Rebbe Rebbe

He was very careful with his words. He knew how to talk to every person - to some with jokes, to some with empathy, and to some by just crying with them.

Everyone felt that he had his whole focus when speaking to Rebbi. The few times that I got criticized, it was so gentle, like a grandfather correcting his infant grandson.

"I am only teaching you how to read! No lomdus! Just read, pshat!" So many times we all heard these words, and only now 20 years later we understand what it means. I am only describing a sliver of what I remember at such a crazy time. The truth is there is so much more. He was a loving father, a caring husband, a devoted teacher and father to his stu- dents. He taught us to appreciate people, despite all their faults, to stay happy and remain bnei Torah amidst very dif- ficult times. This is loss from so many angles. Each one of the above descriptions could fill several pages.

He taught all of us how to cry. Rebbi, I never saw anyone become so emotional just by speaking to kids, by describing Hashem's love for Klal Yisrael, by speaking about how pre- cious the Torah was to Klal Yisrael - we all saw how he would burst out in tears not able to continue.

I remember calling him to tell him that we were zoche to become pregnant with our second boy after many years, he said "You have no idea how happy I am. My whole Rosh Hashana and Yom kippur I just cried for you.”