Rebbe Rebbe

I saw how he connected to his students on such a deep level using these emotions that we all felt we could talk to Rebbi about anything.
My relationship with Rebbi was everything in one. He made me feel like his son. When he would reprimand me, I would never have any bad feelings in me because he made it so clear he did it out of love. He always joked with me and yet we had the most serious conversations two minutes later. It was such a dynamic that I wish every child had that rela- tionship with his parents.

The quote I remember the most is “if you are not happy in this Yeshiva, we will happily throw you out” and “ people are always looking for the city of happiness but don’t realize that it’s a state of mind”.

The incident that stands out the most is when I once went to Rebbi for advice. I was in a situation where I was in a conflict with another person and things were getting heat- ed. I needed to know how to respond moving forward. Reb- bi told me to keep calm and not to react with emotion. He predicted that the situation would solve itself.

remember feeling that it would be be very hard to follow that advice. Looking back now, I realized I felt that way be- cause I never thought it could be done and it was too hard.

Later that day, a random person came into the Yeshiva and began talking to Rebbi at the back table of the room. I was observing the entire time from the side. The conversation