In Tribute: Rav Moshe Wolfson zt"l

By BoroPark24 Staff

We are sorry to inform of the petirah of Rav Moshe Wolfson zt"l, the longtime Rav of Emunas Yisroel in Boro Park and the mashgiach of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath, who passed away on Motzaei Shabbos. He was 99.

Rav Wolfson was relatively active until the end. His last public address was on Lag Baomer, when he also visited Torah Vodaath for his final time. He fell in his home on Shabbos afternoon and was hospitalized in Mount Sinai and was niftar shortly afterward.

The levayah will take place at Beis Medrash Emunas Yisroel at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The aron will be flown to Eretz Yisroel for kevurah in the old beis hachaim in Tveria, near his Rebbetzin who passed away three years ago.

Born in New York to immigrants from Poland, Rav Wolfson was set on the path he took in life when he entered Torah Vodaath. A close talmid of Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, he also frequented Rebbes who lived in Williamsburg at the time, growing close to some of them. He considered himself a chassid of Skver, Stolin and Modzitz.

Rav Wolfson married his Rebbetzin, the former Malka Devorah Spitzer, and got a position as a melamed in Torah Vodaath. He lost his voice one year and was appointed instead as the mashgiach, a title he was reverentially referred to for the rest of his life.

Rav Wolfson loved Eretz Yisroel, visiting every year. He became attached to the Stoliner way of davening, particularly in Yerushalayim - loud and slow. In Israel, he used to breathe the holy air and take it in for the entire year. He often spoke with his whole heart about the Kedusha of Eretz Yisroel, and recently, a full book was published containing his talks on this topic

He introduced it to his talmidim during the summers, establishing a Stoliner minyan in Camp Torah Vodaath. After several summers, the bachurim decided to make it a year-round shul. They rented a storefront on 12th Avenue and the mashgiach, who still lived in Williamsburg, would come in every second Shabbos.

That is how Emunas Yisroel had its beginnings, in the early 1960s.

In his later years, talmidim collected his divrei Torah and published a half dozen sefarim based on them. Most famous is the 'Emunas Itecha'.

Rav Wolfson was loved by the thousands of talmidim he had over the years, forming them into the bnei Torah they are today. What began as a chaburah with their "Mashgiach" guiding them, turned into a large Kehila with hundreds of families, thanks to the brilliance, holiness, and clear vision of Rav Moshe. This community is primarily based in Boro Park but also has members all around the world.

For many years, he proudly called himself a Skverer Chasid, attending almost all the simchas in the Skver court, where he always received significant honors.

In recent years, during a vacation visit to Florida, he met and bonded closely with the Bobover Rebbe. They spent time together, often singing and teaching each other new songs, and sharing divrei Torah and Chasidus.

With his passing, a tremendous loss is felt by his entire Kehila on a very personal level, both in Boro Park, where he shone brightly, and throughout Klal Yisroel, where his shiurim and seforim on Chasidus and Yiddishkeit spread with his clarity and yiras Shamayim.

Yehi zichro baruch.