This describes R' Zecharya Wallerstein, please add personal

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amother

Tue, May 03 2022, 10:50 pm

This describes R' Zecharya Wallerstein a"h.

The man was a unique giant among men.

I dont have any huge personal inspiring stories other than that I know he made himself available to anyone whom he could help, and he spoke out against other styles of Kiruv when he felt they were going overboard and hurting rather than helping.

Please add personal experiences so others will get a feel of his accomplishments.

amother

Stoneblue

Tue, May 03 2022, 11:02 pm

Wow

amother

Navyblue

Tue, May 03 2022, 11:15 pm

Wow I never knew this before.

But I’m genuinely curious what is so wrong with piercings? Did he make this deal with boys or girls?

amother

Pink

Tue, May 03 2022, 11:17 pm

He once spoke in our out of town community in the local theater.
He said a story about a student asking if there would be Wi-Fi in the Bais hamikdash. His point was that every question is valid and he understood that the student was asking if we’ll use technology in the bais hamikdash.

A few months later I was dealing with the African American guy that runs the theater due to the nature of my job. And he mentioned to me that a rabbi once came and spoke about if there would be Wi-Fi when we have the temple…

He reached all of us, and some more

amother

Topaz

Tue, May 03 2022, 11:18 pm

Delete

amother

Tue, May 03 2022, 11:24 pm

Are there any Imas whose lives he changed?

amother

Wed, May 04 2022, 12:05 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Are there any Imas whose lives he changed?

bump

hodeez

Wed, May 04 2022, 12:10 pm

He offered to fully pay for my wedding if my parents wouldn't.

amother

Oleander

Wed, May 04 2022, 12:12 pm

Wow.
He was an incredible person.
I don’t either have any personal stories with him, but this tefillin bag made me tear up. He truly cared.
He will be missed.

amother

Mulberry

Wed, May 04 2022, 12:38 pm

I was in his seminary, Ateres Naava. I can't think of a specific example. He truly cared. He sincerely wanted the best for all of us, and he wanted us to want the best for ourselves. He really helped to shape my relationship with Hashem.

Jewishmom8

Wed, May 04 2022, 12:38 pm

He was an icon and an incredible person.
What a role model.
Impossible to replace.
I never met him but I feel so affected by his loss and I am sure others feel the same.
Thank you for making this post. I feel the need to read more and talk more about this loss.
He to me was like the idea person.

amother

Daffodil

Wed, May 04 2022, 12:46 pm

yes I can say he changed my life for better
I always listened to his shiurim and was always very inspired ... he spoke deep to my heart
he was an example from a person who struggled and became something big!
he was never scared to speak about topics that other rabbanim or speakers was scared to say against.

one time I was listening to his shiur and he spoke about zumba.
if I remember something like: when u do zumba u listen to this kind of music and then u say to uur child shefele come lets learn alef bais etc.....
I was a regular frum girl and after a difficult nisojon struggling with a smartphone without filter.
the next day took my smartphone and when I went to work put it in the garbage on street.

it was for me a huge change now my laptop is filtered...

amother

Honeydew

Wed, May 04 2022, 1:33 pm

I never met Rabbi Wallerstein but he tremendously impacted my life...I can't believe he's gone...he was larger than life!

What I remember most?

Firstly, that he was an incredibly busy person with a business and multiple schools/rehabs, etc...and he worked with an old-fashioned flip phone!

Secondly, I'll never forget his shiur where he talks about the fact that if you are here on this world, you come from a tipah s'rucha (am I writing that correctly?!) that means thousands of drops of sperm fought to be the one to be fertilized, but YOU are the one who made it, so you have that power in you.

amother

Natural

Wed, May 04 2022, 3:02 pm

I am a deep thinker. As a young girl I would sit for days and think who created Hashem? How did He come to be? It literally took up much mental space in my mind and I had doubts with my religion. I was too afraid to ask anyone and was scared of being labeled an Apikores so the question sat there at the back of my mind.

