Levaya Held for Legendary Mashpia

By COLlive reporter
Photos by Shimi Kutner

Chabad rabbis and chassidim around the world are mourning the sudden passing of Rabbi Elimelech Zweibel, the respected and renowned Mashpia of the veteran Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim in Morristown, NJ.

A full crowd participated in his levaya which was held on Monday in New York and passed by Lubavitch World Headquarters – 770 Eastern Parkway on its way to the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens.

Described as a “mentor, guide and living example,” former students fondly recalled the classes in Chassidus, vast knowledge in Torah and dedicated to raising the younger generation.

The family will be sitting Shiva at
5 Sussex place Morristown NJ
Shachris. 9:30 am
Mincha: 2:10
Maariv: 6:45

3 minyanim needed

On Moitzai Shabbos after 8:00 PM the men will be sitting at 599 Montgomery street between Brooklyn and Kingston Avenues and the women will be sitting at 553 Montgomery street between Brooklyn and New York Avenue

To send Nichum Aveilim and stories to the family, please email [email protected]

Here’s what writer Eli Rubin wrote about him on Chabad.org:

Reb Meilich was more than a scholar and more than a teacher. First and foremost, he was a mentor, a builder of relationships, a personal guide and a living example of what a Chassid should be. There were many students who didn’t necessarily attend his classes or follow what he said in them, and yet he was their mentor. He would call students into his office at regular intervals to discuss their studies and their spiritual progress, or simply to find a point of common interest and open the opportunity for a relationship.

As mentioned above, Reb Meilich always kept up with the yeshivah’s Talmud curriculum, and though it wasn’t his responsibility this was another area in which he found opportunity to forge connections. In his office he would not only quiz you on what you were learning, but also invite you to open a volume of Talmud and learn together with him. He would test your limits and challenge you, then show you the way to an additional line of thought or to an overlooked commentator to shed incisive light. Students who took advantage of these opportunities to engage and ask questions were continuously surprised not only by the breadth of his knowledge, but also by the fluent clarity and orderliness with which he discussed whatever topic was brought up.

His erudition was only overshadowed by his personal grace. The gentleness with which he carried his gravitas endeared him to everyone and enabled him to have a meaningful conversation with anyone. He addressed each of his students, and all who sought his inspiration or advice, according to their needs as individuals. When I asked him to be my mentor, he gave me a long reading list. He provided my friend, study partner and roommate—Mendy Efune—with a long reading list as well, and the two lists had very little overlap. Two very different personalities—with different qualities, sensibilities and inclinations—needed to be guided along different paths so that they could each achieve what they needed to as individuals.

As a mentor and a guide, the values that Reb Meilich perhaps emphasized most were discipline and consistency as the key to serving G‑d; and the need to form a personal bond with G‑d through contemplative prayer.

He would sometimes illustrate the first point with an anecdote about Rabbi Nissan Nemanow. While traveling by train, he once observed a student of his looking out the window at each station to see if he had arrived at his destination. Said the rabbi, “Rather than look out the window each time, you should make a note of how many stops you need to go and keep count of the passing stations in your head. Why look where there is no need to look?” Disciplined forethought, in other words, allows an individual to avoid unnecessary distractions and maximize the opportunities of every moment.

Regarding contemplative prayer a related anecdote comes to mind. The fourth Chabad Rebbe—Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn (the Maharash)—once advised one of his followers that if he wants to know what a Chassid is, he should go and observe what his son and future successor, Rabbi Shalom DovBer Schneersohn, is occupied with early in the morning. Following this advice, the Chassid found that the Rebbe’s son was studying the prayer liturgy and consulting the classical commentaries to gain a proper working knowledge of what the prayers mean. The point that Reb Meilich was making was that you can’t expect to have a meaningful prayer experience if you haven’t done the rigorous preparatory work of familiarizing yourself with what you are actually saying to G‑d.

Reb Meilich’s own practice was to pray along with the congregation on weekdays. On Shabbat, however, he would pray at far greater length. He would begin together with the congregation, but would soon be left far behind. He would pause to listen to the Torah reading, and to the repetition of the Amidah and Musaf prayers. Then he would remain wrapped in his tallis for an hour or two after the congregation had finished and the study hall had emptied out, before vanishing into his office.