Rav Moshe Wolfson

In his later years, the Mashgiach was asked if the talmidim could compile a booklet of minhagim of Emunas Yisroel. He responded with a smile, "From which year?"

The Mashgiach often quoted the Chiddushei HaRim, who teaches that Hashem loves each neshamah because of some unique quality that that neshanah possesses. And anyone who thinks that he knows which quality makes any given neshamah unique and beloved to Hashem is mistaken; only Hashem knows what makes each neshamah unique

"Thank the Eibershter, and if you continue to thank Him, then He will see to it that you should have what to thank Him for"

One day he invited the Yeshiva's Rosh Kollel R' Leibel Wulliger, to speak with him in his office. "R' Leibel," he said, "I started Emunas Yisroel so that talmidim who grew together as bachurim could continue to grow together as yungeleit. But not everyone in our yeshivalh is com fortable with the way Emunas Yisroel davens. I think you should start your own shul that will attract those talmidim who want a different kind of davening."

Two days before Shabbos Nachamu, the Mashgiach called a meeting of the Masmidim. He concluded the meeting with the following: When a seed is planted, it first disintegrates and only then does the process of growth and development begin. Tisha B'Av is a time of destruction, a time when we cannot learn many portions of Torah, a time when during the Churban, the tefillos of Klal Yisrael were rejected. But in that destruction lies the seeds of growth, of redenmption. Shabbos Nachamu is a time to renew our dedication to Torah and tefillah

At a shmuess to the boys pre-bar-mitzvah aged Emunas Yisroel boys, The Mashgiach looked around the table and began: "You know, boys, there are people who make fun of the way Emunas Yisroel davens. They say we daven too loud, that some of us scream during the davening. Boys, are you familiar with what goes on in a sports stadium when they're having a game? Let's say they are playing football, throwing the ball back and forth as they try to score points for their team. There are thousands of people in the stands watching the game. And what are they doing? They're shouting, screaming, clapping their hands... Why are they doing that? It's because they're excited for their team. That's what they do when they get excited. Well, I'havdil, we are excited when we have an opportunity to speak to the Ribbono shel Olam, to daven to Him. So what's wrong if, in our excitement, we raise our voices and daven loudly?"

He once told a talmid: " I don't know what people learn from me, but I hope they learn [at least) one thing: nisht noch tzu machen (not to copy)." And, as someone commented, he did not even copy himself. Each day might bring with it something new

He explained that chassidim refer to a shul as a shtiebel, literally, a room, because a Jew's shul is an extension of his home, another "room" of sorts

Once, someone who was at the amud every weekday morning during his year of aveilus asked the Mashgiach if he had any corrective criticism for him. The Mashgiach responded, "Only one thing. You worry too much about what I'm going to say."

Once, on the way back from the Kosel, R' Boruch Ber Ungarischer, one of Emunas Yisroel's leading Baalei Tefillah, shared a taxi with an Adam Gadol. This person urged him to learn the kabbalistic kavanos related to Hashem's Names that he could concentrate on them when leading the davening. When R Boruch Ber related this to Rav Wolfson, he was adamant. "Chas v'shalomn! It ill take away the varmkeit (warmth) of the davening,"

Rav Wolfson felt that it is not a zechus for the niftar if his son serves as baal tefillah and lowers the level of the davening. He once remarked that it took him twenty years to instill in the kehillah the understanding that serving as baal tefillah on Shabbos and Yom Tov is not a kibbud (i.e., an honor to be accorded someone, in con trast to receiving an aliyah, opening the aron kodesh, etc. which are kib budim). If someone is able to uplift the people with his davening, then he is obligated to serve as baal tefillah when asked. If he cannot uplift them, then he should not serve as baal tefillah and should not be insulted if he is not asked.

Once, a daughter called the Mashgiach and said she was experiencing a toothache that had already lasted six weeks. The Mashgiach responded, "The pain you have now should go away immediately. As far as the pain that you had until now take it to your heart and hug it. It's the most precious gift that Hashem could have given you."

In 2001, after several terrorist attacks, Gedolei Yisrael decreed that after Shacharis, every minyan should recite three perakim of Tehillim: 83, 130, and 142. Perek 83 is a cry to Concern save us from our enemies, while the other twwo for the perakim are commonly said for any eis tzarah. At Maidservant that time, the Mashgiach said that to his mind, one should also say Perek 124, which according to the Arizal is an expression of thanks to Hashem for saving us from the bnei Yishmael. He said that at the same time that, tragically, there were terrorist attacks, and there fore heartfelt prayer was in order, there were also many miracles in Eretz Yisrael in which many Jews were saved. It was imperative to express thanks to Hashem for the many miracles

Friday night before Shemoneh Esrei we say the paragraph that begins with "V'shamru Bnei Yisrael es haShabbos (Shemos 31:16). One should say this not only as a declaration, but also as a tefillah that he and his family merit to experience Shabbos the way it was intended

On Rosh Hashana during the break between Shacharis and tekias shofar, the Mashgiach wanted to be alone. It was a very serious and spiritual moment as he prepared for the mitzvah that, he would say, blows new life into the world.

