“Good afternoon, Ner Israel.”
“Hello. Rabbi Neuberger, please.”
“Who’s calling?”
“Hillel Tendler.”
“One minute, please.”
After a few seconds, a familiar and distinct voice is saying, “Hello. Shalom aleichem, Reb Hillel. What’s doing?”
So began another of countless conversations I and so many others were zocheh (merited) to have over the past decades with the giant, but completely accessible, Menahel of one of the largest yeshivos in the world.
The reason for the call did not matter. Whatever the need, be it personal or communal, Rabbi Neuberger gave you undivided attention as if nothing else mattered to him. We all know by now that there were precious few minutes in the almost 70 years of Rabbi Neuberger’s askanus, his stewardship of Torah Jewry’s needs, when he was not completely busy with a critical need of Ner Yisroel or klal Yisrael; yet he always had time for everyone.
Since Rabbi Neuberger’s passing several weeks ago, we have been fortunate to hear from his children and others who were close to him. They shared with us a glimpse of Rabbi Neuberger’s greatness and some of the major accomplishments of his full life. We have heard of his childhood and early development; his relationship with his brother-in-law, Maran HaRosh Yeshiva, zt”l; how he physically built Ner Yisroel and worked hand-in-hand with its Roshei Yeshiva and Mashgiach, zt”l, and the current Rosh Yeshiva, Mashgiach and hanhala, shlita to spiritually build the Yeshiva; how he almost single-handedly preserved 2,500 years of Persian Torah Jewry; how he spearheaded countless initiatives to strengthen Torah observance and be mekadesh Shem Shamayim; and how he worked tirelessly to increase shalom, peace and harmony, in the overall Jewish community.
Some outside of Baltimore might think that perhaps the stories and accolades include some permissible exaggeration, common when reflecting on beloved individuals after they are no longer with us. However, as numerous people can attest, every word of every story is true in fact and in context. Rabbi Neuberger – every Jew and hundreds of non-Jews in Baltimore knew Rav Naftoli ben Reb Meir HaLevi simply as Rabbi Neuberger – was so great indeed. Since moving back to Baltimore 20 years ago, I have often referred to Rabbi Neuberger when speaking to others, only partially tongue-in-cheek, as “king of the Jews.” He surely took care of the needs of klal Yisrael as might a melech Yisrael. Yet his greatness was seen and felt daily in so many smaller arenas as well.
Without a doubt, nobody who attended a certain urgent meeting in a private home in the summer of 1995 will ever forget Rabbi Neuberger’s speech. He had called various individuals together to discuss the need for the families of our community’s mechanchim (educators) to have the safety net of life insurance. For the most part, Rabbi Neuberger had not yet “slowed down,” and he did not often give in to emotion when speaking publicly. Yet his flowing tears as he imparted to us the responsibility we, as a community, have to our teachers are etched in our memories.
It was always easy to forget that Rabbi Neuberger’s first responsibility was to his own Yeshiva. As the great Torah community of Baltimore grew, its institutions and individual families experienced growing pains. We needed a new mikva; a school was out of space; we were falling (further) behind in paying our teachers; a decision of the Bais Din was being attacked in civil court. Often, the problems boiled down to finances, and with its own multimillion dollar budget, Ner Yisroel needed funds as much as any of the other mosdos (institutions). Nevertheless, Rabbi Neuberger deeply understood, more than anyone else, how our community’s growth and increasing kavod Shamayim are dependent on the success and stability of each institution, even if his own yeshiva missed out on a lucrative opportunity.
Without fail, the day before school started each year brought the call from Rabbi Neuberger directing how the tuitions of one or more needy families would be handled so the vital “admission passes” could be released. If an uninsured or under-insured family had weathered a hospitalization, Rabbi Neuberger would be on the phone calling the hospital administration or individuals close to the hospital administration to work out a financially feasible solution. You would think that the man behind the growth of so many Jewish communities throughout the United States had nothing more important to worry about than a particular Baltimore family’s tuition or medical bill woes. You know, you would be right.
