A SOLDIER TILL THE END

A shocking tragedy: a shliach of the Rebbe, R’ Boaz Lerner a”h, an expert on mikvaos, founder of the Nachalat Menachem neighborhood, passed away in the middle of a farbrengen in honor of laying the cornerstone of the Chabad mikva in the Philippines. * Every move he made was for one purpose, to give nachas to the Rebbe>.

The new mikva in the Philippines, one of his last photos

The residents of Nachalat Har Chabad in Kiryat Malachi were shocked to hear of the sudden passing of R’ Boaz Lerner. The terrible news quickly spread among Chassidim everywhere, including the many shluchim whom he helped with their mikvaos.

R’ Boaz Lerner, builder of Chabad neighborhoods and Chabad mikvaos around the world, was a model Chassid whose every moment was devoted to giving the Rebbe nachas. He did everything with fervor and dedication and without fanfare.

FROM THE AIR FORCE TO THE REBBE’S ARMY

R’ Boaz Lerner was born in 5712 in Tel Aviv to Russian parents. His mother was a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, but this had no impact on her daily life. His parents were not at all religiously observant and the atmosphere at home was one of Western culture and openness on every subject. Boaz and his brother saw the inside of shul only on Yom Kippur and even then, they went on their own, without their father.

When he was of draft age, his ambition was to be a pilot. It was his childhood dream and he was able to fulfill it. Within a few years, he was a Phantom fighter pilot. He put all his energy and abilities into becoming a better, smoother, more accomplished pilot. Flying provided him with incredible experiences. It was what his life was all about. At this stage of his life, religion was of no interest to him. Boaz, as well as his fellow pilots, experienced a unique sense of smugness as they controlled planes which ate up prodigious distances and gave them a dizzying sense of power.

This great sense of smugness imploded during the Yom Kippur War when the army sustained a mortal blow and dozens of pilots were downed by the anti-aircraft fire of enemy forces. After the war, Boaz and his friends were plagued with many questions: What were they fighting for? Where was this all leading to?

The pilots continued flying and the old smugness crept back into the heart of Boaz, the successful pilot.

The next thing that shook his world was when he occasionally encountered Lubavitchers who put t’fillin on with people in Rishon L’Tziyon. He was not willing to put on t’fillin, but the Chabadnikim looked like the real deal to him, as he put it many years later.

A turning point was when he got caught up in the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, founder of a method of movement to reduce pain or limitations in movement, to improve physical function, and to promote general well-being. Boaz took his course in S Francisco where he began to think about the meaning of life.

After some time, he returned to Eretz Yisroel with a different perspective on everything. His service in the air force suddenly seemed superfluous and he informed his commanders that he was finished as a pilot. Then he began a search for the meaning of life by reading mystical teachings associated with the Far East. He moved to a kibbutz where he decided to put up a mezuza in the apartment he was living in. After a short stay on the kibbutz, he moved to Tel Aviv.

He worked using the Feldenkrais method while simultaneously trying his luck at applying for an engineering position for a company that produced patents. About 35 engineers showed up for the selection process and he was the only one who came without some degree. The manager presented a problem to the engineers, which required an inventive solution in the area of piping. All the engineers took the pipe home in order to come up with a solution and only Boaz went to the work room where he fixed the problem on the spot. He was immediately hired and that is where he worked for the next few years. He registered for a number of patents in the field of piping and water systems. His talent for inventions was later used for holy purposes on many occasions, whether in building mikvaos or in making pushkas that matched the places they were affixed to, and more.

A FORTUITOUS BUT SIGNIFICANT MEETING

At that time, he felt a tremendous and urgent need to connect to religion. Someone directed him to the Chabad shul on Rav Kook Street in B’nei Brak and he was immediately swept up by the Chassidus shiur.

Some years later, he described what happened:

“I went to B’nei Brak, bought a black kippa, and went to the shul on Rechov HaRav Kook. Maariv had ended and the minyan left. I remained standing there when suddenly one of the people took an interest in me and asked my name and profession. He immediately made me an offer which he said, ‘I wouldn’t find anywhere else,’ to learn Chassidus with him. I realized he was one of those Lubavitchers who ‘brought people back in t’shuva’ who I had expected would corner me when I went to the shul.

“In fact, it was an entirely different story. This person, R’ Shneur Blizinsky, had been to the Rebbe who told him to find someone with whom to learn Chassidus regularly. He had looked for a while but hadn’t found anyone suitable, so he started asking anybody who walked into the shul if he was willing to learn with him. When he saw me, he was sure I was religious which is why he asked me his routine question.

