Rav Avraham Shmulevitz, scion of Mir royalty, left a generation of students whose rebbi was always on their side

Photos: Mishpacha archives

When Rav Avraham Shmulevitz ztz”l, the maggid shiur in Yeshivas Mir, was niftar last Wednesday, he left behind a generation of students around the world reeling at their loss. But as they saw him off on his journey to the Next World, they could reflect that the love he gave them would be with them forever

“Yehoshua! Kum tzurik!”

Bystanders might have wondered as the gray-bearded maggid shiur bolted out the doorway, running after a bochur who had just exited the building.

“Yehoshua! Kum tzurik! — Yehoshua, come back! I forgot to write something!”

Yehoshua stopped and handed the maggid shiur the sefer he held. The maggid shiur produced a pen, opened the sefer, wrote one word, then handed it back. He then leaned over and gave Yehoshua a kiss.

“Yetzt kehnst du geien — now you can go.”

And with that, the two parted ways.

“I was about to head back to America to start shidduchim,” explains Reb Yehoshua Feigelstein, “and I went to Rebbi to say goodbye. He took out a Sichos Mussar — his father’s mussar sefer — and wrote an inscription. He then signed it — ‘B’yedidus [with friendship], Avraham Shmulevitz’ — and gave it to me. I left, but he ran after me and asked for the sefer back. He took it and added the word ‘b’ahavah’ along with ‘b’yedidus.’ Then, he let me go.”

Because if there’s one word that belongs with the signature “Avraham Shmulevitz” it is “b’ahavah.”

Rav Avraham Shmulevitz, who passed away at the age of 77 last Wednesday, was the fourth son to Mirrer rosh yeshivah Rav Chaim Shmulevitz ztz”l.

Avraham was born and raised in Eretz Yisrael, unlike his three older siblings, who had been born in Poland prior to the outbreak of World War II. For generations, greatness ran in the blood of the Shmulevitz family. Rav Chaim’s father, Rav Alter Shmulevitz, was the son-in-law of Rav Yosef Yoizel Hurwitz, known universally as the Alter of Novardok. Fellow sons-in-law were Rav Avraham Yafen and Rav Yisrael Yaakov Lubchansky.

From an early age, Rav Chaim Shmulevitz — or, as he was known in his early years, Rav Chaim Stuchiner — was recognized as a prodigy on multiple levels. He was an extraordinary genius, a masmid who learned with unparalleled diligence, and a kind, most sensitive soul. Rav Chaim was a star student in the Mirrer yeshivah, under the leadership of its rosh yeshivah Rav Leizer Yudel Finkel, and, ultimately, he came to marry his rosh yeshivah’s daughter, Chana Miriam Finkel. A few years passed, and then the outbreak of the war sent the Shmulevitzes, along with their three children, Ettel (later to become Ettel Partzovitz, wife of Rav Nochum Partzovitz), Rivka (later to become Rivka Ezrachi, wife of Rav Yitzchak Ezrachi shlita), and Refoel on a years-long exile in the world-renowned Mir escape.

At the war’s end, they arrived in Eretz Yisrael, where they soon celebrated the birth of a fourth child: Avraham Tzvi, named for his great-uncle, Rav Avraham Tzvi Kamai, who served rav of the town of Mir and was murdered by the Nazis.

Avraham was a gifted child and was sent to learn in the Chevron yeshivah, where he developed a close relationship with the rosh yeshivah, Rav Yechezkel Sarna. Aside from his aptitude in learning, Avraham also demonstrated a marked warmth and a palpable love for Torah, mitzvos, and fellow Jews. It was possibly this quality that led him to develop a deep adoration for a man whose background and orientation couldn’t have diverged more from Avraham’s.

The Beis Yisrael.

As the Rebbe of the Gerrer chassidus, the Beis Yisrael was a far cry from anything Avraham — a child of a litvish rosh yeshivah — was exposed to in his own upbringing. Yet Avraham felt deeply drawn to the Rebbe and developed a close relationship with him.

His father, noting that Avraham’s exposure to chassidus was not compromising his learning at all, issued no protest.

In his early twenties, Avraham traveled to America, where he was introduced to Miriam Nekritz, the daughter of Rav Yehuda Leib Nekritz. Rav Yehudah Leib was a son-in-law of Avraham’s great-uncle, Rav Avraham Yafen, making Miriam his second cousin. The two married and settled in America for a short while before moving to Eretz Yisrael.

It was there that Rav Avraham began delivering shiurim in the Mir.

It was time to share his brilliance, time to share his wisdom.

And to sign it all off with a one-word inscription: b’ahavah.