02 Nov REMEMBERING MY REBBE RABBI MOSHE TENDLER ZT”L ON HIS SHLOSHIM
(BASED ON REMARKS DELIVERED AT THE SHLOSHIM IN JERUSALEM, 23 MAR CHESHVAN)
The Torah relates ּהָתֹּכְבִלְו†הָרָׂשְל†דֹּפְסִל†≠םָהָרְבַא†אֹבָּיַו†– Avraham eulogizes Sarah. But the Torah doesn’t tell us what Avraham said. Why doesn’t the Torah doesn’t record Avraham’s hesped for Sarah?
Maybe the answer is simple: How can you begin to describe such greatness? Can words adequately describe such a life? Such a legacy?
I feel inadequate trying to describe the life and legacy of Moreinu HaRav Moshe Dovid ben Yitzchak Isaac, zt”l. Instead, I will try and describe a little of what he meant to me and to Klal Yisrael.
Rav Tendler was so many things: A posek and a professor. A rosh yeshiva with a PhD in microbiology. A synagogue rabbi and a scientist. But to me, he was my Rebbe Muvhak. When I was in yeshiva and trying to find my place, floating from shiur to shiur, I ended up in Rav Tendler’s classroom at the suggestion of a friend, and as Rav Tendler would say, I never left.
His shiur was like no other in the yeshiva. Rav Tendler wouldn’t get lost in abstractions, pilpulim, or lomdus. Instead, his shiur was aliba d’hilchita, focused on halacha l’ma’aseh, the practical application of halacha. The sugya came to life as Rav Tendler would share real shaylas, questions and cases he was involved in, drawing on years of experience as a posek. We would often look together at the teshuvot of his beloved shver, HaGa’on Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l, with Rav Tendler providing fascinating footnotes and important background information to the teshuvah, often cases he was personally involved with.
He taught us halacha, ‘hands-on.’ Following his petirah, a former talmid sent around a video of Rav Tendler slicing open K’chal, a cow’s udder, on the desk of a YU classroom. He beleived it was not enough to just learn Yoreh De’ah, you have to see it for yourself: היארל†העימש†המוד†הניא. I shared with this talmid how one year, I managed to convince Rav Tendler and RIETS for a Hilchot Niddah shiur taught by him. On the first day of class – the very first day! – Rav Tendler passed out ‘mar’ot’ stapled to index cards for us to examine!
Rav Tendler’s Torah was a ‘Torat Chayim,’ a living, breathing Judaism that engages the modern world and confronts its challenges. He believed that an understanding of science, technology, and the metzi’ut is indispensable in order to understand Torah and apply halacha.
He embodied Yeshiva University’s motto of Torah U’Madda. He saw no conflict between the Torah & Science. For him, they lived together in perfect harmony. They complemented one another. He was equally at home quoting Galen as he was quoting the Rambam. Equally at home in the dalet amot of the Beit Midrash and the four ells of the science lab. But he would often quip that there should “be more Madda in the Torah classes, and more Torah in the Madda classes!” And that’s just what he did. He brought science into the Beit Midrash and Torah into the laboratory. Sophisticated sugyot were illuminated by scientific material, and his biology classes were peppered with statements of Chazal.
Rav Tendler defined ‘Torah L’shmah’ – the study of Torah for its own sake – as ‘L’shem Hora’ah,’ for the sake of being able to rule; to render p’sak halacha.
He would invoke Kiddushin 30a:
ירבד†והיש†≠†םתננשו”
םדא†ךל†לאשי†םאש†ךיפב†םידדוחמ†הרות
“דימ†ול†רומא†אלא†¨ול†רמאתו†םגמגת†לא†רבד.
“The words of Torah should be sharp in your mouth, so should someone ask you a question you will not stammer – instead – answer him immediately.” And he was critical of those who study in yeshiva or kollel for many years, but when asked how to make a cup of tea on Shabbos, ‘don’t want to pasken.’
He wanted his talmidim to be competent and confident in answering a shayla.
Often after Shiur I would follow him down into his office in the basement of Furst Hall. And it was not uncommon for me to be sitting with him in his office or in his study at his home in Monsey, discussing something and he would receive a phone call – usually from across the great expanses of the globe – on some serious matter. And it was also not uncommon for him to quickly gesture to me to pick up the phone and listen in on the conversation, so I could hear how he navigated the complex question.
