My week began with the sad news of Rabbi Yehoshua Kalish’s passing and subsequently standing in attendance at his levayah Sunday morning at his beis hakenesses in Harborview.
From the levayah, I made my way home and began reviewing the first section of the parashah that begins with Avraham crying over the passing of Sarah. I was struck by the juxtaposition of these two experiences, which seemed to have been playing out in the inverse as I found myself standing in the presence of young and old alike, men and women who had come to pay their last respects to a patriarchal figure who had graced our community for many decades, leaving a vast legacy of dedication to Torah and his family and students who are left to pass on that legacy to the ensuing generation.
The truth is that although I had grown up in the Five Towns community where much of Rabbi Kalish’s legacy was built, I hadn’t really crossed paths with him directly. My feeling of indebtedness to pay my last respects to this unique Shas Yid, rav, rebbi, and lamdan stemmed from the years that I spent learning at the feet of Rav Daniel Kalish, shlita, in the beis midrash in Waterbury. My exposure to Rabbi Kalish at that point in my life, despite his young age, would allow me and those who merited to be there at that early stage of the yeshiva’s inception, to see someone who had an Abrahamic ahavas Yisrael and whose house was literally opened on all four sides to anyone at practically any time. Having been the beneficiary of his heart, soul, and sagacity behooved me to pay my parting respects to the father who raised such children.
Among the children, relatives, and colleagues who had eulogized Rabbi Kalish, there were really two points that kept coming up. First was his otherworldly dedication to learning Torah in which he famously and uncompromisingly studied seven blatt of Gemara every day for decades on end, finishing Shas annually, which he would become known for. In addition to that he was a rebbi in Yeshiva of Far Rockaway where he’d have to prepare shiur day in and day out as well as a rav with the need to be preoccupied with a kehillah that would require his time and attention to prepare derashos, answer shailos, and be busy with the things that a rav is traditionally busy with.
The second point that kept coming up was his uncanny love of his family, his kehillah, his students, and really his belief in the ability of every person to grow to fulfill their own G-d-given potential and to achieve greatness in their own life. He was an American-born child who loved playing sports and had a happy-go-lucky, free-spirited personality that would seem to me to be a unique contrast to the disciplined side of Rabbi Kalish that everyone who grew up in his four cubits knew about. In the words of his eldest son, Dovid Shimon, Rabbi Kalish’s greatness was obscured by an unordinary peshitus, simplicity. One maspid spoke about the way that he would dance at a wedding in the presence of the bride and groom as if he was dancing at the wedding of his own children and grandchildren. He didn’t take dance lessons, but he hit the dance floor with whatever dance moves were bubbling within him at that very moment. The image that keeps coming to me as I describe this spectacle is Dovid HaMelech dancing upon the return of the Aron from captivity from the Plishtim. His wife, Michal, would reprimand him when she heard how despite his great stature he made himself look like an imbecile or a simpleton of some sort, to which Dovid famously responded, “If I could I would have made myself look much simpler so that I look lowly in my own eyes.”
It’s this contrast that I wanted to focus on in my impression of this unique sage. The truth is I have written about this previously, but it bears repeating and that is, we often associate greatness with aloofness when in fact it is the ability of extraordinary people to make themselves relatable to all. Rabbi Kalish wasn’t great because he accomplished things that regular people could not accomplish. His greatness lies in the fact that despite his great accomplishments he didn’t lose faith in the young men and women of today’s generation.
The word pashut is often misunderstood or mistranslated as simple when in fact it would be better described as open and transparent. In the Beis HaMikdash, the priests would practice pishut yadayim v’raglayim in their service of Hashem, which means they’d lay out completely with their hands and feet spread as far as they possibly could. On Purim, the ba’al korei completely unravels the scroll, which is symbolic of a person completely unraveling him or herself, revealing the fact that the will of a Jew is completely and transparently aligned with that of our Creator.
It was in that way that Rabbi Kalish was open and relatable to young and old and people from all backgrounds and walks of life. For many years I couldn’t put my finger on it, but apparently everything that I saw in my rebbi, Reb Daniel Kalish, shlita, he got from his father, Reb Yehoshua, zt’l.
