גמרא שבת ק"ה:
אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן פַּזִּי אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי מִשּׁוּם בַּר קַפָּרָא כָּל הַמּוֹרִיד דְּמָעוֹת עַל אָדָם כָּשֵׁר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא סוֹפְרָן וּמַנִּיחָן בְּבֵית גְּנָזָיו שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר {תהלים נ"ו:ט'} נוֹדִי סָפַרְתָּה אָתָּה שִׂימָה דִמְעָתִי בְנֹאדֶךָ הֲלֹא בְּסִפְרָתֶךָ אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב כׇּל הַמִּתְעַצֵּל בְּהֶסְפֵּדוֹ שֶׁל חָכָם רָאוּי לְקוֹבְרוֹ בְּחַיָּיו שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר {יהושע כ"ד:ל'} וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אוֹתוֹ בִּגְבוּל נַחֲלָתוֹ בְּתִמְנַת סֶרַח אֲשֶׁר בְּהַר אֶפְרָיִם מִצְּפוֹן לְהַר גָּעַשׁ מְלַמֵּד שֶׁרָגַשׁ עֲלֵיהֶן הַר לְהוֹרְגָן אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּיא בַּר אַבָּא אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן כׇּל הַמִּתְעַצֵּל בְּהֶסְפֵּדוֹ שֶׁל חָכָם אֵינוֹ מַאֲרִיךְ יָמִים מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר {ישעיהו כ"ז:ח'} בְּסַאסְּאָה בְּשַׁלְּחָהּ תְּרִיבֶנָּה.
Anyone who sheds tears over an upright person, the Holy One, Blessed be He, counts his tears and places them in His treasury, as it is stated: “You have counted my wanderings, put my tears into your bottle, are they not in your book?” (Psalms 56:9). Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Anyone who is lazy in eulogizing a Torah scholar, it is fitting to bury him alive, as it is stated: “And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnat-seraḥ, which is in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Ga’ash” (Joshua 24:30). This teaches that the mountain raged against them to kill them because they did not eulogize him appropriately. Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Whoever is lazy in eulogizing a Sage does not live a long life, and his punishment is measure for measure. Since he was unconcerned with the death of the Sage, in the heavens they will be unconcerned with his death. The Holy One, Blessed be He, conducts Himself in this manner, as it is stated: “In full measure [besase’a], when You send her away You contend with her” (Isaiah 27:8), and the Sages derived that God punishes from the words: “You contend with her,” and He does so measure for measure, se’a for se’a, from the word sase’a in the verse above.
Recently, the world lost some very formidable Gedolei Torah:
HaGaon HaRav Moshe Dimantman ztz"l - Not only was he holding EVERYWHERE but he also gave shiurim with an unusual geshmak. People would hear even one shiur from him and remember it for the rest of their lives.
HaGaon HaRav Avraham Gurevitch ztz"l - He authored the multi multi volume Ohr Avrohom on the Torah, Shas, Rambam, Siddur etc. which is unique in its clarity and originality. He was also a devoted Rosh Yeshiva for many many years. [As an aisde - his father Rav Moshe was a Talmid of the Rav ztz"l and edited the Oros HaEmunah].
HaGaon HaRav Doniel Lehrfeld ztz"l - He authored the multi multi volume Binas Doniel Al HaShas. Tremendous Ba'al Mechadesh. He learned through the Ktzos over 100 times. So too the Shev Shmatsa. He just learned and learned and learned and wrote and wrote and wrote. I was a Talmid in his Yeshiva 36 years ago. It was amazing how he could both run a Yeshiva, have thousands of Talmidim and still never stop learning.
HaGaon HaRav Yosef Yitzchak Kalmanson ztz"l - He was probably the biggest Lamdan in the entire Chabad world [from what I have seen reading their journals etc.]. He wrote the multi multi volume Kovetz Reshimos Shiurim Al HaShas. Super Ba'al Mechadesh. He had a Yeshiva in New Haven but on his level he could have been a Rosh Yeshiva in any Litvish Yeshiva. He was כולו תורה and wasn't focused day and night on a בשר ודם but on הקב"ה ותורתו.
HaGaon HaRav Baruch Shmuel Deutsch ztz"l - He was in his own category. He knew, for example, sefarim like the אמרי בינה by heart word for word. He could read through the chiddushim of the Rogochover and understand them like we read through Ashrei [and don't always understand...]. That means that he knew EVERYTHING. By heart. And he was also a TREMENDOUS בעל יסורין. Beyond imagination. But that didn't stop him from becoming what he became.
I have this great fear that these titans of Torah are being לא נספד כהלכה, which as we saw above from the Gemara, is a very serious infraction. The BEST thing we can do for them - and us, is learn their Torah and follow in their ways.
How sad that the world is involved in remembering people [מבני ברית ושלא מבני ברית] who were light-light-light years away from these great Gedolim. איש לפי מהללו. The Rabbeinu Yonah and the first Maamar of the PY on Purim. That is what it is all about.