Then R’ Wallerstein came to speak with us in camp about Emunah. It was the highlight of the summer and all the girls were excited. I don’t remember much of what he spoke but I will never forget the question he brought up- “if someone asks you who created hashem, tell them, let’s say X created Gd, will you be satisfied? No, because then you will ask who created X? Was it Y? Who created Y then… you will never get answer. We have to realize that our human brains can’t comprehend something as awesome as Gd and that’s where Emunah Peshutah comes in.” The answer satisfied me enough that I stopped dwelling on that question.

I was also so grateful that he brought the topic up because he made the question seem like a normal question and I didn’t have to feel like a rebel for having it.

Thank you, Rabbi Wallerstein for teaching me that I am allowed to question.

I will forever be grateful.

amother

Honey

Wed, May 04 2022, 5:01 pm

I listened to thousands of hours of his shiurim as a teenager, and they really influenced my development.

Called him once and he answered a question I had about s-xual abuse after a teacher said something insensitive to me about it. Don’t want to go into detail here because it’s super personal. He was so passionate about how wrong the teacher was and it made me feel so much better, and less alone.

He spoke to a friend who was struggling in life and invited her to the ohr naava Shabbaton free of charge because he saw she couldn’t afford it and would benefit so much from the Shabbos away from her life circumstances. That Shabbos was so good for her.

He was a life force who was truly unstoppable in his pursuit to help Jewish women. He didn’t hesitate to go down into the trenches, visiting girls in rehabs, starting a rehab of his own, talking at the Agudah Convention about how it’s becoming so common for teens to use their phones on Shabbos and dealing with the backlash afterwards, dealing with truly mentally ill people that other rabbis might be afraid to get involved with… He treated everyone with respect - I’ve never heard of anyone having a creepy interaction with him despite his mostly working with girls at risk.

He often spoke about how the only truly valuable resource in life is time, and how one day we will all die and lose the ability to continue working to fulfill our potentials in this world. He practiced what he preached - the number of organization and schools he started boggles the mind. He changed lives so many lives in his 65 years on this earth.

I am truly heartbroken. It helps to think about how he was a shaliach of Hashem, and Hashem will still be taking care of Klal Yisrael’s struggling members, albeit through different means.

the world's best mom

Wed, May 04 2022, 5:54 pm

I listened to many of his shiurim and I know someone who was helped tremendously by his ranch.

As far as the piercings go, frum girls who grow up in a community where multiple peircings are not the norm will generally not get multiple piercings. If someone is rebelling, the piercings are a way of announcing to the world that they don't want to be seen as a frum aidel maidel anymore.

Beingreal

Wed, May 04 2022, 6:10 pm

He helped me a lot with his shiurim, and helped me keep me focused on life. I went off Facebook because of him.

amother

Mistyrose

Wed, May 04 2022, 9:58 pm

Personal experience here. I once had a big decision to make and was very unsure what was the right thing to do. Someone called him for me and made me an appointment at his house. I sat in his dining room and he spoke to me for almost an hour and then said if you were my daughter I would tell you to do xyz. He didn't know me from beans. He simply cared about every individual. I wasn't at risk or anything like that. I will forever treasure the memory of sitting in his dining room. I'm so glad I had the chance to meet him in his lifetime. He was such an incredible person. I wish we had more like him but he was definitely unique. He will be sorely missed.

amother

Garnet

Wed, May 04 2022, 10:18 pm

I started listening to him when I was in 8th grade and not so religious.
BH I grew from his shiurim, became shomer negiah, deleted facebook.

I am now raising a torahdig home because of Rabbi Wallerstein.

Something I want to start in his memory is putting my phone away as soon as I come home. To focus on my baby, on my husband, on my home. He use to say in a a shiur couples should leave their phones by the front door out of sight and focus on each other!

amother

Copper

Thu, May 05 2022, 11:18 am

My relative was one of his schools. Every erev shabbos, he would give each girl 2 roses. He really cared.

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