“HE KNOWS CHASSIDUS WELL”

Before he was eleven, R’ Sholom Ber Alperowitz a”h was sent to learn in Yeshivas Achei T’mimim in Tel Aviv. At age 20 he traveled to the Rebbe and merited special signs of closeness from the Rebbe. * His shlichus was chinuch, as the Rebbe made abundantly clear. * Portrait of a Chassid.

“Many people whom we meet have an influence on us in minor ways; there are few who leave their mark on the entire course of our lives. One of those singular individuals was my teacher, R’ Sholom Ber Alperowitz.”

That is what one of R’ Alperowitz’s students wrote after his passing.

“R’ Alperowitz was the first Chassidic Jew I ever met; a teacher with energy and enthusiasm and lots of simcha. His unique tune and pronunciation were so engraved in my memory that every time I learn Chumash, his tune plays in my ears … When I teach my children Chumash, I see him in my mind’s eye circulating animatedly among the students.

“We weren’t likely to meet. He grew up in Eretz Yisroel and I, in a distant city in the US where a few Jews live, mixed among a million gentiles. But Divine Providence led him to our city and he was my teacher for second grade in the Jewish school. Despite my young age, he managed to instill in me the awareness that as a Jew, I had to walk in the path delineated by the holy Torah, without being confused by all things of this world.

“Thanks to him, I ended up in yeshiva and from there, with a life of Torah and mitzvos. When I went to 770, R’ Alperowitz lived far from New York. More than once I wondered whether, if we would meet in Beis Chayeinu, he would recognize me despite the years that had passed. After all, even Yosef’s brothers did not recognize him after he grew a beard. How surprised I was when we met in 770, ten years later, and he recognized me. As soon as he saw me he got up, walked over to me, and loudly said, ‘Od Yosef Chai!’

“Aside from the emotions that overcame me, I discovered the secret of his success with his students. To him, every student was a beloved child like Yosef HaTzaddik was to his father Yaakov!”

SIGNS OF AFFECTION IN THE EARLY YEARS

R’ Sholom Ber Alperowitz, who passed away on 4 Sivan, three months ago, was born 85 years ago, on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz 1930. His father was the famous Chassid, R’ Chaim Moshe, and his mother was Doba Gitta, both from longstanding Chabad families.

His family made aliya when he was five. On the way, they stopped in Poland where they received the Rebbe Rayatz’s bracha. At first they lived in Yerushalayim. Then they moved to Ramat Gan. Before he was eleven he was sent to Yeshivas Achei HaT’mimim which was in Tel Aviv, where R’ Chaim Shaul Brook was the rosh yeshiva. R’ Sholom Ber referred to him admiringly all his life and would quote things he said.

On Rosh Chodesh Adar 5707/1947, the Rebbe Rayatz wrote him:

“In response to your letter, diligently study Chassidus and Nigleh, and at set times strengthen your avodas ha’t’filla. And learn explanatory maamarim, to understand the Chassidic meaning of the avoda of refining character traits in actual practice, just don’t fly off into delusions, and may Hashem grant you material and spiritual success.”

In those days, Chassidim had not started wearing Rabbeinu Tam t’fillin two months before the bar mitzva, only several years later. When a bachur felt somewhat ready, he would ask the Rebbe and wait for his approval. In a letter of 10 Elul 5708/1948, the Rebbe Rayatz wrote him about this and referred to his learning together with R’ Yoel Kahn (“a friend with good talents”):

“In response to your letter about putting on Rabbeinu Tam t’fillin, it is proper to do so and the main thing is to be diligent in learning Nigleh and Chassidus; as it is explained regarding diligence, that it’s not just about utilizing the time but also about putting oneself aside, and devotion to the study of Nigleh and Chassidus. Two are better when learning with a study partner and with a friend with good talents, Hashem should help him. At that time, it is important for the purpose of attaining inner knowledge and a sharpening of the intellectual faculties to review each topic and new insight two and three times, and may Hashem grant them success in learning and fear of Heaven and conduct with good middos, and may Hashem protect them and all the students and parents and their households among Anash and all the Jewish people, materially and spiritually.”

YOU NEED TO BE A MEHALECH

In the winter of 5710, a group of bachurim asked permission to go to the Rebbe to bask in his presence and learn in 770. The Rebbe Rayatz approved their trip and in a letter dated 14 Kislev, addressed to the group – Yoel Kahn, Sholom Dovber Alperowitz, Nosson Gurary, Binyamin Altheus, Sholom Dovber Gurary, Dov Zev Havlin – he blessed them with a good trip and a good settling into Tomchei T’mimim Lubavitch.

A short while after receiving the letter from the Rebbe, they received the sad news of his passing, but R’ Sholom Ber, who received the Rebbe’s bracha for the trip, realized that he should continue with his original plan and bask in the presence of the seventh nasi.

In Tishrei 5711, he set sail and on Erev Shabbos B’Reishis, shortly before Shabbos, the ship arrived at New York. On the pier waited his friends, R’ Yoel Kahn and R’ Ezriel Chaikin. They walked together to Beis Chayeinu.

