Connecting With Greatness: Impactful Encounters of Rav Binyamin Rimmer

By C. Sopher

With Rav Binyamin Rimmer current visit to the United States, Matzav.com takes a look at Rav Rimmer’s background and shares inspiring anecdotes about the esteemed rosh yeshiva.  

The weekly Shabbos morning Chumash shiur in Unsdorf’s Be’er Shmuel shul started as an impromptu. American yungerleit thirsting for leadership, old-timers eager to hear a fresh vort, lingerers who were curious about the huddle in the corner… It is not a homogenous group, per se, yet another such forum of learning and insight, where a variety of men are magnetically drawn to the astuteness and warmth of R’ Elyashiv’s youngest son-in-law, HaRav Binyamin Rimmer.

At a glance, you can sense his flooding Simchas Hachaim and Ahavas Yisrael, instantly evident in his radiant  countenance and serene manner. Just a short encounter is enough for one to grasp the reason behind his staunch following; to know Rav Binyamin is to love him, to follow him, to yearn for a deeper connection to greatness.

Early Years

Rav Binyamin is the eldest child born to R’ Mordechai and Rebbetzin Zelda Rimmer zt”l. His father had been tortured in Auschwitz before arriving in Eretz Yisrael in 1945, the lone survivor of his Munkatcher family.

As a young refugee eager to rebuild amidst a world of destruction, R’ Mordechai was miraculously plucked from kibbutz life and sent to learn under the illustrious gedolim of Yeshivas Chevron. It was there that he clung to the family of Reb Chatzkel Sarna and maintained a lifelong friendship with his son, R’ Chaim.

R’ Mordechai eventually married the daughter of the esteemed Rav Elyah Shachor who had been the highly regarded rav of Parostk, Poland, prior to WWII. The couple settled in Batei Haradna where they were surrounded by the legendary talmidei chachamim of Yerushalayim at that time. Growing up, Rav Binyamin was neighbors with R’ Yisrael Yaakov Fischer and R’ Avraham Bardaki, witnessed R’ Velvel Tchechik up close, and played with the grandchildren of the Brisker Rav.

“One cannot describe what it means to see such Yidden standing all day on Yom Kippur, nor witness the bitter tears they shed on Tisha B’av… These were nights that no one entertained the notion of going to sleep,” Reb Binyamin reminisces. It was exposure to the richness and day-to-day simplicity of such illustrious giants and their families that molded Reb Binyamin’s aspirations for personal greatness and achievement.

Rav Binyamin spent his childhood years in Yeshiva Eitz Chaim, where he was regarded as one of the outstanding talmidim. He kept a rigorous chazara schedule and covered many masechtos. With a promising future as a talmid chacham, the young bochur had his eyes set on learning in Yeshivas Ponovezh, yet at the time, learning in the Ponovezher Rav’s Grodno yeshiva in Ashdod was a prerequisite requirement for admission to the yeshiva. That opportunity proved to be premature.

Charting a New Course In Lakewood

A sharp rise in political tensions reawakened the painful war memories that R’ Mordechai Rimmer had diligently attempted to move past. He feared for his teenage son’s safety, insisting that he not travel to a yeshiva far from home and remain local for another year. The outbreak of the Six Day War in the summer of 1967 further exacerbated R’ Mordechai’s unease and encouraged him to explore alternative options for his son. At the time, R’ Mordechai served as the Mashgiach in the Tchebiner Yeshiva and delivered a shiur in the Achva shul, where he became acquainted with several of R’ Berel Solovetichik’s talmidim.  Reb Elya Ber Wachfogel who learned there also lived across from Tchebiner Yeshiva and davened in the yeshiva every Shabbos. The two enjoyed a personal relationship, and Reb Elya Ber eagerly offered warm recommendations of the young bochur to gain him admission to Beis Medrash Gavoah of Lakewood, where his father R’ Nosson served as Mashgiach.

Traveling from Eretz Yisrael to America to learn was far from popular at the time, especially for a Yerushalmi-bred boy as young as 16, yet R’ Mordechai was confident that Rav Binyamin would acclimate with time and become enriched from the superior level of learning that Lakewood offered. His close friend, R’ Chaim Sarna was a brother-in-law of the Rosh Yeshiva, R’ Shneur Kotler, and penned an additional letter of recommendation to accompany Rav Binyamin on his journey halfway across the world.

“I came to the Rosh Yeshiva late in the summer of 1967, and presented these 2 letters to him, not knowing what to expect,” Rav Binyamin remembers. “Reb Shneur thought it was strange that I wanted to enter the yeshiva at such a young age; the youngest bachur in Lakewood then was only 21. Among the notable bachurim who were at least 24 were R’ Chaim Ginsburg, R’ Nissan Goodman, R’ Yaakov Busel, R’ Shmuel Miller, and R’ Nachi Gross. R’ Shloime Miller was one of the esteemed yungeleit.

