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25 Nissan 5761 - April 18, 2001 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
HaRav Shimshon Pincus zt"l, Rebbetzin Chaya Mindel Pincus o"h and Miriam o"h
by B. Rabinowitz and B. Kahn

On Thursday afternoon 12 Nisan, tens of thousands of shocked, deeply pained mourners, headed by maranan verabonon the gedolei haTorah, roshei yeshiva, rabbonim, bnei Torah and many family members, followed the aron of the gaon and tzaddik, HaRav Shimshon Dovid Pincus, zt"l, the rav of Kehal Adas Chareidim of Ofakim, as well as those of his righteous wife, well-known educator, Rebbetzin Chaya Mindel, o"h, and their eighteen-year-old daughter Miriam o"h, who had been killed the previous night in a terrible car accident near Netivot. HaRav Pincus is the son of HaRav Avrohom Chaim, ylct'a and Rebbetzin Chaya Mindel is the daughter of HaRav Mordechai Leib Man, zt"l.

News of the accident spread quickly through Ofakim's chareidi community and other Negev communities, and then throughout the entire country.

Shaken to the core, many assembled in synagogues to beseech the Borei Olam for the recovery of the three injured Pincus children: twelve-year-old Ruchama Rochel (to whom the name "Ruchama" was newly added), thirteen-year-old Yosef Dov, and nine-year-old Sholom.

On Wednesday night, 12 Nisan, HaRav Pincus, zt"l, delivered his last shmuess to a large audience in the Beis Shmaya--Chanichei Hayeshivos shul in Ashdod. He then drove to Bnei Brak to take his wife and four children back home to Ofakim. Shortly after 2 AM, his car went off the road and crashed into a tree at the side of the road. The car was totally smashed. HaRav Pincus, his wife and his daughter Miriam were apparently killed instantly.

A short while later, Rav Dovid Almagor of Tifrach drove by and noticed various items scattered on the road. At first he continued on his way. However, after driving a few hundred meters, he decided to turn back. Upon reaching the site of the accident, he noticed a young boy on the side of the road: thirteen-year-old Yosef Dov, who was injured relatively lightly, was calling to passing cars for help. Rav Almagor found him in a state of shock and worried about his parents.

Rav Almagor summoned police, rescue and medical forces. In the meantime he pulled two children out of the smashed car. A military helicopter conducting a nearby drill arrived on the site and lit up the area, allowing the subsequent discovery of Rochel, who had been hidden by some bushes and was critically injured. The three injured children were transferred by a Magen David ambulance to the Siroka Medical Center in Beersheva. Futile efforts to revive HaRav Pincus, his wife and his daughter Miriam were made on the site.

Shortly afterward, some of the family members were informed of the disaster, as were Ofakim's askonim, who immediately began to tend to hospitalization and levaya arrangements. In the morning, the critically wounded Rochel was operated on by three medical teams, who struggled for fifteen hours to save her life. On Thursday night, she was transferred to the Children's Intensive Care Unit in critical condition, and is still in need of much rachmei Shomayim.

In Ofakim

That afternoon, thousands of members of the Negev chareidi communities gathered in the Kivisi Hashem Torah and Tefilloh Center courtyard. Prior to the onset of the levaya and delivery of words of his'orerus, the crowd tearfully recited chapters of Tehillim.

Rosh yeshiva of the Ofakim Yeshiva, HaRav Chaim Kamil, lamented: "`Shovas mesos libenu; nehepach le'eivel mecholeinu, noflo ateres rosheinu. Oy lonu ki chottonu.' Rabbenu, you were the heart of Yisroel. Everything touched your heart and, as the Rambam says; `the heart of the king is the heart of all Yisroel.' You immediately sensed the presence of anything in the world requiring correction. `Vayar besivlosom:' wherever there was suffering, you immediately sensed it.

