On
the 3rd of Tammuz, at the age of 86, Ha-Gaon Ha-Rav Yehoshua Yeshaya
Neuwirth ztz"l ascended on high, after many years of learning and teaching
Torah. The book "Shemirat Shabbat
Ke-Hilchata" requires no advertising.
It is found in virtually every home of G-d-fearing Jews, and is used by
Torah scholars and the masses alike.
But
his genius is virtually unknown. People
do not know that he wrote other books: Kitzur Dinei Shemitah Karkaot (Concise
Laws of Shemitah), Ohel Sarah – On the Laws of Family Purity, Chinuch Ha-Banim
Le-Mitzvot (Educating Children for Mitzvot), an halachic guide for nurses in
hospitals and tens of articles and hundreds of halachic ruling quoted in other
books.
And
his traits were those of a great Torah scholar – humble, inconspicuous and not
out for publicity. He did not speak
about himself but devoted all of his strength for the good of Hashem, His Torah
and His Nation.
It
is possible to see one thing clearly in his book "Shemirat Shabbat
Ke-Hilchata": he is the faithful student of Ha-Gaon Ha-Rav Shlomo Zalman
Auerbach. He learned from him since his
youth in Yeshivat Kol Torah, and he established the rulings in his book based
on his words. In fact, the foundation of
a Torah scholar (Talmid Chacham) is being the literal meaning of that title:
the student of a Sage, a faithful student, a devoted student, a student who
sits in the dust of his Rabbi's feet.
His
students obviously know him well, students of Yeshivat Kol Torah and also the
students of the Yeshivot he established: Pnei Shmuel Le-Tze'erim, Chochmat
Shlomo, Netivot Chochmah, and he was also known in the Sha'arei Tzedek
Hospital, where he was the Posek.
But,
in truth, this is improper from our perspective. Before recognizing a Torah scholar's wisdom,
one needs to recognize his fear of Heaven.
If there is no fear, there is no wisdom.
We
have now merited the third edition of the book "Shemirat Shabbat
Ke-Hilchata", 45 years after the first edition, in which the author relates
his life story under the title: "It is good to show gratitude to
Hashem". Obviously, it is without a
trance of self-promotion, rather in order to relate the incredible kindnesses
of Hashem for his family and for himself, and for the great miracles Hashem
performed for him.
Ha-Rav,
the son of Ha-Rav Aharon Neuwirth, grew up on Berlin, Germany, when Hitler –
may his name be blotted out – rose to power.
He and his brother were sent on a "Kindertransport",
children's transfer, to good-hearted Jewish families in Belgium. Much later, his parents also left Germany, on
account of a special permit of the Queen of Holland for 42 Rabbis. The children were then reunited with their
parents in Holland. But Holland itself
was conquered by the Nazis – may their names be blotted out, and they were also
unable to obtain food since there did not have food-ration cards. The underground supplied them with forged
food-ration cards and this is how they survived for years. Their little money ran out. The Jews of the underground then requested
from the leaders of the underground to appoint a Rabbi for them, just like –
Lehavdil - the non-Jews have a priest.
Their request was answered, and his father, Ha-Rav Aharon, was appointed
the Rabbi of the underground, and this brought with it a salary – which in and
of itself was a great wonder.
But
there is no end to the miracles which occurred for them. We will only mention a few. The Nazis once burst into their apartment
searching for Jews and discovered the Aron Kodesh and they inquired about
it. Ha-Rav Aharon, who was filled with
Emunah and feared nothing, opened the Aron Kodesh and showed them the Sefer
Torah. "What is written in
it", they asked. He replied in
German: "It says: Do not murder."
"What else," they asked.
He said: "Love your fellow as yourself." [And this next sentence does not appear in
the book, but I heard it]: He added: "I am obligated to cling to
Torah. You do what you are obligated to
do, and I will do what I am obligated to do". A great miracle occurred and the Germans
accepted his words and did not touch him.
They wished him good night and left.
Later
on, all the Jews were arrested and brought to a huge prison hall. When Rosh Hashanah arrived, Ha-Rav Aharon
pulled out a Shofar, which was hidden under his jacket. They covered themselves with jackets, and he
blew the Shofar three times, and miraculously, they were not discovered. In the end, they were released for a reason
unclear to this day.
Ha-Rav
Aharon sent his daughter to work as a house-keeper for a non-Jewish Dutch
family, since she did not have a Jewish-looking face, and he hoped to save her
in this way. But they required her to
work harder on Shabbat than any other day in preparation for Sunday, which is a
holiday for the Christians. After a few
Shabbatot, Ha-Rav Aharon decided to bring her back, even though she was safe
there and well fed. But on account of
the Shabbat desecration, it was impossible to continue. She returned home on a Friday, and on Sunday
they heard that that family had been killed on Shabbat by an aerial bomb. Indeed "Shemirat Shabbat
Ke-Hilchata" – observing Shabbat according to the Halachah – saved them.
Baruch
Hashem, the war ended. Our Rav, Ha-Rav Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth ztz"l, went
to the port in Marseilles, France in order to travel to Eretz Yisrael, but they
told him to board on the ship on Shabbat.
This greatly bothered him: "During all of the difficult years of
the war, I succeeded in observing Shabbat and how is it possible that now with
the liberation, I will desecrate it."
But his situation was desperate and it appeared to be life-threatening
to remain in a strange place, with no money, no food and no place to go. He was forced to board the ship but he
regretted it for many years, especially since it became clear much later that
it was a deception of Shabbat-Desecrators who wanted the religious to violate
Shabbat. He then took it upon himself
that if Hashem merits him, he would do something for Shabbat, and later the
idea came to write the book "Shemirat Shabbat Ke-Hilchata".
When
he arrived in Israel, he was captured by the British, released and then people
advised him to work for his sustenance and to help his parents come to
Israel. But his deepest aspiration was
to completely devote himself to Torah learning.
He asked his father what to do, and he responded in a letter: The One
who has helped up to now will continue to help!
We went through five years of the Holocaust in for our son to learn Torah! You will learn only Torah. And our Rav wrote: "After years of
physical salvation during the war, I was saved again, but this time it was
spiritual salvation."
May
we merit learning the book "Shemirat Shabbat Ke-Hilchata" in breadth
and in depth, and may we merit following in the path of Ha-Rav Ha-Gaon
ztz"l, his modest, his humility and his great devotion to Hashem.
May
his soul be bound up with the bonds of the living with all of the Tzadikim.
