It is almost a year since I lost my Rebbe, and yet, because a bond as strong as ours is hard to sever, I still drive by his house on the way to shul. As I move my hand to open the door of my truck, reality sinks in, and I remember that Rabbi Janowski will not be joining me in person, not today and not tomorrow. Sadly, I drive on, as Rebbe would not want me to be late for shul.
Later in the evening, as I sit in my office doing paperwork, I slowly turn my head to the picture of Rabbi Janowski sitting on my windowsill. I allow myself to daydream and remember how our lives crossed and how our relationship came to flourish.
I arrived at Ner Israel as a mechina student many years ago. I would look at Rabbi Janowski with awe as he passed me in the Bais Medrash, and I realized how different we were. I never dreamed that our opposite lives would become so united. The years passed, and Rabbi Janowski became my son’s third grade rebbe. Soon, the man I had watched with awe in the Yeshiva’s Bais Medrash became my mentor, my chavrusa, my Rebbe.
Rabbi Janowski and I had a seder for more than 15 years. During that time, I learned about the breadth of his knowledge. Rabbi Janowski did not simply translate the gemara we were learning, he brought it to life. He brought it to life, because he loved it with his whole heart and soul. When Rebbe taught, it was not a job; it was a labor of love.
Rebbe wove Chumash, Navi, Rishonim, and Acharonim into each gemara lesson. He elaborated on each word of the gemara, as he believed that each word had meaning. His knowledge on every topic was so great that he was able to elaborate the phrase “he said” into a 45-minute lesson of history and background.
Rabbi Janowski never allowed me to miss a seder. His motto was similar to that of the postal service – except Rebbe did not believe that holidays (other than Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av) were an excuse for us not to learn. If unavoidable circumstances arose, and we were unable to meet one evening, Rabbi Janowski would simply add an hour or two to our next seder. One Shabbos morning, I awoke at 7:00 a.m. and realized that I had neglected to tell Rebbe that I had to attend a bar mitzva and would probably miss our seder that afternoon. I walked to his house, worrying that Rabbi Janowski would be sleeping and that I would be unable to deliver my message. My worries were for naught, as I found Rabbi Janowski sitting over a sefer at his dining room table. Rebbe looked at me, ushered me into his dining room, instructed me to pull up a chair, and informed me, “We will learn now; then you can walk me to shul.”
Once, as I was reviewing what we had learned during seder. I noticed a contradiction. For three days, I practiced the way I would present the contradiction to Rabbi Janowski. I was proud that I noticed the contradiction and finally summoned up the courage to ask Rebbe my question. I was presenting my rehearsed question beautifully until Rebbe said, “Ech!” I had barely started telling Rebbe what was bothering me when he responded, “One is d’oraisa and the other is d’rabanan.” I had spent three days pondering the question, yet to Rabbi Janowski, the information was so clear. He did not have to think for even three seconds before giving me an answer.
Rabbi Janowski’s vast knowledge was evident every time we learned a blatt gemara. Rebbe always insisted that we trace the source of the argument in the gemara by opening the Chumash. He felt that it was better to learn by looking at the source so it could be analyzed appropriately. What I found most amazing was how Rebbe would lift the Chumash, casually open it, and never need to flip through the pages. Rebbe always opened the Chumash to the correct page. Once, when searching for a source in the Chumash, Rebbe opened the Chumash and realized the posuk in question was not on the page he had opened. He closed his eyes for a second and turned two pages. He explained that the gemara had given an incorrect location for the posuk, and told me where to look for the correct one.
Rabbi Janowski knew Mishna, Gemara, Chumash, and Navi, and he taught them with vigor. Yet, I learned not only from his lessons but also from his demeanor. Rabbi Janowski taught through example. Rebbe always came to shul on time, he always stayed in shul until the very end, and he always davened during davening. Rabbi Janowski always said that during davening one should not learn and one should not talk, unless it was to Hashem. He led a simple life, governed by simple concepts, concepts which were fashioned from his deep ahavas Hashem and yiras Shamayim, and which he imparted to the many students who were fortunate enough to claim him as their Rebbe.
