Last week, on 4 Kislev, one of the longtime students of Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, R’ Yisrael Benyamin ben Avraham Sandler of blessed memory, was laid to rest in the Tzfat cemetery. He was a beloved community member in Tzfat, a man full of light, simplicity, and sincerity, who left a deep impression on his community and maintained a loving relationship with Rav Ginsburgh and his family over the years.
During the Shiva, Sara, his wife, sent special stories about the connection between her husband of blessed memory and Rav Yitzchak Ginsburgh, may he live long and well. Their connection emanates from their soul’s expression as artists.
We all know that Rav Yitzchak Ginsburgh is an artist in his music, his teachings, and even his art. All art and music are expressions of the soul. Baruch Hashem, this was one of the inner ways the Rav and my husband, Yisrael Benyamin, the craftsman, connected deeply. Yisrael's handmade wood creations – his Etz Hadar Artistree – captured the Rav's attention, and he encouraged Yisrael to produce more of his soulful work.
Here are two stories:
Once, we saw the beauty and simplicity of a small antique table prayer shelf. Yisrael decided to make one out of hand-carved wood for the Rav to pray from. Since the Rav is Gal Einai (Open my eyes), we chose bird's eye maple as the project wood. Baruch Hashem, it turned out to be a true artwork that assembles into a table shtender without using any metal!
We brought it to the Rav as a surprise for a Shabbat with the family. Arriving many hours before Shabbat, while the Rav was upstairs, we assembled it and placed it on the dining room table, covered. When the Rav came down to say Shalom Aleichem, we said we had a surprise for him and asked him to sit and close his eyes. Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, such a high soul and the warmest friend at the same moment, sat down and closed his eyes. We then removed the cloth and asked him to open his eyes. When he saw the shtender, we showed him how it was made without metal and explained why we used bird's eye maple. The Rav was totally delighted and grateful. He uses this handcrafted stand daily, made with heart and soul by my husband.
And another story:
During the second Lebanon War, northern Israel was attacked by Katyusha rocket bombs from Lebanon. Many Tzfat families had to flee the north for safety. After a scary Shabbat in a neighbor's underground basement, we also hurriedly left Tzfat by taxi. Our destination was Kfar Chabad, the Rav's home.
We arrived and were given a room to stay in. The Rav placed my husband, Yisrael Benyamin, in charge of trimming his small groves of olive and lemon trees. Yisrael saved a few larger olive wood branches and wrapped them to stay dry. About seven weeks later, it was safe to return home to Tzfat. Yisrael put these olive chunks aside to dry and cure. Many months went by, maybe even a year, until the Kfar Chabad wood was ready.
We decided to make a simple Sefirot vessel – a covered salt dish with three levels to hint at the three triangles of Sefirot: Chochmah, Binah, and Da'at and so forth. Yisrael finished the vessel and Baruch Hashem, it was a special art wood piece. Again, we made plans to go to the Rav's home for Shabbat.
Upon arriving, the Rav's wife, Romi, was already doing Shabbat cooking. We shared that we had a surprise. Romi looked at a very small box, asking if she could see it. When we took it out, Romi gasped in surprise. She pointed at the nearby garbage can, where we saw the leftover pieces of a small white dish. She explained it was from their first dish set – their salt dish – which had just broken a few hours before! At this point, the Rav walked in and heard the whole story. His wife said she now understood why the old salt dish broke – because the new Shabbat salt dish was on its way! Baruch Hashem, what a story of Divine Providence!
My husband, Yisrael Benyamin ben Avraham, of blessed memory, returned his soul to Hashem just now on the 4th of Kislev. The Rav and Yisrael had a deep, sweet, close soul relationship beyond our worldly reality. May the pure light of my husband bring Moshiach!
