We Still Have Gedolim…Even Malachim

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rav-elya-ber-wachtfogelAs related by world renowned photographer Tsemach Glenn:

I would like to share with you a moment I witnessed at the Wachtfogel/Licht wedding Monday night at Ateres Shlomo Hall in Brooklyn, NY.

Immediately after the badeken, I followed the father of the kallah, Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe of South Fallsburg, upstairs in anticipation of photographing him giving a bracha to his daughter  before the chupah.

I did not capture the picture that I was hoping for.

The Rosh Yeshiva never made it inside the kallah‘s room.

I can only imagine how it is every Totty’s dream to bentch and share a few precious moments with his daughter before she makes her way down the aisle to the chupah.

I watched in amazement as the Rosh Yeshiva stopped short in front of the kallah‘s room. He caught sight of a close talmid and never even turned the handle on the door. (The talmid is the father of a bochur who was niftar several years ago.)

The two embraced and kissed. Rav Wachtfogel spent the ensuing minutes giving words of chizuk to comfort the man still grieving the untimely and tragic loss of his son.

To those cynics who claim that we have no gedolim, you are wrong.

We even have malachim.

I witnessed it myself.

{Matzav.com Newscenter}


24 COMMENTS

  1. The story is emes. I witnessed it myself. Rav Elya Ber went over to R’ Yanky and spoke to him. You would have never known that Rav Elya Ber was the avi hakallah. unbelievable. I am glad that Tsemach was mefarseim what happened. Beautiful.
    May Hashem give Rav Elya Ber gezunt and nachas and harchovas hadaas.

  2. What people don’t understand, and why they say we have no gedolim, this is not “just good midos”, “oh, he’s every nice guy”, this only happens when somebody is immersed in torah 24/7, and v’ahavata lirayacha klal gadol batorah. this level of v’ahava is nothing more than a product of his constant learning.

    There is a level of being a baal midos, that can only be obtained by learning.

  3. Beautiful story. So typical of Rav Elya Ber, who looks for no kavod, and probably didn’t think anyone even noticed what was going on. What a great Yid. What a gaon olam. Kulo Torah, and the personification of middos tovos. Rav Elya Ber is a living kiddush Hashem.

    And may the talmid and his family have a nechama on the petirah of their son. I remember when he was niftar in BMG. He was a great bochur, and though I didn’t know him, everyone said he was a tachshit of boy who was headed for great things.

    May we only share simchos.

  4. I am a big admierer of the rosh yeshivah and i would also like to share a story that they asked a big rosh yeshivah who is the best outcome of brisk in america so he answered rav meir stern so they asked him what about rav elya ber? so he answered that i answered for sombody with a caoacity of one mind But rav elya ber is like two minds

  5. I give credit to Tsemach for noticing and being mefarseim the maaseh. we need more such stories to be publicized. The problem is that we repeat and report all the negative stuff in the world. We need more of there uplifting types of things. Shkoach Tsemach! kEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

  6. I do not know if this was posted in refference to any comments made yesterday on the posting about the chasuna, but I would like to explain something to all of you regardless. There is nobody (so far as I know) that will tell you “we don’t have any gedolim today”. What (normal) people take offense at is when others try to deify any Rabbi that they hear about in a cult like manner. We can respect and honor our chashuve rabbonim and Roshei Yeshiva without throwing titles at them e.g. “godol hador of America”. This whole attitude of loosely throwing titles around mimicks the secular “pop culture” that we see all around us. Snapping pictures and posting them in everybody’s faces is all related to this foolishness. We should all learn to grow up and look at things sensibly without all the pomp and fanfare associated with every story we see. It so happens that the above story shows a tremendous amount of gadlus of the Rosh Yeshiva sh”lita. good night.

  7. Tsemach is the greatest photographer the frum world has ever seen! He has taken Vehayu einecha ro’os es morecha to a whole new level!

  8. Reb Eli Ber takes after his ilustrous father who excelled in the brilliance in these areas. It’s a loss, that very few if that much realized the briliance of Reb Noson, Z”L, he was the true master in that.

  9. Tsemach you are the man the gadol we all strive to be like and I think that it is all because you were zoche to be close to the biggest gedolim like hagaon reb Shmuel Berenbaum zatza”l and to hagaon reb Zelik Epstein zatza”l

  10. THANK YOU R’ TSEMACH FOR THE MOVING ACCOUNT WITH REB ELI BER. IT WAS TRULY INSPIRING. YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO BE IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME. YOUR PHOTOS ARE REMARKABLE AND REALLY CAPTURE THE MOMENTS. MY HOME IS PLASTERED WITH YOUR PICTURES AND I MEAN THAT LITERALLY. THE CLARITY AND EMOTION IN YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS ARE STIRRING. MY CHILDREN IDOLIZE YOU. KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK.

  11. Tsemach you are the man the gadol this is all because you have an unaccasional kesher with big gedolim such as hagaon Reb Shmuel Berenbaum Zatza”l and Reb Zelik Epstein Zatza”l keep up your great work

  12. We are of course very very proud of Tsemach and as Chazal say “Ish k’fi mehalelo” Tsemach knows what to look for in a Gadol (besides Torah, of course). When we tell our children that this Gadol knew five mesechtos by the age of six (true) or that Gadol knew Shas by the age of thirteen (true too), we are just telling them to give up. The child says “I’m already 8, 9, 14, 18, and I don’t know even one Mesechte. But when we point out the midos tovos of these Gedolim, we are showing them something that they can emulate and live up to.
    They can be Gedolim also. Thank you Tsemach for the nachas.

  13. The comments that are being posted here are pathetic! The fact that people are reffering to R’ Tzemach (even though he may very well be an erliche yid) as a godol just proves my point. Regarding the dope who stated proudly that his children idolize a photographer, I think it would be nice if everyone took just a moment of their time to say a kappitel tehillim for him. Hopefully he will have a yeshuah, and instead of plastering his house with pictures he will utilize his kochos and raise his children normally and properly.

  14. Listen up Mr. Moron Meishiv K’Inyan. For all you know it’s Reb Tsemach’s wife that posted the comment about her children idolizing him. Would that make her a “dope” as you so eloquently stated in your articulate comment? Don’t you get it, pin-brain? Maybe that’s why his pictures are plastered all over their house, Einstein! Duh!

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