Rav Abba Mordechai Berman

Early years

Rav Abba Mordechai Berman zt"l, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Iyun HaTalmud, came into the world in Lodz, Poland, on Tu BiShvat 5679 (1919). His father, Rav Shaul Yosef, was rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Toras Chessed in Lodz and a leading talmid of the Chofetz Chaim. The family descended from the Kli Yokor, Rav Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz. Even as a small child his unusual abilities were plain to see.

When he was six years old, his father brought him to the Chofetz Chaim, who quizzed him on Hamafkid, the third perek of Bava Metzia, and declared that the boy was destined for greatness. "Keep him hidden," he told the boy's father, adding that if the Vilna Gaon had been kept more hidden in his youth, he would have become even greater.

Mir and Shanghai

After his bar mitzvah his father sent him to Yeshivas Mir, where he became very close to Rav Yeruchom Leibovitz, the mashgiach, and was one of his closest talmidim. He later said that when he arrived at the Mir he had already mastered four masechtos. Although he was very young, the leading talmidim of the yeshiva, among them Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, accepted him as an equal. The bochurim nicknamed him Abba Einstein the Lodzer. Once, when he was running a special campaign to strengthen the spirit of the yeshiva, Rav Yeruchom said, "If I had ten Abba Lodzers in the yeshiva, I would not have to do anything to promote chizuk for years at a time." For years he was the first bochur in the beis medrash and the last to leave.

Every week he presented chiddushim on Seder Kodshim before Rav Eliezer Yudel Finkel, who said that no other bochur in the yeshiva could give a chaburah on Seder Kodshim like Abba Lodzer.

He remained with the yeshiva during its years of exile in Shanghai, where he learned with Rav Nachum Partzovitz, who noted his depth and toil in Torah. At that time he was learning Kiddushin, Nazir and Oholos in depth at the same time, and he committed to memory 105 of the Ravad's challenges to the Rambam on the halachos of tumas meis. He recalled that during those years at the Mir he could picture 1,000 pages of Gemara he had learned by heart.

When the yeshiva received a copy of the chiddushim of Rabbeinu Chaim HaLevi on the Rambam, he learned the entire sefer by heart between the sedorim. Rav Reuven Fine recalls that in Shanghai, anyone who wanted to know the pshat in that sefer would ask Rav Abba, and Rav Abba later said that it was one of the main influences on his way of learning.

It was a very hard time for him, since he was the only member of his family who was not trapped in Poland. He tried to help them as best he could, but he did not succeed.

Torah and leadership

After the Second World War he came to America, where he was among the founders of Yeshivas Mir in Brooklyn and married Rebbetzin Itka Greenberg. He founded Yeshivas Iyun HaTalmud in Far Rockaway. Later he moved to Eretz Yisroel, where he established the yeshiva in Bnei Brak. Over some forty years the yeshiva moved many times, being located at various stages in Bnei Brak, Far Rockaway, Monsey, Yerushalayim and Kiryat Sefer. In his final years he gave shiurim at the Kiryat Sefer branch of Yeshivas Knesses Yitzchok.

Besides the shiurim he gave in the yeshiva, he gave shiurim and chaburos to others who thirsted for Torah, including a group from Yeshivas Ponovezh who met at his home. Young and old gathered around him to enjoy his clarity on every topic. Reb Abba was recognized as a gadol although he never accepted a significant leadership post. It is told that he coined a sharp saying for an opponent in argument: given where you stand, you may well be right, but where you stand is exactly what is mistaken.

His shiurim were phenomenal. He devoted all his strength to smoothing the path to understanding each sugya, and he knew how to draw on every bit of a student's ability. His great knowledge and warmth attracted every ben aliyah who sincerely sought Torah.

His talmidim, many of whom are now roshei yeshivos, dayanim and marbitzei Torah, were deeply attached to their rebbi, and many of them formed a father and son relationship with him. They saw him as a compassionate father who wanted only the best for them, and he guided them along the path to the house of Hashem according to what he had received from his own rabbonim, among the gedolei Yisroel of the prewar generation.

Teachings and seforim

His shiurim were published in five volumes, which show his depth, his straight thinking and his clear chiddushim. His shiurim on Kodshim are regarded as a fundamental source for understanding those difficult sugyos. After his passing his shiurim were published under the title Iyun HaTalmud.

He also left writings on all the sugyos of Shas, on which he labored throughout his life. He once told a talmid, "Whenever I answer a question, I understand and see before me all of the pages I am asked about."

Later years and passing

He spent the last twenty-five years of his life in Eretz Yisroel, where he had always longed to be. His final home was in Kiryat Sefer, in Modi'in Illit. Only a week before his passing, despite his frailty, he gave his last shiur and took part in distributing stipends through the Bnei Brak organization Uchsavtom. He passed away on 3 Iyar 5765 (May 12, 2005).

His levaya took place on a Thursday evening at the yeshiva in Modi'in Illit. Hespeidim were delivered by Rav Avrohom Yitzchok Barzel, Rav Hillel Zaks, his son-in-law Rav Mordechai Altusky, Rav Tuvio Novik, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, and Rav Refoel Wolpin, who spoke in the name of the talmidim. Thousands of residents of Kiryat Sefer then accompanied the mittah through the streets to the entrance of the city. The body was taken to the Shamgar funeral hall in Yerushalayim for taharah, and the procession continued to Yeshivas Mir.

At the Mir, eulogies were given by Rav Aryeh Finkel, Rav Shmuel Auerbach, Rav Shlomo Brevda, his son-in-law Rav Avrohom Orenstein, and Rav Moshe Wolpin, his closest talmid. He was then brought to Har HaMenuchos and buried after midnight.

Legacy

Rav Abba Mordechai was survived by six daughters, who married prominent rabbonim: Rav Sholom Rosengarten, a rebbi at Yeshivas Ohel Torah in Monsey; Rav Mordechai Altusky, one of the roshei yeshiva of Yeshivas Torah Or; Rav Avrohom Orenstein, a rebbi at Yeshivas Bircas Moshe; Rav Moshe Twersky, a rebbi at Yeshivas Toras Moshe; Rav Eliyohu Feldman, a prominent avreich in Yerushalayim; and Rav Chaim Oded Kagan, a rebbi at Yeshiva Ner Yisroel in Baltimore. Rav Moshe Twersky was the elder son of Rav Yitzchok Twersky of Boston and a grandson of Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik; he was murdered in a terror attack in 2014. Rebbetzin Itka passed away in the last days of Cheshvan 5770. His daughter Mrs. Orenstein directs the Hadar Seminary for women in Yerushalayim, and two of her sisters teach there too.

He left grandchildren and great-grandchildren who carry on his spiritual legacy, and thousands of talmidim who mourned their beloved rebbi. Rav Yisroel Eliyahu Weintraub was among his talmidim.