"We still recall your enormous efforts made on behalf of the tzidkonis of Ofakim [Rebbetzin Tova Deutsch, o"h,] when she was in Mexico. You paid no heed to your own honor, and no effort was too much for you. Now that we are all preparing for Pesach, we recall how morenu verabbenu would prepare for the holiday, and how we felt yetzias Mitzrayim and the kedushoh of the holiday in his presence. We have suffered a great loss. Who will replace him? He was concerned about each and every individual, as well as about Klal Yisroel. Who can replace him?

"When commenting on Hakodosh Boruch Hu's words upon the death of Nodov and Avihu: `Bikrovai ekodeish ve'al penei kol ho'om ikobeid,' the Rashbam says: `Despite the terrible calamity, Aharon Hakohen continued with his service of Hashem.' Although a terrible calamity has occurred -- one so great that its meaning is difficult to fathom -- we must still fulfill the words of the Rashbam and continue with holiday preparations. It is erev bedikas chometz, and we know that at a similar event, morenu verabbenu would have pleaded that no woman travel to Yerushalayim [for the levaya] but instead remain at home and continue preparations for the holiday.

"Who will comfort us? Who will comfort the esteemed family, a family of gedolei haTorah? How can we comfort them? There is, however, one thing we can say: Morenu verabbenu, your great solace is that your sons will be gedolei Yisroel and all of us must continue in his path, the path he taught us: that of seeking and loving peace. You are going to Shomayim to drink that preserved wine -- wine that alludes to the secrets of the Torah, many of which you grasped in your life. Now that you have gone to Shomayim, the secrets you grasped will shine before you.

"We ask that this be the last sacrifice, and that we pursue his way of granting chizuk and rejoicing and honoring the holiday. May Hakodosh Boruch Hu comfort the family, for we lack the words to comfort them. Only Hakodosh Boruch Hu can comfort. May you be a meilitz yosher on behalf of the entire family and all of us, so that the verse `kiyemei tzeisecho mei'Eretz Mitzrayim ar'enu niflo'os, ba'agolo uvizman koriv.'

The rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Ofakim, HaRav Yaakov Horowitz, called out: "`Noflo ateres rosheinu; oy lonu ki chottonu.' The main theme of Pesach is that Hakodosh Boruch Hu passed over the homes of the Jews. But now, just before Pesach [the opposite has occurred]. A tzaddik and a godol beTorah in both the nigleh and the nistar, one who did much chesed and a righteous woman, both of whom dedicated themselves unstintingly on behalf of all of us [have been taken away]. A great mezakeh horabim, who brought light into every corner, [is gone]. Ribono Shel Olam, have pity on us. Sacrifices upon sacrifices are offered, and now the choicest korbonos olah possible.

"It is impossible now, nor is it the time, to deliver a hesped. It is not a time when one has strength to speak. The bereavement is so great that `Lecho dumiyo tehillo' is appropriate. I don't know how much is permitted and how much is possible to say. We have a tradition that one of the main reasons [such calamities occur] is that [we are amiss] in our interpersonal relationships. The gemora in Sanhedrin says that the extent to which the dayan must bear the community is that of, `as a nursemaid carries the infant.' The community must be related to as to a child. It must be raised, nurtured, borne and given in to. The dayan must possess a deep understanding of how to behave toward the community and each member of it without compromising, yet at the same time seeing the virtues of each and everyone.

"He must know, as morenu verabbenu said, that there are problems that cannot be solved, with which we will have to grapple until Moshiach comes, may it be speedily, in our times. But until then, each person must tolerate his fellow, appreciate him and see his virtues. There are differences of opinion in any given community, and that is natural. Nonetheless, one must know that the other party is also human and that he, too, has his own difficulties and pains. One must know that despite all differences of opinions, one must respect his fellow, something we have seen in the nigleh and the nistar.

"Had we merited to be closely bound to each other, despite differences of opinion and despite the knowledge that there are irresolvable matters that arouse hatred when they are disputed, matters on which one must remain silent, letting each side go his own way [things might have been better]. We must continue to do chesed -- and this community does endless chesed. Nonetheless, we should be stronger on this point. Now that Reb Shimshon, zt"l, who was like a raging storm in Torah study, yiras Shomayim, chesed and filial respect, has gone up in a storm to Shomayim, we should be spurred to love and respect our fellow. Perhaps the resolve to [follow in his footsteps] will save us now.

