Rav Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin of Brisk zt"l
הרב משה יהושע יהודה לייב בן בנימין דיסקין זצ"ל
Teves 29 , 5658
Rav Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin of Brisk zt"l
The Maharil Diskin was born in year תקע"ט. Appointed and served as rabbi of Lomza, Kovno, and Brisk. In תרל"ז, he made aliya to serve as rav of Yerushalayim at a time when the winds of change where blowing fiercely the world over and specifically threatened the Torah true community in Eretz Yisroel. He was the pillar of the old yishuv who staunchly resisted inroads being made by those that threatened Torah principles and Torah life in the Holy Land. He was known as a fierce warrior against the maskilim who jeopardized the traditional purity of chinuch (education). He feared none and was the chief defender of the faith against all such breaches.
Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin authored seforim such as, Shu”t Maharil Diskin, Toras HaOhel and Maharil Diskin Al HaTorah. He passed away in תרנ"ח and was buried on Har HaZeisim (Mt. of Olives) in Yerushalayim.
“I once watched how the gaon, the Maharil Diskin, recited birkas haTorah,” said Rav Yosef Chaim Scheiberger. “The Maharil was honored with an aliya. When the Maharil said the beracha over the Torah, he was aflame with such hislahavus that he resembled what it must have been like to be present when the Kohen Gadol (whose face “burned like a pillar of fire”) recited the Divine Name. The rav brought such intensity of awe to the moment that the sinews and veins in his face protruded. The impression of the sight was such that its powerful impact lasted for half a year.” (Maasei Tzadikim p. 216)
Stories of Rav Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin of Brisk zt"l
“I once watched how the gaon, the Maharil Diskin, recited birkas haTorah,” said Rav Yosef Chaim Scheinberger. “The Maharil was honored with an aliya. When the Maharil said the beracha over the Torah, he was aflame with such hislahavus that he resembled what it must have been like to be present when the Kohen Gadol (whose face “burned like a pillar of fire”) recited the Divine Name. The rav brought such intensity of awe to the moment that the sinews and veins in his face protruded. The impression of the sight was such that its powerful impact lasted for half a year.” (Maasei Tzadikim p. 216)
In the Maharil’s Yeshiva, Ohel Moshe, there was a joint siyum. Four talmidim had completed four masechtos and they conducted a festive meal in honor of their joint simcha. Two talmidim had completed shorter tractates like Taanis and Shekolim, whereas the other two had completed Shabbos and Bova Basra, which were longer masechtos. The Maharil spoke at the siyum and taught, “We say that the Torah is mipaz umipeninim yekora – the Torah is more precious than gold and pearls. Why do we use this comparison? Each of these precious metals and stones has its pros and cons. Let me explain: A paz is a gold nugget. Its value is based on weight. The heavier it is, the more valuable; the lighter, the less valuable. Its sole value is based on its weight. It has an advantage, though: if you break it, even a small sliver of gold has value. A pearl, on the other hand, is valued by size. Whereas gold that weighs double is worth just double, a pearl double the size can be worth many times more! But there is a great disadvantage when compared to gold, for if you break a pearl, it can lose all its value. Torah surpasses them both. It is more precious than gold and pearls, for it has all the advantages and none of the disadvantages. A smaller-sized masechta is also worth Olam HaBa! A larger masechta can be worth myriad Olomos, many, many more times than how many blatt it contains, just like a pearl! Unlike the pearl, however, you cannot break it to lose its value, for even just one blatt or daf Gemora is priceless, and if you study just that you get sechar (reward) and you don’t break the masecheta!” (Teshuas Tzaddikim, p. 514, in the name of BaYeshishim Chochma)
The Maharil Diskin was once in Lomza when he passed by a sick Jew in the street. This Jew was mentally disabled, nebech, so that he walked around without a head covering. When the Maharil noticed this, he asked the sick Jew, “Where is your yarmulke?”
“I don’t have one,” answered the sick man.
Without hesitation, the Maharil removed his own yarmulke and placed it on the sick man’s head. Immediately, his sickness departed and his mind began to operate normally – he was miraculously healed on the spot! From then on, he always wore the Maharil’s yarmulke; he never took it off, and even wore it when he went to the mikve! (Maasei Tzaddikim, p. 215)
Rav Diskin once used a Shabbos food as a segula to heal a sick child. When Rav Yisrael Dovid Braverman was a young child, he was sick with an ailment that attacked his throat. His situation was so grave that his mother feared for his life. It was Erev Shabbos, right before shkiya (sunset).
At her wits’ end, she grabbed the sick child and ran to her neighbor, the Maharil Diskin, begging the Tzaddik to save her sick son. Quickly, the Maharil took the child, and rushed over to a pot of hot Shabbos soup that was simmering on the stove. The Tzaddik took one spoonful of Shabbos soup and fed the child. Immediately the child calmed down and his situation improved until miraculously he recovered and his health was restored! (Heichal HaShabbos I, p. 72)
HaGaon Reb. Yehoshua Leib Diskin was born in Horodno, where his father Reb Binyomin was rov and rosh yeshiva.
Although Reb Binyomin was extremely busy with communal matters and the yeshiva, he preferred to teach his son Torah himself rather than send him to a private melamed as everyone else did. Thus he taught him personally from a tender age until he was a grown man.
