Sholom Schwadron
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Rabbi Sholom Schwadron (full name: Sholom Mordechai HaKohen Schwadron) (1912-1997) was known as the "Maggid of Jerusalem" for the fiery, inspirational mussar talks he delivered to large audiences in the Zichron Moshe shtiebel near downtown Jerusalem for more than four decades. Some of the true stories which he related about the character and conduct of Torah leaders and tzadikim of previous generations were incorporated into the "Maggid" series of books by Rabbi Paysach Krohn, whom Rabbi Schwadron "adopted" as a surrogate father.
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[edit] Early life
Schwadron was born in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem to Rabbi Yitzchak and Freida Schwadron. Rabbi Yitzchak was formerly the Av Beit Din (head of the rabbinical court) of Chatzmer; he was the son of Rabbi Sholom Mordechai Schwadron, a leading halachic authority known by the Hebrew acronym, Maharsham.
This was Rabbi Yitzchak's second marriage. He was widowed of his first wife, Chaya Leah, in 1898, leaving him with nine children. In 1903 he moved to Israel with four of his children and remarried Freida, who raised the orphans as her own. Rabbi Yitzchak and Freida had six more children together. Their son Sholom, born a year after the death of the Maharsham, was named after his illustrious grandfather.
Rabbi Yitzchak died at age 63, leaving Freida a widow at the age of 35 and young Sholom an orphan at the age of 7. Freida struggled to support her young children, as well as her sickly brother who lived with her, by selling bread door to door. At night she found time to learn Torah, recite Psalms, and share with her children their father's Torah legacy. Schwadron later published some of his father's Torah thoughts in the introductions to his books, Oholei Shem and Daas Torah (Part II).
For a few years, Sholom was forced to live at the Diskin Orphanage in Jerusalem, an experience which heightened his sensitivity to orphans and people in difficult straits. At age 12, he entered Yeshivat Tzion under Rabbi Yaakov Katzenelenbogen. At age 15, he entered the Lomza Yeshiva in Petach Tikva under Rabbi Eliyahu Dushnitzer.
Despite his family privation, Schwadron developed into a Torah scholar of note. By the age of 18 he was learning 700 pages of Gemara every semester at the Hebron yeshiva, which had moved to Jerusalem after the 1929 Hebron massacre. In the seven years in which he studied at Hebron yeshiva, he became the talmid muvhak (primary pupil) of the mashgiach ruchani, Rabbi Leib Chasman. To the end of his days, Schwadron referred to Chasman as "my rebbe."
[edit] Marriage
On the Friday of Hanukkah 1936, Schwadron married Leah Auerbach, daughter of Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Leib Auerbach, rosh yeshiva of Shaar Hashamayim Yeshiva. Auerbach was a well-known Jerusalem personality whose extreme poverty was only matched by his extreme love of Torah and Torah scholars.
A story from the early days of Schwadron's marriage illustrates the dire poverty found in the Auerbach household. As part of the dowry agreement, Rabbi Auerbach and his wife committed to supporting their son-in-law for the first three years of his marriage. On the first day, he came to eat breakfast and was served black bread, cream, a cup of coffee and halva by his mother-in-law. Schwadron ate the meal, thanked his mother-in-law, and went to learn. The next morning, he realized that his wife hadn't joined him and asked where she was. "Oh, she had to go somewhere," Rebbetzin Auerbach replied. On the third morning, when his wife still didn't join him, Schwadron became worried and demanded to know what was going on. His mother-in-law tearfully admitted that they had agreed to support him, but had no money to support her too. Schwadron's wife would come in after he left and make do with bread and water for breakfast.
Schwadron founded his own home on simplicity and lack of luxuries. He and his family lived in a small, two-room apartment in the Shaarei Chesed neighborhood of Jerusalem, which lacked a refrigerator, a bathtub, a washing machine or running water. (Water was drawn from a nearby well.) The kitchen, located in the courtyard, was so small that it did not fulfill the halachic requirement for a mezuzah. Yet despite the lack of space and conveniences, the family was known for sharing everything it had with drop-in visitors and indigent guests.
Schwadron's marriage made him the brother-in-law of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Kol Torah in Bayit Vegan, with whom he enjoyed a long and productive relationship as learning partners and friends. Schwadron also became the brother-in-law of Rabbi Simcha Bunim Leizerson, founding president of the Chinuch Atzmai school system.
Following his marriage, Schwadron joined the Ohel Moshe kollel, where he learned alongside future Torah leaders such as Rabbi Shmuel Wosner, Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, and Rabbi Yosef Sholom Eliashiv. He also taught an evening Gemara class to residents of Shaarei Chesed, the neighborhood in which he now lived, and learned each night with his brother-in-law, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. In 1937 he was asked to deliver a more advanced evening Gemara shiur in Shaarei Chesed, a class he led for the next 25 years.
In 1943 he became mashgiach ruchani at Yeshivat Tiferet Tzvi for young teens. The talks he gave to the students, as well as his personal example of total concentration in his own learning, made a lasting impression on these boys. Schwadron exerted a similar positive influence on Sephardi students at Mekor Chaim Yeshiva, where he served as rosh yeshiva from 1950-1960. He taught the highest shiur, establishing personal relationships with students that often lasted 30 or 40 years.
At the urging of the Brisker Rav, Schwadron became a spokesman for the Pe'elim organization, which promoted the spiritual rescue of Jewish children who had emigrated from Yemen and Morocco.
