See the Sweetness  

Rebbetzin Kamenetsky was born in the Bronx and grew up in Brooklyn, where she attended Rebbetzin Vichna Kaplan’s seminary. She married Rav Shmuel over 70 years ago and became a kollel wife in Lakewood, a rarity back then, until Rav Aharon Kotler sent his talmidim to different locations to establish yeshivos. Rav Shmuel was sent to Los Angeles and then Philadelphia, where he established the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia.

In a wide-ranging interview with Mishpacha’s Leah Gebber several years ago, the Rebbetzin shared how she felt being married to a rosh yeshivah a gadol.  “I don’t think I feel different from anyone else,” she said. “It’s interesting though, we say in Ashrei, “Posei’ach es yadecha u’masbia l’chol chai ratzon.” Hashem is our loving Father, and every father wants to see his children happy, so He gives us what we truly want. I always loved hearing bochurim learning, so my loving Father gave that to me — I get to hear Torah all the time.”

In real life, however, Rebbeztin Kamenetsky didn’t just satisfy her love of Torah by listening to the sing-song of bochurim, of her sons or of the Rosh Yeshivah. She herself was always learning, always attending shiurim and encouraging other women to do the same.

“When I learned Pirkei Avos and read the words ‘Asei lecha rav,’ I always thought it was a nice suggestion,” the Rebbetzin related. “And then I saw the problems that come to our door. The first question my husband asks is, ‘Who is your rav?’ And nine times out of ten, the person doesn’t have a rav. A woman, too, should have a rebbetzin whom she can speak to, discuss her life with. It’s a command, not a suggestion.”