Monsey Personalities

Rav Nochum Muschel, z’l ‘‘A GIANT OF AN

EDUCATOR” On His Yahrzeit 18 Tammuz Part I
by Yisroel Safrin Early Life your own children. He built a school that
Rav Muschel was born in Tarnow, Gali- today is one of the foremost in Jewish ed-

I
n the course of our lives, we are zoche cia, Poland and when the war broke out in ucation.
to meet some special individuals who 1939, he and his parents and two brothers Saying to parents “I want your children
set an example of dedication to the klal. were taken by Russian secret police and in- to have a Jewish education,” there were
One such person was the late beloved Rav terned in northern Siberia for three years. times that he fought with the school’s tu-
Nachum Muschel, z’l, whom we were for- Footnote #2. They spent the war years in ition committee and the board to take in
tunate to have as a good neighbor for over central Russia; then returned to Poland and students -paying little or no tuition- raising
four decades. In his quiet but determined in a DP camp in Germany. In 1949 the fam- the money himself or threatening to pay
way, he impacted his students. He and his ily came to the United States and settled in from his own pocket. How many families
staff of exceptionally caring mechanchim Brooklyn, where, in 1952 he received smi- were changed completely by these precious
were able to ‘turn on’ many young minds cha from Rav Gustman at Yeshivas Netzach ‘neshamos’ that would come home to insist
Yisroel. Rav Muschel went on to that their parents take them to shul and
lead Young Israel of Prospect Park conduct a shabbos or yom tov seuda? Any
before moving to Monsey in 1956, monies Rabbi Muschel collected for pre-
where he remained for the rest of siding over weddings, funerals or mechiras
his life. In 1956 he earned his mas- chometz would go to Ashar.
ter’s in education from Yeshiva Creating an appropriate general studies
University and was appointed prin- program for a yeshiva is a formidable task.
cipal of the newly formed Hebrew Rav Muschel was very proud of the high ca-
Institute of Rockland, now known liber curriculum and was constantly work-
as ASHAR. ing to maintain an excellent program. He
was especially interested in employing pro-
“My philosophy of education? I fessional teachers ‘with a heart’ who were
love children.” careful to impart the appropriate material
In an interview many years ago on the standards needed for the young reli-
in response to a pointed question, gious students.
Rav Muschel replied: “My philoso- There was time for other endeavors: 12 indeed his crowning glory. He taught and
phy of education? I love children.” years teaching teachers at Yeshiva Univer- reached the hearts and minds of youngsters
Rav Aaron Fink, former associate sity; consulting to the Board of Jewish Ed- as well as adults. He was a teacher’s teacher.
principal said “The school is Rab- ucation in New York City; and publishing His impact on Jewish education and Jewish
bi Muschel and Rabbi Muschel teacher guides, workbooks and articles. generations is immeasurable. As for me, my
is the school. You cannot say one As Rabbi Muschel shared “We keep issues heart is full and my soul enriched by Rabbi
Beloved Talmid of Rav Gustman without the other. Our priorities, before youngsters address realities. Our Nachum Muschel ʦʿʬ my inspiring teacher,
directions, challenges, whatever the style is to build high character from within- my caring guide, my loyal confidant, and
to a life of Torah and mitzvos and the beau- school has assumed, can be attributed to his give our youngsters the ability and moral my irreplaceable loving friend.”
ty of the Jewish home and the love of Eretz dynamic personality.” strength from within so as not to depend
Yisrael. ASHAR principal Rabbi Ari Jacobson solely on the world.” He went on to say Retirement
Understanding who Rav Muschel’s reb- called Rav Muschel «the heart and soul of “There are demands of children and par- Upon his retirement, he urged his suc-
be was gives us an insight into what drove our community, not just the founder.» ents, and I try to be very careful and con- cessors to be a proponent of adapting to ad-
Rav Muschel to accomplish so much in his siderate.” He understood that a lot of people vances in technology and continue building
lifetime. His rebbe, Rav Yisroel Zev Gust- An Educator Par Excellance: weren’t shomer Shabbos at that time, but and growth as the premier educational in-
man, zt’l was a brilliant yeshiva student. He Rabbi Muschel was very demanding knew that by giving them a solid educa- stitution.
was the youngest dayan on Vilna’s beis din of his staff of educators. He would always tion they would be, in time. He would say Rabbi Muschel and his wife Sara had
-- and its sole survivor. He was the parti- point out the need to be firm but loving “Mah shelo yaseh hasechel, yaseh hazman” four sons, one of whom passed away in
san that fought Nazis with guns - and with with the precious pupils. “What you are – what the cleverness does not accomplish, 1995. At the most emotional time in his
his bare hands. He was the eminent Rosh conveying to them will serve as a guide for time will do. life he still had his Tehillim in his hands,
Yeshivah, beloved by his students - and by them throughout their lives”. i.e. These are repeating every word in a loud, clear voice.
many of the twentieth century’s greatest not your pupils, treat them like they are Cherished Memories Rabbi Muschel’s emunah and bitachon
gedolim. Rav Gustman was his mesader “Cherished memories mingle with grat- allowed him to channel his energies in a
kiddushin at his marriage to Sara Beinhorn itude and tears -the loss is so great- his positive direction, establishing the Joseph
in 1952. Some of the lessons that Rav Mus- absence so profound- but his essence, his N. Muschel Memorial Foundation in 1996
chel learned from his rebbe, were to ‘see the inspiration, his teachings, his guidance, his and dedicating an ambulance to the Israe-
depths and potential of each talmid and ac- lessons, his love . . . Everlasting!” accord- li settlement of Hashmonaim in the West
cept them regardless of affiliation or head ing to Mrs. Judy Geller. “It was my privi- Bank in 2003. The author was in Israel the
covering’. 1 lege to work with Rabbi Muschelʦʿʬ as his following year for Succos and attended the
secretary for many years. In this unique dedication ceremony. 2#2
1 FOOTNOTE #1: As one who knew Rav Gustman relationship I was consistently enveloped
wrote: «He never noticed what yarmulka you wore 2 A few years ago the author was at the wedding of a
or what political party you were affiliated with..... by his Torah scholarship, by his wisdom, niece, when one of the relatives mentioned that she
if you were there to learn Torah, then you were by his keen insight, by his impact on all lives in Hashmonaim. Turns out she is a volunteer
1952 Wedding of Rav Nochum Muschel: L-R Reb Meyer driver of the Muschel ambulance. They chose a
on his team; what you wore on your head was as Muschel (father of the chosson); HaGaon, Rav Yisroel Zev those with whom he came in contact.“ Rab- fitting memorial for their son, a doctor that was a
important to Rav Gustman as how many sugars
Gustman, Mesader Kiddushin; the Chosson, Rav Nochum bi Muschel’s legacy is encompassed in the
you took in your coffee.......he treated all of us the
same.” Muschel, zichronam livracha. word ’educator’, which was his passion and [ continued on page 50 ]

