He was the rebbi. He was the talmid.
Few figures lived both titles to their fullest as did the Kamenitzer Rosh Yeshivah Reb Boruch Ber. His shiurim masterpieces of depth and profundity are still the surest path to lomdus the introduction for many a hard-working bochur to the thrills of becoming a yeshivahman. Yet he maintained the reverence and awe of an eager young talmid for his own rebbi Rav Chaim Brisker even after he took his rightful place on the Eastern Wall of the Lithuanian Torah world.
He was a man of lekach (scholarship) and of libuv (heart) the very soul of the Torah. A man of tears and of song of poetry and prayer.
And today seven decades after his passing ushered in an era of unprecedented suffering for our people a new world has risen in which those three words — “Reb Boruch Ber” — have again come to symbolize the totality that can be attained through toil and tearful supplication.
Create a free account to keep reading.