He was also the address when the answer was unclear, or the question too great for a newly-minted rabbi. We knew we could turn to him and he would guide us. One of the poskei ha-dor was just a phone call away, always magnanimous, always generous with his time.
And it was no surprise that he was so generous with his talmidim, he loved us. Chazal compare the rebbe-talmid relationship to the parent-child relationship:
.”ךדימלת†ולא†ךינב†Æךינבל†םתננשו”
He treated us like his own children, and our children like his grandchildren. Our s’machot were his s’machot; our successes were his successes. He was deeply invested in his talmidim, and was so proud of their accomplishments.
As a posek he could be unyielding, uncompromising, and unapologetic. He was a formidable אתגולפ†רב. But with his talmidim he was loving. He would greet us with an embrace, a peck on the cheek, sometimes a gentle slap on the cheek or the head if we asked a ‘klutz kashya.’
Together with his Rebbetzin a”h, he would open up his home to us for Shabbat, Yom Tov, and Chanukah.
I remember the first time I spent a Shabbat at the Community Synagogue of Monsey. I was both surprised – but not really surprised – to see that Rav Tendler was the ‘candyman’ at Shul. Spending Simchat Torah there one year with my family, Rav Tendler gave out treats and toys to the children with the same enthusiasm and love as when he danced with the Torah.
On more than one occasion I brought my bechor, Shalom, to shiur with me when my wife and I had no babysitter. While most roshei yeshiva and professors would see this as a distraction, Rav Tendler quoted the Yerushalmi which relates how the mother of Yehoshua ben Chananya would bring his crib into the Beit Midrash הרות†ירבדב†וינזא†וקבדתיש†ליבשב“so his ears might cleave to the words of the Torah” (y. Yevamot 1:1). I remember he once gave my son his large ring of keys to play with – and of course to my horror the toddler put the dirty keys in his mouth. But Rav Tendler said it was fine. Who was I to argue with a microbiologist who developed a cancer drug in the 1960’s?
Rav Tendler was a towering intellectual giant, but at the same time very down to earth and approachable. He was famous for his sense of humor. He possessed a sharp wit and biting sarcasm. Always quick with a comment or a comeback. Once when asked by a student if a certain decadent dessert made with dairy equipment can be eaten after meat, he wondered aloud if it should be eaten at all, given just how unhealthy it is.
In his shiur, Rav Tendler would regale us with stories. We were transported to a long lost world where he grew up, which he called a “small shtetl in Europe, known as the Lower East Side of Manhattan.” He connected us to the gedolim of previous generations: Rav Henkin, Rav Soloveitchik, Rav Kahaneman, Rav Hutner, the Lubavticher Rebbe. Often, while relating a story about his beloved shver, HaGa’on Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Tendler would have to hold back the tears.
For Rav Tendler, sharing these stories and anecdotes was not ‘bittul Torah.’ He was connecting us with the Mesorah. He taught his students more than just a ‘blatt Gemara,’ he gave us a glimpse into greatness.
My 10yo was watching the levaya with me and innocently asked, “Who will be your Rebbe now?” Fighting back the tears I answered him ‘I don’t know.’ Yes, there are poskim I can consult with. Yes, there are shiurim I can attend. But you only have one Rebbi Muvhak who teaches you המכח†בר, who guides you and shapes you.
I can say that I feel Rav Tendler’s presence in my life very strongly.
“ייח†םייורק†םתתימב†םיקידצ”. His Torah and guidance continues to guide me as a rabbi, teacher, husband and father.
השמכ†םק†אל†השמ†דע†השממ. Like Moshe Rabbeinu, Moshe ben Maimon, and HaGa’on Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Tendler taught Torah to generations, connecting them with our rich mesorah. He was a living link in the chain of tradition and leaves a lasting legacy in the myriads of talmidim he taught and inspired.
Yehi Zichro Baruch.
Rabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel lives and teaches in Jerusalem, where he serves as Mara D’atra of Har Nof’s Kehilat Zichron Yosef and Rosh Kollel of the Sinai Kollel.