Rabbi Schwartz Memorial

As we all know, Rabbi Elkanah Schwartz, our Rabbi for almost half a century, tragically passed away on November 19 of 2023. On Sunday, December 17, 2023, a shloshim memorial was held at Zmigrod Hall in Borough Park, Brooklyn.  I was asked by the Schwartz family to speak on this occasion. I am posting my speech as a testimonial, however inadequate, to the memory of our great Rabbi who benefitted all of us so very much.

Rabbi Schwartz was a remarkable man, an attribute that he would be the first one to deny. He was a truly humble man and one who followed the prescription of Shammai who said, "emor m’at v’asay harbeh," say little and do much (Avot 1:15).  He led an exemplary life which he devoted to maintaining and extending yiddishkeit. He pursued these objectives with a mesiras nefesh that must and will guide our lives. I just wish to give a brief description of the Rabbi's life and his great achievements. I know that he would probably not want me to mention these things, but I hope he would give me a little license to mention at least some of them.

Over the past more than 50 years, during which I had the privilege, pleasure and honor of knowing Rabbi Elkanah Schwartz, I have been the beneficiary of his incredible wisdom, insight and counsel. He was mesader kiddushin for my marriage to my wife, Naomi, for thus far a blessed 34 years, and presided at the funerals of both of my parents, in the case of my father, Dr. Joseph B. Pincus, in spite of  a serious medical crisis in his family. He was a true torah scholar, a master of gemara, nevi'im and k'suvim and a man of many talents. As an exemplary talmid chacham of the Yeshiva Chaim Berlin from which he received smicha, he was a recognized authority in pirkei avos and, at the same time he was a respected authority in the secular world in the field of public affairs and was a trusted advisor to several New York political leaders. He was also a talented writer who combined his deep yiddishkeit with his knowledge of life in America to write a superb book of short stories entitled "Shteytel Life, American Style,"  in my mind, a masterpiece of writing and of humor. He was a sought-after Rabbi by many schuls and was the Rabbi of a large congregation in Coney Island.  Very fortunately, many people in our schul, Congregation Kol Israel,  knew and had great respect for Rabbi Schwartz and commissioned him to give gemara shiurim at different congregants' homes.

Throughout the 1950s and part of the 1960s, Crown Heights and Prospect Heights were large centers of Jewish institutions. There was at least one Orthodox schul on every block, multiple yeshivas and the Brooklyn Jewish Center and the Brooklyn Jewish Hospital. Franklin Avenue was one long shopping street consisting of multiple kosher butchers, kosher grocery stores, kosher delicatessens, Jewish catering halls and manors. All of this tragically came to an end. By the mid 1970s, almost all of these wonderful institutions ceased to exist in what had become a crime-ridden area.

At that time, Congregation Kol Israel had lost over 80 percent of its members and its prominent Rabbi, Rabbi Nothon Thumin, z''l,  and was the only remaining Orthodox synagogue in the area. Based on his superb shiurim, the President of Kol Israel, Mr. Arthur Fried, asked Rabbi Schwartz to be the rabbi of  Kol israel which Rabbi Schwartz accepted and began in 1976. Rabbi Schwartz presided as rabbi for over 46 years mostly during extremely difficult times due to the vastly diminished number of congregants, deterioration of the neighborhood, break-insm and even assaults on congregants. Despite preposterous odds, Rabbi Schwartz held the schul together through his great learning, compassion, and mesiras nefesh. He not only maintained its functioning but even expanded it.

As I mentioned, Rabbi Schwartz was an expert in Pirkei Avos. During his many drashas on the topic, he emphasized what he concluded were the two most important guiding principles, both in perek aleph: the first was the ascendancy of Torah, how it was conveyed to Moshe Rabbeinu at Har Sinai, from Moshe Rabbeinu to Yehoshua, from Yehoshua to the Z’kanim, from the Z’kanim to the Neviim from the Neviim to the Anshe Knesses Hagadola....at each stage, the mishna describes how each recipient contributed to Torah knowledge and built a fence around the Torah. This perek is the prescription for Jewish survival and the spreading of Yiddishkeit. Rabbi Schwartz was following this prescription by holding together a small, almost defunct schul with the determination that it was his cause to maintain its yiddishkeit and eventually to extend it.

The second was a very interesting commentary by Shammai: "Asay toraschah kevah, emor m-at v-asay harbeh, vhavay mkabail es kol adam b'saver panim yafos." “Study torah regularly, say little and do much and receive all men with a nice disposition [cheerfully]." This means be open to everyone, listen to what they say, and treat them well while guiding them to follow the path of Yiddishkeit. This was precisely the Rabbi's approach to all who entered our schul or who contacted him in any way.

With his welcoming demeanor, he attracted many participants to the schul, while meticulously maintaining all of its traditions. Throughout, he gave numerous highly insightful shiurim in Gemarah, Torah, and Pirkei Avos, for which, as  I mentioned, he is very well known.  We was a superb baal koreh,, and often a baal tefillah.

There was no stone unturned in his quest to maintain the schul. We all know of the remarkable fact that, even when he and his family moved to Boro Park from Crown Heights, Rabbi Schwartz walked round-trip, about 8 miles, to our schul on every holiday and every shabbos to make sure that he was present for all services. This prompted the well-known photographer and historian Oscar Israelowitz, in his pictorial history of the synagogues of New York, to call Kol Israel the"miracle synagogue.'' This was heroic and demonstrated an almost unknown level of dedication and mesiras nefesh which was unique to Rabbi Schwartz.

During the horrible Crown Heights pogrom of 1991, when several congregants wanted to keep the schul closed on shabbos, Rabbi Schwartz uttered the resounding words: "Keep the lights on and the doors open so that any Jew who wants to can daven here." He obtained the brucha from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, for the survival of the schul. The Rebbe not only enthusiastically gave his brucha for the schul's survival but added: "Oomosifoh," and may it grow!

Rabbi Schwartz attained the highest level of rabbonus. He succeeded in saving Yiddishkeit at Kol Israel and caused it to expand. It is now a thriving orthodox schul, and it is his triumph. His life was a lesson and a guide to all of us in the vast importance of maintaining and extending Yiddishkeit and the type of self sacrifice, mesiras nefesh, needed to achieve it.