From Students Of Rabbi Herber Zatzal

Rabbi Herber passed away a couple days before the Passover holiday of 2024.
This podcast is a platform that currently contains recordings of eulogies (given at a hazkara in St.Louis 5/21/24) of Rabbi Herber Zatzal. The eulogies were made by students, family and friends..

This platform is where Talmidim (students) of Rabbi Herber Zatzal could give shiurim (classes) on Torah topics including inspirational stories (as Rabbi Herber Zatzal would do). Some of the recordings are from classes or stories being taught to children (as Rabbi Herber Zatzal loved to do).

This platform is also available to anyone interested in giving a shiur li’ilui nishmas (to elevate the soul) Rabbi Herber Zatzal (Chaim Yosef Ben Yaakov). Regarding this it is not necessary to be a Talmid (student) of his.

Chazal tell us that it is particularly beneficial to learn mishna in memory of the deceased. A hint to this could be seen from the fact that the letters to Mishna and Neshama (Hebrew word for soul) are the same. As such, this platform/podcast also contains Mishna (even if not a “shiur”) which might only be a couple minutes long.

More about Rabbi Herber Zatzal:
The following comes from various sources. Much of this was said at the Hazkara
Rabbi Herber infused Torah into every part of him and into every part of his life (including family, community etc). He was a pillar of the Agudah community. He was a ba’al tzadaka, he gave in secret. He loved teaching Torah. He loved teaching Torah to children. He was an i’sh eme’s, true to his word, fulfilled promises (such as a present for a child). Loved Emes. Searched for the eme’s when hearing a dra’sha and focus his questions on that point. Although he looked like he was sleeping….he wasn’t..his sudden questions made that clear. He had a tremendous memory for learning….remembering drasha’s from 25 years ago (and would ask the Rav about them as if it was yesterday). Had a clarity in learning that is rare. He loved Torah and having a kash’ya is fine, even without a teirutz, if there is a kash’ya then the emes requires asking the question even without an answer. He was known as Chaim yosef the Masmid when he was a bachur (wow!). Rav Aaron Kutler said he was the 2nd top bachur in Lakewood (and that was from the 1950’s). Rabbi Menachem Tendler referred to him as his Rebbe for the past 14 years. He was sharp until the very end. He was one of the original 10 founders of the Agudah. Although he did not dress yeshivish, he was drawn to the Agudah and that environment…and he helped make the environment. He was an anav, a Lamdan, a Masmid and had a leiv tov. He did a lot for the community. Genuinely cared about others. He spoke about how Hashem is the only one that truly loves us (he spoke about the tefila ahavas olam). He was mekabeil the sufferings in his life. His son Tzadok passed away late in 1996. Tzadok was lively etc, Rabbi Herber was mekabei’l this. The other example was the passing of his wife Chaya Basya and the sudden passing of his daughter Shoshana 2 years ago. He was “multifaceted” (said Rabbi Greenblatt) by community help which included teaching kids their bar mitzvah. He taught people from non-religious homes (including children). Rabbi Greenblatt said he wonders whether he would still be Rav if Rabbi Herber would have been there during the Sunday morning that Rabbi Greenblatt presented his shiur to the Agudah. Rabbi Herber was born 1937. He grew up on the lower East side. He wanted to be a doctor. A 5th grade Rebbe got him excited about learning. He ended up learning in Lakewood. He was Moser nefesh, and gave up being a doctor in order to become a Talmud Chacham. He was very great in learning but considered himself a regular person and made a living driving an old truck selling used batteries to scrap metal (possibly owned a scrap metal company called h&h) for a time. He moved to St Louis in the mid 1960s. He spent many years in chinuch for all different types of yidden and ages. He…