Rabbi Yona Biniashvili, shliach in the Beit HaKerem neighborhood of Yerushalayim, died suddenly of a heart attack on 11 Sivan. * Beis Moshiach provides a glimpse into the work of a quiet person who wanted, despite his outreach work, to retain his anonymity.
“Rav Yona was a real tzaddik who never thought about himself and did not stop for a moment in his concern for others, doing for those in need, and in being mekarev people,” said Shlomi Salomon, a resident of Beit HaKerem in Yerushalayim.
Shlomi, who immigrated to the United States, did not forget the shliach who was so kind to him. “I knew R’ Yona 23 years ago when he came to Beit HaKerem with his little children to light a menorah, and I immediately took a liking to him.
“Although I did not live in Yerushalayim on a regular basis, R’ Yona kept in touch with me. He would call to ask how I and my family are, and would visit my elderly parents in Yerushalayim. Over the years our bond turned into a close friendship. During every visit I made to Yerushalayim, he would come to my office in Beit HaKerem and make sure I put on t’fillin. Before Pesach he would send me shmura matza and every time I visited Eretz Yisroel he loaded me up with every possible thing that would make it easier for me to keep mitzvos.”
Comments like this were said many times by many people after R’ Yona’s passing. The shock over his sudden passing, a few hours before Shabbos, and his being so young, hit his friends, acquaintances, mekuravim and admirers in his place of shlichus hard.
R’ Yona was a Chassid and mekushar who was moser nefesh for shlichus. With his charming, simple manner he was beloved by the irreligious, elitist residents of this upper-class neighborhood where he served on shlichus for 27 years.
R’ Begin Kalimi, shliach in Ir Ganim, who knew him as a child, speaks nostalgically about his colleague. “One of his great successes in shlichus was his ability to endear himself to just about anyone. He was a Chassid who was devoted to all aspects of shlichus, and was even able to work together with the rav of the neighborhood, R’ Dovid Shapiro. Yona worked out of the main shul with the permission and encouragement of the rav, and don’t underestimate that. In most areas you don’t find such a warm and good relationship.”
The rav of the neighborhood eulogized him, “There is no Jew in the neighborhood who does not know Yona. Mezuza – Yona, Pesach – Yona. Now Yona is not with us. Who will arrange for kosher mezuzos? Yona was not a man of words but a man of action. How many dozens of families celebrated their first Pesach thanks to him? How many heard the shofar for the first time because of Yona? Sat in a sukka for the first time? What will they do now? Who will they turn to? R’ Yona carried out his shlichus with his 248 limbs and did so modestly without talking about his deeds.”
CONNECTION WITH CHABAD
Yona moved to Eretz Yisroel with his family from Georgia in the Soviet Union after the Yom Kippur War when the Iron Curtain was raised slightly. His family settled in Yerushalayim in Ir Ganim and his father was appointed as rav of the Hanurit shul.
“His father was definitely someone I would call a tzaddik,” said R’ Kalimi. “He did many taaniyot dibbur (speech fasts). He was a wise and learned man who learned much Torah. He would be the Torah reader and he led the community. When I would visit their home on Shabbos, I noticed that he never spoke idly. Yona’s mother was also a righteous woman who was very particular about kashrus and Shmiras Shabbos.”
Even before they made aliya the family was connected with Chabad. The grandfather was in touch with the Rebbe Rashab. It was not surprising then for Yona and his siblings to be sent to Chabad schools in the neighborhood. “Yona was the middle child,” recalled R’ Kalimi.
When he finished the Chabad elementary school, Yona went to the Himmelfarb religious high school in Bayit Vegan. At the same time, he was an active participant in shiurim and the various activities at the Chabad House. When he finished school, he was drafted to serve in the IDF Adjutant Corps where he learned accounting. When he finished his army duty, he went to work in the Treasury Department.
“I remember that he would regularly attend the Tanya classes of R’ Aharon Mordechai Zilberstrom a”h who was the principal of his school. He got his Chabad depth and p’nimius at that time,” says R’ Kalimi.
Yona slowly acquired a Lubavitcher identity. He married, and the young couple moved to the Givat Shaul neighborhood. R’ Yona began establishing outreach activities in Beit HaKerem while working at the Treasury Department. “Even as a senior official at the Treasury Department, R’ Yona acted as a shliach in every respect,” said R’ Eliyahu Zilberstrom. “He put t’fillin on with employees, affixed and checked mezuzos, and gave shiurim. This year he told me that he ran a Seder for 150 people and before the Seudas Moshiach he consulted with me about what to say.”
As time passed, he became busier with shlichus work and was absent more and more from work until he decided to devote himself fully to shlichus.
His financial situation deteriorated, but it did not deter him from continuing to work full force in shlichus. “He did not always have money to pay the rent,” R’ Zilberstrom said sadly.
RESIDENTS IN MOURNING
R’ Yona worked in the neighborhood with unusual modesty. I remember him well from Shabbasos I spent in the neighborhood hosted by relatives who are not Lubavitch, yet who admired and appreciated the work he did. He was noticeably different looking in that environment, a Lubavitcher who dressed like one in an upper-class neighborhood. He would always run to do more and he did it all graciously and willingly.
