After my father was nifter, my mother remarried Rabbi Berel Wein, who was once sitting in an airport lounge awaiting his flight to be called and was looking in a sefer that he had along. A man approached him and said: "Rabbi! What an honor to meet you! I listen to your lectures on tapes constantly and I have read many of your books. You have inspired and affected my life greatly. I am just thrilled to meet you!" And then he said:"And how is Mrs. Frand?" Rabbi Wein (without missing a beat) replied: "I believe that she is fine and well, though she is not with me on this trip." And Rabbi Wein left to catch his plane.
I have been given the daunting task of introducing our guest speaker. Who hasn’t heard of Rabbi Yissochor Frand? Who hasn’t been influenced and inspired by him? Unless you’ve living under a rock, the answer is no one: we have all been influenced and inspired by him; at our shabbos tables, at community Teshuvah droshos; on Tisha B’av’s; & and most recently, at the Siyum Hashas before approximately 92,000 live people.
Rabbi Yissocher Frand is one of the most popular lecturers of our time. Few surpass his unique blend of Torah scholarship, infusing his audiences with the illustrious Mesorah of Slabodka, his exemplary vocabulary, his wry sense of humor, his wit, eloquence, wisdom, elocution, passion, and sensitivity. His ability to communicate effectively, is so ... compelling ... that I oftentimes imitate his style when doing closing arguments at trial.
As a rosh yeshiva at Baltimore's Yeshivas Ner Israel, Rabbi Frand educates hundreds of students (including currently my son Yehuda) and inspires all of us to hold aloft the beacon light of Torah to a searching Jewish world. His depth and breadth of Talmudic and halachic analysis have earned him the esteem of great Torah leaders. Rabbi Frand, is known throughout the world as a masterfully clear teacher of Torah. Wherever he speaks, rooms are filled to capacity. And as he speaks, the audience sits transfixed, absorbed, drinking in each carefully crafted phrase.
In the 12th Siyum Hashas: Rabbi Frand taught us that was is “beyond your reach, is really within your grasp.” In the 11th Siyum HaShas, Rabbi Frand inspired us that, “It is never too late, and it is never too little, and it is never enough.” And in the 10th Siyum Hashas, Rabbi Frand told us to “Seize the moment and to cherish the moment.” These were not empty cliche’s but words of significant meaning that carried with them the weight and gravitas of words found in Pirkei Avos. These were words of Chizuk that inspired Klal Yisroel.
It is a great privilege to BYLA that Rabbi Frand made time from his very busy schedule to address us tonight. Morai Verabbosai: It is my personal honor to have the privilege of introducing to you Rabbi Yissochor Frand. Tnu Kovod Latorah, please give kovod to the Torah and rise as Rabbi Yissochor Frand Shlitah RAM of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, addresses us tonight.