“I thought it was a great offer. We met every week in his house and learned Tanya. We learned and progressed and I was amazed by it. These shiurim ignited my soul in a remarkable fashion. The world revealed to me through this book, opened up vistas of new thought to me. I began seeing everything in a different light. In this book, I found the answers to my Jewish identity. The meaning of my tireless searches for that certain ‘something’ began to become clear.”

After spending a Shabbos with R’ Shneur Blizinsky, he went to work on Sunday wearing a kippa. He made progress in his learning and in the fulfillment of mitzvos. Now and then he visited Kfar Chabad and received guidance and encouragement from R’ Moshe Slonim a”h. He sometimes was his guest for Shabbos too. Every one of those Shabbasos had a tremendous effect on him. Soon he had become fully religious. As a result of the influence of the Chassidim he became close with, he started doing mivtzaim, putting t’fillin on with his friends, and even conveying teachings from Tanya.

This young former pilot’s t’shuva process was astonishingly quick. He went to the Rebbe and was tremendously impressed. The visit also highlighted for him the feeling of unity among the Chassidim when he saw the thousands of Chassidim sitting together facing the Rebbe and singing niggunim and listening to the Rebbe’s teachings.

The next stage of his journey was made with the active help of R’ Slonim and R’ Yisroel Halperin, shliach in Hertzliya. Together, they helped him with his various challenges and taught him how to behave as a Chassid. Boaz became a Chassid, devoted heart and soul to the Rebbe.

He moved to Nachalat Har Chabad and was close with the mashpia R’ Mordechai (Mottel) Kozliner who often hosted him, and from whom Boaz received authentic Chassidic guidance. At a later point, he was even appointed as a member of the hanhala of Tomchei T’mimim in Nachalat Har Chabad which was run by R’ Mordechai.

In the following year, he married his wife Orly who stood by his side in all the activities he thought up and carried out.

EZRAS CHAYA MUSHKA

R’ Boaz started various organizations and directed a broad range of activities.

He started Ezras Chaya Mushka in 5750 and implementing horaos from the Rebbe in many areas such as manufacturing tz’daka pushkas for the home, kitchen and car, as well as giving out a k’zayis of shmura matza. He also published sichos of the Rebbe on the topic of shleimus ha’aretz and was involved in other important projects disseminating the wellsprings and the Besuras Ha’Geula.

His son Mendy tells about his father’s tz’daka project:

“My father used his inventive talents and his connections at the Transportation Ministry to get pushkas onto busses and planes. During the Gulf War, many of his pushkas were distributed. One of the missiles from Iraq that pierced a multistory building in Tel Aviv stopped at a pushka.”

JUMPING INTO MIKVA BUILDING

During the past two decades, R’ Boaz developed a reputation as an expert on mikvaos. On behalf of the Beis Din Rabbanei Chabad in Eretz Yisroel, he would travel to cities in Eretz Yisroel and around the world to help and advise with the construction of mikvaos in the Chabad method of “bor al gabei bor.” He was involved in everything having to do with mikvaos, from obtaining permits from the government and local rabbanim to construction and filling the reservoir and mikva, advising on which types of ceramic tiles to use and advice for maintenance.

It all began when a bracha from the Rebbe did much to complete the beautiful mikva in Nachalat Har Chabad, which required him to put a lot of time and effort into understanding mikva construction. This included both the halachic and technical angles as well as inside and outside design. After finishing the building of the mikva in Nachalat Har Chabad and its opening, having amassed much knowledge and understanding on the subject, he looked to continue his work in mikvaos. He asked the Rebbe whether to continue being involved in this and the answer that he opened to in the Igros Kodesh (volume 7, p. 112-113) left no room for doubts:

“They asked me from the Taharas Ha’mishpacha center in Yerushalayim through their representative and shliach here R’ Barzel, and also in writing from Yerushalayim to help build and complete mikvaos in Eretz Yisroel and I promised them my help … and additionally the mikva needs to be made in accordance with the instruction of the Rebbe Rashab since he is our posek. As is known also in Halacha that in the territory of Rav you need to behave as rav, even though in the territory of Shmuel etc. And this is not a matter of ‘you shall not divide into camps’ for a number of reasons.”

