Chanukah With Maran Hagaon Harav Nosson Tzvi Finkel Zt''l - 2000

Simchas Beis HaShoeva at Mir Brachfeld - Sukkos 5772

English Hespedim For HaRav Nosson Tzvi Finkel ZATAL At Mir Yerushalayim

“Blanket of Trust”: Starbucks Chairman’s Thoughts On Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt”l

By Howard Schultz, Chairman, Starbucks
Think about all our experiences every day. How often does anybody honor us as a consumer? Rarely. But when it does happen, the power of the human spirit really does come through. At the end of the day, when business is really good, it’s not about building a brand or making money. That’s a means to an end. It’s about honoring the human spirit, honoring the people who work in the business and honoring the customer.
When I was in Israel, I went to Mea Shearim, the ultra-Orthodox area within Jerusalem. Along with a group of businessmen I was with, I had the opportunity to have an audience with Rabbi [Nosson Tzvi] Finkel, the head of a yeshiva there [Mir Yeshiva]. I had never heard of him and didn’t know anything about him. We went into his study and waited ten to 15 minutes for him. Finally, the doors opened.
What we did not know was that Rabbi Finkel was severely afflicted with Parkinson’s disease. He sat down at the head of the table, and, naturally, our inclination was to look away. We didn’t want to embarrass him.
We were all looking away, and we heard this big bang on the table: “Gentlemen, look at me, and look at me right now.” Now his speech affliction was worse than his physical shaking. It was really hard to listen to him and watch him. He said, “I have only a few minutes for you because I know you’re all busy American businessmen.”
Then he asked, “Who can tell me what the lesson of the Holocaust is?” He called on one guy, who didn’t know what to do-it was like being called on in the fifth grade without the answer. And the guy says something benign like, “We will never, ever forget.” And the rabbi completely dismisses him. I felt terrible for the guy until I realized the rabbi was getting ready to call on someone else. All of us were sort of under the table, looking away - you know, please, not me. He did not call me. I was sweating. He called on another guy, who had such a fantastic answer: “We will never, ever again be a victim or bystander.”
The rabbi said, “You guys just don’t get it. Okay, gentlemen, let me tell you the essence of the human spirit.
“As you know, during the Holocaust, the people were transported in the worst possible, inhumane way by railcar. They thought they were going to a work camp. We all know they were going to a death camp.
“After hours and hours in this inhumane corral with no light, no bathroom, cold, they arrived at the camps. The doors were swung wide open, and they were blinded by the light. Men were separated from women, mothers from daughters, fathers from sons. They went off to the bunkers to sleep.
“As they went into the area to sleep, only one person was given a blanket for every six. The person who received the blanket, when he went to bed, had to decide, ‘Am I going to push the blanket to the five other people who did not get one, or am I going to pull it toward myself to stay warm?’”
And Rabbi Finkel says, “It was during this defining moment that we learned the power of the human spirit, because we pushed the blanket to five others.”
And with that, he stood up and said, “Take your blanket. Take it back to America and push it to five other people.”

The Torch is Passed: A Glimpse of Rav Leizer Yudel Finkel, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Mir

If multitudes around the globe feel orphaned by the petirah of the Rosh Yeshivah ztz”l, no one feels that loss as much as his eldest son, Rav Leizer Yudel shlita.

And at no point was that loss felt as much as when Rav Aharon Leib Steinman, the first speaker at the levayah, announced that Rav Leizer Yudel ben Rav Nosson Tzvi would lead the yeshivah.

While Rav Leizer Yudel Finkel is a familiar face to many who have learned in the Mir, his humility is so profound that few who have seen him walking through the hallways of the Mir or getting onto the bus with the rest of the yungeleit would have guessed that he would serve as the next rosh yeshivah.

In recent years, he has become more visible during yeshivah functions, especially as the leader of the Yamim Noraim minyan held in Beis Shalom.

A member of the hanhalah who has been davening in that minyan since it was established relates that Rav Leizer Yudel has clearly inherited his father’s two outstanding character traits. On one hand, he is one of the brilliant minds in the yeshivah, whose shiurim appeal to the entire spectrum of Yeshivas Mir — including, interestingly, a large contingent of chassidishe bochurim who attend his daily shiur. On the other hand, Rav Leizer Yudel is a baal middos par excellence, taking extreme care never to hurt anyone’s feelings.

One year, a certain yungerman received an aliyah on Rosh HaShanah in the Beis Shalom minyan. The next year, this yungerman eagerly awaited his turn to be called up to the Torah. When Kriyas HaTorah ended on the first day, he figured that they would give him an aliyah the next day.

When he did not receive an aliyah, he was hurt, and he expressed his feelings to a member of the hanhalah.

When the message was relayed to Rav Leizer Yudel, he quickly rushed over to the yungerman to apologize, promising him an aliyah on Yom Kippur.

On Yom Kippur morning, the yungerman was not in Beis Shalom. As Yom Kippur came to a close, Rav Leizer Yudel rushed to his house. “What happened?” he asked with concern. “I had an aliyah for you!”