“R’ Shneur was very skeptical of accepting me and sent me to R’ Nosson Wachtfogel’s basement home in Williamsburg to see what he’d say.  R’ Nosson was hesitant as well, and suggested that I speak with R’ Shoime Miller, who was at his in-laws, the Rivlins, not far from where the Wachtfogels lived. We discussed Maseches Pesachim for a bit, and then he concluded that I should be admitted to the yeshivah. He believed that with some extra support, I would be able to acclimate and catch up.”

Arriving in Lakewood in Elul of 1967 was a challenging adjustment for Rav Binyamin. R’ Nissan Goodman was the first familiar presence who introduced him to the others and established his place by their table for meals. It was an overwhelming beginning; the student body in the yeshiva had rapidly swelled from 80 to 140 that zman, with a big influx of bochurim from Philadelphia Yeshiva, Torah Vadaas, and other yeshivos, as well. The bochurim were significantly older and more advanced in their learning, yet many of them knew R’ Mordechai Rimmer from their tenure in Eretz Yisrael, and made the extra effort to help his young son adjust, despite their cultural divides.

While Rav Binyamin was able to communicate one-on-one with the bochurim in Yiddish, following their English conversations and finding a chavrusa was nearly impossible. Like everyone else, he spent the winter zman immersed in Maseches Gittin, although he learnt mostly alone, and gratefully accepted R’ Nissan Goodman’s offer to learn Maseches Zevachim together at night.

Before the summer zman began, R’ Shneur notified him that he had made new arrangements. Rav Binyamin fondly recalls,  “I was shocked when the Rosh Yeshiva told me that he arranged for me to learn with R’ Shloime Miller in the morning and with R’ Nachi Gross in the afternoon. He had always been trying to look out for me, but there was little he could do in the beginning, and this was a real advantage.”

Learning with R’ Shloime Miller proved to be an invaluable experience, both for the breadth of knowledge that Rav Binyamin was exposed to and for skills he honed in the process.  “R’ Shloime knew Shulchan Aruch with precision; he was regarded as a rav, despite his young age. People constantly interrupted our learning to discuss their shailos, and it was unbelievable to see how he answered and turned straight back to the Gemara. He wrote everything down, and would build deep concepts that incorporated the whole hekef of the sugya.” 

It was following that summer zman that Rav Binyamin integrated more with the bachurim and eventually wasn’t regarded differently. “We were a group of 6 bachurim and R’ Efraim Zeraven was Rosh Chabura. I learned with him bchavrusa, and was expected to give chabura like everyone else, although I had never done something like this. When I spoke to the Mashgiach about it, he encouraged me to ‘just jump in and swim’. I still remember the Rambam’s shitta in bor that I said over, on which R’ Efraim genuinely complimented me afterwards. Although I was only 17 then, I had learned from R’ Shloime how to properly develop a concept and give it over with clarity.” These are attributes that continue to stand out in Rav Binyamin’s dynamic delivery in any forum.

At that time in Lakewood, there were chaburos of bachurim from Philadelphia and Ponovezh, as well.  In one corner of the Beis Medrash sat bachurim who had come from Ponovezh and were talmidim of R’ Shach and R’ Shmuel Rozovsky. They would repeat the mussar shmuessin that they had heard from their mashgiach, R’ Chazkel Levenstein, and stood out as real lamdanim.  In another corner were the bochurim who had learned in Philadelphia. “I was lucky to benefit from some of the prized yungerleit in yeshiva. On Thursday nights, R’ Chaim Epstein would say an excellent chabura. R’ Mayer Hershkowitz, would give chaburos on Friday nights between Kabalos Shabbos and Maariv, in the Ezras Nashim. Everyone would sense the tension and hear the fighting in learning that went on in these chaburos.”

Rav Binyamin felt privileged to have been exposed to such high caliber Bnei Torah whose hasmada surpassed that which he had witnessed in Eretz Yisrael. “The yungerleit in Lakewood would learn for hours, as if they were carefree bachurim, not breaking for lunch.” Such was the uplifting environment in which Rav Binyamin learned, grew, and forged meaningful connections. The two years he spent as a Lakewood talmid remain fondly etched in his memory to this day.

Encountering American Gedolim

R’ Nosson Wachtfogel was revered as the brilliant mashgiach of Beis Medrash Govoha, yet simultaneously, an approachable person with whom it was easy to cultivate a relationship.  Rav Binyamin fondly remembers the depth of R’ Nosson’s mussar shmuessin, each one artfully constructed with the meticulousness of a Gemara shiur.  Rav Binyamin cherished the personal relationship they built, and drank up his personal accounts as a bochur in Kelm. “I loved speaking to him, “ Rav Binyamin says. “His face would be radiant as he described Shabbos in Kelm as if it was Olam Habah.  The bachurim there were immersed in their learning the whole week, and once Shabbos came, there was a palpable Malchus.”