"Oy, Reb Shimshon, how will we manage without you? What will Rosh Hashonoh and Yom Kippur be like without you? How will it be without your good smile? You, your rebbetzin and your daughter are now going up to Shomayim, to the yeshiva shel ma'alah. Don't forget us. All of the angels are going out to greet you now. When standing under the Kisei Hakovod, plead that Hakodosh Boruch Hu have pity on us, as well as on the sacred community of Ofakim and on your children, and that the Father of the Orphans should raise them as you wished: to be gedolei haTorah, tzaddikim, tehorim, and that Hakodosh Boruch Hu strengthen them.

"In the name of all of us, I ask your forgiveness. We loved you very much. There was no one who did not love you. Therefore, may you and the rebbetzin forgive us, and be meilitzei yosher on behalf of the klal and the individual. May Hakodosh Boruch Hu have pity on us, and may death terminate forever, and the tears be wiped from every face."

The rosh yeshiva of Tifrach HaRav Aviezer Piltz lamented: "`Kol Hashem bakoach; kol Hashem behodor; kol Hashem shover arozim, vayeshaber Hashem es arzei haLevonon.' In everything occurring in the world -- be it good or not -- one must hear Hashem's Voice; every event has an accompanying Voice. The abovementioned verse teaches us that there is another voice, that of `kol Hashem shover arozim' -- a special voice that can break the Beis Hamikdash and cut down the cedar of Lebanon. There is a cedar that exists only for itself, and there is a cedar that holds up an entire community, as well as a cedar that holds up a beis medrash. There is also a cedar that holds up [many] souls and not only one cedar, as alluded to by `vayeshaber Hashem es arzei haLevonon'. This is a voice to which we must hearken and listen to ascertain what Hashem has done to us.

"We always heard Reb Shimshon in the Kol Hashem bakoach. He gave us the ears to hear Kol Hashem behodor. And now, when he is in the state of `tzaddikim are greater in their deaths,' he has bequeathed us a new ear, to enable us to hear Kol Hashem shover arozim.

"`Oy lonu ki chottonu. Al zeh dovo libeinu. Heililu, zo'aku al shever bas Tziyon; shever al shever hoshbarnu.' The posuk says: `Chesed ve'emes nifgoshu, tzedek vesholom noshku.' We ourselves saw that there was one man among us whose sole essence was the pursuit of truth, one who was unafraid to express his opinion everywhere and in every form. And even from the gashmiyus and the world of falsehood, truth sprang out of the earth, and a person emerged who always searched for the truth, which was his guiding light.

He never compromised on the truth. Yet how much chesed, peace and tzedoko came from him. He was a blend of the very truth which Hakodosh Boruch Hu revealed to the angels when He told them that truth will spring from the earth -- from within the earthliness and the world of falsehood, from the world of dissension. Here, the very same power of truth we saw in Reb Shimshon is so necessary -- the power of truth that we saw in Rebbi Shimshon which proved that one can be zealous for the truth on each and every point while nonetheless maintaining a state in which truth and chesed meet, justice and peace kiss -- `chesed ve'emes nifgoshu; tzedek vesholom noshku.'

"Now that we are not deserving, Hakodosh Boruch Hu, so to speak, searches for the truth on earth, that very force of zealousness in which one does not compromise even one iota on pure hashkofoh, and tells each man what he must be told, but with such love, with such sholom and chesed that he would break all barriers. All who came in contact with him will testify to the deep love they felt for him, and how with each tocheicho he gave them, their hearts filled with love, because they saw that this was not a matter of middos but rather one of seeking the truth.

