31 May REMEMBERING MY BROTHER-IN-LAW RABBI ZECHARYAH WALLERSTEIN ZT”L ON THE SHLOSHIM

This Wednesday, June 1st is the shloshim of your brother in law, Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein z”tl. Is there something that you would like to say?

What can I say that has not been said?

The message that I’ve been saying when discussing my brother-in-law Zechariah is that when people are going to leave this world and we’re going to have to speak to Hashem, Zechariah Wallerstein is going to be our biggest problem. Everyone is going to have an excuse as to why they couldn’t do anything. They say “Who am I [to do something]?”

Zechariah Wallerstein taught us that that excuse is meaningless, and when something has to be done, it has to be done. He didn’t take the approach of saying “Who am I [to step up] when there are more talented people, wealthier people, more powerful people that will do it.” Instead he said, “There are things to get done and I will do them.” And he did. And that’s why he was able to accomplish [what he did] in a life that was unfortunately cut too short. He was niftar on Parshas Kedoshim, a parsha that has 64 pesukim, and Zechariah lived for 64 years. Rashi on this parsha actually starts off by teaching us that this is the parsha that “behakel nemra,” meaning this was the parsha that was read when all the Jews were together. I think that it’s no coincidence that Zechariah was niftar that week. Zechariah was a person that cared for every Jew; There’s no difference between who they were or where they came from. That sums up his 64 short years.