NEW PUBLICATION: CHIEF RABBI SHAUL KASSIN’S ZT’L SEFER MITZVAT HASHEM

ADAM ESSES

WE ARE VERY HAPPY AND EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THE PUBLICATION OF OUR CHIEF RABBI SHAUL J. KASSIN’S ZT’L SEFER, MITZVAT HASHEM WHICH COINCIDES WITH THE THIRD ARAYAT OF THE RABBI. THE SEFER BREAKS DOWN THE MITZVOT THAT ARE APPLICABLE IN THE DIASPORA BY PARASHAH, WITH BEAUTIFUL ADDITIONS AND COMMENTARIES. IT ALSO INCLUDES ARTICLES PERTAINING TO THE JEWISH HOLIDAYS AND A COLLECTION OF LETTERS ON TORAH TOPICS.

THERE ARE BEAUTIFUL INTRODUCTIONS WRITTEN BY OUR FORMER CHIEF RABBI JACOB S. KASSIN ZT’L, HACHAM OVADIA YOSEF ZT’L AND HACHAM SHELOMO KASSIN ZT’L. THE SEFER WAS A TWO YEAR PROJECT THAT WAS COMPLETED WITH THE METICULOUS WORK OF RABBI PINCHAS SHELBY SHLITA. THIS PROJECT IS DEDICATED BY THE ESSES BROTHERS VICTOR, ADAM AND RABBI DAVID ESSES IN MEMORY OF THE RABBI, THEIR PARENTS AND IN HONOR OF DANNY SROUR.

When my siblings and I were growing up, our mother would wake us up early on Shabbat mornings to make sure we got to k’nis on time. Our weekly Shabbat morning ritual included a visit to Shaare Zion’s “dome,” where we would receive a blessing from our father, who would then send us up to the stage to receive a blessing from Hacham Shaul Kassin zt’l and the other rabbis. Only afterward would we attend our youth minyan.

When we got older, we began to appreciate Hacham Shaul’s piety and humility. We noticed how he would always enter the synagogue from a side entrance so that the congregation wouldn’t stand in his honor. We observed how he walked quickly, with his head down, attempting to avoid the spotlight as much as possible. Our father would often remark that Hacham Shaul was the humblest person he had ever encountered.

With time, I grew closer to the Rabbi and started going to his Wednesday night shiurim in Shaare Zion’s library. These classes delivered a wide range of topics including Gemara, Mishnayot, Halachah and Parashah. Interspersed throughout his classes were stories and vignettes from his youth among the saintly rabbis of Yerushalayim of old. He would also deliver a shiur on Friday nights after Arbit. These classes invariably concluded with a riddle from his father, Chief Rabbi Yaakob Kassin zt’l, in his work, P’ri Etz Hagan. (We would call him all week with our answers; he would smile and give us berachot, and rejoice when we were able to answer the riddles quickly.)

Hacham Shaul once gave me an earlier printing of this sefer, Mitzvat Hashem, as a gift. In his classic thoughtful way, he inscribed in it the verse alluding to my name so that I could recite it at the end of the Amidah each day. He performed gestures like these hundreds of times throughout his life.

He was uniquely approachable. With his soft-spoken and humble demeanor, he made it so easy for us to fulfill our Sages’ dictum: Make for yourself a rabbi. Indeed, with him, one often felt as if he had fulfilled the next command as well: Acquire for yourself a friend. With every question or issue we encountered, we knew that we could ask him and receive an immediate answer without feeling that we were burdening him, regardless of what time we were calling. Whenever there was a happy occasion or family tragedy, he was there for us. And he did the same for countless others. One can only guess at how many shidduchim he arranged and weddings he officiated.

Hacham Shaul personified zerizut, alacrity. He never let a moment go to waste, and he was exceedingly quick to perform every mitzvah that came his way. (When walking with him to tashlich, it took all of our energy not to fall behind in a few seconds!)

In his later years, I often had the opportunity to pick him up and bring him to Minha. Whenever I arrived at his home, he would be waiting for me by the window. Rain or snow, nothing could ever stop him from coming. There were days when we tried to dissuade him: “It’s pouring outside, perhaps you should stay home.” But the rabbi would not hear of it. “I don’t want you to get wet, so maybe you should stay home, but I am going,“ was always his ready response.

As we reflect on our beloved Rabbi and his lifetime of devotion and piety, we are humbled to have merited to take part in the publication of his work. May it serve as a fitting tribute, and an elevation for his pure neshamah. Yehi zichro baruch (May his memory be a blessing).

Adam Esses and Family