In that letter, the Rebbe continues to describe in detail how the work with the mikvaos needs to be and goes on to say, “Obviously, you are not supposed to go to war but to explain that this is the opposite of the din to compel someone not to fulfill his rav’s p’sak, especially in these matters wherein both kinds of mikvaos are kosher according to all opinions.”

Since then, for over twenty years, R’ Lerner accomplished a tremendous amount in the field of mikva construction. In an interview he gave Beis Moshiach a decade ago, he told us a little about what goes on behind the scenes of his complicated work. He first explained his work:

“There are places where it’s about building a new mikva and other places that want to add a pit, in accordance with Chabad’s shita, to the existing pits. There are some instances in which there are problems that necessitate supervision during the construction. There are also places where the existing mikva has to be destroyed and rebuilt.

“I was recently somewhere where the mikva had to be destroyed and rebuilt. There are many details involved in the construction of a mikva, which need close supervision. In many places, rabbanim give precise instructions, but workers and contractors don’t always do what they are told, and that’s when problems arise.

“In many places the local rav or the head of the religious council needs to be convinced of the importance of a Chabad mikva. In other places, you have to get people to sign a petition over this issue.

“I can tell you that, Baruch Hashem, when it comes to agreeing to and understanding the importance of a Chabad mikva, we have come a long way. Rabbanim who, in the past, knew nothing about this, and when they heard the word ‘Chabad’ automatically opposed us, have become educated. Now they understand the stringencies and hiddurim of the Rebbe Rashab, and they take them on.

“In Gan Yavneh, Rabbi Kurant, who is the shliach there, invited me to come. All the experts said they couldn’t make a Chabad pit, since the main pipe of the Mekorot company runs under the building, and everything was ready for them to pour the cement.

“At the last minute, past zero hour, we brought a note to the architect from the religious council which said: ‘Please help Chabad.’ The religious council wrote this to be polite, but the architect took it seriously. How do you solve a problem with a pipe, which interferes with the building of a Chabad mikva? You simply raise the building!”

Another case:

“Two years ago we discovered that the Ministry for Religious Matters had a project to build mikvaos. We got involved, and after bitter fights, we managed to get another twenty or so Chabad mikvaos approved. In the meantime, some of the mikvaos have yet to be completed because of the budget cuts. We hope they’ll be finished soon. But the big change is that today the engineers at the Ministry of Religion have a special model from which to build Chabad mikvaos. It’s just as the Rebbe said, ‘a document that was disputed and later certified.’”

And a story about constructing a mikva abroad:

“I am regularly contacted by shluchim around the world. This past Sivan, we finished the first Chabad mikva in India for shliach Rabbi Dror Shaul in Dharamsala. The mikva is part of his Chabad House. Since the trip there is arduous, we planned on finishing everything in one trip.

“We built a reservoir on the roof and hoped that during the monsoon season, which would take place after my trip, the pit would fill up. It turns out that the day after we finished building the reservoir, the monsoon began and the mikva filled right up. The mikva in India is built with the greatest hiddurim.”

Over the years, under his guidance, dozens more mikvaos were constructed around the world. He published a booklet called Mikva al Gabei HaOtzar about bor al gabei bor, in order to clarify Chabad’s position on mikvaos. He outlines the order of events that led to this important enactment and provides the Rebbe’s explanations, over the years, about this enactment. Chapters are devoted to practical applications as to how to kosherize piped in municipal water in a mikva built on top of the rainwater pit based on instructions from the Rebbeim.

He worked on mikvaos until his final moment, making a special trip to the Philippines to participate in a groundbreaking for the mikva there and to oversee the engineering plans. After the festive celebration there was a Chassidishe farbrengen in the course of which he passed away.

On his trips around the world to build mikvaos, he was also very involved in being mekarev Jews to Torah and mitzvos, as his son Mendy relates:

“Every mikva that he built in a Chabad House around the world brought along with it dozens of stories of good resolutions made by tourists and Jews who were present at the Chabad House during his stay. At every Chabad House he visited, he would farbreng with the Jews there and importune them to make good resolutions. He would often give a dollar from the Rebbe in exchange.”

THE REBBE’S NACHALA

Aside from his involvement in mikvaos, R’ Lerner is famous for building the neighborhoods Nachalat Menachem Alef and Beit, named for the Rebbe, and which are an expansion of the Nachalat Har Chabad neighborhood of Kiryat Malachi. He built spacious apartments, suitable for large families, and did so without any compensation.

