Rebbetzin Chaya Ausband lived with faith, intense joy, and boundless appreciation for Torah

She was a scion of Torah royalty, wife of a Rosh Yeshiva, and mother of a large and illustrious family. Yet Rebbetzin Chaya Ausband was, first and foremost, a mechaneches.

As head of Yavne Teachers Seminary in Cleveland, Ohio, she taught generations of young women how to learn a pasuk in Chumash, how to dissect a Rashi, how to analyze a perek of Navi. More than that, she taught them about the dignity and greatness of a life completely devoted to Torah.

For these American girls, she served as a link to the pre-war European Torah giants. Her influence on their lives was so profound that when she passed away two weeks ago at the age of 96, her talmidos from decades ago felt bereft.

Although her greatness was impossible to fully penetrate – an “ishah gedolah” was the way many describe her — in interviews with talmidos and family members, several qualities were mentioned repeatedly. Here’s a small glimpse of what she embodied.

Chashivus HaTorah

Rebbetzin Ausband – or “Morah,” as her students called her, with the grammatically correct emphasis on the final syllable – was a brilliant intellectual who loved learning Torah. More importantly, at her core was a fathomless respect for Torah and Torah scholars.

This love was embedded within from the youngest age. Morah had a deep awe of her own father, Rav Avrohom Yitzchak Bloch, Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe in Europe. Mrs. Nechama Burnham, a Yavne student, recalls how Morah would describe bringing cups of tea to her father and his chavrusa. “She told us she’d be shaking so much, she was scared she’d drop the tea.”

That reverence continued in her relationship with her husband. Though Morah was a strong and highly-educated woman, her respect for her husband as a talmid chacham was absolute. Her children have a copy of her diary, in which she wrote, “People think I make the decisions in this house, but it’s not true. I always let my husband make the decisions.” Though she had plenty of strong opinions, she deferred entirely to her husband.

“She always used to say that she can’t thank Hashem enough for the fact that her husband learns Torah and that her children learn Torah,” relates Mrs. Penina Green, a Yavne student. “She used to daven, fast, and take kabbalos upon herself as a zechus for her children’s success in Torah learning.”

She respected anyone learning Torah, whatever his age. One day, a few bochurim from the yeshivah came to the Ausbands’ house, and the Rebbetzin noticed that one young bochur’s jacket button was missing. She told him to come back later so she could sew it for him. Of course, he didn’t; how could he ask the 80-year-old rebbetzin to sew his button?

When he didn’t show up, she called for him. “I can’t have such a distinguished melumedes sew my jacket button!” he told her. But she insisted: “My tafkid in this world is to serve lomdei Torah. It’s my privilege.”

Thirst for Growth

Rebbetzin Ausband was a brilliant woman with an incredible scope of Torah knowledge. Yet, despite her natural gifts, she never felt it was enough. She had an unquenchable thirst to continue learning and growing.

“I remember coming to Morah’s house and seeing her sitting and learning with her sons,” recalls Mrs. Toby Friedman, a Yavne student. “Rav Avraham Ausband has said he considers his mother his rebbe for Chumash and Navi.”

She connected to others through Torah. “She invited me to her house one Shabbos before Pesach, and during the afternoon, I took out my notes,” says Mrs. Aliza Feder, another Yavne student.

“She asked me what I was studying, and I was a little embarrassed to tell her that it was Megillas Esther — it was for a make-up test. But right away, she asked me to read my notes out loud so she could learn it, too. It didn’t matter that Purim had passed – for her, all learning was enjoyable.

“Many years later, when I visited her in Lakewood — in her later years, she went to live with her daughter — the first thing she did was pull out a Chumash with Ramban and start learning with me.”

When Morah was already in her 90s, she decided to start learning the issurim associated with speaking lashon hara. And she’d ask her daughter to test her on it.

Around that time, she went to visit her son, Rav Avraham, Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe in Riverdale. The next morning, her grandson was concerned by how tired she looked.

“Didn’t you sleep well, Bubby?” he asked.

“I saw a Mesillas Yesharim sitting on the night table in my room,” Morah answered, “and I opened it. I just couldn’t put it down all night.”