Marking the First Yartzeit of My Zaidy, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchok Rosenfeld

By Rabbi Eli Rosenfeld, Shliach in Portugal

This Shabbos, the 25th of Adar, marks the first Yahrzeit of my Zaidy, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchok ben R’ Chanoch Henoch Hakohen Rosenfeld.

I was fortunate to be with him in the final hours before his passing and to honor him by attending his burial. On the Shabbos following his passing, I opened one of his well-worn Sefarim to study.

The book I chose was Sefer Hamamarim 5746, a text Zaidy often used in his role as a Rav in Boro Park.

Every week, like clockwork toward the end of Shabbos, Zaidy would recite by heart a Chassidic teaching he had prepared for his community. Year after year, for decades, this was his practice.

Consistency was a quality Zaidy exemplified and, in extraordinary fashion, the very words I read from his book spoke to that exact theme.

Routine and repetitive actions are often undervalued. In fact, the most wondrous parts of our world that occur regularly are often dismissed simply as “nature.” We take them for granted, rarely paying attention to the miracle of their existence.

In a teaching given on the Shabbos before Rosh Chodesh Nissan, the Lubavitcher Rebbe points out that it is precisely these repetitive, unchanging acts that highlight the deepest spiritual connection.

Human activity is naturally prone to change; our commitment, strength, and endurance fluctuate with time. Therefore, it is the constant and reliable elements of our lives that illustrate our connection to the ultimate source: an unchanging G-d who never tires or weakens.

It is precisely this focus that will bring the world to its fullest potential with the coming of Moshiach, when the routine and repetitive elements are finally given their due and recognized as miraculous.

Zaidy’s life was one of holy consistency. May his Neshama have an Aliya, and may his descendants merit to follow in his ways.