Marking the 3rd Yartzeit of Rabbi Akiva Wagner

A unique type of Rosh yeshiva.

There’s a fascinating hayom Yom dated 22 Iyar: “In previous eras, a Rebbe – a Rosh Yeshivah or a Gaon – was alone, and his disciples were alone. The path of Chassidus blazed by the Alter Rebbe brought about an awesome G-dly innovation: the Rebbe is not alone, and the chassidim are not alone.”

It is very interesting that this Hayom Yom is in such close proximity to the birthday and yurtzait of my dear Shver Rabbi Akiva Wagner A”H (R’ Michoel Akiva Gershon Ben R’ Refoel Menachem Nochum A”h), tes zayin and yud zayin iyar.

Rabbi Wagner A”H was very unique in this specific area. Usually a Rosh Yeshivah comes and gives the shiur. Farbrengens are usually reserved for the mashpiim, aside for a few times in the year when the Rosh Yeshivah will farbreng. Speaking with bochurim as a caring guide and mentor are usually reserved for the mashpiim as well, other than a few very unique minds who can speak on par with the Rosh yeshiva in learning.

When it comes to describing Rabbi Wagner A”H, many had a difficult time distinguishing between whether he was more of a Rosh Yeshivah or a mashpia. He would farbreng at every possible opportunity and spend hours speaking with bochurim both in and out of yeshiva. He would keep in touch with his alumni on the phone and through his unique farbrengen emails. His house was open to the bochurim at all hours, literally to farbreng or just schmooze with him. He would get so comfortable with the bochurim that they could feel how he lowered himself without losing his stature as a lofty rosh yeshiva, he would throw his arm around the most simple bochur sitting next to him at a farbrengen, and even at times throw his hat at them with his twinkle in his eyes when the farbrengen would get lebedik.

There was a genuine care for the bochurim, not as if it was a job as a mechanech, but as a life’s mission. And it seems that this Hayom Yom describes how to achieve this unique ability.

Rabbi Wagner lived and breathed chassidus. Although he was a tremendous Gaon in nigla and could give extremely deep and lofty shiurim, he always had a maamer ready to give over baal peh, word for word as it says it in the sefer. He would daven like a chossid, verbalizing every word with a chayus and lebedikeit. The bochurim could hear his energetic and hartzike davening each morning as he toiled to internalize the messages of Chassidus. When he would farbreng, it sounded often like he would drill in the same conclusions, emes havaya leolam, and we need to enter the Rebbe’s world of looking at things.

However, it was this deep longing and connection to chassidus – together with his tireless dedication to preparing shiurim, that enabled this unique composition. When it would come to preparing his shiurim he would often spend hours poring over tens of sefarim open on his desk even at 1:00 am; then at 5:00 am bochurim dorming in his basement could hear him pacing his office as he thought over complex sugyas; and when it came to a request for a chavrusa in Torah with a bochur he would never turn down the opportunity he would find the craziest hours that he had available to make it a reality even 4:30 am in the middle of the week, or 2 am on a Thursday night.

The fusion of mesirus nefesh in these two worlds developed this unique blend of Rabbi Wagner A”H.

Boruch Hashem, today what Rabbi Wagner built is continuing with full steam ahead. The guiding principle of the Yeshiva continues to be the example Rabbi Wagner A”H set, with the unique blend of these 2 worlds and a heartfelt concern and focus on the development of the bochurim of every level.

The Yeshiva has continued to see large amounts of bochurim flocking to the Yeshiva to gain some of this unique formula, and the Yeshiva has taken steps to make the experience that the bochurim have be one full of genuine devotion and concern, providing them with lebedike examples and an abundance of meaningful connections, by hiring more chavrei hanholo, to give the bochurim a taste of the beautiful blend Rabbi Wagner embodied.

This year תשפ”ו are the same letters as שותף. Please become a shutaf and partner with us in this tremendous moisad chinuch, this coming week as we enter the last zmanim of the 29th year of the Yeshiva, and enter the 30th. Beezras Hashem, the Yeshiva will launch our Shutaf campaign to help the Yeshiva raise 540,000. Your partnership will be a direct shutfus in the amazing impact the Yeshiva is having: being a shutaf in building bochurim in their limud hatorah; being a shutaf in the chayus, mentorship and cultivation of the Chayalei beis David.

Become a shutaf in the tremendous impact the bochurim are having on the yiden in the city of Toronto, all the tahaluchas and hafatzatzas hamayanos that they do on a weekly basis.

Become a shutaf in the mivtzoim and spreading of Yiddishkeit. Hundreds of yiden are putting on tefilin weekly and learning Torah, doing mivtza mezuza, neshek, ois bsefer Torah, etc. The ripple effects of these activities are felt and heard about in real time, being that Toronto is such a bustling city full of yiden.

Be a shutaf in the tremendous future these bochurim are developing into. The thousands of yidden already inspired by the first 30 years of yeshivas Lubavitch Toronto is testament to what your shutfus can accomplish. Please help make Rabbi Wagner’s vision a reality.

So please look out for our shutaf campaign next week, Monday, chof daled iyar, as we count on you to help us enhance the Yeshiva and develop it to have as much impact as possible.

Please join us to usher in the end of this long and difficult galus, with the speedy arrival of Moshiach, when Rabbi Wagner will rejoin the Yeshiva again and the Rebbe will give a yasher koach to all those who have participated in the tremendous chinuch of the Chayalei beis David.

May we be zoiche to experience this right now without any further delay. Moshiach now!!

Rabbi Mendy Lieberman