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About Rav Shagar ZT"L
 Our beloved Rosh-Yeshiva, Rav Shagar, was niftar on Sunday night, 25 Sivan 5767 (10.6.07).Words cannot express our sorrow, but we bring you a personal reflection of Rav Zvi Leshem (Spiritual leader of Congregation Shirat Shlomo in Efrat and director of overseas programs at Nishmat – The Jerusalem Center for Higher Torah Studies for Women), a friend and student of Rav Shagar (written during the Shiva):
Rav Shimon Gerson Rosenberg (Shagar) grew up in Jerusalem, was educated at the Kerem B’Yavneh Hesder Yeshiva and later moved on to Yeshivat HaKotel. During the Yom Kippur War he was severely wounded in battle. At a later stage he sought out gedolim such as Rav Yisrael Gustman zt”l, Rav Shlomo Fisher shlit”a and Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl shlit”a to study with. He also began to delve deeply into Kabbalah and Chassidut.
As a young man he became a ram at Yeshivat HaKotel, gathering around him a devoted group of budding young scholars, who have remained his faithful students throughout the years, many becoming influential roshei yeshiva and educators in their own right. At a later stage he was the Rosh Bet Midrash of Bet Morasha. During this time he also began to teach at Nishmat, where our relationship began. Ultimately he founded, together with his loyal chevruta of forty years, Rav Yair Dreifus shlit”a, Yeshivat Siach-Yitzhak, a Hesder Yeshiva that ultimately moved to Givat HaDagan in Efrat. Here he began, in addition to his teaching, to write his numerous books on Gemara, Jewish Philosophy and Contemporary religious society in Israel.
Rav Shagar was an extraordinarily deep Talmid Chacham, who was uniquely able to combine all aspects of Torah in an authentic interdisciplinary approach. His Gemara shiuirm, partially meant to deal with the alienation many young dati-leumi men felt from Gemara study, combined classical lumdos, academic research and philosophy in a meaningful and emesdik way that I have never seen elsewhere. His shiurim in Chassidut, (especially Rebbe Nachman, for whom he had a special affinity and perhaps even identification on some level), were deep, surprising and refreshing. They always hit the deepest existential places in his students, especially since he was acutely aware of the religious and personal struggles and alienation so many people feel in the post-modern world. His writing as well, especially his book on teshuva and his drashot for the Yamim Noraim, touched many raw nerves, forcing us to question our assumptions and search ever more deeply for authentic personal religious truth. He was deeply concerned, not only with Avodat HaShem in the narrow sense, but with interpersonal relationships on many levels. So much of his writing on teshuva focuses upon the banality of our relationships, urging us lehair panim, to light our faces, towards our family and friends, to forgive others, even to forgive ourselves, as a key aspect of rectifying the world. But he went beyond the narrow range of immediate relationships, showing true concern for the weaker members of society and searching for formulas that would make Judaism meaningful to everyone in Israel and break through the barriers of polarization.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Rav Shagar was perhaps the greatest pioneer of Chassidut Eretz-Yisraelit, and that it is largely in his merit that the study and practice of Chassidut has become the one of the most dramatic features of dati-leumi life in Israel, especially since the paradigm of Religious Nationalism lost its capacity to be the sole provider of spiritual meaning for a whole generation of young people. Of course this Chassidut, interwoven with the writings of Rav Kook zt”l and open as well to expression through literature and poetry, is also akin to the Chassidic revival envisioned by such thinkers as Rav Hillel Zeitlin zt”l, who saw pre-messianic Chassidut as a much broader and all encompassing reality, in line with the original message of the Baal Shem Tov. Thus Rav Shagar developed a religious language uniquely capable of meeting the needs of the current generation of Israeli dati-leumi youth, searching for more, much more, than the often simplistic formulations they were taught in high school.
Needless to say, all of the above was not always well received by the mainstream establishment of the dati-leumi yeshiva world, and the Rav was always under attack, for his method of Gemara study, his philosophical writings, and his willingness to question the accepted truths of the community. Throughout all of this, he remained, like Rebbe Nachman, a man absolutely committed to an un-ending search for truth at any cost. He embodied both the Rema’s psak not to pay attention to those who make fun of one’s way in Avodat HaShem, as well as the Baal Shem Tov’s difficult principle of hishtavut, equanimity, accepting all that happened as HaShem’s will and continuing on his path. This ability also enabled him to go through the half year of illness until his death with quiet dignity, hope, and yet, most of all, submission to HaShem’s will, whatever it may be.
On the personal level, Rav Shagar, was quiet, humble and shy. Despite his charisma and the incredible influence he had on so many, he was always approachable, friendly and helpful. His modesty was such that many in his Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Moshe expressed their surprise that the quiet gentle man whom they saw in shul or passed on the street, was the famous Rav Shagar. His yirah came before his chochmah, and many spoke of the tefillot on Yamim Noraim in his presence, as the most inspiring of their lives.
Three days ago he was laid to rest on the Mount of Olives. At his massive funeral, one could see even some of his greatest opponents in the yeshiva world crying profusely. Many of his talmidim tore kriah for their rebbe muvhak. I have been crying on and off for three days and I am crying now. Rav Shagar has appeared in my dreams every night. His Torah seems irreplaceable, a whole generation feels orphaned. If only I had had made a greater effort to learn with him more! If only I had found more opportunities to speak with him! His sweet friendship is also gone. Although Rav Dreifus and others are beginning the work of editing over 3000 of his unpublished writings, and Bezrat HaShem, will succeed in publishing them, aino domeh shmiah l’reiyah, and I want to see my Rav, my friend again, to sit in his shiur, to enjoy a quiet schmooze in a corner of the bet midrash, to share smachot together and more. The loss is so painful it is hard to put into words. The frustration of not being able to due justice to this great man in this essay is all the more painful. Maybe I should stop writing now, wipe away my tears, again, and get back to learning Tora. In his will Rav Shagar asked us to concentrate on improving our relationships, especially within our families, lehair panim, to shine our countenance on those around us, and to realize that there isn’t any time, what we need to fix, we should do now.
That is the painful awareness that comes with death at the age of 57 after a life of intense self-examination, and it behooves us to take his words to heart, deeply to heart.
May the memory of Rav Shimon Gerson Rosenberg (Shagar) zt”l be blessed. May HaShem bless his widow, HaRabbanit Miriam, his children and grandchildren, and the many, many talmidim who also viewed him as a father. May we merit to follow in his footsteps and to help spread the well springs of his Torah until the Mashiach comes, speedily in our days.
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