Rav Moshe Wolfson ztl, Learning the Sefer Tanya, The Unity of השם with Music Flow Chizzuk!

Eli Goldsmith Inspired Flow!

Rav Moshe Wolfson Aka the Mashgiach Ztl of kehilos Emunas Yisrael passed away, alongside other tragedies we dedicated our learning to their Souls. Dedicated to Healing and Shmirah for the soldiers. The Mashgiach was my oldest son's Sandek. We learn Sefar Tanya Perek 20, to bring down Unity of Hashem through speech to the Mashiach mindset to overcome the challenging days and news... We Mchazzik with Torah and music 🎶 in the holy land even when we are in pain, United Souls... Cover pic the Mashgiach bdH receiving a $ with his family from the Chabad Rebbe zya. PLEASE KEEP🙏 PRAYING FOR BORUCH YITZCHAK BEN MASHA ben Eliyahu Eliezer Hakohen AND ALL THE SOLDIERS OF YISRAEL 🙏 United Souls - Extracts from New Book Section 2 - by Eli Goldsmith - Part 44 - Don’t Under-estimate the Soul - Relationship, Soulmate, Business, Holiday, Parents of Soldiers Flow! https://eligoldsmith.substack.com/p/united-souls-extracts-from-new-book-124 #unitedsouls #soulflow #parentsofsoldiers #business #holiday #relationships...

Thanks so so much Moshe for today!!!!!!

A letter zev sent to the shul…..

On Motzei Shabbat, our world suddenly lost one of the pillars of the generation, Mori Verabi Harav Moshe Wolfson ZY”A, universally referred to as the Mashgiach. Rav Wolfson served for many years as an elementary school Rebbe, then as the Mashgiach in Yeshiva Torah Veda’as and as the leader of the Emunas Yisroel community. I had the privilege of learning from him and receiving his guidance; his loss leaves for me, and many others, a profound personal void. He was an individual with a huge heart. His Torah tugged at Jewish hearts, his prayers redefined what service of the heart entails, and he always made others feel that they had a place in his heart.

Rav Wolfson was born in Brooklyn in 1925 and grew up in America at a time when there were virtually no Chassidic Jews in the United States. Despite not having a community that would encourage Chassidic practice, he developed into a great Chassid.

He was an innovator and, in a sense, self-made. He sought out teachers and absorbed many different streams of thought into his service of Hashem. He was a devotee of Rav Shraga Feivel Mendelovich, the Modzhitzer Rebbe, the Klausenberger, the Satmer Rebbe, the Skverer Rebbe, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe. In a world in which there is much division, Rav Wolfson focused on the inner messages and found ways to integrate and unite. He was remarkably inspiring. He delivered weekly hour long Divrei Torah in a pitch-black dark room, as Shabbat was ebbing away. He would draw on many sources and sparkle with his trademark brilliance and creativity after thirty minutes of spirited singing, when other Shuls would be reciting Havdalah. He would often focus on ideas that were embracing and encouraging. He taught us that the Yam Suf split twice, once on the seventh day of Pesach for the twelve tribes, and a second time, on the eighth day of Pesach for Datan and Aviram, Jewish traitors who had chosen to stay with Paroh in Egypt at the time of the exodus and at the last minute had a change of heart and a scintilla of repentance. The number eight was a symbol of Yovel, the fiftieth year that comes after seven sets of seven years. Just as Yovel brings people back to their ancestral land and lifts fallen Jews back to spiritual health, on the eighth day after the exit from Egypt, Hashem displayed His love even for His wayward children and split the sea for Datan and Aviram, returning them to the community. He would emphasize that Hashem loves all His Jews. Amalek attacked the stragglers, the idolatrous members of the tribe of Dan who were worshipping Micha’s idol while we were in the desert and witnesses to the daily miracles of clouds of glory, manna from Heaven, and Miriam’s well. Amalek reasoned that these idolators were no longer members of Hashem’s chosen nation, for they had been rejected by the clouds of glory, yet Hashem commanded us to fight Amalek for all generations as a lesson that no Jew is ever lost. Hashem loves all His children, even those who are wayward and rebellious.

