Rabbi Binyomin
Shlomo zt"l, known to all as Reb
Zalman Spitzer, was the scion of a distinguished
family, boasting gedolei Torah such as HaRav
Avigdor Karo zt"l of Prague. He could trace his
ancestry to the Tanna Reb Nechunyah Ben HaKoneh.
Despite his being orphaned of his father, R' Dovid, as
a young boy, his mother was determined that this not
affect his Torah education.
She sent him away to yeshiva where he learned "Torah
mitoch dachkus" at its extreme. His bed was the
bench of the beis medrash where he would lie
down
for a short sleep after the last person left the hall.
With the return of the first bochur, R' Zalman
was up and once again absorbed in his gemora.
He was later heard to remark that his favorite food was
raw carrots, from his yeshiva years. He would then
ruefully explain, "My poor, widowed mother scraped
together whatever she could and managed to send me a
pittance of thirty hellers a month. What could I buy
for this pitiful sum that would sustain me for four
whole weeks? I found out that for one heller I could
buy three carrots, and this became my daily
sustenance."
His poverty, however, had no negative repercussions on
his Torah studies, which remained intense. Years later,
although destitution was no longer his lot, the taste
of raw carrots meant to him the sweet taste of
undisturbed Torah learning.
***
R' Zalman married Gittel, the daughter of the holy
Chasam Sofer zt"l. Suffice it to say here that
her father described her as "mein heilig kind"
(my holy child).
The family relates that the Bubbe Gittel's inner
perfection radiated to the outside too.
The Chasam Sofer once entered her room and found her
sobbing. While outside a man had followed her and then
asked her to turn around so he could see her pretty
features. Pained that her attractiveness could cause
people to sin, she was crying and davening to
Hashem to have mercy on her and remove her beauty.
"Blessed are you my daughter," exclaimed the Chasam
Sofer, "and may Hashem fulfill your request. However,
in place of your own radiance, you will merit to have a
son who will illuminate the Torah world!"
Subsequently, Gittel suffered a difficult illness which
left her face scarred and distorted. The second part of
her father's brochoh also came to be, when she
had a son (by her first marriage) who became the famed
Rabbi Akiva Kornitzer zt"l, rov of Cracow.
***
When Reb Zalman was asked by the Viennese Jewish
community to serve as their rov, the idea of the honor
and bitul Torah involved put him off. In
Sheilos Uteshuvos Maharam Shick, we find a
letter
that the Maharam wrote to his talmid R' Zalman,
answering his query as to whether he should refuse the
offer on the grounds of the bitul Torah it would
cause him. The Rebbe knew his talmid well and
foresaw in him the ability to save authentic
Yiddishkeit in Vienna from the ravages of
emancipation. In his reply to R' Zalman, he encouraged
him to accept the rabbonus of that prestigious city.
In time it was proven that the Maharam Shick had indeed
sent the ideal delegate to uphold kvod Shomayim.
Reb Zalman perceived that the "enlightened" Jews were
gaining the upper hand, claiming ever more of the
roshei hakehilloh and distinguished
Yidden.
He then did something unprecedented in all of Europe.
Separating from the main community, he founded his own
kehilloh.
At its inception, the Kahal Adas Yisroel, better known
as the Schiffshul (due to its location on the
Schiffgasse), numbered less than a minyan.
Like the Chashmonaim of old, they upheld their banner
of loyalty to Hashem and strict adherence to His
mitzvos without the defilement of "enlightened"
doctrines. Slowly this small band who rallied around
Reb Zalman grew in number and strength, eventually
consisting of a few thousand Jews who faithfully clung
to Torah-true ideals and methods of chinuch,
ensuring the continuation of pure
Yiddishkeit.
Reb Zalman's glorious kehilloh continued to
thrive until Kristallnacht - November 1938, when
the Schiffshul went up in flames and the subsequent
churban killed and scattered its congregants. It
seemed at the time that this unique blend of Austro-
Hungarian Jew living according to the halochos
and traditions of the Chasam Sofer had been annihilated
together with the Schiffshul itself.
However, after the war the few remaining survivors
picked up the shattered remnants of their lives and
rebuilt the Schiffshul on the friendlier shores of
America and England. They are today the thriving
communities of Kahal Adas Yisroel in New York and Torah
Eitz Chaim in London. Thus R' Zalman Spitzer's legacy
lives on.
***
R' Zalman's style of horo'oh became world-
renowned, as he earned a reputation as having the power
to be mattir. He would often say that it is much
easier to be machmir than meikil, but
that
one cannot take the easy way out on the cheshbon
of others.
Although he himself was extremely stringent when it
came to kashrus (he was known to eat only what was made
in his house, even excluding his children's homemade
food), he would nevertheless try his utmost to render
kosher according to Shulchan Oruch a
sheiloh that was put to him.
Vienna's old-timers would recall that when R' Zalman
formed his own kehilloh, the general community
wished to pay him a pension since he had served as
their rov. R' Zalman, however, refused to take their
money which he considered at best questionable.
During all his years as rov his children testified that
most of his wages were divided up among the city's poor
and needy. He was often seen personally making his way
to the homes of wealthy Jews, be they frum or
unaffiliated, in order to collect funds for "his"
aniyim.
***
Reb Zalman was a calm person who spread an aura of
tranquility, never getting excited or agitated even in
extreme cases.
Once on a Friday afternoon, close to Shabbos, someone
entrusted the Rov with a wad of banknotes to keep over
Shabbos. Reb Zalman placed the money in a cupboard in
the dining room accidentally leaving the key in the
lock.
On Shabbos morning, the gentile maid came as usual to
light the coal fire. Looking for a paper she could
light first, the simple girl found one cupboard with a
key in the lock. There she found exactly what she
sought. The printed papers were soon lit and within a
few minutes a crackling fire warmed the house.
When the owner of the money returned on motzei
Shabbos to retrieve his deposit, the family soon
discovered what had occurred and ran to inform Reb
Zalman.
The Rov realized immediately that, according to
halochoh he would have to repay the huge sum
from
his own pocket since he had been negligent by leaving
the key out. Despite the enormity of the financial
burden that had just fallen upon him, he retained his
calm demeanor. "Nu nu," he shrugged. "If so,
we'll have to pay."
Upon the petiroh of Reb Zalman Spitzer
zt"l
on the second day of Chanukah, the family decided to
bury him in Pressburg where his great father-in-law
lies.
The levaya set out from the Rov's house and made
its way to the train station near the Pressburg
cemetery. The mayor of Vienna, generally a Jew-hater
but an ardent admirer of Reb Zalman Spitzer, sent an
honor guard of horsemen to accompany the funeral. In
addition, he ordered all the highways along the route
closed and the night lamps to be lit in honor of the
great flame that had been extinguished.
>HaRav Reb Zalman Spitzer, zt'l, of Vienna