At the Sukkos ne'ilas hachag before Maariv, the Mashgiach would often ask that Maoz Tzur be sung as a reminder that though the lofty Yamim Tovim of Tishrei were ending, we would soon be celebrating the Yom Tov of Chanukah. Some years, the Chanukah menorah was placed near the amud before Maariv.

At the seudah, the Mashgiach would sometimes relate: A Lithuanian gadol once asked the Rav of Yerushalayim, R' Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, why he immersed in a mikveh every day. R' Yosef Chaim replied, "If [for geirus] the mikveh can turn a non-Jew into a Jew, then certainly it can turn a Jew into a better Jew."

Rav Wolfson related: R' Shloimke of Zvhil would daven at the Kosel every single day. One day, he went to Meron and Tzfas with his cha sidim, and that day they davened at many kivrei tzaddikim. When thev returned to Yerushalayim, the Rebbe prepared to head to the Kosel. A chassid asked, "If we davened at so many holy places today, do we have to go to the Kosel as well?" R' Shloimke replied, "There are many 'post offices' to Shamnayim, but the 'central post office' is the Kosel!"

A talmid who was a successful marbitz Torah in America yearned to live in Eretz Yisrael. He and his wife traveled there ona "fact-finding mission" and both were able to find good positions in their respective Fields. All that was left to do was to receive the Mashgiach's approval. It was not forthcoming. The Mashgiach felt that American bachurim needed this yungerman, and it would be a mistake for him to leave America. The Mashgiach expressed himself in this way: "Why don't you do what I do? Stay in America and live in Eretz Yisrael. Really, I live in Eretz Yisrael. Only, ten months a year I come here on 'business,' meaning, to be with my talmidim. And you should do the same. Consider yourself a resident of Eretz Yisrael but remain here to take care of your business.'"

For many years, the Klausenberger Rebbe delivered a Thursday night Chumash shiur that was attended by hundreds who came from near and far to hear the Rebbe's divrei Tlorah. One week following the shiur, a chassid approached the Rebbe and said (in Yiddish), "Yasher koach! This week's shiur was exceptional!" Another chassid who overheard this remark could not hide his dismay. "What's the matter with you?" he demanded of the other man. "Is that how one talks to a Rebbe?" This man felt that the Klausenberger Rebbe, who was a renowned gaon and tzaddik and a leader of his generation, did not need his chassid's endorsement. "Voz iz? (What's wrong?)" he asked the second chassid. "Du meinst az ah Rebbe darf nisht hoben ah compliment? (You think that a Rebbe doesn't need a compliment?)"

When he was around eighty-eight he developed intestinal problems that necessitated being on a clear liquid diet. Then the Skverer Rebbe sent him to another doctor who recommended surgery to correct the problem. The surgery was successful, and for the rest of his life, the Mashgiach was able to eat solids. One Friday night, his grandson R' Dovy Goldstein watched as the Mashgiach picked up the challos and held them for a while in silence before saying Hamotzi. During the seudah, the Mashgiach turned to his grandson and said "I know what your thinking 'When the Mashgiach says Hamotzi, he has great kavanos; he probably has in mind Shemos HaKedoshim. That's why he was quiet before saying the berachah.' So I'll tell you what I was doing. Since my surgery that allowed me to eat solids again, before the Hamotzi, I think to myself,' Thank You, Ribbono shel Olam, for allowing me to eat challah I'kavod Shabbos.'"

Why does the Torah tell us that Yosef was seventeen when his brothers sold him? The Torah is stressing that he was a bachur of seventeen, an age when the yetzer hara is very strong. And at this age, with the great nisyonos that he faced, he became Yosef HaTzaddik. The Torah is telling every bachur of that age: You too can become Yosef HaTzaddik.

Like most Chassidim, it was his minhag that at the chuppah, the two fathers should escort the chassan, and the two mothers, the kallah. But when one of his mechutanim requested that they be allowed to escort their son to the chuppah as a couple, the Mashgiach agreed. Many years later, by which time the Mashgiach was recognized as a world-renowned gadol, R' Menachem Kohl related the above to a chassidishe business acquaintance. The man said, "That was years ago. But today, it wouldn't pas for the rav of Emunas Yisroel to do that" When R' Menachem repeated this to the Mashgiach, he said, "Tell that man that Moshe Wolfson said he would do the same thing today."

