Rav Shmuel gave them a candid look. “If Lev L’Achim needs me,” he said simply, “I can’t say no”

Living Higher

Last week, emissaries from Lev L’Achim flew from Eretz Yisrael to America to raise funds. In the wake of the war, an almost unprecedented number of Jews are seeking to learn more about their heritage, and the colossal kiruv organization is intent on rising to the occasion. Their itinerary included the Philadelphia yeshivah, and while there, they paid a visit to Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky shlita to receive his brachah.

Those in the know recognized that this visit had its roots in a favor Rav Shmuel paid Lev L’Achim nearly a decade ago. In 2015, Lev L’Achim held a dinner and Rav Shmuel was the guest of honor, landing in Eretz Yisrael shortly before the scheduled address. The following day, Rav Shmuel prepared for his flight home.

“But Rosh Yeshivah,” the organizers of the event protested, “you just got here! Why not stay in Eretz Yisrael for a few more days?”

“No,” Rav Shmuel replied, “I have to get back to yeshivah.”

“If so,” the organizers pressed, “why did the Rosh Yeshivah come in the first place?”

Rav Shmuel gave them a candid look. “If Lev L’Achim needs me,” he said simply, “I can’t say no.”

And with that, Rav Shmuel continued his preparations to return to America.

Nine years later, Lev L’Achim seeks a brachah from the man who couldn’t say no.

Full Circle

Photo: Renewal

This past Sunday evening, Renewal held a gala “reunion” at which it brought together its kidney donors — well over 1,000 by now — in a performing arts center in Red Bank, New Jersey. The evening, which was designed to pay tribute to the heroes of Renewal, featured enlightening interviews, musical performances, and even an entertaining game show in which different doctors who became acquainted with Orthodox Jews through Renewal were asked different questions about the community.

The highlight of the evening came when kidney donor number 1,000, Reb Ezreal Spitzer, met his recipient, Rabbi Shlomo Uzhansky, for the first time since the successful transplant some four months ago. The Spitzer-to-Uzhansky live kidney transplant, which was Renewal’s one-thousandth, was covered in Mishpacha magazine (“Blood Brothers,” Issue 977), sharing their story of hope and courage. Their poignant meeting this past Sunday evening saw Mr. Spitzer and Rabbi Uzhansky embracing on stage, celebrating the gift of life and love, together.

Happening in…Freehold, NJ

This 7 Shevat/January 17 will mark the 100th yahrtzeit of Rav Avraham Yitzchok Klugman, a mysterious hidden tzaddik who lived in the forests around Lakewood between 1912 and 1924. Originally from Belarus, Rav Klugman dressed in rags and avoided contact with humanity, preferring to spend his day learning and davening while wrapped in his tallis and tefillin. His ascetic lifestyle led those in Lakewood to refer to him simply as “Der Meshugener” or more charitably as “Der Valder Mensch” (the Forest Man).

In 1923, Reuben Brainin, a secular writer, appeared in Lakewood, and his curiosity was piqued by the strange accounts he heard about the tzaddik from the locals. He spent days trying to observe Rav Klugman, and finally won his confidence. Brainin enjoyed fascinating conversations with him, and learned that Rav Klugman was a talmid chacham and tzaddik whose lofty soul soared to realms that few could have ever imagined.

One year later, Brainan published a series about Rav Klugman in Der Tog. On the day the first installment was published, Rav Klugman was killed in a train accident. He was buried in Freehold, New Jersey. For years, his kever was forlorn, but recently the word has gotten out about who he was. Scores of people from across the Tristate area now assemble at his kever, located at 164 NJ-33, Freehold, New Jersey, to daven in the zechus of a most unusual tzaddik.

A fuller treatment of this mysterious tzaddik will appear in a future edition of Mishpacha.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 994)