Rav Yisroel Belsky — rosh yeshivah, posek, mechanech, shochet, sofer, mohel — has influenced decades of talmidim and brought yeshivah education to new levels since the early days of Torah Vodaath, when many of his classmates stopped keeping Shabbos after leaving for high school. Rav Belsky’s motto throughout the turbulence of the last half-century: “The worst thing to do is to look down at the world; every generation has its own challenges.”
It was a cold Motzaei Shabbos 14 months ago when Rav Yisroel Belsky shlita rosh yeshivah of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and preeminent posek was fighting for his life atMaimonidesMedicalCenter. Surrounded by close family members and a team of surgeons Rav Belsky was about to undergo emergency surgery to seal a rupture of his esophagus when he was urged by relatives to transfer to a prestigiousManhattan hospital for the complex procedure.
Barely able to speak Rav Belsky adamantly refused saying that to run off to another hospital would not show proper kavod toward the Maimonides surgeons who had begun treating him. And then just five minutes after he was wheeled into the operating room his heart abruptly stopped beating. Because he was already on the operating table and a stent was “mysteriously” near the surgeons at the time the Rosh Yeshivah’s life was saved. Following extensive treatment and rehabilitation — with countless tefillos uttered on his behalf — the Rosh Yeshivah returned to both the beis medrash and his communal duties four months after the ordeal and has been fully active since.
Rav Belsky’s daughter Mrs. Tamar Rechnitz — wife of noted philanthropist Reb Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz — reflects on this incident and the open miracle that followed. “This is my father’s essence” she says. “In any state he’s in he’s busy thinking about everyone else.”
Several weeks ago I had the merit of visiting Rav Belsky in his Kensington home a day after he underwent a relatively minor surgical procedure. Although he was still recovering the Rosh Yeshivah was warm patient and eager to share his insights on a variety of issues that Klal Yisrael is grappling with — the late hour and pleas that he rest notwithstanding. Despite being in his 70s and his recent health challenges Rav Belsky remains a towering figure both literally and figuratively. His tone is soft yet his ironclad vision and determination to help Jews everywhere are discernible in every word.
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