18 THE MONSEY MEVASER - (845-821-6200) July 11, 2019 / 8 Tammuz, 5779

 Local News From Around Town
[ continued from page 16 ]
SUFFERN
SHAKEN/STIR digitally validates the hand-
off of phone calls passing through the com- Yeshiva Ohr Reuven Celebrates End of Year
plex web of networks, allowing the phone With Annual Siyum Hashana
company of the consumer receiving the call Yeshiva Ohr Reuven’s Annual Siyum
to verify that a call is from the person mak- Hashana took place on Tuesday night, June 26.
ing it. The invigorating and inspirational evening in-
Robocalls are phone calls that use au- cluded the seudah, music, dancing, divrei chi-
tomated dialing machines to play a pre-re- zuk, and seforim awarded to the mesaymim.
corded message. According to the Federal All fathers, brothers, and alumni of the yeshi-
Trade Commission, 99 percent of robocalls va were invited to come to be a part of the sim-
are illegitimate or fraudulent. Illegal robo- cha. There was an ezras nashim for mothers to
calls are made by companies or individuals attend as well. The evening included talmidim
trying to scam the person on the other end from both the mesivta and the yeshiva ketana.
of the phone. Many times, these calls are
placed using “caller id spoofing.” Individ- Free Basic Computer Classes Offered
uals that resort to “caller id spoofing” use for Seniors “We have learned that the U.S. Depart-
advanced technology to mimic the caller Supervisor Michael Specht and the ments of Justice and Commerce have issued
id of a legitimate entity such as a govern- Ramapo Town Board offered free computer written statements indicating that there will
ment agency, credit card company, a bank, classes to seniors. The classes took place over be no question about citizenship status on the
or even a next door neighbor. Under the the course of four sessions on Tuesday, June 2020 Census, according to numerous news
“Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009,” robocalls 18, June 25, July 2 and July 9 at the Town of reports.
are illegal if used for the purpose of de- Ramapo Senior Center on Haverstraw Road “As I have pointed out, it is vital that we do
frauding or otherwise causing harm. How- in Suffern. The classes on acquiring basic all we can to ensure an accurate count because
ever, despite the fact that many of these computer skills provided a foundation for an undercount will shift federal funding away
calls clearly violate the law, it is difficult if managing computers, smartphones, tablets, from states and communities with the greatest
not impossible to catch the perpetrators, and computing devices better. actual need to states with less need – money Constitution and the 14thAmendment, which
many of whom are overseas or hiding be- After completing the training, the par- for everything from educational programs to states that the government needs to count ‘the
hind fake numbers. ticipants were able to understand how infor- crime victims’ assistance to social services. whole number of persons in each state.’
The National “Do-Not-Call” Registry, mation is stored on computers, smartphones, “Even under the best of circumstances, “At the same time, the immense publicity
managed by the FTC, was implemented in cloud and other computing devices, manage many people are fearful of answering census this attempt has generated will create new and
2003 after the Do-Not-Call Implementation smartphones and iCloud storage. After the questions; they just don’t trust how the in- significant challenges. There will be those who
Act of 2003. The registry is designed to give classes, participants were also better able to formation may be used. Including a question will simply not answer the form nor make
people a choice about whether they would manage pictures and videos stored in smart- about the status of a person’s citizenship would themselves available to census workers out
like to receive telemarketing calls at home. It phones and computers, and understand the only feed into this fear and discourage even of concern that any information they provide
was created to limit the number of telemar- memory or storage capacity of a smartphone, more people from filling out the census form. will be used to harm them in some way, in-
keting calls and robocalls made to U.S. house- tablet or computer. The classes were offered “The exclusion of such a question from the cluding separating them from their families.
holds. In order to register, one may log onto free of charge to all seniors in Ramapo. 2020 Census will help with the effort to ensure We will need to work even harder to reach
the “Do-Not-Call” website and their phone Statement From Rockland County Legisla- an accurate count of the number of people out to all people and all communities so that
number will be permanently placed in the tor Harriet Cornell On The Exclusion Of The living in our country, regardless of citizenship we count every person because every person
registry. Citizenship Question On The 2020 Census status, in line with the requirements of the counts.”