The next day, during the Shabbos B’Reishis farbrengen, the Rebbe asked, “Where is the guest from Eretz Yisroel?” Those present pointed at him and said, “He’s standing here.”

The Rebbe said, “Is he an omeid (one who stands)? He should be a mehalech (one who goes)!”

During the farbrengen, the Rebbe once again asked for the guest from Eretz Yisroel. After being told that he was standing there, he said again, “Standing? He needs to be moving!”

AN OPEN MIRACLE IN THE REBBE’S ROOM

R’ Sholom Ber was with the Rebbe before the Rebbe officially accepted the Chabad leadership, and he merited incredible kiruvim (signs of closeness). In Kislev 5711, he received a telegram from his father which said his mother did not feel well due to a problem with her liver. He was asked to go to the Rebbe and mention her name and ask whether an operation should be performed.

He asked R’ Chadakov to allow him to see the Rebbe and R’ Chadakov said that since this was urgent, he should knock at the Rebbe’s door and go in. He did so, and when he walked in he saw the Rebbe sitting near the window, wearing his outer coat.

He gave the letter to the Rebbe and after the Rebbe read it, the Rebbe asked him, “What do you remember about your mother – what can she eat and what can’t she eat?”

He said she did not eat salty or fried foods. The Rebbe looked at the letter again and said, “I think they should not do the operation, they should consult with other doctors and do as they say.” Then the Rebbe asked again, “What do you remember,” and after he repeated what he said earlier, the Rebbe repeated his opinion, not to operate.

Sholom Ber immediately sent a telegram home with the Rebbe’s answer. This was on Sunday, and on Friday he received a response from his father that they had moved his mother to another hospital and the doctors there said it was a miracle that she did not have the operation. If she had had the surgery, she would not have survived.

When he told this to the senior Chassidim, they told him that just as he went to the Rebbe in distress, so too, he should report back to the Rebbe with the good news. He decided that on Friday night, after Kabbalas Shabbos, he would tell the Rebbe.

Right after the davening, before the Rebbe went to his room, before he closed the door, he noticed Sholom Ber. Sholom Ber immediately said, “Gut Shabbos,” but before he managed to say another word, the Rebbe said, “Nu, what? It wasn’t necessary, it wasn’t necessary!”

After that, his mother lived another twenty-five years.

YOU CAN TALK
CHASSIDUS TO HIM

In 5716, R’ Sholom Ber began working in the Shusterman print shop. He worked primarily on translating booklets and s’farim into Hebrew. As the son of the oved R’ Chaim Moshe, R’ Sholom Ber decided to fast on the short winter days. He realized that he anyways hardly ate during the day in the winter so it would be the best time for fasting.

He started fasting and kept this fact to himself. Some time later, he had yechidus. Before going in, he filled a few pages with the topics he wanted to mention to the Rebbe and upon entering he gave the papers to the Rebbe. He had mentioned fasting as one of the topics.

The Rebbe looked at the papers, going through them quickly. When he got to the part about fasting he told R’ Sholom Ber to immediately stop.

***

As was customary in those days, R’ Sholom Ber had yechidus every year for his birthday, on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz. A maamer of the Rebbe Rayatz would usually be published for 12 Tammuz, and when he had yechidus, the galleys were already in the Rebbe’s room.

For a number of years, the Rebbe brought him the galleys for him to learn the maamer in connection to his birthday. One year, the maamer had not been prepared for printing yet, and the Rebbe took out the original manuscript of the maamer, handwritten by the Rebbe Rayatz, and gave it to R’ Sholom Ber so he could learn it on his birthday. Then he was to return the manuscript.

***

One night of yechidus, the Rebbe left Gan Eden HaElyon (the yechidus room) and met R’ Sholom Ber who remained up all night as the bachurim sometimes did, on yechidus nights.

“What are you doing here?” asked the Rebbe. “The Rambam says you need to sleep eight hours!”

While speaking, the Rebbe began looking for a Rambam on the tables in 770 in order to show R’ Sholom Ber the source.

On another occasion, when Shazar had yechidus before he was appointed president of Israel, the usual procedure was that when he left yechidus, he was escorted by R’ Binyamin Altheus. But that night, R’ Binyamin wasn’t there for some reason. The Rebbe told Shazar that R’ Sholom Ber would take him to his hotel; pointing at R’ Sholom Ber the Rebbe added, “You can speak Chassidus with him, he knows Chassidus well.”

SHIDDUCH FROM ABOVE

The Rebbe also personally guided him when it came to a shidduch. This is what happened:

The parents of his wife, Sosha, Tzvi Hirsch and Yenta Breina Rimler, had yechidus along with their daughter. When she said she wanted the Rebbe to guide her as to whom she should marry, the Rebbe said, “You have a brother (referring to Feivel) and he’ll take care of you.”

At that time, R’ Tzvi Hirsch stood together with his son Feivel at a farbrengen. Suddenly, the Rebbe instructed R’ Tzvi Hirsch to say l’chaim and to look toward the side where a few bachurim stood. “Pick a chassan from among them,” instructed the Rebbe.

