As Turk Family rises from Shiva after their father, Rabbi Leibel Turk OBM, they reflect and share some of his characteristics and personality and what we can learn from him. Full story
As we rise from Shiva and prepare the Hakomas Matzeiva for our dear Father, it is time to reflect on some of His qualities, share them, and see what we can emulate.
– Welcoming everyone with a smile was part of his personality.
– It was the norm to wish Jews and non-Jews alike good morning on the way to the synagogue.
– Wherever there was a smell of local politics, he stayed away.
– At our Shabbat table, Bentching was always sung from beginning to end.
– He prayed slowly and always had trouble keeping up with the chazan.
– He was one of the last to leave the synagogue on Motzash, as he had to collect the seforim and put them back on the shelves. Even in his last years, when he walked with the help of a walker, he used the walker as a cart to transport the seforim to the shelves.
– During his years in yeshiva, when he was in camp and had a day off, he would use the time to hunt a maimer, etc. The same can be said years later about shechita. Free time was valuable time that was well used for studying and praying.
– Every Motzash, after Havdoloh, the first activity that was done was to clean the Shabbat light to make it ready for the next Shabbat. On Fridays, hours before the light, Bentchen had already prepared the light by lighting the candles briefly before extinguishing them with his fingers so that our mother could light them more easily.
– In his younger years in Manchester, he would gather us children upstairs on long Friday nights between Mincha and Kabolas Shabbos and hold our attention with Hasidic stories.
– He did not compromise on his Yiras Shomayim and Halocho when it came to slaughtering animals, even when he was pressured to be more lenient by managers and owners who were concerned about their economic losses.
– Distributing sweets to the workers at Shechita certainly helps to lift their spirits.
– He loved to share his shechita knowledge, understanding and experience with talmidim without any personal gain. And by the way, don’t call that chalef a knife, it’s a chalef! A holy tool.
– Zeide, how are you today?
B”H, we had 43 straight!
But I didn’t ask how many black ice spots you have! I asked how you are! 😁
He was so devoted to his mission that it became inseparably linked to his person.
– Once, while visiting Córdoba, Argentina, he was not feeling well, so a doctor was called to make a house call. After the doctor took his blood pressure, Reb Leibl said, “Now let me take your blood pressure,” and put tefillin on the doctor for the first time in his life.
When he himself was hesitant to go to the doctor in Queens for a check-up, the incentive to motivate him and to increase his anticipation for the appointment was a visit to his brother Yankel, who lived in a nearby nursing home. He was able to put tefillin on him and all the other patients in the home.
The simcha of helping another Jew fulfill a mitzvah was palpable.
– Our home in Manchester was a true Chabad house. Before Purim, neighbors would gather in our dining room to prepare hundreds of mishloach manot, which would be distributed to all the Jewish nursing homes in the area on Purim day.
Early on Erev Yom Kippur, our backyard was the place to go for kapores.
During these long winter festivals, many Anash Melave Malkahs were held in our house.
– In material and economic matters he was a modest bachelor, but in spiritual matters he always strove for improvement.
We hope and pray that the promise of והקיצו ורננו שוכני עפר will be fulfilled quickly and that we will be reunited with Moshiach Tzidkeinu.