Witnessing R’ Nosson during the Yamim Noraim left an indelible impact on Rav Binyamin. Long after the bochurim had concluded Mincha on Erev Rosh Hashanah, R’ Nosson could be seen completely bent over and immersed in his davening, maximizing the last tefilla of the year.

There were other prominent gedolim that Rav Binyamin encountered personally during his tenure as a bachur in America. He fondly recalls spending many occasions with Chassidishe relatives, the Frankels, who lived on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. As they davened by the Bluzhever Rebbe, Rav Binyamin often opted to walk 4 blocks on his own to join the Litvishe minyan in Mirrer Yeshiva.

“After davening one Friday night, I waited in a long line to wish ‘a gut Shobbos’ to the Mashgiach, Rav Hersh Feldman. The Mashgiach noticed that I was a young bachur who wasn’t American and asked where I was staying.  I answered on Avenue N and Ocean Parkway, wished him ‘a gut Shobbos’, and left.  Soon I sensed that someone was following me and was surprised to see that the Mashgiuach himself was escorting me home. We shared a pleasant conversation; I was certain that he lived near my cousins, yet after two long blocks, he wished me ‘a gut Shabbos’ and turned towards the opposite direction.” The warmth Reb Hersh extended towards Rav Binyamin remains with him to this day.

Rav Binyamin recalls a memorable encounter with Rav Shmuel Brudny. It was February of 1969 when Brooklyn was hit by a record-breaking blizzard and the unaccustomed Israeli bochur trekked to the Bluzhever shul in tall snow boots that his cousin had lent him. “We were 7 men hoping to form a minyan, when suddenly  R’ Shmuel Brudny entered.  The Bluzhever Rebbe turned to R’ Shmuel and asked, ‘I don’t understand, R’ Shmuel.  You live a good few blocks away.  Did you not have anything else to do but trek here in the snow?’  R’ Shmuel immediately answered, ‘Is davening with a minyan not a valuable enough reason to make the trek? I came here just to daven with a minyan.’”  Such was R’ Shmuel’s staunch commitment to a Mitzvah that left its imprint on the young bachur.

Traveling to a wedding with R’ Moshe Feinstein was another unforgettable experience Rav Binyamin cherishes. Sharing a mutual relative with the Rimmers, R’ Moshe was excited to meet ‘the Parostka Rav’s einkel’. “When R’ Moshe realized who I was, he inquired about my Zeide,” Rav Binyamin recalls. “‘He sits and learns,’ I said. ‘That he always did,’ responded R’ Moshe. ‘I was in the Blumke shul in Minsk when it was empty, with only your grandfather, R’ Elya Shochar, sitting at his shtender, immersed in his learning. That he always did…“

Rav Binyamin describes that memorable ride. “R’ Abish Brodt, who was also learning in Lakewood then, was driving a full car, and R’ Moshe sat in the back, between his Rebbetzin and another bachur.  I listened intently as they spoke in learning and suddenly heard R’ Moshe say, ‘It’s a b’feirushe Rambam in peirush hamishnayos in the beginning of maseches Shabbos.’ R’ Moshe went on to quote the lengthy peirush hamishnayos, stopping between phrases to explain. From the passenger seat in the front, I couldn’t see R’ Moshe, but was sure that he had an open Sefer on his lap. When I turned and glanced behind me, I saw that every word had been said by heart, translated perfectly. Later that night, I davened Maariv with R’ Moshe.  For him it was a regular Maariv, but what I saw that night made it clear that the R’ Moshe I had witnessed in learning, was the same R’ Moshe in his davening; he was palpably standing before a King.”

Returning Home

As his father had hoped, the two years that Rav Binyamin spent as a bochur in Lakewood proved to be a stepping stone towards further achievements. Rav Binyamin entered Yeshivas Ponovezh in Elul of 1969, eager to finally draw from the wellsprings of R’ Shach, R’ Shmuel Rozovsky, and R’ Chatzkel Levenstein. A true talmid, Rav Binyamin frequently quotes insights from his Mashgiach in his shiurim, and admits to constantly visualizing R’ Shmuel in his mind’s eye.

It was Reb Shachne Koldestsky, a mutual friend of R’ Elyashiv and R’ Mordechai Rimmer who suggested the shidduch between their children. Rav Binyamin married R’ Elyashiv’s youngest daughter, joining the illustrious line of today’s Torah leaders. The couple settled in Yerushalyaim, where he learned by Reb Berel Soloveitchik for close to 8 years.

Currently, HaRav Binyamin is regarded by diverse audiences as a tremendous talmid chacham and posek, cherished for his blend of warmth, stature, and keen perception. Despite serving as Rosh Yeshiva in Yeshiva Kiryas Melech in Bnei Brak and as Mashgiach in Tchebiner Yeshiva, HaRav Binyamin remains an approachable and memorable presence to all he encounters.

{Matzav.com}