"How many orphans are now crying out: `Abba!' The entire sacred community of Ofakim cries out: `Abba!' Jewish daughters call: `Ima, who will teach us the correct hashkofoh?' So many baalei teshuva cry out: `Abba, to whom have you abandoned us?' Surely Hakodosh Boruch Hu, Who is entirely chesed and rachamim will hear our cries and place our tears in His cup, from whence they will be sent to console the boys and the girls and grant complete recovery to the ill. May He Who told the world: `Enough,' say `Enough' to our misfortunes, and may we all merit to celebrate Pesach, `kiyemei tzeisecho meiEretz Mitzrayim ar'enu niflo'os.' May this be the final calamity before the impending Geulah, and may Hashem wipe the tears from every face."

HaRav Dovid Man, rosh yeshiva of Kfar Chassidim and brother- in-law of the illustrious niftar, cried out: "It is written in the Torah that Soroh should be eulogized and wept over. There is eulogy (hesped) and there is weeping. I cannot digest all that occurred here. Only Reb Shimshon could have done that. But what I can do is not to maspid but, rather, to weep. Reb Shimshon was one who brought light and joy to the world, and to a certain degree was included within the category of the Light of the World. Wherever he went he brought the light of Torah, the sweetness and joy of Torah. Yet all this has been taken away from us.

"How can one speak about the rebbetzin who is lying here. It is erev Pesach and she was totally involved in preparations for the holiday. How I recall the Pesach holidays in her home. Abba, zt"l,o"h, passed away, you assumed her role and became the mother of the entire family, standing beside Abba ceaselessly, without limits. Miriam, o"h -- instead of being led to the chuppah, instead of hachnosas kallah -- you have credited everyone with the mitzvah of halvoyas hameis. Oy, what has Hashem done to us? Ribono Shel Olom, we are bereft -- without a father and without a mother.

"Such zikui horabim! He was one of the most unique mezakei horabim of our generation, and he performed that mitzvah with such humility, goodness of heart and yiras Shomayim.

"The pure daughter, clean as snow -- instead of wearing the white clothing of a kallah is now wearing a white garment of a different sort.

"Beseech the Father of the Orphans to heal all those who need immediate recovery. May He send them a full recovery. May death cease forever, and may Hashem wipe the tear from all faces."

Citing the verse, "Ke'ish asher tenachmenu, kein anachemchem ne'um Hashem," the oldest son of the Pincus family, HaRav Yisroel Yaakov, said: "We justify the Divine din tzedek that has befallen us, ki emes Osiso va'anachnu hirshonu.' Hashem has given and Hashem has taken. We must thank Hashem for the years in which we had a father and a mother who were gedolei hador in Torah, chesed, humility and love of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Who merits this for even one day? We must thank Hashem for the past, and cry out over the future.

"Tzaddikim are greater in their deaths than in their lives, and we are certain that they will continue to illuminate the way for us to raise our brothers and sisters. We are certain that this is the end of the way and that our yeshu'oh will soon come. Who knows what was supposed to have occurred and why, instead, Hakodosh Boruch Hu took these three tzaddikim to atone for the generation. May this be Am Yisroel's last catastrophe, and may we merit to see them among the other meisei Yisroel at the time of Techiyas Hameisim."

To Yerushalayim

From Ofakim, the levaya went to Yeshivas Torah Ohr in Jerusalem. In front of the yeshiva on Sorotzkin Street, tens of thousands of mourners assembled, headed by gedolei haTorah, roshei yeshiva, rabbonim, dayonim and thousands of bnei Torah who had come to accompany the three illustrious niftorim on their last earthly journey. At first, chapters of Tehillim were recited, verse by verse. Acheinu Kol Beis Yisroel and Mi Shebeirach for the recovery of the children injured in the horrible accident were then said.

