Torah Thoughts on Rosh Hashana by Rabbi Bernard Neuman
In the 1930s, when Nazi Germany came to power, many of the greatest Torah scholars fled Europe. Some became Rebbeim at our Beis HaMidrash LaTorah and were the scholars who made the Yeshiva the springboard of Torah throughout the Western Hemisphere and Israel.
Another year has passed and Rosh HaShanah is once again upon us. It is a time of self-reflection for all, and most certainly, for an older person. My thoughts often go back to my Yeshiva days, to my Rebbe, Rabbi Mendel Kaplan, whose “mussar” influenced me more than I, at a younger age, thought. Of main importance to him was the idea than an individual should not think of himself too seriously, that what counts is the well-being of others.
A Yeshiva education obviously is focused on Torah study, but the “mussar shmooze” is the part that molds a young person’s thoughts and actions. This Rosh HaShanah, as I reflect on my life, I am awed by what I saw in the actions of Rav Mendel and all of my Rabbeim at the crucial development time of my life. Did I remain faithful to the lessons they taught us? I hope that I have honored them in my daily actions, in business, in chessed. They set the path for many of us.
May the Yeshiva continue nurturing, mentoring, and “mussaring” many more generations of talmidim in the coming years. And may Hashem bless our Rabbeim, the Yeshiva leadership, and all of עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל with health, happiness, and, most especially, wisdom.
Rabbi Bernard Neuman is a graduate of the Chicago Jewish Academy and a Musmach of HTC (1957). He served as a Co-President of the Yeshiva, was President of Hapoel HaMizrachi, and was a co-founder of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva - Igud Yeshivot Hesder in the United States. He is retired from Wells Fargo as a financial advisor. The four Neuman sons all attended Fasman Yeshiva High School.
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