Yahrtzeit Yomi #1059!!
טו אייר
Rav Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan
רב אברהם אליהו ב״ר אברהם אליהו
(1890 - 1924)
ON HIS 100TH YAHRTZEIT!!
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A little more than a century ago, 17-year-old Avrohom Eliyahu Kaplan composed an all-time classic poem titled Shakah Chamah, a ballad of mussar that speaks to the futility of life. For many years, the poor, lonely, and sick have found company in these meaningful lyrics. In truth, this young tzaddik faced personal challenges, beginning even before his birth: Avrohom Eliyahu was named after his father, who was known as the Rakover Iluy and who died a few months before he was born.
Avrohom Eliyahu, a passionate and fiery young man, first attended the Talmud Torah of Kelm. After a short while, he moved on to the Slabodka Yeshiva, where he learned with great hasmadah, under the tutelage of the famed Alter of Slabodka, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel. Waging battle against the forces of secular Zionism and Haskalah from the time that he was a young bachur. Avrohom Eliyahu utilized his unique talents to write fearless essays and enthralling poems in the areas of Torah, Mussar, and Yiras Shamayim. A talented musician, he composed a number of mesmerizing songs, as well. One incredible story personifies his gadlus. Rav Avrohom Eliyahu was present at the Sheva Berachos of a Slabodka talmid, Rav Aharon Kotler, who married Chana Perel Meltzer, the daughter of the great Rav Isser Zalman. In honor of the celebration, Rav Aharon delivered a two-hour shtickel Torah. After he finished, Rav Avrohom Eliyahu stood up and promptly repeated the entire shtickel… in grammen form!
When, years later, an incredulous talmid shared this story with Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman, rosh yeshivah of Ner Israel, he responded that it is certainly possible, as such was the brilliance of Rav Avrohom Eliyahu. Rebbetzin Ruderman, the daughter of Rav Sheftel Kramer and first cousin of Rebbetzin Kotler, overheard the conversation and shared a postscript. “Not only is it possible that it happened, but I was there! And Rav Isser Zalman’s son played the violin as Rav Avrohom Eliyahu sang the grammen.”
Although Slabodka emphasized gadlus ha’adam, the greatness of man, Avrohom Eliyahu composed the words to Shakah Chamah with an altogether different mindset. Drawing forth from the sobering teachings of RavYisrael Salanter, the father of the mussar movement, the lyrics portray a tormented young man infused with yiras Shamayim, who tries to wage war against the relentless efforts of the yetzer hara, yet finds his neshamah, his soul, sinking into the emptiness and darkness of the abyss.
...(for remainder of tribute see WhatsApp group)
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