CAPTIVATOR OF HEARTS

He was a loyal soldier of the Rebbe and presented himself wherever he was needed: kibbutzim, yishuvim, before religious groups and in front of people from the HaShomer HaTzair kibbutzim. Wherever he went, he brought the word of G-d and Chassidus with magnificent, sweet words and as a dignified role model. * Moreh Tzvi was a role model for thousands of students over many decades who miss his warm voice and special way of relating to them. * We are saddened by the loss of the Chassid, R’ Tzvi Greenwald, a”h, the man who captivated thousands of hearts.

UNIQUE PERSONALITY

It seems to me that the designation “captivator of hearts,” perfectly describes Rabbi Mordechai Tzvi Greenwald a”h. He was head and shoulders above, not only in his impressive physical stature, but also in his powerful personality which conveyed warmth and pleasantness to every person, of every age and background. He met thousands of people in his lifetime, in his work to spread Judaism and Chassidus, and he won them all over with his charisma, simplicity and life wisdom.

He was concerned about everyone and with his handshake you could feel the warmth and the Chassidic fervor in him.

His life was dedicated to others, teaching and drawing people close to Torah and Chassidus, whether through his work in the vocational school, where he was the spirit of Chassidus among the students; whether in his role as lecturer and emcee at hundreds of Evenings with Chabad, events and farbrengens. Wherever it was, he would stand up and present the values of Chassidus in a rich Ivrit. Tens of thousands heard him over the years and he always knew how to get people to relate to the messages he sought to convey.

A glance at the advertisements that were placed over the years shows that it was Rabbi Greenwald who appeared at hundreds of Evenings with Chabad, farbrengens and assemblies. He led the way in spreading Chassidus as an influential speaker and master of ceremonies. 

He also played a major role at intimate farbrengens held with politicians and VIPs who came to Kfar Chabad. For example, he took part in the farbrengen with Ariel Sharon at a party in honor of wealthy donors. Even the director of mosdos, Rabbi Efraim Wolf, who was known for his cool, calculated temperament, wrote exuberantly to the Rebbe about how R’ Tzvi was able to get through to everyone.

FROM YERUSHALAYIM TO KFAR CHABAD

Rabbi Mordechai Tzvi Greenwald was born in 5693/1933 in Yerushalayim. His parents were Shlomo and Chaya Perka.

The following story is told about his birth. It was when the Rebbe Rayatz was visiting Eretz Yisroel. At the end of a visit to Mea Sh’arim, he was waiting for a taxi. R’ Shlomo Greenwald passed by. He was a young man who had just married. He took the opportunity to approach the Rebbe and ask for a bracha.

“What do you lack?” asked the Rebbe.

“I lack for nothing, thank G-d,” said the young man. “I have just one request, that my children be Chassidim.” The Rebbe blessed him and one of his sons was R’ Tzvi.

As a boy, he joined the Lechi organization that fought to get the British out of Eretz Yisroel. The organization used boys and underground fighters who carried out dangerous missions to harass the British. R’ Tzvi himself was involved in the fight at Deir Yassin.

He learned in Yeshivas Toras Emes in Yerushalayim where he absorbed a great deal of Torah and Chassidus and its ways.

Even then, he was already involved in chinuch, serving as a madrich in a dormitory of children who survived the Holocaust. “He stood them on their feet and provided them a solid chinuch,” says his friend from those days, Rabbi Tuvia Blau. In a press release that was published at that time, we find that he was already speaking at events that Chabad arranged for children in Yerushalayim.

He married Rivka Miriam and settled in Yerushalayim, but following the tragic massacre at the vocational school in 5716, he moved to Kfar Chabad and joined the staff of the vocational school that was just beginning to develop at the time.

“MOREH TZVI”

Rabbi Greenwald worked in chinuch for decades, being a Chassidic beacon for thousands of students in the vocational school. Most of them did not come from Chassidishe homes and many of them weren’t even from religious homes. R’ Greenwald’s influence wasn’t only on the students in the classes that he taught; it was also on the rest of the students.

His partner in chinuch, R’ Moshe Edery, told Beis Moshiach about R’ Greenwald’s work and unique educational impact. He was the material and spiritual father of the students. R’ Moshe knew R’ Greenwald in an educational capacity since 5722 and worked alongside him for decades.