The yungerman explained that he hadn’t been feeling well, and was nervous that if he would walk to Mir, he wouldn’t be able to complete the fast.

Rav Leizer Yudel decided that he hadn’t compensated the yungerman properly for not giving him an aliyah on Rosh HaShanah. On Chol HaMoed, he visited the yungerman in his succah, sitting with him and singing zmiros for an hour, until he felt that he yungerman forgave him.

The gadlus in Torah and sterling character traits that have been transmitted from the Rosh Yeshivah ztz”l will serve Rav Leizer Yudel well as he embarks on the difficult task of accepting the mantle of leadership long before anyone ever imagined he would have to do so.

The above was reprinted with permission from Mishpacha Magazine. A special edition will be available in stores only, from Thur., paying tribute to the rosh yeshiva in stories, pictures and thoughts.

Funeral of Mir Rosh Yeshiva - "He Was our Father"

Tens Of Thousands Attend Levaya of R’ Nosson Tzvi Finkel, Zatzal

TORAH TORAH CHIGRI SAK: אבל בעולם התורה • נפלה עטרת ראשנו • הגה”צ רבי נתן צבי פינקל זצ”ל • Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt”l

It is with great shock and sadness that we report the sudden passing of Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Mir Yerushalayim, following a heart attack. Rav Finkel was 69 years old.
Hatzolah paramedics were summoned to Rav Finkel’s home on Rechov Amalim in the Bais Yisroel section of Yerushalayim about 90 minutes ago after he was feeling unwell. Efforts by the paramedics were to no avail, as the neshamah of the beloved rosh yeshiva returned to its Creator moments ago.
Rav Finkel was born on March 12, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois, to his parents, Reb Eliyohu Meir and Mrs. Finkel, and was named after his elte-zaida, the Alter of Slabodka, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel.  Rav Nosson Tzvi later married a daughter of Rav Beinish Finkel, a son of Rav Eliezer Yehudah Finkel, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir. Rav Nosson Tzvi’s wife was a second cousin of his.
Rav Nosson Tzvi became rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir-Yerushalayim in 1990 following the petirah of his father-in-law, Rav Beinish. He also served as a member of the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah in Eretz Yisroel.
In his later years, Rav Nosson Tzvi suffered from Parkinson’s disease and demonstrated inspiring levels of bitachon and strength. He once remarked that he didn’t take certain medicines for his illness, because his doctor had told him that it would have an effect on his memory. “I’d rather be ill my whole life than to forget even one word of the Torah hakedosha,” he said.
The loss is a devastating one for the entire Olam Hatorah, for which Rav Nosson Tzvi was a living example of mesirus nefesh for Torah and the Ribono Shel Olam. Books will be written about Rav Nosson Tzvi’s devotion to his talmidim and to Yeshivas Mir, whose budget of millions of dollars was shouldered by Rav Nosson Tzvi, who undertook yearly trips abroad to raise funds for the yeshiva, despite his debilitating condition. There were few individuals of our dor who inspired as many people as Rav Nosson Tzvi did with his mere presence, his smile, his emunah and bitachon, and his astonishing gevurah in light of his circumstances.
Just as inspiring to many of his talmidim and others in the Torah world was Rav Nosson Tzvi’s humble upbringing. He grew up as a child in Chicago, an American kid - backpack, baseball cap, and all - and went on to become one of the most venerated roshei yeshivos of our generation, garnering the respect of the gedolei hador and the masses for his yedios haTorah, his ahavas haTorah, his hasmadah, his ahavas Hashem, his ahavas Yisroel, and his boundless love and dedication for the thousands of talmidimof Yeshivas Mir-Yerushalayim, which, under his stewardship, grew into one of the largest - if not the largest - makom Torah in the world. Also, under his leadership, Yeshivas Mir opened branches in various locations, including Brachfeld in Modiin Illit.
It is difficult with mere words so soon after the petirah to depict the colossal loss that Klal Yisroel has just sustained with the passing of this Torah giant, a yochid bedoro who scaled the greatest spiritual heights and demonstrated that true greatness can be achieved even in this generation.
Klal Yisroel has been left bereft. On the yahrtzeit of Rochel Imeinu, we have lost an unparalleled individual, a diamond that Klal Yisroel was blessed to have as a leader, as arosh yeshiva, as a gadol baTorah, and as a living example of the way the Ribono Shel Olam wants each of us to conduct our lives. We have lost one of the truly great people of our generation.
Chaval al de’avdin velo mishtakchin.
The levaya will take place this morning at Yeshivas Mir-Yerushalayim in the Bais Yisroel section of Yerushalayim.
Rav Nosson Tzvi is survived by his mother and his children, including Rav Avrohom Yeshaya Finkel, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, Rav Shmaryahu Yosef Finkel, Rav Yitzchok Finkel and Rav Shmuel Finkel.
Yehi zichro boruch.
Update, 8 a.m. IL: The levaya will take place at noon at Yeshivas Mir-Yerushalayim.
{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel/Shmiel Gellman-Matzav.com Newscenter}