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From Heart and Soul
By Liba Lieberman
When speaking to Rav Shmuel Brazil, legendary composer of countless, precious niggunim and now rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Zeev HaTorah in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood of Yerushalayim, the presence of his rebbi, Rav Shlomo Freifeld zt”l, is as palpable as Rav Brazil’s own voice. That presence wafts through the air, exuding the heart of Rav Freifeld’s teachings, and continues to infuse a new generation in Rav Brazil’s new yeshiva, comprised of many of Rav Brazil’s former talmidim.
Open for one and a half years, Yeshiva Zeev HaTorah, which began with ten talmidim, now boasts a student body of twenty-one post-bais medrash bochurim, as well as eight kollel yungeleit.
What made Rav Brazil leave his longtime position at Yeshiva Sh’or Yoshuv in Far Rockaway to begin this new undertaking in Yerushalayim?
“Yeshiva Derech HaMelech flew me in to head a Shabbaton,” Rav Brazil says. “Many of my former talmidim attended this Shabbaton, and afterwards, they asked me to come and make a yeshiva and a kehillah. They would help me, they said. This was something I always wanted to do. I always loved Eretz Yisroel - the Yidden, the ehrlichkeit, and the mesirus nefesh for Torah. I always dreamed of creating a yeshiva like Rav Shlomo [Freifeld] made, with the same close-knit, warm atmosphere. In my mind, I saw the bochurim being mamish an integral part of the yeshiva. They would take on responsibilities - real responsibilities - to make the yeshiva run. This was the basis of my rebbi’s yeshiva when it started. He keenly understood that responsibilities create achdus and a responsible person who will also be responsible as a marriage partner.”
Rav Brazil continues: “At Yeshiva Zeev HaTorah, we call these responsibilities ‘zechusim,’ like in Kelm, where the biggest kavod was the dirtiest job. By us, every bochur cleans up after meals, takes care of the garden they planted, cleans the floors, the bathrooms - it’s housekeeping and Torah mixed into one package of mentchlichkeit.
“This conduct changes their lives. They are being forced daily to think of someone else besides themselves. It’s a challenge, especially in today’s egocentric society, to change from thinking about ourselves to someone else. We have to become what I call ‘Yenemites,’ which translates as ‘thinking about the other person.’ My morning shmuess, every day, which connects to the parsha, discusses personal growth and avodas Hashem. I talk about tikkun hamiddos. Physical pleasure does not make a person happy. Doing a chessed makes a person happy, even a month later when it is remembered.”
Rav Brazil remembers a related story about his rebbi, Rav Freifeld.
“My rebbe once said that he was personally told by the Chazon Ish that the bigger the zero, the mevatel, the more it encompasses and embraces. My rebbi said that when a bochur is down, he would advise him to put away seforim in the bais medrash. Since feelings of sadness come from low self-esteem and non-clarity of purpose, putting each sefer in its proper place on the shelf rectifies these feelings. Secondly, by doing so, the person performs an act of chessed for others. The posuk says, ‘Olam chessed yibaneh.’ The act of chessed extricates one from his personal world of churban and chaos, into a world of order and meaning. The talmidim grow from it. A bochur from the yeshiva went home and cleaned up after himself after a meal. His mother asked him what happened, and he explained that he was trained at Yeshiva Zeev HaTorah. A person is happier when he takes achrayus for other people.”
Rav Brazil explains that he imparts this message at the yeshiva.
“Part of taking achrayus is to greet strangers who walk into our bais medrash,” he says. “You cannot imagine how many of these people remark that the shalom aleichim given at Zeev HaTorah is something that they never experienced anywhere else. This was also an essential teaching of my rebbi that is implemented in my yeshiva.”
Shabbosos in the yeshiva are a big avodah, and not surprisingly, they are packed with davening, dancing and singing.
“Shabbos is the glue of the week,” Rav Brazil explains. “On Shabbosos, we have a kehillah close to ninety people, with a weekly Kiddush and seudah shlishis. People come up to each other and mean it when they say, ‘Shalom aleichem.’ They ask, ‘Who are you? Where are you from?’ My rebbi would always do this. He would say ‘Shalom aleichem’ to anyone new in the yeshiva. It’s so important.”
Rav Brazil recalls the private trips that he took with Rav Freifeld.
“We would take them all the time, to seforim stores in Williamsburg, to the East Side. We would stay in hotels. He was prepping me. On those trips, I learned my Yiddishkeit. We talked about avodas Hashem, husbands and spouses, chinuch…and we would sing old niggunim together. He would teach them to me. I use it all now in my yeshiva. It directs me,” says Rav Brazil.
How does one become sensitive to others?
“My rebbe used to say, ‘Ve’ahavta lerei’acha kamocha.’ It means your friend is not a piece of furniture. Look at him like he is yourself, one who possesses sensitivities, feelings and emotions. That awareness sensitizes one to realize that it is not nice to leave one’s used cup or plate on a counter or table for someone else to see or clean up.”
