It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rav Mordechai Marcus zt”l. He was 78 years old.
Rav Marcus, rov of the Lakewood Minyan in Flatbush, was one of the gaonei hador, one of the most outstanding talmidei chachomim of our time.
In his younger years, Rav Marcus was a talmid at Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yaakov Yosef (RJJ). Even as a young ben Torah, he was already recognized for his brilliance. It was said that even the rabbeim respected Rav Marcus, knowing that in a moment he could refute a sevara or shlog up a shiur.
With a grasp of all of Shas and Shulchan Aruch, Rav Marcus’s breadth and depth of yedios haTorah were breathtaking. His talents and encyclopedic knowledge benefited the ArtScroll Schottenstein Gemara, for which he served as an editor, as well as those who attended his many shiurim.
Equal to his absolute brilliance in Torah, Rav Marcus was as humble a person as one could meet, with sterling middos and deference for every individual, no matter who they were.
Rav Marcus is survived by his wife, Rebbetzin Devorah Marcus, and children, all bnei Torah and marbitzei Torah, and grandchildren. His children are R’ Shloimy Marcus, R’ Shaya Marcus, R’ Michoel Marcus, R’ Aharon Marcus, R’ Avrumi Marcus, R’ Moshe Marcus, R’ Aryeh Marcus, Mrs. Miriam Hendler, and Mrs. Rochel Hamaoui.
The levayah will be held this morning at 11 a.m. in Lakewood, NJ.
The levayah can be joined via Zoom: Meeting ID 87869821149, Password 024588.
Call in: +1 346 248 7799 or +1 646 558 8656 – Meeting ID 87869821149, Password 024588.
Yehi zichro boruch.
{Matzav.com}
wow where do u begin;
the marcus mishpacha was ” the minyan hakollel” in crown heights
a minyan of giants of which harav mordechai zatz”l was the biggest
kol hatorah kulah , never did anything else
his rebbetzin raised a large mishpocho & worked to support the family
hayeled chaim – tragicly niftar at age 11 on his bike
an under the radar giant, ashrei to those that joined his minyan
doesn’t do his גאונות justice
Oy! A tremendous loss for klal yisrael!!
I used to shmooze with him in learning years ago when I was in kollel.
His yedios and straigt foward approach was one of a kind.
His pashtus and middos were one of a kind.
!אבידה שאין לו תמורה
BDE
Where is the Lakewood minyan in Flatbush ?
1495 Coney Island Ave between Ave k and Ave L
On Coney Island Avenue between Ave K and Ave L a cross the street from the Paperific supermarket
On Coney Island Avenue, just down the block from Pomegranate, small and unassuming and easy to miss – just like the Rav!
Does anybody know the Rav’s full Hebrew name? I would like to dedicate something l’zecher nishmaso. I believe his name was Mordechai Tzvi Halevi, but I don’t know his father’s name. It’s not included on the Misaskim listing like other niftarim, and I don’t want to bother the family today.
Mordechai tzvi ben R`moshe haleivi
Reb Moshe
Moshe ( not sure that’s the full name)
Hagoan harav mordechai zt” was a close talmid of Hagoan harav mendel kravitz zt”l rosh yeshiva of RJJ.what a loss for klal yisroel.A true talmid chocham , level of previous doros.His middos and gentleness went hand in hand with his gadlus b’torah.
נפל אדם גדול בענקים חבל על דאבדין ולא תשתכחין בקי בכל התורה כולו תמיד מלא בשמחת החחים ועניו וצנוע יהי זכרו ברוך ותורתו לעד ודוגמתו ומידותיו לא נמצא תמורתו ה ישלח נחמה למשפחת האבילה על האבידה הגדולה
זכיתי ליהות מקטני תלמידיו
he was from the top תלמידי חכמים of our generation.
I was fortunate to have Rabbi Marcus in 11th grade. His gaones was unmatched, I remember when I once mentioned to an Adam Gadol who my Rebbe is , he told me that our Dor will be answering in shamayim why we weren’t properly mechabeid this Gaon.
At Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yaakov Yosef (RJJ), Rav Markus z”l learned for a while in the class of HaRav Varshavchik zt”l.
Several years later, I learned in the Rav’s class.
Before Sukkos, HaRav Varshavchik told us a story.
On East Broadway, it was like a “chicken market” bustling with hundreds of people on line and not on line approaching the Arba Minim stands which were one next to another.
It was a real balagan.
But HaRav Varshavchik had something else on his mind. He remembered that years ago he had said a pshat to explain a difficult Rambam, and he couldn’t remember what he had said.
He approached one of the sellers, who was engrossed in showing people his products, and asked him if, perhaps, he remembered the pshat.
Without batting an eyelash, he immediately said over the pshat to the Rav.
Yussie Ausfresser, who was in the class with me, immediately responded that it must have been Mordechai Marcus.
HaRav Varshavchik smilled and nodded his head in agreement.
What a great loss for Klal Yisroel.
Yehi zichro baruch.
we knew the family Marcus when we and they lived in Crown Heights.
a family of such righeous people – full of chesed. please HaShem may the
family continue to grow and give each and all of us continued nachus.
simcha and feygeh sarah friedman
betar illit, israel
..