Bubby’s greatness stemmed from 96 years of overcoming challenges and
never losing sight of her life’s purpose

M

y grandmother, Rebbetzin Naomi Stein a”h, wife of Rav Pesach Yitzchok Stein, the Rosh Yeshivah of Telz, passed away last year on 11 Adar I, 5779. A woman who was a shining light to so many, Bubby’s greatness stemmed from 96 years of overcoming challenges and never losing sight of her life’s purpose

As a child, I took her for granted. She was just Bubby. A solid presence, loving, caring, sometimes strict, always the giver with a compliment and a present in hand. It was only as I matured that I began to appreciate just who she was.

Bubby spoke everyone’s language. No matter who they were, Bubby always knew what to say, the perfect gift to give. The entire community — not just her relatives — called her Tante Naomi.

Her tremendous love for others was matched only by her love and esteem for Torah. Bubby was born into greatness, but she also achieved it, in a life characterized by her relentless pursuit of Torah and chesed.

Born to Royalty

Bubby’s reverence for Torah was imbued in her from birth. Born in Telz (Telshe), Lithuania, to Rav Zalman and Luba Rochel (Dennis) Bloch, Bubby came from a family steeped in Torah. Her paternal grandfather was Rav Yosef Leib Bloch ztz”l, rav and rosh yeshivah in Telz, and author of the Shiurei Daas. Rav Bloch was the son-in-law of Rav Leizer Gordon, the rav and original rosh yeshivah in Telz.

Bubby’s mother, Luba Rochel, was the oldest daughter of Reb Binyamin Beinush Dennis, a wealthy businessman who lived in Charkov, Russia. Reb Binyamin Beinush’s father was one of the Cantonists — boys who were forcibly taken to the Russian Army at a young age and forced to serve for over 25 years. Though Reb Binyamin Beinush’s father hardly remembered any Torah knowledge upon his release, he made his learning top priority; whatever money he earned, he’d set aside half to pay a rebbi to teach him. Eventually his son became a wealthy magnate who supported many Torah institutions.

There’s a famous story told about Rav Elchonon Wasserman and Reb Binyamin Beinush. Rav Elchonon had come collecting for his yeshivah, and not wanting to ruin the expensive flooring with his muddy boots, he knocked on the back door, entering through the kitchen.

Upon seeing this, Reb Binyomin Beinush started to cry. Reb Elchonon, taken aback, asked what was wrong. “You are ruining my children’s chinuch,” Reb Binyomin Beinush explained. “I always tell them that the costly furnishings are worth nothing next to Torah. Now you, a talmid chacham, come and show them that these belongings are worth something because you don’t want to soil them.” Hearing this, Rav Elchonon went out and re-entered through the front door, this time paying no heed to the mud on his boots.

Bubby’s parents were special in their own right. Her father, Rav Zalman Bloch, was the oldest son of Rav Yosef Leib. It was assumed that when his father passed away, he’d take over as rav, a position for which he was eminently suitable, while his younger brother, Rav Avrohom Yitzchak, would succeed as rosh yeshivah. However, during the funeral, in his eulogy for his father, Rav Zalman surprised everyone and announced that he was giving up the post of rav to his younger brother. He felt that it was his father’s wish to keep both positions together; Rav Yosef Leib had hinted at it in a conversation before he was niftar. Rav Zalman became a dayan and menahel ruchani of the yeshivah.  However, Bubby told me, in actuality her Papa took care of everything in the town, since he was a big pikeach and very capable.

As young as I was when I first heard this story, it still left me in awe. How common is it to find someone who’d willingly give his position to his younger brother? He was Bubby’s role model.