Before holidays, he would go from classroom to classroom and from one preschool to the next. Before Rosh HaShana they saw him with a shofar and before Pesach with shmura matza, and around the year he was busy with mivtza t’fillin and checking mezuzos. He went from house to house as he schlepped around by bus.
His caring for everyone and his great devotion scored a lot of points with many residents, both religious and not religious. It is not surprising that all agree that his passing left a void that nobody knows how to fill.
“The sudden passing of R’ Yona was a shock for me and my family,” said Shlomi Salomon. “My wife and children also admired and loved him. They always looked forward to his phone calls before holidays when he would call to wish a chag sameiach. After every chag and activity for the residents and children of Beit HaKerem he would send pictures and tell us about how successful it was. I, my family, and many others will miss him.”
Another resident said, “He did everything with endless devotion and without calling attention to himself. He didn’t look for publicity or honor. He and his wife gave their lives for us, for the residents of Beit HaKerem.”
Another resident had this to say: “R’ Yona was a tzaddik, upright and modest, who did not work for his own needs but did so much for the neighborhood and the residents. Checking mezuzos, putting on t’fillin; he went to every business in the neighborhood with t’fillin; he held s’darim for the needy and lonely, he blew the shofar in all the preschools and schools of the neighborhood before Rosh HaShana, he held a parade on Lag B’Omer which culminated in a grand gathering, and provided music, refreshments and lots of joy at the Simchas Beis HaShoeiva. He will be sorely missed. There is no one in the neighborhood who did not know him. The neighborhood won’t be the same without him.”
HE FELT AT HOME IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
R’ Yona’s son, Menachem Mendel, sadly related memories of his father:
“From a young age I remember the entire family doing outreach. We loved going around with my father. Although the walk around the neighborhood was somewhat long, he would stop and talk to everyone. Two years ago, my father called me home from yeshiva and said he did not feel well. He asked me whether I could help him out. He did a class and I did a class, as we blew the shofar for all the children.
“After doing a few classes, blowing thirty blasts in each, and there were always a few children who wanted to try and blow, I felt I had no breath left to blow. When I told this to my father he said, ‘I do it every year and in all the schools and preschools.’ On Rosh HaShana I walked with my father to the local soccer field to blow the shofar there. The soccer players stopped their game, put on hats, and heard the shofar on this holy day. It was an unforgettable sight.”
R’ Kalimi characterized R’ Biniashvili’s life as having two central motifs: “He was very particular about everything. When he heard a story from me, he would verify the details. He did not like exaggeration; he was a very serious person. When you told him a story with the names of the heroes and exact dates, he enjoyed it very much. This trait manifested in every aspect of his shlichus. I think in this lies some of his success in the neighborhood.
“He was also very dedicated. Whatever he did, he did with utter devotion and exactitude. For example, a Tzivos Hashem club in an upper-class neighborhood like this will not attract children with ices or Bissli, because they have plenty of that. The same is true for the Lag B’Omer parade. He knew how to offer appropriate prizes and work out all the details.
“There are locations bustling with people where you can set up a t’fillin stand that will be frequented by many people. But in a neighborhood like Beit HaKerem, things are done differently, more personally, seriously and punctiliously, and he knew how to do it because of his nature. He did not set up a t’fillin stand in the middle of the business section of town. He simply knew all the business owners, forged good relationships with them, and would visit them daily. He was the right person for this neighborhood.
“For a period of time he brought R’ Aharon Mordechai Zilberstrom, a Chassid and big talmid chacham in Nigleh and Chassidus, to give shiurim in the neighborhood. He was the right person to give shiurim to people who are intellectuals, doctors, and businessmen. People made sure not to miss his classes, which ended up scoring many points for Yona by those mekuravim,” explained R’ Kalimi.
HUNDREDS CAME TO SAY GOODBYE
When R’ Yona was in the ICU following a severe heart attack, many went to provide support.
“A 90-year-old man came and placed his hand on me and blessed me,” said his son Menachem Mendel. “News about his condition spread quickly in the neighborhood. One lady told me how on Shabbos her son said to her, ‘I will take the books R’ Yona gave me on Lag B’Omer to shul,’ thus hoping to forge a closer bond to him.
“What stood out about him was his modesty. He recently gave in his shoes for repair because he did not think he needed to buy new ones. For us, he did not scrimp and whatever was needed he bought, but he did not seek things for himself. With his shlichus too, he did not publicize anything about himself. When they suggested that he buy a camera for the Chabad House to publicize what they do, he preferred doing ‘better things’ with the money, more activities with the children. He did not think the rest was necessary.”
At the end of the painful funeral, R’ Naftali Roth, director of the Merkaz HaChinuchi Chassiduti, said:
“We lost a friend, a devoted and faithful shliach, one of the first to the holy city of Yerushalayim. I have had occasion to speak with people in the community in Beit HaKerem and now too, during the funeral, I have met people from the main shul, and the rav of the community, R’ Shapiro. They all speak about a beloved and upstanding person who spent days and nights for the Jewish people. We lost a good friend. May he be a good intercessor for Klal Yisroel. Yona, it is hard for us without you, but rest assured we will give chizuk to your children and your family so they continue the wonderful work you did in Beit HaKerem.”