Memory Lane: Rav Anschel Wainhaus

Rav Anschel was one of the primary founders of the Mirer Minyan, and one of its revered pillars for four decades—spending every possible moment between its dark-paneled walls, immersed in Torah with toil and intensity. 

Lebedova 

Rav Anschel was born in Valozyn to his parents, Reb Avrohom and Sarah Vainhoiz, in the year 1911. Soon after his bar mitzvah, his parents—who had by then relocated to Lebedova—near Vilna, sent him away to faraway Lida, to the yeshiva of Rav Yaakov Naiman. A few years later, his mother sold her wedding ring in order to send her son to the venerated Mirer Yeshiva. 

The Mir was geared to older bachurim, and Anschel felt out of place there. Despite the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Lazer Yudel Finkel’s encouragement to remain, he transferred to the Slonimer yeshiva, led by Rav Shabsi Yogel—who drew him close, and invited him to many Shabbos meals. 

Soon, he felt ready to return to the Mir. There, he soon became known for his hasmodoh, and gained the admiration of even the senior talmidim, the lions of the Mir. Once, upon saying over an original svoroh, Rav Leib Malin said, “I even ran this by Rav Anschel, and he agreed with me.” 

In the Glow of the Chofetz Chaim 

Rav Anschel, a prolific writer, recorded for posterity some of the anecdotes from his time in Radin. “I was in Radin for a number of years, where I was zoche to be in the shadow of the heiliger Chofetz Chaim, where the following episodes were etched in my memory. The holiness and the pure emes of the Chofetz Chaim left a lifelong impression on Rav Anschel. 

Then came the great Churban, and he was fortunate to escape—something his entire family did not merit. He would be left alone in the world… with his beloved Torah, which would serve as his refuge. It seems that he was able to journey directly to Shanghai, while the rest of the yeshiva detoured through Kobe, Japan. Letters exist from his chaverim in Kobe to their chaver in Shanghai, transmitting the anecdotes of Torah mitoch hadchak, the valiant efforts of Rav Chatzkel Levenstein, to gain passage for teh yeshiva to Shanghai, and the shmuessen that he delivered, encouraging the bachurim to delve deeper into their learning, despite the trying circumstances. 

Half a Century of Torah in Boro Park 

He arrived in America—and immediately found his place among the Rabbonim and lomdei Torah. He took a position at Yeshiva Toras Emes, where the lessons that he imparted remain with his talmidim to this very day, sixty, seventy years later. 

He was instrumental in founding the Mirer Minyan, and this is where he spent every possible moment—when he wasn’t delivering shiurim at a number of other area Shul. For forty years he said a blatt shiur at the Poalei Agudas Yisroel Shul on Sixteenth Avenue. 

After a decade at Toras Emes, he went out into the business world, where he was successful. But Torah remained his focus. He was in the beis Medrash at 5:30 each and every day without fail, and was right back there after work. 

If there was a difficult sugya in the morning, he was right back at it, pondering the fine points in the evening—as though he had never left. He would always anyone struggling, “tuht zich arein in lernen, immerse yourself in Torah learning! It is the source of life!” 

When he surpassed his 90th birthday, he began bringing not only his breakfast to shul, but also his lunch—learning straight through the day. His wrote prolifically in Torah journals, and those essays are published as a Sefer Imrei Enosh. 

Rav Anschel was niftar in the summer of 2003, following half a century of Torah in Boro park of yesteryear.