[edit] Maggid of Jerusalem
In 1952 Schwadron began teaching a Friday-night shiur for the public at the Zichron Moshe shtiebel in the Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem. It was this lecture, which continued for the next 40 years, that earned Schwadron the title of "Maggid of Jerusalem."
He opened each talk with halacha and ended with fiery mussar, penetrating his listeners' hearts and inspiring them to self-improvement. A master at storytelling, Schwadron was able to draw out his audience's emotions using sing-song and mournful voices, witty remarks, and exaggerated mannerisms before delivering the "punch line" of his call to change. Often he punctuated the irony of human foibles with a booming laugh and the words, "Pilei ployim, hafla vafelle! (Wonder of wonders! Amazing!)"
Following is the introduction to one speech delivered in the Hebrew month of Elul, as he prepared his listeners to undertake serious contemplation and teshuvah before Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur:
"Imagine that the inhabitants of the local cemetery were given the opportunity by the Heavenly Court to return to this world for just one hour. Just one hour, just one hour," he sang in a mournful tone of voice.
"Look at the door!" he startled the audience. "There is the elte bubbe (old grandmother) and the old rabbi who passed away last year! And there is Berel and Yankel and Yossel! They're all coming in!"
The listeners spun around, actually expecting to see the long departed members of their community walk through the ornate doorway. The vivid descriptions portrayed by the orator transported the crowded shul members into a dizzying whirl as they pictured the town filled up by the departed.
"Move over," continued the speaker relentlessly. "'Make place for me,' the former departed are screaming. 'We have just one hour!' Just one hour, just one hour," he intoned in that special tone unique to maggids.
The mournful tones and mannerisms employed by the maggid played on the listeners' emotions, putting his audience exactly where he wanted it to be: with thoughts of God's greatness, man's mortality, and the teshuvah period. (Donn)
In the course of his talks, Schwadron publicized many stories about leading rabbis and tzadikim of previous generations. Some of these stories were included in Rabbi Paysach Krohn's books, The Maggid Speaks (on which Schwadron collaborated) and Echoes of the Maggid (published after Schwadron's death).
Schwadron also served as the hazzan for the Zichron Moshe shtiebel on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. The Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael Alter, once said that if someone wanted to do teshuvah, he should listen to Schwadron's soul-stirring prayers on the Days of Awe.
Just as he exhorted others to change and improve, Schwadron constantly worked on improving himself. From the time of his marriage until into his eighties, he made a taanit dibbur (abstention from speaking) every Monday and Thursday, as well as during the forty days from the first of the month of Elul until Yom Kippur.
[edit] Relationship with the Krohns
Schwadron traveled abroad frequently to raise money for the institutions with which he was involved. During his months-long stays, he would address congregations, conventions, and other assemblies, solidifying his title of "maggid".
It was on one of these trips, in late 1964, that he was invited by Rabbi Avrohom Zelig Krohn, the father of Rabbi Paysach Krohn, to stay at his home in New York, even though Schwadron didn't know him or his family personally. Schwadron insisted on paying rent, which Rabbi Avrohom Zelig agreed to reluctantly. During the five months that Schwadron resided with the Krohns, a close bond formed between him and the family. When Schwadron announced that he was leaving after Passover 1965 to travel back to Israel by boat, the entire family saw him off at the pier. Then Rabbi Avrohom Zelig handed Schwadron an envelope containing all the "rent money" he had paid, as he had never intended to keep it.
A few days later, Rabbi Avrohom Zelig missed his guest so much that he decided to greet him when his boat docked in Israel. He and his wife quickly arranged passports and flew to Israel two days before Schwadron arrived. After giving the Schwadron family their own time for a reunion, the Krohns appeared with their own welcome.
Rabbi Avrohom Zelig was diagnosed with a terminal illness after this event, and died a year later. Six months after that, the family received a letter from Schwadron saying that he was coming to America again. Schwadron became a surrogate father to Krohn's seven orphans and a surrogate grandfather to their children as well.
With Schwadron's encouragement and active input, Rabbi Paysach Krohn penned the first of his popular "Maggid" books, The Maggid Speaks, published in 1987. Subsequent titles (Along the Maggid's Journey, In the Footsteps of the Maggid) memorialized Schwadron's influence on the overall project. After Schwadron passed away, Krohn's titles reflected that fact too (Echoes of the Maggid, Reflections of the Maggid).
[edit] Published works
Schwadron wrote, annotated and edited more than 25 sefarim, mainly those penned by his grandfather, the Maharsham. These included:
- Oholei Shem
- Daas Torah
He also wrote and edited two famous mussar texts composed by his teachers — Ohr Yahel by Rabbi Leib Chasman and Lev Eliyahu by Rabbi Elyah Lopian.
[edit] Later years
Schwadron's mother, Freida, died in 1962. His wife, Leah, died in 1977 at the age of 63.
Schwadron died on December 21, 1997 (22 Kislev 5758), and was buried in the Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem.
[edit] References
- Donn, Rabbi Yochonon. "The Maggid of Jerusalem: Ten years since his passing." Hamodia newspaper, December 13, 2007.
- Krohn, Rabbi Paysach J. (1987). The Maggid Speaks: Favorite stories and parables of Rabbi Sholom Schwadron, shlita, Maggid of Jerusalem. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications. ISBN 0-89906-230-X
- Lazewnik, Libby (2000). Voice of Truth: The life and eloquence of Rabbi Sholom Schwadron, the unforgettable Maggid of Jerusalem. Adapted from the Hebrew, Kol Chotzeiv. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications.