The first hesped was delivered by HaRav Shlomo Brevda, who said: "How many tzaddikim and kedoshim have come here to greet the sacred niftar, the sacred nifteres and their righteous, pure daughter! This is a very special couple -- unique in our generation. Morai verabbosai, who knows for how many of us the esteemed, pleasant, amicable niftar, as well as his wife and daughter have atoned. They atoned for Klal Yisroel. Each one of us must be aroused by the harsh verdict and make at least one resolution that from this day on he will improve and strengthen himself in ruchniyus. In that manner, we will repay the niftar. But if, Heaven forbid, we do not improve our ways, and if one person returns home and reverts to his regular life -- to the indolence of bein hazmanim, to the tefilloh of bein hazmanim, to the slow learning of one who feels that he is in the capacity of ke'eino metzuveh ve'oseh, to wasting time, reading newspapers, strolling in the streets -- and does not decide to make drastic, immediate, long-lasting changes in these areas, then we haven't paid the niftar.

"Woe to us! How many have been killed or injured? How many have been orphaned, bereft? How many students, old and young alike, have been left without a father and a mother, from both a material and spiritual standpoint. The Gaon explains that the phrase in the parsha of eglo arufo: `Ki yimotzei cholol' -- `and if a corpse is found' intimates that the deceased whose body was discovered did not die due to his own sins, but rather as a result of the sins of others. He says that the phrase, `it is not known who struck him' means that it is not known for whose sins he died. Who among us struck this niftar [HaRav Shimshon] by the neglect of Torah study, by making light of tefilloh, by empty gossip, loshon hora and jest? At the end of the parsha it is written: `Ki sa'aseh hayoshor be'einei Hashem.' The Gaon says that this teaches that it is possible to prevent the spilling of innocent blood by being upright. Which is the path a man should choose? He should love tochochoh."

HaRav Yitzchok Ezrachi, one of the roshei yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva, called out: `Bechol chutzos yomru Hoy, Hoy, vekor'u yikro'u le'eivel umispeid.' One doesn't have to be great in order to be maspid the gaon and tzaddik, his wife, the rebbetzin, and their daughter. One may arouse the community to mourning and lamenting in all of the streets, and there is no need for a special person to deliver a hesped. In all streets of the Torah world there is lamenting. Many were those who were drawn closer to Ovinu ShebaShomayim by Reb Shimshon. Many were influenced by him to do teshuva. A large task force is required in order to accomplish his work. We are all obligated to emulate him.

It says: `Hoshev teshiveim.' The Shlo says: `This does not just mean to return [a lost object], but to bring back to Ovinu Shebashomayim.' Whoever can influence and does not do so, is liable for the sin of his fellow townsmen.

"In Hilchos Ta'anis, the Rambam writes: `It is a positive Torah mitzvah to cry out and to sound the trumpets over every disaster befalling a community, as it is written: `Because of the enemy that besieges you, you shall sound the trumpets.' Over everything that occurs, cry out. This response is one of the ways to do teshuva. In times of calamity, cry out and shout that all has occurred due to our evil deeds. This will result in the elimination of the calamity. If the people do not cry out, but say: this calamity is a chance occurrence, or a natural disaster, this is a cruel path that causes the community to become more attached to its evil deeds. The Beis Hamikdash was burned due to the deaths of tzaddikim. Just as Yom Kippur atones, so do the deaths of tzaddikim. When tzaddikim die, people see this and are aroused, and that atones. It is difficult for Hakodosh Boruch Hu to strike, but He wants to elicit more yiras Shomayim from each and every one of us, and we must strengthen ourselves, scrutinize our deeds and do teshuva."

HaRav Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg, the rosh yeshiva of Torah Ohr, called out loudly: "Awake you slumbering from your sleep. All need chizuk. Chizuk is always necessary. We must have strength during the zman and during bein hazmanim. Wake up slumberers; wake up those who are asleep. Everyone requires chizuk with all his strength. `All of my bones shall say: Hashem, who is like You,' with joy, the joy of the Torah. Our entire vitality comes from the Torah. One must toil in Torah: another halocho, another sugya, another saying, more kavono in our prayers, more acts of chesed. Climb higher and higher in ruchniyus. The lesson for all of us is to do complete teshuva."

