He advised one rosh yeshiva to concentrate his fundraising efforts on a broad base of small or medium-sized donors and not to rely on one or two major contributors. When the dramatic financial downturn of the late 1980s and early 1990s wiped out many major donors, that rosh yeshiva was relieved that he had relied on Reb Yaakov’s advice. Reb Yaakov’s keen antennae allowed him to sense when something was amiss and help others avoid problems.
A former student approached Reb Yaakov to discuss an offer to become principal of a new yeshiva high school. The board of directors, he said, had offered him a free reign, and he was eager to accept the position. Reb Yaakov, however, was uneasy about the position. The high school had no attached beis midrash program for post-high school learning and he considered this a major defect. “Boys must have some sense of what they are being prepared for,” he told his student. In addition, he had seen the brochure for the program and had noticed that the largest letters had been reserved for trumpeting the quality of the secular studies offered. Reb Yaakov advised the man to reject the offer, to which he had all but agreed. The person who eventually took the position ended up having to resign shortly thereafter when the institution held a fundraising affair with mixed dancing.
Reb Yaakov’s ability to anticipate consequences that others would not think of was reflected in all his advice. For instance, he opposed giving a child two names. In most cases, only one of the names is used and if that child ever gets divorced there are complications concerning the treatment of a name that has fallen into disuse in the writing of the get. Sometimes the way he answered a question could sensitize the questioner to an aspect of the question that he had not even considered.
Members of the Chevra Kadisha of Lakewood once came to discuss a number of issues with him, including whether it was necessary for those doing the taharah (cleansing of the body) to go to the mikveh prior to the taharah when the deceased was non-religious and had only sought a proper Jewish burial. While he was considering the issue, one of those present interjected, “If there is any reason whatsoever to do it, we will.” But Reb Yaakov rejected that approach: “Who are the people doing the taharah? Yeshivaleit? Is another five minutes of sleep for a yungerman of no importance to you?” In the end, however, he ruled that it was necessary for them to go to the mikveh prior to all taharos.
People consulted with Reb Yaakov on every aspect of life. On any given day, his callers and visitors might include a rosh yeshiva wanting to discuss a difficult sugya in the Gemara, a businessman seeking advice about a particular investment, a ba’al teshuvah having problems dealing with his or her family, a young man or woman looking for guidance in shidduchim, a couple with marital problems, and parents worried about a child. The ability to respond to each of these people was fundamental to what Reb Yaakov sought to achieve. For two Jews to resort to a non-Jewish court, he said, is considered a desecration of the Torah because it implies a deficiency in the judicial system mandated by the Torah. And so too, is a diminution of the Torah for a gadol b’Torah not to be able to offer guidance in every aspect of life, lest that inability be understood as implying that the Torah has nothing to say with respect to that particular issue. One of the areas in which Reb Yaakov was intimately involved was the unique problems confronting ba’alei teshuvah. He served as nasi of Yeshivas Kol Yaakov, a yeshiva for ba’alei teshuvah in Monsey, and was consulted regularly both about general guidelines for the yeshiva and about the specific questions of individual students.
Reb Shlomo Mernick of Toronto once spent twoand-a-half hours discussing various issues concerning ba’alei teshuvah with him. He marveled at Reb Yaakov’s “unparalleled understanding and sensitivity to the needs of a ba’al teshuva, which transcended all differences of age and background.” His guiding principle for the ba’al teshuva was that he must remain normal. The key to the ba’al teshuva’s integration into his new life was not to transform his entire personality but to find permissible outlets for his existing personality and ambitions. Reb Yaakov generally advised ba’alei teshuva who already had careers or professions not to give them up and those who were in the middle of their education to complete it, if it would facilitate their ability to earn a living later. He recognized how difficult it would be for anyone starting Torah learning in his twenties to compensate fully for all the lost years, and he feared that by giving up a good profession a ba’al teshuva might find himself years later frustrated in his learning, with a growing family, and without any means of support. That in turn could lead to his becoming embittered about his decision to become religious. A ba’al teshuva’s education should concentrate on facilitating his successful integration into the religious community. And that obviously requires a considerable exposure to Torah learning. Reb Yaakov recommended that Kol Yaakov, for instance, concentrate on conveying the excitement of Gemara learning rather than focusing initially on philosophic issues. The whole purpose of the so-called ba’al teshuva yeshiva, as he saw it, was not as an end in itself but to facilitate the ba’al teshuva’s entry into the mainstream Orthodox community.
The Life And Times Of HaGaon R' Yaakov Kaminetzky - Artscroll
