Community Magazine January 2019

S P E C I A L C OMM E MO R A T I V E I S S U E TEVET - SHEVAT 5779 JANUARY 2019 37 1942 photo from Nir Yeshiva yearbook. Rabbi Kassin is the 3rd from the left. Sponsored by the Kassin family in loving memory of Hacham Shaul Kassin, zt"l Rabbi Shaul always stood at the side of his father, the Chief Rabbi, serving as his most trusted assistant, secretary and advisor. As Rabbi Jacob’s secretary, Shaul wrote his articles, and also managed the Bet Din , which met Monday and Thursday mornings, and which was comprised of Rabbi Jacob S. Kassin, Rabbi Matloub Abadi and Rabbi Eliahu Husney. During the summer months, Rabbi Shaul, who was a teacher during the school year, spent quality time with his children. “We used to go to a bungalow colony in the Catskills,” his son, Isaac Kassin, recalled during an interview. “We didn’t go to camp, but we went swimming and fishing with my father. In the morning, we studied, and then in the afternoon, he took us fishing and we did things together. When I was about ten, we started going to Bradley Beach.” Isaac Kassin added, “He taught his children the value of money and hesed . He bought boxes of candy and at the end of the week we would tell him things we did. If we did good deeds, then he would let us buy the candy for five cents. If we did more deeds, we could buy the candy for four cents or three cents.” Rabbi Shaul often took his children to Prospect Park to feed the pigeons. Family was the paramount value that he communicated to his children, teaching them the importance of respect for their elders and that family always came first. In 2001, this author interviewed Barbara Assoulin Kassin, Rabbi Shaul’s daughter-in-law, who said: My father-in-law is a very caring and giving person, a very selfless person. One day a poor person came to his house crying for food. He personally went to the grocery store to buy her fruits, vegetables and groceries. He made it his business to visit her often. He does many acts of hesed that people don’t know about. He’s a big believer in shalom bayit (family harmony). He takes care of his family and is always questioning how everyone is. He visits his children and grandchildren whenever they are sick. He is a pillar of strength. With good news or bad, he’s always the first person we turn to, and he listens with a sympathetic ear. Acknowledgment of Shaul J. Kassin US Naturalization filing. Photo and caption from the 1942 Nir Yeshiva yearbook. Rabbi Shaul’s countless accomplishments include his scholarly work, Light of the Law: Guideposts to Biblical Commandments and the Commentaries (Shengold Publishers, 1980). He also assisted in building numerous mikvehs both in the United States and in Israel, and established the Nivat Yisrael school for girls, which boasts over 700 students. “He has nothing negative to say about anyone,” said his son, Abraham S. Kassin, in a 2000 interview. “He doesn’t only try to help people, but he actually feels their pain and sorrow.” Exceptional Attributes Named Chief Rabbi after his father’s death in 1994, Rabbi Shaul was widely respected for his exceptional humility, kindness, and objectivity, and for carefully assessing all different angles of every issue before reaching a decision. These qualities, coupled with his remarkable scholarship, made him well-suited for the challenge of leading a burgeoning community as it completed its transplantation on American soil, and presiding over its emergence as the prosperous, thriving, close-knit Torah community that we have today. Community member Sarina Roffé is the author of Branching Out from Sepharad (Sephardic Heritage Project, 2017), which outlines the biographical history of the Kassin rabbinical dynasty and the community.