HaRav Chaim Avrohom Pincus, the niftar's father, sobbed bitterly when he delivered a hesped over his son: "It is difficult for me to deliver a hesped. This is a difficult sugya from beginning to end. There is no explanation. Should we leave the kushya aside and continue on? Such a godol. He, his wife and their daughter were all tzaddikim. There is no explanation for what occurred. What explanation could there be? Hesped is like hefsed. We must take the hesped and see what Am Yisroel has lost. We have no conception. We cannot think. For 56 years, Hakodosh Boruch Hu granted us a loan, and all of the benefits were ours; they were the benefits of all of us. We received a trust for 56 years, and he took nothing for himself, not even for a moment (dakkoh achas lo sholach yad). Nothing was for him. Everything was for the klal. There were times when he came to Yerushalayim to deliver four droshos. Then he would leave in the middle of the night and arrive home very late, all for the sake of the klal.

"We have no concept of his love of chesed. He searched for chesed. It was difficult for him to travel, but he always traveled, during the day, the night. Everything was chesed. He influenced tens of thousands. I once asked him whether people didn't grow tired of his droshos. He said: `When they will not listen, I will stop speaking.' He would travel wherever he was asked to speak -- all over the world, all for the sake of the tzibbur. You were cut down in the middle of your life. I never heard your wife complain about your being away from home. Shimshon, my son, you did everything for the sake of the klal. Now that you are arriving in the World to Come, make an uproar for the sake of klal, so that we will be able to continue our lives."

The next to speak was HaRav Yaakov Hillel, the rosh yeshiva of Chevras Ahavat Shalom, who said: "Who can explain the difficult sugya and resolve the question? Only Reb Shimshon could have explained it. He would have known what to say. He would have discerned the message. Last year, he spoke in our yeshiva and mentioned the verse, `Vayar es hamokom meirochok,' which refers to Avrohom Ovinu and Yitzchok Ovinu who saw the Shechina from afar, as opposed to the two servants who did not see the Shechina. In this vein, Avrohom told them: `Shevu lochem poh im hachamor,' meaning am hadomeh lechamor -- a nation which is like a donkey. Reb Shimshon said: `In every instance in life, in everything that occurs, there is an inner point, a cloud above it linked to the Shechinah. One who does not see it is like a nation which is am hadomeh lechamor.'

"He was a great talmid chochom who spread Torah to his students. He was also great in chochmas hanistar. He penetrated the hearts of hundreds and thousands throughout the world, and drew them back to their roots. His inner point was truth. There is truth tinged by ulterior motives and personal issues. But there is also genuine truth. He would wander from place to place. He sacrificed all for Hashem. He consecrated everything to Hashem with pure hashkofos. Hakodosh Boruch Hu said of Avrohom: `Lema'an asher yetzaveh es bonov acharov.' Reb Shimshon dedicated his entire life to the klal, and on this night, the night of bedikas chometz, by the light of a candle -- Reb Shimshon knew how to penetrate the heart and to search the chometz in its recesses. Who will show us the way? Who will teach us wisdom? How can we approach bedikas chometz without your light in the world?"

HaRav Eliyahu Man, Rebbetzin Pincus' brother, tearfully cried: "Shimshon, Shimshon, you were a light that illuminated the entire world. Now that light has been extinguished. `My brother, my brother, you were very pleasing to me.' Rebbetzin Chaya was the daughter of her mother. Such modesty. `Ve'at olis al kulonoh.' Modesty from Shomayim, out of profound wisdom. Oy Miriam, Miriam, in your lives and your deaths you did not part. You are going to the yeshiva shel ma'alah. You will meet Abba, Ima. How close you were to them. Approach the Kisei Hakovod and plead for the full recovery of the children. Ask that they continue with good health. This light will continue to shine. It is an atonement for all Am Yisroel. It is an early korbon Pesach. May the sacrifice be accepted with grace."