It is told that one year on Kol Nidrei night HaRav Binyomin was late for shul. The men sent to investigate found him learning with his son.
The father apologized saying he had made an account of his deeds of the past year and had not found any worthy deeds to present as merits on the Yom Hadin and he therefore quickly wanted to fulfill the mitzva of veshinantom levonecho.
Reb Yehoshua Leib was engaged before his bar mitzva and at the age of fourteen he married the daughter of HaRav Brode and lived with his father-in-law in Wolkowitz.
He became rov in various cities such as Lomza, Mezritch, Kovno, Shklov, and finally in Brisk from where his fame spread and whose name is associated with him until today: old Yerushalmim stand up as they mention his name in awe - the Brisker Rov.
He was imprisoned following a libel against him and after being freed on Yom Kippur 5637 (1876) he decided that Succos to leave Russia for Paris and then on to Eretz Yisroel.
When he arrived there he refused to accept an official rabbinical post, but nonetheless in practice he led the city and all its affairs: the talmidim, kollelim, his famous battle against the Maskilim and against those who wanted to work in the fields during shmittah.
He was the first rabbi to protest the unfounded heteirim and he encouraged shmittah observance in Eretz Yisroel.
On motzei Shabbos Erev Rosh Chodesh Shevat 5658 (1898) he left this world and was buried the next morning on Har Hazeisim opposite the Har Habayis. Zechuso yogen oleinu!
"I once saw my father the gaon Reb Chaim writing a letter to Reb Yehoshua Leib zt"l," related the last rov of Brisk, HaRav Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik zt"l. "He dipped his nib into the ink and was suddenly seized by a trembling, and was unable to continue writing. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he got up and began pacing up and down the room - until he sat down again and wrote: Lichvod. Again his whole body began to shake and tremble violently as he tried unsuccessfully to decide with which title to address the holy gaon. If the mighty cedars are so struck, what should we puny bushes say?"
His immense grasp of Torah and even worldly matters is legendary. Once, passing a large tree, he announced the number of leaves growing on it, whereupon the person accompanying him argued that no one could prove him right or wrong. "Remove one branch while my back is turned and count the leaves on it and I'll tell you then how many leaves remain on the tree." The other person did so and Reb Yehoshua Leib gave him the new number, subtracting exactly the amount of leaves in the man's hand.
A shaila was once brought to him concerning a piece of material, to which the Rov immediately gave the psak halocho. Thinking that in his haste he had not looked at the shaila properly, the one who asked sent his friend the next day with the same shaila as though it was a new one. As soon as the Rov saw the piece of material, he retorted, "This is the one I saw yesterday. I recognize this fabric by its weave. It has so-and-so many horizontal threads and so-and-so many vertical ones."
Passing by an Arab restaurant, he commented casually on the number of clients sitting inside with barely a glance.
The following anecdote, retold by HaGaon Reb Yaakov Orenstein, a talmid of R' Yehoshua Leib, demonstrates the Rov's immense depth in learning.
After the Rov came to Eretz Yisroel he formed a group of elite talmidim with whom he learned Bava Basra. For forty days he taught them one page [!] without repeating himself or revising what he said even once. Thus they delved deep into the sugya, swimming its entire length and breadth. When the forty days were up and each distinguished pupil could understand the material according to his ability, the Rov perceived that his pupils felt they had finally merited to understand a daf gemora and were pleased that they need no longer study this page.
In his sweet, ever-pleasant way, the Rov told them, "If you imagine that you are now in full comprehension of this daf you are mistaken. At this stage we are likened to the little cheder boys who have finished learning alef beis and are sure that they now know all there is to learn. Our limited comprehension of this daf is a drop in the ocean compared to the depth of the tannoim and amoraim. However it is impossible to tarry longer over one page, for then we would never get to learn the whole Torah'
"You may be sure," Reb Yaakov concluded, "that the slightest trace of pride or self-satisfaction that may have crept into the hearts of the talmidim, was instantly erased."
Relates a talmid in his sefer: When R' Yehoshua Leib was still rov in Lomza, his busy day of learning and giving shiurim always ended with a nightly study session with an outstanding pupil for six hours at a stretch. His chavrusa describes these sessions in brief and, though the lines are few and short, a lifetime's lessons can be derived from them. "During the regular nightly learning hours the Rov, reaching a difficult point, would sink deep in thought, standing motionless for a long time, grappling with the questions and answers that were overtaking his whole being. After a while he would awaken from this trance, his eyes bright with revelation and cite several explanations to this one difficulty.
"There were times when, even after concentrating so, the answers still evaded him. In such an instance he would ask me to repeat the gemora aloud, word by word, while he paced the length and breadth of the room, totally absorbed in his efforts to grasp the true pshat until he would burst into tears. Turning to the wall he would cry out in prayer, `'Aneini Hashem aneini - enlighten my eyes with Your Torah.'
"He would then put tzedoko in the pushke for the poor in Eretz Yisroel and humbly pray for Divine assistance in the merit of Rav Meir Baal Haness. Subsequently R' Yehoshua Leib's holy countenance would light up in total comprehension of all that had eluded him and, like a triumphant warrior returning from war, he would return to his seat to continue learning." http://www.chareidi.org/archives5761/shemos/features2.htm