoros to further his exploration of the subject. The look in his eyes told me he saw this as another opportunity of the kind he so cherished, even as in later years it became increasingly difficult: to engage and teach yet another generation of talmidim and help guide them in the path of Torah and avodas Hashem.

— Rabbi Daniel Wasserman

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1075)