"There, one can feel the presence of the Shechinah, watching, peering, embracing us all with eternal love"

The previous Novominsker Rebbe, Rav Yaakov Perlow ztz”l, was well-known for his fierce love of Eretz Yisrael. For decades, the Rebbe would pay an annual visit to soak in the holiness and majesty of the country, highlighted by a Maariv at the Kosel, surrounded by talmidim and yeshivah alumni. The Rebbe would speak and, overcome with emotion, would quote the pasuk in Shir Hashirim, “Hinei zeh omed achar kosleinu — behold He stands just beyond the wall — mashgiach min hachalonos — watching through the windows — meitzitz min hacharakim — peering through the cracks.” The Rebbe would interpret this pasuk as a reference to the Kosel HaMaaravi. There, one can feel the presence of the Shechinah, watching, peering, embracing us all with eternal love.

The holy neshamah of the Novominsker Rebbe slipped away at the height of the pandemic, but his message lives on, perpetuated by his children. His son Rav Yehoshua Perlow, current Novominsker Rebbe, visited Eretz Yisrael last week, and he, too, davened Maariv at the Kosel, surrounded by talmidim, and shared divrei hisorerus. It was an elevated moment, filled with so much Torah and kedushah, but longtime, older Novominsker talmidim sensed something else as well. With them, unseen yet tangible, was the previous Rebbe, his soul so connected with this holy site, his legacy still so alive with them, watching through the windows, peering through the cracks…

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 897)