“R’ Tzvi Greenwald was the head mechanech in the vocational school. You could say he was the heart of the school. In every role that he took upon himself, whether as teacher or madrich, he always had a special connection with each student, not necessarily from the classes that he taught. He was greatly loved by the students. The reason for this, I think, has to do with the fact that R’ Tzvi went with a “head up,” unlike the teachers who go to school with their head bent who hurry into class or the teachers’ room.

“R’ Tzvi always spoke forthrightly with every student he met in class, in the yard, in the lunchroom or in the hallways of the school. At the end of a class, he did not run off to the teachers’ room to drink tea; he remained in class to listen to the students. Their souls became bound up with his soul.

“When he met students on the streets of Kfar Chabad out of school time, he got into friendly conversations with them, in a forthright manner, which gave the students the feeling that he was a good friend.”

R’ Moshe Edery thought for a while and had this to say:

“It was my first day at work in 5722. R’ Tzvi told me to make sure that at the meals in the lunchroom they should say a d’var Torah at every meal. In a nice way and a lot of cleverness, he said, ‘It’s two or three minutes of Torah. Think of what a z’chus it is that those few minutes add up to dozens of minutes a month and to many hours over a year.’ So I began doing that. Think about how many minutes of Torah accumulated over the years for the students of the vocational school!”

R’ Yaakov Gloiberman of Lud worked with R’ Greenwald at the vocational school and he spoke about him emotionally:

“I met R’ Tzvi when I worked as the executive secretary in the vocational school in Kfar Chabad. We were very good friends. I learned from him what a soldier and Chassid of the Rebbe is, and the way to love everyone.

“In the course of a conversation I was having with someone who today is one of the top commanders in the Israel Police, a former student of his in the vocational school in Kfar Chabad, Assistant Commissioner Yehuda Dahan, I asked him, ‘What was Moreh Tzvi’s influence on you?’ He told me, ‘He won me over to the path of Torah study and chinuch with special love.’

“Thanks to his guidance and his chinuch approach with ways of pleasantness and genuine caring, hundreds of students from the vocational school in Kfar Chabad became Chabad Chassidim, mekusharim to the Rebbe.

“His relationship with the alumni was like a father toward a son. They invited him to all their happy events. He would often tell me that a mechanech needs to be an example to his students.”

One of R’ Greenwald’s thousands of talmidim is R’ Rafi Turgeman who is in charge of the religious council in Kiryat Malachi. He is having a hard time getting over the loss of his teacher.

“Moreh Tzvi was a mechanech of high caliber. It is hard for me to speak about him in the past tense. He was my mechanech and I will never forget that special time. He loved and embraced everyone. He had a unique way of educating and was tremendously successful.

“I’ll give you an example that I remember well. When a student was late to class, Moreh Tzvi did not censure him and did not punish him. He asked him to write a note with the reason for the lateness. He kept the note in a special notebook. Moreh Tzvi explained to us that these notes prevented future tardiness because a mature student realizes that he can’t be late often and have the same excuse every time or have implausible reasons. We all knew that with Moreh Tzvi there were no punishments for being late, but it really wasn’t pleasant and not worth being late.

“That’s a classic example of his teaching approach: not to punish, not to put a student in his place, but to provide tools with which to handle the challenge in question.

“For us, he was a role model of a teacher and of a Chassid who gave everything to his students. Even after we left school, he remained in touch with us. With great skill, he knew how to connect to, and bring close, all of the students in an enjoyable way. I remember that my classmates and I graduated and went to serve in the army and even after that, every time we visited Kfar Chabad, our first stop was to visit Moreh Tzvi. It wasn’t simple appreciation for a mechanech; it was love and admiration for what he gave us.

“No wonder that when he came to Kiryat Malachi to farbreng, I felt it a privilege and obligation to attend the farbrengen. Although 50 years had passed since I was his student, I couldn’t help but remember those good years when he farbrenged with us in the vocational school.”