The final hesped was delivered by HaRav Moshe Man, Rebbetzin Pincus' brother. He cried out: "`Oy meh hoyo lonu.' The beloved and the pleasant ones. We were a large chaburo, and a large stone has been uprooted. `Mi yokum li im merei'im, lehochichom beShmi?' Who else can rebuke them in My Name, and teach Am Yisroel to draw closer to Hashem? Who can replace him? It is the eve of bedikas chometz, when one should check all of the nooks and crannies for chometz. Oh, how Reb Shimshon exhorted us to examine our inner chometz all year, and not only on this night. Now we are accompanying three neshomos. These three niftorim will perhaps atone for Klal Yisroel, and as a result we will merit the genuine Poroh adumoh and to sacrifice the korbon Pesach in Yerushalayim."

At the end of the hespedim and the recitation of Kaddish, an entourage of tens of thousands of people accompanied the gaon, HaRav Shimshon Pincus zt"l, his wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mindel, o"h, and their daughter Miriam o"h, to the cemetery on Har Hamenuchos, where they were buried after sunset. A massive, weeping throng remained in the cemetery until the grave was closed.

His Biography

HaRav Shimshon Pincus, son of HaRav Avrohom Chaim, ylct'a and Rebbetzin Pincus was born in Av 5704 (1944). In his youth, he was one of the founders of Beis HaTalmud in America and a student of HaRav Leib Malin, zt"l. He came to Eretz Yisroel to study in the Brisk Yeshiva under HaRav Yosef Dov Soloveitchikzt"l. After his marriage to Rebbetzin Chaya Mindel, o"h, he lived in Bnei Brak, later moving to Tifrach in the Negev.

During that period he was the menahel ruchani of the Yeshiva of Ofakim and later became rosh yeshiva of the Yerucham yeshiva. Over twenty years ago, Maran the Kehillos Yaakov sent him to preside as the rav of the prominent, sacred chareidi community of Ofakim, which he led with much mesiras nefesh, caring for the needs of both individuals and the klal in a remarkable manner.

For many years, he went abroad to bring dvar Hashem to Jews all over the world including the United States and South Africa, and he drew many back to Torah-true Judaism.

He wrote a number of important seforim, among them: She'orim Betefilloh which sold tens of thousands of copies in several languages, Shabbos Malkeso and Tifferes Torah on the Torah and the Shas and more.

His wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mindel, o"h, daughter of HaRav Mordechai Leib Man and the righteous Miriam, was born in Sivan 5708 (1948). When the family lived in Tel Aviv, Chaya Mindel studied in HaRav Sharansky's seminary, and when they moved to Bnei Brak, she transferred to HaRav Wolf's seminary. Upon completion of her studies, she served as a teacher in the seminary, and later as a teacher in the Haddasim school in Tifrach. Eight years ago, she founded the Neveh Miriam school in Ofakim, named after her mother. Two years ago, HaRav Yeshaya Lieberman, director of the Mercaz Beis Yaakov network, asked her to serve as principal of the Neveh Yocheved high school, where girls from Ofakim, Tifrach and the surrounding areas study.

HaRav Pincus and his wife are survived by eleven children, four of whom are married, as well as by a large family of roshei yeshiva and marbitzei Torah.

A Request for Prayer and Rachamim

The public is asked to continue to entreat Shomayim to grant refuah shlaimo to the three injured children of the Pincus family: Ruchoma Rochel, who is in need of much rachmei Shomayim, and Yosef Dov and Sholom. They are bnei Chaya Mindel.

Request for Material

The family and the talmidim have asked for anyone who has a tape of HaRav Pincus to contact them "may they not prevent the good from those who can receive it, and send the tapes in to one of the committee to continue spreading [HaRav Pincus's] Torah (it goes without saying that the originals will be returned after a copy is made)."

We include some of the addresses here: Yerushalayim - HaRav Boruch Shoshan (586-8207); Bnei Brak - HaRav Hillel Pincus (616-1828); Kiryat Sefer - HaRav Yoel Mandel (974-2573); Beit Shemesh - HaRav Meir Yungreis (999-0208).

The general address is: POB 140, Ofakim, Tel: 054-893366.

 

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