[ continued from page 18 ] d’var Torah. Tanach and Chazal were always me have feelings that make me a better hu- yahrzeit of Rav Nochum Muschel, z’l on 18
on the tip of his tongue. He once told me that man being. If the children can say that, I Tammuz. Some of the material and com-
The Later Years each time he would daven Shmoneh Esrei, have had a measure of success.” ments in this article are gleaned from per-
When Rav Muschel’s wife, Sara was ill, he would concentrate on a new Machshova, sonal interviews & research and from local
and later after she passed away, one of the making every Tefillah unique and special. The Sun Sets news media. The author wishes to thank the
neighbors would send over a challah or a Imagine how many Shmoneh Esrei’s he was The funeral at ASHAR was an out- Muschel family and the many staff and for-
kugel on erev Shabbos. When her teenage zoche to daven and the knowledge and cre- pouring of love for a long time pillar of the mer students for their assistance with this
sons heard that Rav Muschel was a talmid ativity it took to accomplish this.” Monsey community as hundreds of family, tribute. Yehi Zichro Baruch!
of the Gaon Rav Yisroel Gustman, zt’l, her “He would tell me to be ‘matzliach’ and friends and students turned out to pay
boys would beg her to be the messengers, to have ‘hatzlocha’. “Do you know the differ- their respects. Rabbi Muschel was recalled
so they could engage Rav Muschel in regal- ence?” he rhetorically asked, with a quizzical as a masterful maspid, a tremendous baal
ing them with stories and lessons from his glint in his eyes. “You should be a ‘matzli- chesed whose door was always open to an-
rebbe, Rav Gustman. ach’ – bring ‘hatzlocha’ to others- and ‘you’ yone in need, not just in the prime of his
Jerry Hoffnung recalls: “I had the z’chus should have your own ‘hatzlocha’ as well”. life but until his very last days. 
of accompanying Rav Muschel to shul in the Most of us have heard the famous sto-
last few years before his petira. He was bless- ‘A Better Human Being’ ry about Reb Nochum Ish Gamzu, who
ed by Hakadosh Baruch Hu with a brilliant “In later years, when Rav Muschel was always said -‘Gam Zu L’Tova’-everything
mind, to the very end of his life. Every walk ill and could not attend shul on a daily that Hashem does, is for the good.” So
into and out of shul was a lesson in Chaz- basis, he would daven at home” one of his too Rav Nachum Muschel carried the
al. Rain, snow, wind, warm or cold weath- sons reported: “He would daven with such torch of his namesake, Rav Nochum- see-
er, a helping hand under his arm, opening kavana and sing as much as he could- al- ing the good and potential of each child.
a door… any seemingly mundane occur- most like he was transported back to his What an inspiring legacy. Yehi Zichro
rence, he would transform into a beautiful youth at the Sanzer Shteebel in his native Baruch!
‘giver’- always helping others. And then she said “You Tarnow in Galitzia.” May his memory be a blessing for his
have no idea how much that ambulance is used and When asked how he wished to be re- family and all of Klal Yisroel.
appreciated by the Hashmonaim community. We are
saving lives all the time. The people who gave that membered “The man helped me see things Author’s note: This article is the first Four great-grandsons named ‘Nachum Muschel’ with their
ambulance should be blessed». I did not know were there. The man helped of 2- being presented in honor of the 4th fathers at a family simcha

50 THE MONSEY MEVASER - (845-821-6200) July 11, 2019 / 11 Iyar, 5779