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About Rabbi Yizhak Aizik Haim Sher
http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kovno/kovno_pages/kovno_stories_s...
Rav Yitzchok Eizek Sher, the son of Rav Yosef Chaim Sher, was born in
5635 (1875) in the city of HaluskRav Sher ZT"L
By D. Sofer
This article originally appeared in Yated Neeman, Monsey NY.
The Alter of Slabodka would often ask students what they thought about
certain top bochurim in the yeshiva. His purpose in asking such
questions was to uproot his students' petty jealousy and to mold it
into the purely motivated envy of kinas sofrim.
One time, he asked a group of students, "What do you think of Yitzchok
Eizek Sher?"
"He's very likable and genial," a student replied.
"What do you mean?" another student cried. "Is that all you can say
about Reb Yitzchok Eizek?"
"That's a perfectly fine description," the Alter said with a smile.
"It says far more than you think. A person who finds favor in the eyes
of man, also finds favor in the eyes of Hashem and is obviously a
complete man."
It was very likely Yitzchok Eizek's genial nature that attracted him
to the Alter of Slabodka when the Alter delivered a shiur in Yitzchok
Eizek's hometown of Halusk.
That shiur was based on Chazal's dictum that "one who shows his fellow
whitened teeth [i.e. smiles at him] is greater than one who serves him
milk." The shiur had a profound impact on Yitzchok Eizek, who was
always searching for ways to assist and gladden others.
Immediately after the shiur, Yitzchok Eizek asked the Alter to accept
him into his yeshiva, Knesses Yisroel. As soon as the Alter returned
to Slabodka, Yitzchok Eizek followed him there.
He remained a talmid of Slabodka for the rest of his life, eventually
becoming the rosh yeshiva of its Bnei Brak branch after World War II.
EARLY YEARS
Rav Yitzchok Eizek Sher, the son of Rav Yosef Chaim Sher, was born in
5635 in the Russian city of Halusk. As a child, he not only displayed
unique talents, but also outstanding character traits.
After completing cheder in Halusk, he joined a group of students in
the city 's beis medrash and also attended shiurim given by Rav Boruch
Ber Lebowitz, who was the rav of Halusk at that time.
From Halusk, Yitzchok Eizek went on to study in Volozhin, which was
then headed by the Netziv's son-in-law, Rav Refoel Shapira. In
Volozhin, Yitzchok Eizek gained acclaim as an outstanding lamdan with
unique middos.
( Also studied in Plotzk)
After being inspired by the Alter's speech in Halusk, Yitzchok Eizek
joined Knesses Yisroel. There he studied b'chavrusa with Rav Avrohom
Grodzinski, hy"d, one of the finest students of the yeshiva, who
eventually became its menahel ruchani.
Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, zt"l, who was a student in Slabodka at
that time, remembered the young Yitzchok Eizek.
"The kindly and brilliant Rav Yitzchok Eizek of Halusk was the
yeshiva's best student," he once remarked. "The Alter would send many
students to him for guidance, and appointed him head of the yeshiva's
Vaad Hamussar."
EXCELLING IN TORAH AND MUSSAR
In 5663, Rav Yitzchok Eizek married the Alter's youngest daughter,
Mariasha Guttel, and moved to Kelm where he continued to learn
diligently. In Kelm, he became close with its baalei mussar,
especially Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, who played a crucial role in shaping
Rav Yitzchok Eizek's personality. He also studied for a brief period
in the Mir, where his brother-in-law, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel,
served as rosh yeshiva.
A short while later, he returned to Slabodka, where he absorbed the
Alter's teachings, in time becoming the prime advocate of the Alter's
approach.
In 5671, the Alter appointed Rav Yitzchok Eizek to the position of
rebbi in the yeshiva. As a rebbi, Rav Yitzchok Eizek was beloved by
his students. Despite his easygoing and amiable nature, he had no
difficulty imposing discipline in the yeshiva. His students obeyed him
out love for him, maintaining an appropriate distance from him even
though he was so genial toward them.
In terms of the yeshiva's policy, Rav Yitzchok Eizek's appointment as
a rebbi was an innovation. It was the first time the very same person
was charged with teaching Gemara and delivering mussar.
The Alter made such an appointment in order uproot the notion that
prevailed in certain circles that profound scholarship in Torah and an
affinity for mussar do not go hand in hand.
Rav Yitzchok Eizek was outstanding in both his Torah scholarship and
his perception of mussar, demonstrating that these two areas are not
separate divisions of Torah, but rather inseparable entities.
It is said that he used the same niggun in his Gemara shiurim and his
mussar shiurim in order to stress the inseparability of the two. He
even entitled his monumental mussar work "Shiurei Mussar," and not
"Sichos Mussar," in order to stress that point.
Many of these mussar discourses involved in-depth analyses of the
greatness of the Avos and other figures in Tanach.
For the rest go to: http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kovno/kovno_pages/kovno_stories_s...
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Rabbi Yizhak Aizik Haim Sher's Timeline
| 1875 |
1875
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Halusk
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| 1905 |
1905
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Kaunas, Kauno miesto savivaldybė, Kaunas County, Lithuania
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| 1952 |
1952
Age 77
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Jerusalem
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| ???? |
Kaunas, Kauno miesto savivaldybė, Kaunas County, Lithuania
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| ???? |