Rav Brazil just recently published a new sefer, Bishvili Nivrah Ha’olam. His rebbi instilled the idea that in order to become closer to Hashem, one must first become closer to oneself. An underlying cause of spiritual failure in our generation, whether young or old, is a lack of self esteem. Rav Freifeld would always speak on this topic and wish everyone to “become a big Jew.” Rav Brazil has taken this seed and grown a fruit-bearing tree in the form of this sefer, relating how to actualize one’s potential and feel the self worth and uniqueness that only the person himself can produce.
Rav Brazil’s trademark talent is neginah. There is singing and dancing at Yeshiva Zeev HaTorah - lots of it. It’s the kind that smacks of authentic Yiddishkeit. “The outside world has music that ignites feelings in people,” he says. “When you don’t have that in Yiddishkeit, bochurim will look elsewhere. Once they experience ruchniyus in singing, they realize how superficial the other music really is. Torah is not only an intellectual pursuit, but an emotional one as well.
“When I was a bochur, no one sang at a chasunah; the band just played music. I was at a chasunah with my rebbi and the band leader started singing. My rebbi told me to tell him to stop singing, because it was not a concert, it’s not what we do. I was only twenty then. I approached the band leader, relayed my rebbi’s message, and he stopped. I look back on that night. It was outside the norm for a band leader to sing. But he did not see the ripple effect of his actions. My rebbi saw it. He understood the koach of neginah, and how changes in neginah and the mesorah of our chasunos would affect the future of Jewish music.”
And now Rav Brazil comes to his composing of niggunim that spiritually uplift countless Yidden throughout the world.
“Hashem gave me this gift, to compose niggunim,” he says. “I always had direction, from my rebbi, even though there were financial opportunities to compose differently. Rabbi and Rebbetzin Shimon Susholtz, of Bais Medrash Keren Orah in Brooklyn, also directed me. That direction was clear: to preserve authentic Torah niggunim, and only put out the real Yiddishe niggunim that inspire one to come closer to Hashem.”
The question begs to be asked: What is the role of neginah in avodas Hashem?
“Every Yid,” Rav Brazil says, “needs a moment of passion and d’veikus with Hashem. The koach of a niggun takes you from where you are to where you really want to be. Involuntarily, you are overpowered by d’veikus. The niggun permeates every limb - kol atzmosai tomarnah - if even for a fleeting moment. At these moments of d’veikus, you experience a spiritual flare in the darkness of night, from which one can recognize his strengths and weaknesses, and identify what he has to work on.”
We ask Rav Brazil about Rav Yitzchok Hutner’s involvement in his famous heartfelt song “Bilvavi.”
“The original words come from the Sefer Chareidim, composed in two stanzas. Rav Hutner made four stanzas out of it. He then made up a niggun to go with the words. Someone sang the niggun to me, with those words. I fell in love with the words and then applied a different niggun for those words.”
In addition to his numerous classic niggunim, one of the most popular songs for “Yevanim,” sung on Chanukah, was also composed by Rav Brazil, although many people don’t know it.
“It’s just fine,” Rav Brazil comments. “I’m here to serve Hashem. As long as Yidden are singing Yevanim, and being uplifted, and chassanim and kallahs are dancing to my niggunim, it’s gevaldig. No one has to know which songs are from me.”
Well, maybe some do. Maybe we all do, to recognize the giant in our midst, telling us such an important message about the power of music over our souls. With the onslaught of the internet and iPods, music of all sorts is everywhere. You can’t turn it completely off. To address this problem and bring an enlightening interview to a close, Rav Brazil tells a story about the Chofetz Chaim, related at a Torah Umesorah convention once held in Chicago.
“Kosher food packages were being sent to bochurim who were drafted into the army,” says Rav Brazil. “It was found out that the bochurim were eating non-kosher anyway, and the problem was presented to the gadol hador. The Chofetz Chaim responded, ‘Send more kosher food. The more they eat kosher, the less they’ll eat non-kosher.’ The same message is true for our generation. There is no such thing as ‘no influence.’ There is no fool-proof, safe habitat. But the more you give a bochur a passion of learning Torah, a passion for Hashem and for Shabbos, the less he will want to be influenced by the outside. ”
Rav Brazil’s yeshiva’s website offers daily audio shiurim of the daily shmuess and an e-mail on the parsha every Shabbos. By viewing the website, ZeevHaTorah.org, anyone can benefit from the many services the yeshiva offers.
The rosh yeshiva notes that although many boys want to apply to the yeshiva, the space currently being rented cannot accommodate many more applicants. Dedications are available as the search for a new makom is underway. For more information, the yeshiva can be reached at 718.305.5101.