It all began when private contractors advertised construction in areas next to Nachalat Har Chabad at very high prices. R’ Boaz could not let that pass, for he knew that Chabad families could not afford those prices. As always, he wasn’t only a visionary but a man of action, and with the encouragement he received from the Rebbe through the Igros Kodesh, he decided to initiate the building of a neighborhood next to Nachalat Har Chabad, which was founded by the Rebbe, and thus enable additional families to live in large apartments suitable for frum people. The project successfully got underway.

The night of Yud-Tes Kislev 5758, at the central farbrengen in Nachalat Har Chabad, the new neighborhood, Nachalat Menachem, was announced. The next day, the cornerstone was laid, but like every such project, many obstacles cropped up. During Pesach, he opened to a bracha in the Igros Kodesh as follows: “In response to your letter… announcing good news that you and your friends are meritorious, and I have already written that you are meritorious and will be meritorious… the allusion in the Targum on the words ‘and the Jewish people went out with uplifted hand,’ that mainly this needs to be in p’nimius ha’Torah, i.e. Chassidus, going out ‘b’reish g’lei’ with ‘b’reish’ being an acronym for Rashbi.”

This answer encouraged him but only later on did he fully appreciate the answer. A few weeks went by and on Erev Lag B’Omer the mayor signed the permit for construction. The very next morning, on Rashbi’s hilula, is when the construction began!

The building was completed with maximum speed and the buildings in the new neighborhood were occupied exclusively by Lubavitcher families, who benefited tremendously from the project. A few years later, there was once again a demand for apartments for Lubavitcher families and R’ Lerner got to work. Next to Nachalat Menachem Alef he built Nachalat Menachem Beit. Dozens of Chabad families live in these neighborhoods adjacent to Nachalat Har Chabad.

THE NACHALAT MENACHEM K’HILLA

R’ Boaz Lerner was indefatigable. He went from project to project, and whatever he undertook he did in the best possible way.

He built a shul and mikva in Nachalat Menachem and another Chabad community flourished there with minyanim, farbrengens, etc. all under his guidance and influence.

He was particularly involved in the Rebbe’s birthday campaign. He had connections with people who don’t generally go to shul, but on their birthday he would invite them to shul, put t’fillin on with them, give them aliyos, etc.

Much more can be written about R’ Boaz but there are space constraints.

One of the topics about which he was most passionate was Moshiach. He truly lived with publicizing the Besuras Ha’Geula and the identity of the goel. He did this for years, devotedly and joyfully.

On 14 Iyar, Pesach Sheini, he was in the Philippines, taking part in a cornerstone laying for a mikva being built by the shliach, R’ Yosef Levy. R’ Lerner was called in to oversee the halachic and technical aspects of the mikva. The stone was laid and you can see R’ Lerner in the pictures, smiling as usual. Afterward, he danced at a festive farbrengen at the Chabad house. Some dancers mounted chairs and they sang R’ Levi Yitzchok Schneersohn’s hakafos niggun. And then …

R’ Boaz collapsed and shortly thereafter passed away at the age of 63.

He is survived by his wife Orly, his daughter Rochel and her husband R’ Sholom Ber Shmuelevitz, and his sons and daughters Mendy, Berele, Zalman, Yaakov, Devorah Leah, Yosef, Rivka, Geula and Moishy.

In preparing this article, I was assisted by interviews that R’ Lerner gave over the years to Beis Moshiach and Kfar Chabad and interviews with family members.

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His son Yaakov relates:

I was involved in arranging the activities of the bachurim from the Chabad Yeshiva in Tzfas for Lag B’Omer at the gravesite of Rashbi in Miron. It was the night before my father was flying to the Philippines. I went home to raise money from the Chabad communities in the area. I knew that my father had two dollars that the Rebbe gave on Lag B’Omer that he somehow got hold of. I asked him to give me one of them so I could find a donor who would agree to take on a significant part of the expenses of our outreach in exchange for the dollar. My father agreed. The next day we found someone who bought the dollar for 20,000 shekels!

My father was already in the Philippines. I called to tell him the good news about the big donation that we got for the dollar. My father was happy to hear it. I took the opportunity, and had the nerve to ask him for the other dollar. “Another dollar like that and our activities are practically covered,” I said to him. He was quiet for a moment and then he said, “Okay. I’ll give you the other dollar too.” When I got home, after hearing the terrible news, I opened the drawer where my father had told me he would leave the first dollar. To my astonishment, I found both dollars there..