Remembering R’ Betzalel Malasky at His Shloshim

By Yossi Newfield

As a long-time neighbor of Reb Betzalel Malasky, o’bm, I had the privilege of getting to know one of the most unique individuals of the Crown Heights community. I grew up a few doors down from Reb Betzalel, but to us he was simply Dod Betzalel. I write the following words not because he was looking for attention or recognition. On the contrary, Reb Betzalel shied away from the limelight as much as possible. For him, all that mattered was serving Hashem to the best of his ability. However, I write the following in order to remind ourselves as to who we lost with Reb Betzalel’s recent passing.

Reb Betzalel was born in 1937 in Washington, DC. He attended the University of Illinois in the late 1950s and focused on engineering and mathematical studies. It was at the university that he noticed an invitation to a Crown Heights Pegisha for college students. He attended the Pegisha and was very impressed with the sincerity of the Chabad chasidic community. He moved to Crown Heights in the early 1960s after having served in Korea in the aftermath of the Korean War. However, upon entering Hadar Hatorah in the late 1960s, he gave himself over to Torah and mitzvos with every fiber of his being.

Upon first coming to Crown Heights, it was very important for Reb Betzalel to live with a chasidic family that he could learn from, especially when it came to the intricate halachos and minhagim in connection with Pesach and the seders. His early learning experiences with chasidic and pious Chabad families stayed with him for the rest of his life.

My earliest memory of Reb Betzalel was watching him helping my father put up the sukkah late at night. Due to his training in the sciences and his military training, Reb Betzalel was very methodical and exact when it came to measurements and do it yourself projects. He knew how to cut the wood and figure out exactly how to connect each beam in its proper place. Building a large wood sukkah from scratch took lots of time and effort, but Reb Betzalel never tired or complained. He was helping a fellow Jew to do a mitzvah, however long it may take.

Over the years my family and I shared many yom tov meals with Reb Betzalel and his family. I especially looked forward to hearing him recite the kiddush prayer. Whether we were sitting outdoors in the crowded sukkah or inside for a pesach meal, Reb Betzalel would recite the kiddush prayer with the same concentration and even toned voice. He didn’t rush to get it over with. He said each and every word with kavanah. His guiding light was constantly trying to carry out every mitzvah with the proper intention.

For decades, Reb Betzalel was very active in mivtza tefilin. He would never let an opportunity go by without trying to encourage a fellow Yid to carry out the important mitzvah of laying tefilin. In addition, Reb Betzalel appreciated many friendships with pious Jews from all walks of life, whether Chasidic, Litvish, Yekke (German Jews), etc. So long as the person was a true yirei shamayim, he felt he could learn something from him in avodas Hashem.

In the early 1980s, Reb Betzalel learned that a sefer by the Rama, the Mechir Yayin, wasn’t available for purchase. The Mechir Yayin was the Rama’s interpretation of the Megilas Esther according to drush. After much searching, Reb Betzalel found an old copy of the Mechir Yayin and went about reprinting it for the general public. While today the sefer Mechir Yayin is widely available in many new printings, at the time it was nowhere to be found. Reb Betzalel took upon himself the cost of reprinting copies of this important sefer.

As time went on, it became apparent to me that for Reb Betzalel serving Hashem was not something he did to be yoitzeh, or to get it over with. His entire existence served one purpose- to serve Hashem through Torah, tefilah, and tzedakah. In the early 1990s, my family lived for a time in Morristown, NJ. We invited Reb Betzalel and his family to come to Morristown for a Shabbos. On Sunday morning before he went back to Brooklyn, we asked him to demonstrate the exercise regimen that he learned in the army all those years earlier. Like a true soldier, he got on the ground and proceeded to demonstrate the various movements he was taught while serving in Korea. It was then that it became clear to me, Reb Betzalel never ceased being a soldier. The only thing that changed was this: instead of serving in the US Army, he now served in the Army of Hashem.

For twenty years, Reb Betzalel helped make the minyin in East Flatbush for Reb Michoel Teitelbaum. Rain or shine, summer and winter, Reb Betzalel would trek to East Flatbush to insure that the small Jewish community had a minyin on shabbos and yom tov. When need be, he would also bring others with him to make the minyin.

His recent passing has deprived all those who knew him of what it means to serve Hashem b’simcha and b’hidur. Reb Betzalel served Hashem not in order to receive a reward or to get something in return. He lived his life to carry out Hashem’s will. As it says in Pirkei Avot- shelo al menas lekabel pras. Towards the end of his life, as his health began to fail, he was mekabel yesurim b’ahavah. May his memory be for a blessing.