Rabbi Halpern pointed out that within the Gemara’s description of the Bnos Tzelafchad lies an uncanny connection to so much of who the Rebbetzin was

This past Shabbos, Rebbetzin Sarah Etel Freifeld, devoted rebbetzin of the legendary rosh yeshivah of Sh’or Yoshuv, Rav Shlomo Freifeld ztz”l, passed away. The Rebbetzin, who was known as Sara for most of her life, was a uniquely brilliant and talented woman in her own right. She was raised in Costa Rica, where her parents had sought refuge to escape the horrors of World War II. She completed her schooling in Albany, New York, and was recruited as a PhD candidate, focusing on Spanish literature. After completing her doctorate, Sara taught college courses at SUNY Albany and eventually became the associate dean of humanities. High-level profession notwithstanding, she raised her three children from her first marriage, while continuing to grow in her observance of Torah, learning so much on her own.

It was during a two-year research program at Hebrew University that Sara first met Rav Shlomo Freifeld, at Rav Simcha Wasserman’s introduction. They met in the Wassermans’ Mattersdorf apartment, and Sara soon announced to her shocked colleagues that she would be getting married and returning to the United States. During the meeting, Rav Shlomo casually mentioned that he had a “small school” back in Far Rockaway. After a short engagement, the two got married and Rebbetzin Freifeld realized that the “small school” was actually a small empire. The Rebbetzin gracefully adapted to her new role, devoted to her revered husband and the cause that was his life’s mission.

Rav Avrohom Halpern, a son-in-law to Rav Shlomo Freifeld, pointed out that the Rebbetzin passed away on Shabbos Parshas Pinchas, where we read the episode of Bnos Tzelafchad. The Gemara in Bava Basra (119b) says of Bnos Tzelafchad, “chachmaniyos hein, darshaniyos hein, tzidkaniyos hein — they were wise, they were interpreters, they were righteous.” In defining what their righteousness was, the Gemara says “shelo nisu ela l’hagun lahen — they would only marry someone fitting for them.”

Rabbi Halpern pointed out that within the Gemara’s description of the Bnos Tzelafchad lies an uncanny connection to so much of who the Rebbetzin was. She was a chachamah, a brilliant woman, a darshanah, someone who loved to learn and discover new ideas, and, perhaps most poignantly, she was a tzadeikes, precisely as the Gemara defines it. She married someone who was “hagun” for her. The match between a PhD from Costa Rica and a rosh yeshivah from the Five Towns might seem unlikely, but Hashem, the Mezaveg Zivugim, knew the Rebbetzin was a tzadeikes in the truest sense of the word.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 921)