When I was a kid, Reb Beryl was the literal embodiment of Yiddishkeit<\/em> in my life.\u00a0\u00a0Following the passing of my uncle Baruch A”H, I remember Reb Beryl coming to the house, ensuring that there would be shiva minyanim<\/em>, and learning mishnayot<\/em> with my father and zaydie<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0Here was a rebbe<\/em>!\u00a0\u00a0A real rebbe<\/em>!\u00a0\u00a0Not just someone who had smicha<\/em> but someone who lived Torah in just about as temima<\/em>-dig a way as it could be done.\u00a0\u00a0It wasn’t easy for a kid to be in awe of a soft-spoken older man of small-stature, but I stood up for him before I even understood what a talmid chacham<\/em> Reb Beryl was.<\/p>\n So of course my shirt was ripped!\u00a0\u00a0Reb Beryl was niftar<\/em>!<\/p>\n “My zaydie<\/em>‘s rebbe<\/em> was niftar<\/em>,” I told Elazar who nodded in acknowledgement.<\/p>\n “Baruch Dayan Emes<\/em>,” he responded solemnly.\u00a0\u00a0“I’m sorry to hear that Dr. Freedman.”<\/p>\n We sat in a shared silence for a few moments.\u00a0\u00a0Elazar was a psychotherapy patient of mine who was basically regular guy in his forties. He learned daf yomi<\/em>, worked in a local business, and had chronic shalom bayis<\/em> problems that had improved significantly over the course of a therapy that was pretty much finished.\u00a0\u00a0I was somewhat surprised to see him in follow-up as I had thought we’d terminated treatment the month before given his improvement and stability.\u00a0\u00a0With this in mind, I began to ask him what had brought him back to my office.<\/p>\n But Elazar beat me to it in breaking the silence, “Tell me about him, Dr. Freedman.\u00a0\u00a0Who was he?”<\/p>\n And perhaps against my better judgement I began to speak, “Reb Beryl Chafetz was the prime example of hitnaari me’afar kumi<\/em>.\u00a0 He lost most of his family in the war but survived the ashes of the Shoah<\/em>.\u00a0 He came to Boston to face another set of tests but was successful in building a Torah family in spite of massive assimilationist pressures.”<\/p>\n “You said he was your zaydie<\/em>‘s rebbe<\/em>?”<\/p>\n “And my father’s bar mitzvah teacher and rebbe<\/em>.\u00a0 And my rebbe<\/em>.\u00a0 And my sons’ rebbe<\/em>.\u00a0 Four generations of Freedmans!\u00a0 He taught four generations of Freedmans to say ‘Shma Yisrael<\/em>.’ \u00a0But you didn’t just say it with Reb Beryl.\u00a0 You felt it,” I said putting my hand on my heart and taking a deep breath. \u00a0“You mamish<\/em> felt it.”<\/p>\n I felt myself losing it and tried to stay composed as I was there for Elazar and not the other way around.<\/p>\n “Did he study at any of The Old Yeshivot?\u00a0 Volozhin? Mirer? Slobodka?”<\/p>\n “Even better, Reb Elazar.\u00a0 He studied by the Chofetz Chaim ZT”L.”<\/p>\n “In Radin?”<\/p>\n Elazar was transfixed. \u00a0“Where was he during the war?”<\/p>\n “He was with the Bielsky Brothers.”<\/p>\n “He was a partisan fighting against the Nazis yamak shemam<\/em>?”<\/p>\n “He did his part, but the entire time he remained a ben Torah<\/em> and did his best to keep learning in every free moment.”<\/p>\n “He sounds like an amazing person.”<\/p>\n “He was,” I said, tears streaming down my face.<\/p>\n “Have a tissue Dr. Freedman,” offered Elazar.<\/p>\n “Thanks, Reb Elazar.”<\/p>\n The two of us sat in silence again for a few moments.<\/p>\n “You OK, Dr. Freedman?”<\/p>\n “I’m great.\u00a0 Baruch HaShem<\/em>, I’m great,” I replied. \u00a0“It’s the rest of world I’m worried about.\u00a0 We can’t afford to lose tzaddikim<\/em> like Reb Beryl.”<\/p>\n “I hear,” Elazar replied.<\/p>\n “How about you, Reb Elazar?\u00a0 You OK?”<\/p>\n “I’ve been better but it’s not worth being upset about.\u00a0 I mean, the kind of stuff I came into here to whine about is trivial.\u00a0 That I only got a 2% annual raise last month and am thinking about quitting?\u00a0 That my wife yelled at me to take out the trash when I’d already done it an hour before and I’m angry?\u00a0 That someone was sitting in my spot at shul last Shabbos?\u00a0 Come on that stuff isn’t worth complaining about.”<\/p>\n “But it was a few minutes ago,” I commented.<\/p>\n “But it isn’t now.\u00a0 I mean your zaydie<\/em>‘s rebbe\u00a0<\/em>lost countless friends, family, and fellow talmidim<\/em> in the Shoah<\/em>.\u00a0 People starved to death and I’m complaining about the size of a raise?\u00a0 People lost their wives and I’m upset about taking out the trash?\u00a0 Entire communities were burned alive in their shuls and I’m frustrated that someone took my shtender<\/em>?”<\/p>\n I found a smile in between the pain and told him, “You’re cured, Elazar.”<\/p>\n “For today at least,” Elazar said pulling out his checkbook.<\/p>\n “I can’t take payment for today, Elazar.”<\/p>\n “I’m cured though.\u00a0 Seriously.”<\/p>\n “Emes<\/em>?”<\/p>\n “Emes<\/em>, Dr. Freedman.\u00a0 I have zero excuses to go out there with a frown on my face right now.\u00a0 This might have been our best session to date.\u00a0 Let me pay you, OK?”<\/p>\n I thought for a moment. \u00a0“Give it in the merit of Reb Dov Ber Ben Yeshayahu.”<\/p>\n “Give it where?”<\/p>\n “To a yeshiva, of course.\u00a0 Reb Beryl loved teaching kids whether they were zaydies<\/em> or great-grandchildren.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/chofetz-300x256.jpg\")
“He’s the boy in the famous picture!” \u00a0I said, wiping away my tears as I pulled up the famous picture of the Chofetz Chaim on my computer and turned the screen to show Elazar a picture of Reb Beryl as a young boy.\u00a0 There he was: standing less than a few yards away from Europe’s greatest rebbe<\/em>.”<\/p>\n