Baruch Dayan HaEmes

Rav Nochum Zev Dessler (Nochum Zev ben Eliyahu Eliezer), founder and dean of the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, passed away yesterday. He was 89 years old.

Rav Dessler was a special sort of tzaddik; I remember how he used to come to school every day, even when he wasn't feeling well, and he would engage the children in conversation whenever he could. He and his rebbetzin (she should live and be well) devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the task of providing the Jewish children of Cleveland with a religious education, no matter the background of the child's family. This dedication was a spiritual inheritance from his father, Rav E.E. Dessler, and the sensitivity to the needs of the next generation was further passed along to Rav Nochum Zev's own offspring, who remain involved in every aspect of the school's upkeep, as I've witnessed firsthand through my own family's relationship with the greater Dessler family.

Without HAC, my siblings and I as well as my mother would not have had an education, and I am forever indebted to them for that.

Despite the fact that I was in Cleveland for a whirlwind trip over this course of time, I was unable to attend the levaya (funeral); my father is sending me recordings of the eulogies, which I may post for everyone to hear. The man's accomplishments are as much a mussar as anything his illustrious father's writings can give us; in learning Rav N.Z. Dessler's legacy, we see the Michtav M'Eliyahu realized.

There will be another levaya held tonight at Newark Airport, Continental Airlines (North) Cargo Area D, at 5:45 PM. The aron is being transported to the Holy Land, where Rav Dessler will be buried near his father.