It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rebbetzin Esther Paler a”h, wife of Rav Binyomin Paler zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Mekor Chaim.
Rebbetzin Paler was a daughter of Rav Shmuel Ehrenfeld zt”l, the Mattersdorfer Rov, and was raised in a home steeped in Torah, mesorah and devotion to avodas Hashem. Those values would define her own life as she became the devoted eishes chaver of a legendary marbitz Torah, the aim hayeshiva of Mekor Chaim, and the matriarch of a distinguished family of marbitzei Torah.
For decades, Rebbetzin Paler stood faithfully at the side of her husband, enabling him to devote himself to Torah and the transmission of the Brisker mesorah to generations of talmidim. While Rav Binyomin’s extraordinary accomplishments in harbotzas haTorah became known throughout the Torah world, behind them stood a devoted rebbetzin who assumed the responsibilities of their home and family and provided the support that allowed him to give himself fully to his talmidim and his yeshiva.
Rav Binyomin was one of the closest talmidim of Rav Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rov. During World War II, he joined the Mirrer Yeshiva and escaped the horrors engulfing European Jewry together with the yeshiva, ultimately finding refuge in Shanghai.
Following the war, Rav Binyomin joined his chaver from the Mir, Rav Leib Malin, in establishing Yeshivas Bais Hatalmud in Brooklyn. The following year, he was appointed a maggid shiur at Yeshivas Chasan Sofer, headed by his father-in-law, the Mattersdorfer Rov. Rav Binyomin eventually became the rosh yeshiva there.
In 1965, Rav Binyomin established Yeshiva Mekor Chaim. Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l gave the yeshiva its name to signify that Rav Binyomin was perpetuating the mesorah of Rav Chaim Brisker. A mesivta was subsequently opened in 1976.
Throughout those years, Rebbetzin Paler was an inseparable part of the story of Mekor Chaim. She was the aim hayeshiva not merely by virtue of being the rosh yeshiva’s wife, but through the role she played in making his life of unrelenting Torah learning and teaching possible. Her home was built around Torah, and the yeshiva and its talmidim occupied a central place in that home.
Rebbetzin Paler possessed the quiet strength and dignity characteristic of the great Torah homes of the previous generation. She was kind and generous, carrying herself with simplicity and refinement, without seeking attention or recognition. Her concern for others, devotion to her family, and deep respect for Torah and its lomdim reflected the chinuch she had received in the home of the Mattersdorfer Rov and Rebbetzin.
She witnessed the rebuilding of the Torah world after the devastation of Europe and devoted her own life to that rebuilding. Through her husband’s harbotzas haTorah, through the yeshiva they built together, and through the generations of their own family, she helped ensure the continuation of the mesorah that had been entrusted to them.
Following Rav Binyomin’s petirah, he was succeeded at Mekor Chaim by his three sons, Rav Yitzchok Paler zt”l and, ybl”c, Rav Zechariah Paler and Rav Simcha Bunim Paler, who continued the yeshiva and the derech established by their father.
In 2012, after nearly 50 years in Brooklyn, Yeshiva Mekor Chaim relocated to Lakewood, establishing its home on Locust Street and continuing there the distinctive mesorah upon which Rav Binyomin had founded the yeshiva.
Rebbetzin Paler endured a profound personal loss in 2020 with the tragic petirah of her son, the rosh yeshiva, Rav Yitzchok zt”l.
She leaves behind a remarkable Torah family and generations of descendants who continue the legacy that she and her husband built over a lifetime.
Rebbetzin Paler is survived by her children, Rav Simcha Bunim Paler and Rav Zechariah Paler, roshei yeshiva of Yeshiva Mekor Chaim; Rebbetzin Olshin, wife of Rav Shmuel Abba Olshin, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah of Hillside; and Rebbetzin Horowitz, wife of Rav Shmuel Simcha Horowitz; as well as many grandchildren.
The levayah will take place today at Yeshiva Mekor Chaim, located at 160 Locust Street in Lakewood, NJ.
Yehi zichrah baruch.
{Matzav.com}
