The Yahrtzeit Of An Irreplacable Giant

This Friday is the yahrtzeit of Maran HaRav Hutner ztz"l. He has been one of the most profound influences on my life and thought. When he left the world a void was created that has never been filled. No sefer of his genre has yet to come anywhere close to equaling his Pachad Yitzchak and the sense of loss grows as I realize this more and more. He was at once a tremendous gaon filled with yiras shomayim, ahavas Torah and an oved Hashem with "da'as". Many people serve Hashem but they often just parrot what they see and that results in many behaviors that lack "da'as" [I will not give examples for fear of offending:-)]. He was also a dedicated Rebbi who was filled with love for his talmidim. That is a common cliche, but with him, as expressed in his sefer of correspondence "Igros Uksavim", it was a living reality. One must not just love his talmidim, one must know HOW to love his talmidim. He had a special hakpada on kavod hatorah and kavod talmidei chachomim which is something else that we sorely lack today in many cases [I will again not go into detail וד"ל]. I collected some old posts with anecdotes about him that I saw on the uberdox blog. For his Torah, you are welcome to learn his sfarim and/or hear the shiurim of yours truly....

 Before shofar blowing (right before musaf) on Rosh Hashana, Rav Hutner once asked a student in the yeshiva to go check on another student who was in the dorms due to an illness. Of course the student went to check on his ill friend. After davening he returned to let the Rosh Yeshiva know about his sick classmate. As I heard it, the bochur asked Rav Hutner about the halachic problems of missing shofar on Rosh Hashana. Rav Hutner replied, "Do you think that on Rosh Hashana, Hashem sees any difference between mitzvos bein adam l'chavero and bein adam l'makom?"
As yeshiva was let out late one afternoon, several boys were standing in front of Chaim Berlin as the Rosh Yeshiva and his wife left the building and walked toward their car (which was waiting for them). One boy opened up the front door of the car for Rav Hutner and then opened up the back door for the Rebbetzin. Rav Hutner looked at the the young man, tapped his cane on the ground (for effect) and said, in perfect Oxford English, "What, pray tell, do you think you are doing?" The boy replied, "I just wanted to open the car door for the Rosh Yeshiva". Rav Hutner then said, "What makes you think that I don't want to sit with my wife? Remember this: No one or nothing ever comes between a husband and a wife".
He never forgot the private individual; he gave of his soul to others and not just his time. Once, someone asked him for a decision in a complicated personal matter, and after a long while Rav Hutner told him he still did not have an answer. He explained: "In my Chumash it says, `Love your neighbor as yourself.' This commandment requires a man to relate to a question from another as if it were his own question, and how he would behave in such a situation. True advice comes only from such empathy. You turned to me in your time of trouble, but it takes time until I can bring myself to live in your situation."

Once, an avreich came to ask advice for a cure for the despair that bothered him in his avodas Hashem. Rav Hutner explained the difference between pain and despair: "Despair is being tired of living. Become alive and automatically there will be no place for despair! You can either emphasize the recognition of despair, or arouse the vitality that comes from faith in the holiness of a Jew in any situation that might be. If you live with this foundation of faith you will become living person!"