Kiddushin is accomplished by the Chassan giving his kallah a ring or something else of monetary value. The Gemara On Marriage derives this from the Torah's use of the term kichah (taking) both regarding marriage and Avraham Avinu's purchase of the Me'aras HaMachpeilah from Ephron, which was accomplished with money. It seems strange that marriage, which is about building a life together for decades to come, should be derived from the purchase of a burial plot. The Mashgiach explained that the Torah is teaching what marriage is: building our eternity in the World to Come. The way a husband and wife live together on this world and the kind of home they build is what creates the eternal life that they will enjoy together in Gan Eden

A kollel yungerman who had already amassed much Torah knowl edge left kollel after two years to assume a position in a business, A close friend did not understand. "What got into you?" he asked. "Both your father and father-in-law are wealthy and surely would have given you financial support for many years. Why did you leave?" The young man did not respond, but he did report the rebuke to the Mashgiach with whom he had consulted before making his decision. Later, the Mashgiach met the friend. "It's good that you are a good friend," Rav Wolfson told him, "but there is something that you have to understand. It is better for someone to work full time and have a two-to three-hour strong learning seder than to be in kollel while finding it difficult to learn all day and not give it his all"

A person was struggling with anxiety but was refusing to consider taking medication. A talmid of Rav Wolfson accompanied this fellow to meet with the Mashgiach about his problem. At first, the Mashgiach tried explaining to the person that Hashem gave the scientists the wisdom to create these medications and that taking them when necessary is fulfilling the will of Hashem. The Mashgiach stated, "I wouldn't be alive if I didn't take many pills every day," and insisted that there is no difference between the different categories of medications. When he saw that the individual wasn't ready to accept what he was saying, he tried approaching the problem from another angle. There are times, he said, when athletes get injured but continue playing despite the pain. He explained that since the mindset in America is to portray oneself as strong and powerful, these athletes can't afford to show physical weakness. The Mashgiach added that people who are part of that culture admire a person who plays despite the pain. However, a believing Jew views this as absurd. "Why would you run with a broken foot?" Believing Jews admire not physical prowess, but wisdom and understanding. Therefore, it's often difficult to accept that we have a weakness in the area of mental health. The Mashgiach then looked directly at the person and said that "people who are bigger" look at someone who refuses to take anxiety medication as being just as foolish as someone who pretends he did not break his foot.

Often he would do something that he learned from the previous Toldos Aharon Rebbe: When faced with a question, he would open a Sefer Tehillim at random and find a pasuk on the page that would provide an answer

The Mashgiach said to R' Gluck that it was important to distinguish between Yiddishkeit requirements and school rules. With Yiddishkeit require ments there was no room for compromise; with school rules one had to know when they should be bent or overlooked.

Most of the Yeshiva's talmidim play ball during recess. But what about those who don't want to play ball? One year, R Gluck was about to hire someone to offer classes in music and public speaking during recess for the boys who did not want to play. Rav Wolfson was not in favor. He said that recess is a time for a boy to unwind, which can be achieved by playing ball. If the child releases his pent-up energy during recess, he will learn better when class resumes. Recess is not a time to teach new things.

When the menahel presented him with a new program for teaching Chumash in which most of the week was devoted to learning the sho rashim for that week's parashah, the Mashgiach said, "When I was in cheder, we also learned these things, only then it was called dikduk, and it serves me well to this very day. But when I learned, the focus was on the Chumash--the content, the pesukim, the yiras Shamayim, and other lessons that can be derived from the Chumash. The dikduk was secondary. To make it the ikar (primary focus) is not the way."

One Shavous in the early years of Emunas Yisroel two chassidim who were not from Emunas Yisroel were present, and when the seudah concluded with a rikud around the shul, one of them happened to be holding the hand of the Mashgiach. He turned to his friend and said, "Oib der Yid volt ungeteen a shtreimel, volt er ibergenimen di gantze velt (If this Jew were to put on a shtreinmel, he would capture the entire [chassidishe] world)," The Mashgiach overheard the comment and said to the two men with a smile, "Oib der Yid volt ungeteen a shtreimel, volt der velt em ibergenimen (If this Jew were to put on a shtreimel, the world would have captured him)."

When he needed a cane, someone offered to buy him one with a silver tip, as is commonly used by Rebbes. The Mashgiach responded, "Ich bin krank oifen fees, nisht oifen kup, I'm sick in my feet, not in my head"