Tuesday, January 16, 2007

The Life of Rabbi Glixman


The world lost one of its most silent greats this past week. I write "silent great" because that is the way that Rabbi Zevulon Yerachmiel Glixman ZT"L wanted it. In my close to 35 years in this world I am yet to cross paths with someone who chose to serve his Creator the way Rabbi Glixman did throughout his life.
We live in a world when everyone turns to their right then to their left and then front and back prior to deciding how to proceed with living their life. Rabbi Glixman never did. All he tried to do is to do what was right and not worry about what was popular. During my teenage years I met Rabbi Glixman and his wife Rebetzen Elisa. I was a difficult young man and my reputation often put me at odds with many adults, but never with Rabbi Glixman. Rabbi Glixman did not look at you through your reputation; he looked at you though your soul.
Rabbi Glixman, although in a very modest way, knew that he had a tremendous ability to connect with and educate youth on the ways of the Torah. Many can boast of doing the same thing; however Rabbi Glixman did it for those that somehow fell through the cracks and had no one to turn to. Rabbi Glixman did not situate himself in the heart of Miami Beach or North Miami Beach. He was a loyal servant of G-d in South Miami. That was extremely symbolic of this Tzadik's life. While some of Rabbi Glixman's top pupil would fit in to the top yeshiva systems anywhere on the planet, many others were leaders on airforce bases, college campuses, and many other walks of life.
Rabbi Glixman was a lover of mankind. He was a visionary yet very well grounded in this world. He was always there for whomever needed him and whenever they needed of him. When I was engaged to be married I was living up in the NY area. I called Rabbi Glixman and asked him to be Mesader Kedushin. In a most humble way he asked me if I was sure I wanted him to be our Mesader Kidushin. My wife and I Thank G-d for allowing us the merit of having Rabbi Glixman as our Mesader Kidushin. He refused to be compensated and only incurred expenses upon himself as a result of traveling to NY.
Rabbi Glixman's ascent to The World of Truth leaves us with a large task at hand; a task that can not be accomplished by a few individuals. This task must be carried out by all of those that Rabbi Glixman came into contact with. The task is is the Avoda of Ahavas Yisroel - To Love Your Fellow Jew. This means that one must make oneself null and void in order to make someone else the subject of importance. Furthermore, to truly feel for every Jew. Rabbi Glixman possessed gifts that few people in this world possess yet it all remained unpublicized.
This past Pesach, my family visited Rabbi Glixman's shul during Chol Hamoed. My 2 year old boy Tzodok caught his finger in a door. Tzodok was screaming and crying uncontrollably and my wife as well as my mother all felt that we should perhaps take him to the hospital to make sure his finger wasn't broken. Rabbi Glixman took control of the moment by bringing Tzodok into his arms, made eye cotact with Tzodok and within seconds what looked to be a trip to the emergency room turned into another one of the wonderful memories that Rabbi Glixman left me with.
Rabbi Glixman must continue to live through his students. The Torah teaches us that a Tzadik continues to live through his students. We must turn our attention to those in need of help and must do so with every limb in our bodies. That is the only way that we can say that we are doing so in Rabbi Glixman's absence.
There is a famous question that is asked : Why did G-d need to put his people through the whole process of living on earth? In Chassidus we learn that through the efforts of perfecting all of the imperfections in this world, we attain a much higher level than what would have been attainable had we been spared being in this world. Rabbi Glixman perfected many things in this world and he left behind an infrastructure that now has to continue to do the same. As we live awaiting for Moshiach to arrive any day now, lets dedicate ourselves to perfecting our actions and turning our attention to every Jews’ needs so that we can merit the ultimate redemption the Moshiach and we could join this true Tzadik and pay him his truly deserved respect.