His son Feivel looked in that direction and saw about eight bachurim. He wrote down their names and brought the list to yechidus. R’ Sholom Ber’s name was on the list but was not one of the first since he was Israeli and did not seem particularly suited to an American girl. Surprisingly, the Rebbe circled his name, thereby establishing that he was suitable for her.

At the same time, R’ Sholom Ber had yechidus regarding a shidduch. When he mentioned the name Rimler, the Rebbe gave his consent and said, “Maskim, maskim” (agreed, agreed), and wished him mazal tov.

Upon leaving, he met his future brother-in-law, Feivel, who was standing there and said, “Mazal tov,” and that is how a shidduch between a Russian-Israeli and an American girl came to be.

YOU HAVE A GOOD HEAD

After he married, R’ Sholom Ber worked for Merkos L’Inyanei Chinuch selling s’farim. In one of the issues of Kovetz Lubavitch from 5716, it acknowledges him for disseminating s’farim, for devoting time to this important goal.

Once, the Rebbe entered R’ Sholom Ber’s office in 770 and the room wasn’t quite organized, to put it mildly. The Rebbe asked him, “Do you know what’s going on here?”

R’ Sholom Ber said he did.

The Rebbe smiled and said, “Then, un ayin ha’ra you have a good head.”

The family relates that while he was still a bachur the Rebbe saw him in the company of R’ Yoel Kahn, and R’ Sholom Ber appeared cogitative. The Rebbe asked R’ Yoel, “What is he thinking about so much? In Eretz Yisroel did he also think so much?”

THE REBBE WANTED CHINUCH

In 5731, R’ Sholom Ber went on a chinuch shlichus to Dallas. Before the trip, the entire family went to Gan Eden HaTachton (the hallway outside the Rebbe’s room) and the Rebbe gave each child a Siddur which they have till today.

In Texas, R’ Sholom Ber and his wife worked in chinuch and in all their free time as shluchim. A few years later, he moved to S. Louis. He also lived for a while in Pennsylvania where he worked with Jewish students. Wherever he went he would give shiurim and spread Judaism in various ways. In addition to the official jobs he had, he was an unofficial mashpia, the kind who meets another Jew and immediately gets into a warm conversation. Many Jews who met him in various places remember him fondly as someone who had a great influence on them. Dozens of them became religiously observant.

In 5736, when he wanted to leave his chinuch position and just spread Judaism, the Rebbe told him: What is the compelling need (in his opinion) that the manner of their shlichus and the location needs to be davka according to his will and the opposite of my will?!

In the same letter, the Rebbe also wrote him about the advantage of davening in shul as opposed to a minyan at home: You will be more successful in hafatza etc. by davening in a shul than in a minyan at home (but this does not negate a minyan at home once a week and the like).

After a number of years, he settled in New Haven where he first worked as a mashpia in Tomchei T’mimim and then in various shlichus positions with Russian immigrants. In his final years, he moved near his daughter in California.

***

R’ Sholom Ber was the kind of person who was immersed in loftier matters, to whom politics meant nothing. He was mekushar to the Rebbe in an extraordinary manner and would write a personal report to the Rebbe every week. This did not stop after Gimmel Tammuz – closets in his house were filled with file folders that contained his reports.

He had a very personal relationship with the Rebbe, like a father and son, and received all kinds of answers like a son would receive from a father.

It was particularly geshmak (enjoyable) to sit and farbreng with him; the stories and interesting recollections flowed forth from him, and the time passed with no sense of it having gone. When he sometimes visited Kiryat Gat to see his son, the mashpia R’ Zushe, the bachurim would farbreng with him. In general, every trip with him from New Haven to New York quickly turned into a kind of two hour farbrengen as he shared some memories, while a tape of Chassidic niggunim played in the background and he simultaneously managed to concentrate on driving.

His grandson, R’ Yisroelik Alperowitz of Kfar Chabad said that he was a very emotional person, and when he shared his memories he could start crying as he spoke. When he heard a niggun he would become completely immersed in it. “My grandfather was a baal koreh when needed and elder Chassidim remember him from his younger years, how he read the Torah in 770. He was charismatic and was a very optimistic, happy person, always, in every circumstance. He fostered a positive atmosphere around him, and even in later years, when he was weak, he tried to make it good for the people around him.”

Said his grandson, “To his family, he will always be remembered as a good and beloved father and grandfather who called every child and grandchild on his birthday to personally bless him. He would also say all the chapters of T’hillim of his descendants every day. The love he felt for them was reciprocated.”

He is survived by his wife, his brothers Yerachmiel and Efraim, and his children: Meshulam Zushe – shliach and mashpia in Kiryat Gat; Yosef Yitzchok – shliach in Bournemouth; Yekusiel – shliach in Massachusetts; Tila Dubrawsky – shlucha in Curitiba, Brazil; Rachel Berkowitz – shlucha in Huntington Beach, California; Bluma Hecht – shlucha in New Haven.