Rav Deutsch Remembers

Rav Avrohom Deutsch, Rav Shimshon's very close friend and right-hand man, is a member of the Ofakim town council. He relates, "When my wife fell ill, Rav Shimshon traveled abroad with her several times for operations. He spoke English. I stayed home to look after the children. Think about it for a moment: a rov leaves everything and travels abroad for long periods. At first I tried to say no to the idea, but he told me, 'I am not asking you what to do anyway.'

"He went to Santiago, near the Mexican border, for seven weeks, to some place off the beaten track. The whole time he sat by himself in a room and learned. My sister was with my wife, and he was their driver and attendant for two months. He also bought the food. Show me one other Jew in the world who would do such a thing.

"Professor Schreiber of Bar Ilan University called me and told me that he had been in Santiago at the time and had been impressed with the Deutsch family's good driver, and had even used him himself. Now he called me in tears. 'What did I do? Who was I using?'

"Before one of the operations, the doctor recommended that my wife go out for some fresh air. He took them to a park and arranged to come back for them five hours later. After half an hour, my sister found him writing chiddushei Torah under a tree. When the five hours and a few minutes had passed, he arrived panting and apologized for the delay.

"One of the operations took place in Manhattan. That morning he drove to Shomrei Shabbos in Boro Park to daven. My sister told me that a friend called her and asked what tragedy had befallen the Pincus family. This friend's brother-in-law had gone that morning to ask Rav Shimshon to speak in Flatbush and had seen him spend forty-five minutes over the Amidah, shedding rivers of tears. She was convinced that something terrible had happened. My sister told her that my wife had had an operation that day and that he had simply gone to daven. She did not believe it. 'It cannot be. He was crying like a baby.' That was Rav Shimshon.

"Nobody realized the levels he attained. When a youngster came to his house, he would offer him snacks as though they were the same age. 'Want some Bissli? Some cola?' He did it with such a good heart. His broadness and openness of spirit toward others were extraordinary. Would you like to see what he gave me?" Rav Avrohom gets up and goes to a glass case. "Look at these beautiful silver candlesticks. He gave to others as though he were rich, or a nobleman, but for himself, nothing. Take a look at his rundown home. You will be amazed.

"He gave me his apartment, and he went to live in the other entrance." Rav Avrohom gives a tour and points out the second apartment. "One day he told me that my house was going to be extended over there and that he would move. I complained and told him that here we were close, we lived together, we were closer than brothers, but if you move, I will not see you. This is how the problem was solved." He points at a door. "Do you see this door? It joins the two apartments. Rav Shimshon said, 'If you or I need anything, we will just knock and walk in.'"

Seeing how little time had passed since Rav Shimshon's petiroh and how moved Rav Avrohom was, the interviewer wondered how he was keeping himself together. "Are you made of steel?" he asked. "It is siyata deShmaya," Rav Avrohom answered. "They called me on that terrible night at two-thirty in the morning to check whether there had been any more children in the car. The police were concerned. From that moment until the following night I was on the go. I felt superhuman strength, unparalleled siyata deShmaya, that enabled me to cope with something like that."