The testimony of a student is no less fascinating than the professional opinion of the supervisor from Youth Aliya who went to visit the school to oversee its professional development. This is how the supervisor, R’ Moshe Munk, in a letter that he sent to the Rebbe, describes him: 

“Rabbi Tzvi Greenwald teaches in two classes. He is an excellent teacher. There is practically no other like him in terms of his spiritual and educational power of influence, and even today when this is not his official job (to impact all the students) his work for the sake of heaven generates much positive feedback. There is almost no one like him in the country who handles youth from so many walks of life and in such original ways.”

GENERATIONAL IMPACT

R’ Greenwald used his pedagogical abilities to give classes to all sorts of audiences, whether in Kfar Chabad, among religious Jews, or those not yet observant.

One of his special shiurim at the beginning of the 60s was a Torah class founded by Rabbi Meir Blizinsky in the HaTikva neighborhood in Tel Aviv every Wednesday. Dozens of young people attended the class. Due to a health problem, Rabbi Blizinsky gave the job over to R’ Greenwald who later told me:

“The core group numbered dozens of young people, most of whom changed their way of life over the years and, together with their families, became religiously observant. Some of the original participants of the shiur have children and grandchildren who are regular participants.” That is how R’ Greenwald matter-of-factly described the great changes the shiur brought about, affecting generations of families.

In recent years, he was also a maggid shiur in the Kollel Tiferes Zikeinim in the Beis Menachem shul in Kfar Chabad where he gave a daily shiur to seniors.

A BIG CUP – THREE TIMES

R’ Greenwald devoted his life to the Rebbe. For decades, he went to kibbutzim and yishuvim for an Evening with Chabad, for no pay. He would return home late at night or early morning; and yet, every morning he was at his post as a soldier at the vocational school.

The first time he went to the Rebbe was in the 60s, and after that, he went every few years for Tishrei. At one farbrengen, the Rebbe motioned to him to say l’chaim on a big cup, three times!

R’ Greenwald, despite speaking a lot publicly in his various outreach activities, was quiet by nature. You didn’t see him sitting with a group of people and schmoozing. He was an introvert and hid his emotions.

However, we can learn from an interview that he gave to a journalist who visited Kfar Chabad about his love for the Rebbe. He was asked why Chabad Chassidim celebrate the Rebbe’s birthday. The journalist described it thus, “R’ Tzvi Greenwald smiled through his thick, black beard and responded:

“In the early years, the birthday of the Rebbe was practically a secret and was celebrated only within the family. Now however, Chassidim feel that the Rebbe won’t oppose their celebrating it publicly. It’s not a mere celebration; it’s an increase in learning and deepening of commitment to values. In the last broadcast, the Rebbe asked not to put ads in the papers. Instead, he said to give money to tz’daka. His other wish is to do whatever can be done to inspire Jews toward our Father in heaven. What presents can a Chassid give his Rebbe on his birthday? Another 75 chapters of Tanya, another 75 Mishnayos, another 75 Jews in out of the way towns listening to classes in Judaism to arouse the Jewish spark in their hearts.

“At the head of all the campaigns that the Rebbe established is the campaign for Ahavas Yisroel. This sums up the essence of Chabad. The feeling that a person has who knows that someone loves him. He feels it. To love every Jew; it’s easy to say, but hard to do; to feel the other person and to believe in every Jew. Just like a Jew needs to believe in Hashem, so must a Jew believe in a Jew.”

THE BREAKTHROUGH LECTURER

For many years, a few weeks before a Lubavitch special day in the calendar like 19 Kislev or 12 Tammuz, the phones began ringing in R’ Tzvi Greenwald’s house in Kfar Chabad. From all over the country, they invited him to emcee farbrengens for the Chag HaGeula. He had no preferences, whoever invited him first, got him. Whether it was in Ashkelon or Kiryat Arba, Beit Shaan or Dimona. He had charisma. He was tall and spoke warmly and with lucid explanations, using words that conveyed many layers of meaning interspersed with p’sukim and maamarei Chazal.

He made countless appearances in the framework of what was then known as “Evenings with Chabad.” Kibbutzim and moshavim, as well as various organizations, would invite several Lubavitchers for a varied evening that included a lecture, singing, and questions and answers about Judaism. R’ Greenwald was synonymous with these Evenings with Chabad.

“Over thirty years ago, I invited R’ Tzvi to an Erev Chabad that I arranged for the unit in which I served in the army,” said R’ Yaakov Gloiberman. “That night, he was mekarev and fascinated the young officer who later became a general in the IDF, Tal Russo, and sat with him until one in the morning.