I remember a time a number of years ago when someone had written in the newspaper about the problem of kids at risk and the need for chassidus as an antidote for what had been seen as a problem of epidemic proportions. Rabbi Kalish either wrote an article or was quoted in an article saying all that was needed was to teach the kid a Rashba and that would be enough to set him straight. Of course, at the time, not knowing Rabbi Kalish well and where that statement was summoned forth from, I thought that he had been out of touch but I see now that he truly meant it and that if he had the opportunity to show these kids what he saw in a Rashba that perhaps he would be able to reveal the love of Torah and Hashem that he knew they all possessed naturally. As I thought of this idea, I arrived perhaps at a new understanding of the Talmudic term Toraso Umnaso, which was used in reference to Rebbe Shimon and his colleagues. The term refers to those who are completely preoccupied in Torah, day and night. However, I thought one can suggest that Rabbi Kalish is someone whose faith, emunaso, came from Torah—not only his faith in G-d but his faith in Klal Yisrael.
It was touching hearing Reb Daniel ask his father mechillah for people according him honor when in fact the honor was meant for him. He said there only was one Rabbi Kalish and that title was taken by his father.
Reb Daniel opened his eulogy by expressing the natural shock when learning of the passing of such a young person. From his words as well as many of the maspidim prior to and following his, one could tell that Reb Yehoshua possessed an inborn freshness and alacrity, which seemed to have been increasing with age as the verse states, “G-d renews the energy of those who place their hope in Him. They continue to soar without tiring.” While it is clear that Reb Yehoshua Kalish utilized every moment of his day meaningfully and with purpose, it’s equally clear that he was gifted with extraordinary aptitude and intelligence. In a correspondence upon the news of Rabbi Kalish’s passing, longtime Five Towns resident and world renowned attorney Ben Brafman reflected, “Rabbi Kalish was a true renaissance rabbi. Not only was he a great talmid chacham, but he was also great at everything he did. I grew up with him as our mothers were cousins, but I knew him to be a wonderful tennis player, a great skier, and a very talented accordion player. His true talent however was being a rebbi who everyone loved and deeply respected. What a great loss to our community and to all of Klal Yisrael.”
Our sages say that the Shechinah never descended below ten cubits. I always understood the Shechinah as being a euphemism for Klal Yisrael. Our job in this world is to fill the world with the knowledge of G-d. Therefore, instead of reading this as a statement, it needs to be read in a tune of wonderment, is it possible that the Shechinah has never descended below ten tefochim in all the years since man has been created? Rabbi Kalish’s ability to traverse the gap between greatness and simplicity is because he saw greatness within each and every person.
There is a story told about a group of Chassidim who came to visit the Divrei Yechezkel, the son of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, in order to daven in his presence and to receive his blessings. Now, the sanctity and prodigiousness of the Divrei Yechezkel was widely recognized but certainly there were many other great leaders of the generation known for their prodigiousness in learning and great piety. As such one of the people at the Divrei Yechezkel questioned the group of Chassidim on their decision to travel there as opposed to anywhere else. The leader of the group hemmed and hawed and said, “You’re right, I can’t offer you any specific reason other than the fact that he is a great sage who davens long hours and learns with great dedication.” Then the Jew turned to the leader of the group and said, “Would you like to know what is so special about the Divrei Yechezkel? One time I was travelling with him, it was extremely cold, and the roads were filled with snow. He removed his boots and gave them to me while he walked the rest of his way in his socks. The greatness of the Divrei Yechezkel was manifested in him giving his boots to help another Yid.”
This is the message that I took home from listening to the maspidim, which is that Rabbi Kalish’s life was suffused with holiness that manifested itself in every encounter with a mispallel, every student, every friend, and every family member.
If I can conclude with just one story that I myself witnessed. My good friend and chavrusa made a bris about three years ago. Being that he had grown up davening in Rabbi Kalish’s shul in Harborview, Rabbi Kalish was there as well as he had been to every one of their simchas. As I took a plate of food together with my wife and we were about to part ways, me to the men’s seating and my wife to the women’s side, we noticed Rabbi Kalish sitting together with his rebbetzin that morning over breakfast as I am sure they did every morning. At that moment we decided to sit at that table.
The truth is I wanted to stay for more of the levayah than I actually did. However, my wife had called asking for my help to get the house back in order before the kids returned from yeshiva to make an even bigger mess. I thought for a minute, and I did what I thought Rabbi Kalish would say if I had asked him and I returned home to help. His memory should be a blessing to his family, his friends, his students, his congregation, and the kollel avreichim and to all of Klal Yisrael by extension. G-d should bring an end to this agonizing exile and the era when we will be reunited by those who have departed. n
Yochanan Gordon can be reached at ygordon5t@gmail.com. Read more of Yochanan’s articles at 5TJT.com.
