With the tragic death of each great rabbi, the Mishnah Sotah teaches, all Israel is diminished and bereft: We lose the unique gifts of that individual person who has taught and guided us. Yet it is not the same view from heaven: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Ps. 116:14).
The Novominsker rebbe, zz”l, died from the horrific COVID-19 plague, and we are diminished by the loss of an extraordinary person, a rebbe who guided us, uplifted us; a bridge builder and a model of how to be a Jew. His grandfather and my grandmother were twins, back in Warsaw. Their pictures are on my living room wall, his picture hangs above my desk, and a small photo of his father is in my wallet. How odd, some might think, that the grandchildren of these twins would lead such divergent lives.
