Community Magazine January 2019

Remember i ng Ch i ef Rabb i , Hacham Shau l Kass i n, z t ” l 58 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE The Torah in Parashat Vayeshev (37:3) tells that Yaakov Avinu felt special love and affection for Yosef because he was a “ben zekunim.” Rashi cites the Targum (the Aramaic translation by Onkelos) as translating this expression to mean “bar hakim” – “a wise son.” Yosef received this special wisdom, Rashi explains, from Yaakov, who transmitted to Yosef the Torah that he studied in the yeshiva of Shem and Ever. Rashi then brings a different interpretation of “ben zekunim,” explaining that “shehayah ziv ikunin shelo domeh lo” – Yosef looked just like Yaakov. The Ba’al Haturim adds that the word “zekunim” has the same gematria (numerical value) as the word “raz” – “secret,” indicating that Yaakov transmitted the secrets of the Torah to Yosef. This special connection that was forged between Yaakov and Yosef would save Yosef years later, when he was in Egypt and confronted one of the most difficult tests imaginable, a test which Yosef overcame, thereby earning the title Yosef Hatzadik – “Yosef the Righteous One.” When his master’s wife tried luring him to sin, Yosef responded by “vayema’en” – outright refusing (39:8). The note on this word is a very rare note – the “shalshelet,” which means “chain.” When confronted by this test, Yosef said to himself, “How can I do this? I come from a chain. I come from tzadikim . My father is Yaakov Avinu. My grandfather is Yitzhak Avinu. My great-grandfather is Avraham Avinu. I come from a sacred chain.” And so “vayema’en” – he refused. The Sages teach that Yosef looked up at the window and saw “deyukono shel aviv” – the image of his father, Yaakov Avinu. When he saw that image, he abstained. The great tzadik who lies before us today, like Yosef, is the “ben zekunim” of Yaakov, of Hacham Yaakov Kassin, zt”l. He, too, was a “bar hakim,” a man of great wisdom, and he, too, resembled his father. And, like Yosef, he received from his father all the Torah his father had learned, including the secrets of the Torah. Furthermore, the Hacham was driven throughout his life by the “shalshelet,” the chain of tradition. This was his guiding light – the tradition of his father, of his grandfather, the tradition that goes all the way back to the many generations of the illustrious Kassin family. During the month of Tevet, Hacham Shaul would go around to every synagogue to announce the Ta’anit Dibur – a day when people refrain from speaking the entire day, other than prayer and Torah, and read Tehillim three times. He did this even in old age. Where did he receive the motivation to do this? I remember as a young boy in Shaare Zion hearing his father, Hacham Yaakov, teach that a person is born with a certain number of words, and if he speaks carelessly, then he may, Heaven forbid, cut his life short. Hacham Shaul learned about careful speech from his father. And so, with great humility, he personally went around all the synagogues announcing the Ta’anit Dibur . Hacham Shaul devoted himself tirelessly to collecting charity. Every morning in the synagogue, he was collecting for somebody in need. And he taught the importance of supporting aniyeh Eretz Yisrael – the poor in the Land of Israel, viewing them as local residents THE SHALSHELET: STRENGTHENING OUR BOND TO OUR PREDECESSORS Hespedim Edited transcription of the eulogy delivered by Rabbi Mansour for Hacham Shaul Kassin, zt”l, at the funeral held in Brooklyn on December 2, 2018. Rabbi Eli J. Mansour