20 Jul A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE

Shabbos Nachamu is even
more special for me than
most people as it’s my
Bar Mitzvah parsha. I
remember how 55 years
ago my parents hosted
a magnificent kiddush
in Saltzman’s bungalow
colony even though two weeks later they
would make an elaborate Bar Mitzvah
weekend (as was the custom at the time) in
the Pine View Hotel. I still recall my mother
preparing a gigantic and beautiful salad with
every possible color of vegetable. It was
simply magnificent to look at.
Recently, I gave an interview for
Torahanytime.com called “Behind the Lens,”
with their host Rabbi Hillel Eisenberg. (You
can watch this interview on Torahanytime
or on YouTube.) There were some viewers
who left comments, as is common on these
platforms. One of the comments was quite
meaningful to me. The commentator wrote
that he remembered listening to me give
drashos in the Granit Hotel 50 years ago. He
also included that he was inspired by me then
and is still inspired by me to this day.
This kind comment jogged my memory of
how my Father, Reb Aron Tzvi ben Reb Meir,
Heshy Weiss, zt”l, zy”a, brought our family
to a Pesach hotel (although we certainly were

not rich). We went for the specific purpose
of launching my harbatzas Torah career. And
how he succeeded! Those years in the “Granit”
gave me the confidence and experience to
prepare shiurim for large audiences which
propelled my career as a Marbitz Torah. As
it was recently my Father’s yahrzeit on gimel
Av, this remark from the interview generated a
pleasant and meaningful walk down memory
lane.
I remember that we lived on 14th Avenue and
46th Street in Boro Park, Brooklyn. Very close
to us was a fine bakery called Mandelbaum’s.
But further away, on Ft. Hamilton Parkway,
there were fabulously sumptuous cinnamon
buns, thick, sweet and juicy, that were baked
at a bakery called Sable’s. Every Friday,
Daddy went far out of his way to buy these
cinnamon buns for our Shabbos pleasure.
In the 60s, like most young children, my
brothers and I were into baseball cards. We
used to flip them at recess, and trade them
trying to get an entire team. I remember
one time, Daddy came home wearing a thick
overcoat and, as we greeted him, he said,
“What do I have in my pocket?” and he pulled
out a pack of cards for each of us! As we
squealed in delight, he rattled his other pocket
and said, “Wait! What do I have here?” and
pulled out another two packs of cards. How
happy he made us, and look how I remember

these joyful occasions and emotions
55 years later!
This is our job as parents: To make
memories for our children. We never
know when we will hit a home run
and a particular memory will impact
for a lifetime.
As children of the 60s, we enjoyed
reading Hardy Boy books. Daddy
would regularly check Linick’s Toy
Store to see whether the newest book
in the series came out, and he would
promptly buy it for us to our great
enjoyment.
Daddy would attend all my shiurim. I
still remember how he complimented me
on a well-prepared and structured shiur. I
also remember how, in one large drasha,
I mispronounced the word ‘catholicism,’
saying instead ‘catholokism.’ After the shiur,
he came over to me and told me, “That can’t
happen again. If you’re not absolutely certain
how to pronounce a word, then don’t use it.”
Once again, Daddy gave a lesson that served
me well for over half a century.
I want to share a story with you of what a
father’s reaction can accomplish even if it’s
given at a moment where rebuke might be
called for. This story has been preserved in
the Otzros Penini HaTorah (among other
places) and packs a very powerful lesson.
When the incredible Skver Village of
New Square, New York was opened,
the late Skverer Rebbe, HaRav Yakov
Yosef Twersky, zt”l, zy”a, spoke at the
groundbreaking ceremony. He proclaimed
publicly that this tremendous milestone
was made possible by the tutelage of his
father. He cited the following amazing
anecdote.
When the future Rebbe Yakov Yosef was
a young child, he had a very rambunctious
nature. His father, the Rebbe, had on his
stately desk an inkwell and quill. The
curious future Rebbe desperately wanted
to use it. The Rebbe, however, didn’t let
him, firstly because ink was very expensive
in those days and secondly because of his
fear that his energetic son would proceed to
write on the walls or his clothing, etc. The
Rebbe, therefore, would keep the inkwell
and quill on the highest shelf of a locked
closet. The young lad, however, was
patient and waited for his opportunity.
One day, the Rebbe had to leave suddenly.
In his haste, he put the inkwell on the
top shelf but didn’t lock the closet. The
young Yakov Yosef promptly seized the
opportunity. He pushed the Rebbe’s heavy
desk towards the closet and climbed on top.
However, alas, he still couldn’t reach it.
So, he brought the Rebbe’s coveted chair to
the desk and somehow managed to place it
on top of the desk. Next, he climbed onto
the chair and he finally had, cradled in his
hands, the coveted inkwell.

Just as he was about to descend, still holding
the inkwell, the door opened and the Rebbe
walked in. Yakov Yosef was so panicked
at the pending reaction of his father that he
dropped the inkwell which shattered on the
desk and, even worse, the ink splattered
upon some of the Rebbe’s precious seforim.
At that moment, his holy father, the Rebbe,
walked over to the child and, with a smile,
gave him a kiss on the forehead and said,
“Yankele, with such a powerful ratzon, such
ferocious willpower, there is no end to how
many wonderful things you will be able to
accomplish.”
Years later, HaRav Yakov Yosef, now
the Grand Rebbe, at the groundbreaking
ceremony continued by declaring how his
father’s words geminated in his mind and
he made a commitment to have the will to
achieve many good things. And it’s only
because of this lesson that he was able to
accomplish the almost impossible task of
creating Shikun Skver.
This is the power that we, parents and
grandparents, have: To make memories and
launch careers and ambitions with the seeds
that we plant, with what we say and do, for
our descendants.
In the merit of striving to leave our mark on
our progeny, may Hashem bless us with long
life, good health, and everything wonderful.