“His influence as an emcee and lecturer was legendary. Even back when I was in training camp, I invited him to the camp in Ramallah. R’ Tzvi was able to reach, with his impassioned love as a Chassid, every commander and soldier.”

For many years, every Rosh Chodesh, he would go to the Tiferes Yisroel shul, located in the main campus building of a major aircraft company, to give a shiur during the lunch break. “R’ Greenwald had a special charm with which he had the audience riveted, with stories and divrei Torah. Afterward, he would sing and make merry with us and bless us with every good thing,” said one of the participants.

Another Chassid said how R’ Greenwald represented the Rebbe with respect, humility and submission to the Rebbe. “I started a beis midrash in Ramle and asked him to give a shiur once a week. He agreed and did not ask for anything in return, just to see to it that someone brought him there and back. He was a holy fire of Torah and Chassidus.”

Many of Anash cannot forget his speeches and emceeing at Chabad gatherings, especially at bar mitzvas of children of IDF soldiers who were killed. These special events were held every year in Kfar Chabad with dozens of bar mitzva boys and the participation of dignitaries and prime ministers.

“He was a fiery speaker, whether at an Evening with Chabad in Yerushalayim or at major Chabad events,” said R’ Tuvia Blau. “He would speak with such pathos and captivate the audience.”

“It was during the years when it was like there was a wall between religious and irreligious Jews,” said R’ Greenwald himself in later years. “The young generation on kibbutzim and moshavim barely knew what a religious Jew looked like, never mind a Chassid. That’s why they were so excited by our visits. Suddenly, they were sitting in the company of Chassidim who smiled at them, showed them a pleasant face, answered their questions, and sang niggunim that tugged at their hearts. It made an enormous impression on them and we immediately got invitations to other Arvei Chabad.”

R’ Greenwald and his colleagues visited all the kibbutzim in the north and south. These Arvei Chabad broke the ice to some extent. As to the impact of his affable approach, here is a story that R’ Greenwald himself told with a mischievous Yerushalmi smile:

“At the end of the evening we would say that when we walked in, despite there not being a mezuza, we had no choice; but now, to leave through a doorway without a mezuza was not possible. Either we would put up a mezuza or we would spend the night there. That is how we put up dozens of mezuzos at kibbutzim, even the most distant from religious observance.”

Over the years, many complained to him, “Why do you speak to these kibbutznikim with such warmth? You need to tell them the truth to their faces, that they are raising an estranged generation!” Those were the years when being mekarev Jews was not yet popular and it was something only Chabad did. 

One time, when R’ Greenwald had yechidus with the Rebbe, he told the Rebbe this complaint. The Rebbe turned very grave and said with intensity, “They don’t need to be told what they don’t have; they know that themselves. They need to be told what Judaism is, what Chassidus is, what Torah and mitzvos can provide them. The moment you start talking about what they lack, whatever you say after that will be worthless; you won’t have anyone to talk to!”

After that, R’ Greenwald knew just what to do. “We need to warm Jews up, to show them the wealth in Judaism and Chassidus, ‘taste and see that Hashem is good,’ and it’s guaranteed that words that come from the heart, enter the heart.”

“R’ Greenwald was a person with his head on straight, a Chassid of the Rebbe without any sophistry,” said R’ Tuvia Blau about his dear friend.

CARING FOR OTHERS

One of the outstanding characteristics of R’ Greenwald’s personality was how he cared about others. It was caring that came from the depths of a loving heart for every Jew. This love could be sensed even with his warm handshake that would envelop the person’s hand with great warmth.

Someone from Kfar Chabad said that last Erev Yom Kippur, when R’ Tzvi did not feel well, he went to immerse in the mikva at Beis Menachem, as usual. It was before mincha when everyone is rushing and is pressured to get everything done for the day. R’ Tzvi asked his grandson to bring him the mikva’s mop because he wanted to get rid of the water that had pooled on the floor, as was his practice, so it would be clean for people. That was R’ Tzvi – even in pressured times, he always thought of others.

***

R’ Tzvi was ill and passed away on 3 Iyar at the age of 85, may his memory be for a blessing.