Other times, the problem could not be solved simply with money; the solution was months or years away and demanded time. After succinctly describing the problem in two or three short sentences – nobody could drill down to the essence of an issue like Rabbi Neuberger – he would say, “I want you to attend a meeting in New York” – or Washington or Annapolis or wherever there was a need. He directed us to work on projects and with other Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and groups for the long-range good of the Torah community. The greatest leaders of our nation always saw far beyond the limitations of present time and space, and Rabbi Neuberger was no exception. We were constantly amazed how he so often planted seeds which paid off only after years of hard work. He saw the big forest while we could only focus on our particular patch of trees.
Rabbi Neuberger was always available by phone, in his Administration Building office, in the Executive Dining Room, or in his living room – he sat there on the chair in a sweater, surrounded by sefarim and the ever-present telephone, and you sat on the couch – to respond to our requests for assistance and advice. But usually he did not wait for us to call him. He called us first to anticipate the need and develop a solution before we even perceived a problem existed.
We learned so much from those meetings – not only about the issue at hand but about what was going on throughout the Torah world, as well. Those privileged to meet with him often saw and heard the calls come in from Atlanta, Buenos Aires, Cincinnati, Columbus, Geneva, Los Angeles, New York, Yerushalayim – wherever. We saw first hand how involved he was with the smallest details of issues faced by these distant communities and individuals. Everyone turned to Rabbi Neuberger, and each received the same warmth, complete attention, and clarity of thought. His advice was always practical; he took account of the unique circumstances of the person seeking his help, and he never suggested solutions that, due to the realities of the community where the person lived, could not be implemented.
A personal aitza (advice) never took a back seat to a communal matter, be it for a career choice or for the timing of college courses your child needed to eventually get into graduate school. Rabbi Neuberger was there for everyone, always. Almost all who count among the ranks of the “high and mighty” take some sort of break, when they are simply not reachable; after all, the mind, nerves, and body need to rest sometime. Not Rabbi Neuberger. The phrase 24/7 was created with Rabbi Neuberger in mind (tzorchei mitzva can be discussed even on Shabbos). Unless he was out of cell phone range, there was not a moment when he was inaccessible.
He demanded from us that we think outside the box to be responsive to the community’s needs. Just because things are done a certain way in larger communities is no excuse for us. In which other community does the leadership of the various schools get together or communicate almost daily to resolve common issues? It was Rabbi Neuberger’s direction, presence, and personality that created the atmosphere of achdus (unity) here in Baltimore, where this is the norm.
What drove Rabbi Neuberger? We have heard several suggestions, all no doubt true. He was an enormous baal bitachon; he had complete faith in Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He was a tremendous ohev Yisrael; undoubtedly, he loved his fellow Jew, regardless of level of observance, to a degree rarely seen. He had a burning love of Hashem, His Torah, and those who studied the Torah; he dedicated his entire life to building the Yeshiva and allowing its Roshei Yeshiva, rebbeim and talmidim to learn in an atmosphere unfettered by physical restraints.
Yet, above all else, he was a baal achrayus; he felt to his very core that the needs of Hashem’s children were his personal responsibility. There was no institutional, communal, or personal issue about which he said, “It’s not my job.” Everything was his job, and he dealt with every issue with the utmost integrity, energy, and sense of urgency – as if he were personally affected by the issue. This was not an unrealistic, superhuman approach to dealing with the problems of others. As every great manhig, or leader of klal Yisrael, Rabbi Neuberger genuinely believed that it indeed was his responsibility to share other people’s burdens and thereby lighten their loads.
This sense of responsibility is something he shared with the Roshei Yeshiva of Ner Yisroel, who instilled in their talmidim this sense of obligation. There is hardly a community in the United States in which Ner Yisroel alumni do not play leading roles. These were the living lessons taught to us by example from the Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbi Neuberger.
Why did our generation and community merit to have Rabbi Neuberger in our midst and accomplish so much for us? We can’t say for sure, except that Hashem always plants in each generation what the times demand. America over the past 70 years needed a Rabbi Neuberger to establish our footings and help the Gedolai Hador direct the growth of Torah on U.S. soil. Now that he has left us, we are truly orphaned and alone. How we miss him! But we must continue to fly solo, using the hadracha (guidance) he gave us to serve klal Yisrael in Rabbi Neuberger’s way. Yehi zichro baruch.