Rambam teaches that prayer is Avodah Shebelev, the service of the heart. Rav Wolfson created a most remarkable place of prayer. He taught his congregants to pray aloud, slowly, with great feeling, and sweetness. He took from the traditions of Karlin Stalin and the guidance of Ramban and taught us that every word of our liturgy is a pearl. Prayers are to be recited with great deliberation, at the loudest possible pitch, and dwelling on the simple meaning of the prayers would arouse the heart to beseech the Almighty and appreciate His blessings. Rav Wolfson taught his followers to prepare for Tefillah. He would encourage all to learn for an hour before Tefillah, to feel religiously inspired when we approach the Almighty with our needs.

Rav Wolfson was also very sensitive to music and harmony. Like a great Modzhitzer Chassid, he insisted on melodiously appropriate tunes during Tefillah. In his shul, he established that only those with beautiful voices and great musical skill could serve as Chazzan. Before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, recordings would be made of the tunes that were planned for the tefillot and the tapes distributed to all the members so that all would be familiar with the songs and great harmonies would burst forth during the Tefillah. To these inspiring themes he added a Mashgiach’s devotion to respect for prayer. Talking was prohibited in the shul during Tefillah, Kriat Hatorah, and between aliyot. If something needed to be said, individuals would signal with their hands, asking a friend to step out, and only outside of the shul, with the doors closed would conversation ensue. Rav Shimshon Pinkus ZT”L, a student of the Mashgiach, said that he believes that davening around the world has been inspired by the innovative path of Emunas Yisroel.

Rav Wolfson was extremely caring. He taught his congregants, many of whom lived on very modest means, to push themselves and donate generously to the poor. When he rebuked us, he gently corrected, and clearly indicated that these were comments expressed lovingly. He was remarkably considerate. Just last year, at age 98, he made the point of calling an aunt of a student who was struggling with an untreatable cancer on Erev Pesach. He taught her a Kabbalistic meditation to think of while eating the matzah on Seder night for the Zohar teaches that matzah is a bread of healing.

In the 1980’s Rav Wolfson had several medical scares involving his heart. There was a time when the doctors wanted him to undergo a frightening open heart surgery. He visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, requesting a Beracha. The Rebbe was emphatic. “Your heart strengthens Yiddishe Hartzen, the hearts of many Jews, it can’t be sick!” Following this interaction, his medical professionals informed him that the procedure was not necessary.

Rav Wolfson’s heart truly strengthened the hearts of many Jews.

Thirty years ago, I approached Rav Wolfson and asked him what he would recommend for someone interested in studying Chassidic works. How could I become proficient in Chassidic wisdom as I lacked a background in Kabbalah and Chassidus? He eventually agreed to teach Tanya to a group of us and from those lessons I produced my first book, Flames of Faith: An Introduction to Chassidic Thought. At the end of that conversation, Rav Wolfson held my hand and said, “Zevi, you don’t need to learn the Chassidic works. If you want to be a Chassid, learn Gemara well, daven with kavannah, perform acts of kindness, and remember to have a place here - he pointed to his heart - for every single Jew.”

The great heart of our nation who taught us heartfelt Torah, Avodah Shebelev, and how to love each other stopped beating on Motzai Shabbat. May we all merit, in his merit, to receive לב טהור - purified hearts devoted to Hashem and His service.

May we all continue his ways and try to encourage and strengthen Yidishe Hartzen.

In honor of my Rebbe, this Shabbat we will have copies of Flames of Faith available to members of the shul as gifts. If you do not have a copy of the book, please take one and learn from it, as a merit for the neshama of Mori V’Rabi Harav Moshe Ben Shmuel Yehuda Zatzal.

Be’ahava,

Rabbi Zev Reichman

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/eligoldsmith/support