Rav Ahron Batt, who was the Mankal [Director] of Machon Lev at one point, and then, later, SaMankal [Assistant Director] of the Talmudic Encyclopedia, passed away just before Shabbat, on the 6th of November, 2010 (28 Marcheshvan, 5772); and I felt that I had to post something about this wonderful man who was a blessing for all who knew him.
Rav Batt studied in Yeshivah University with my step-father, Leon Woolf, of blessed memory, and was already living in Israel with his family when I arrived in 1976.
Among other things, Ahron Batt was the person who got me involved in the Mishnah Yomit study program (two Mishnayot a day, every day, so that one completes Shas-Mishnayot approximately every six years), but he was much, much more.
In a sense, Rav Batt was my mentor. I learned a lot from him, spending many Shabbatot at his family's table; and I saw him as an example of what a Jew should strive to be. He was a great person, a Talmid Chacham, and a Mentsch. There is so much that could be written about him that there is no time for it all, so I will just briefly mention some important aspects of what he meant to me.
In this period when so many Rabbis exhibit character traits that are not admirable, it is an honor to be able to say that I knew Rav Ahron Batt who was a true Mentsch, full of Ahavat HaTorah, Ahavat HaBriyot and Ahavat Eretz Yisrael. He was a living example of a person who presented Torah-true Judaism in a manner which endeared it to others and truly promoted it as a holy experience, full of positive meaning for the world.
Since he was involved with many other people, Rav Ahron's Middot Tovot were a blessing for all who knew him, and his passing makes us all a little poorer. May he be a Meilitz Yosher for Am Yisrael before the Kadosh Baruch Hu in heaven, and may the spirit he engendered continue its positive influence in the world.
Thank you for posting this. I knew Rav Batt only slightly, but he changed the priorities in my learning. I met him when he was visiting Phil Chernofsky one day at the Israel Center. Rav Batt told me how his father had pushed for regular study of mishnayot, gave me a copy of the Mishna Yomit calendar, and encouraged me to learn Mishnah daily. I started doing so, and later encouraged my own students to do so. Rav Batt was also a model of a wholistic Torah. His education as a talmid hacham and as a chemist were all integrated. I have a tape of him speaking on Yom Yerushalayim. That was the first time I heard someone speak about Rav Soloveitchiks Kol Dodi Dofek.
ReplyDeleteYou are truly blessed to have had so much time with him. He was a blessing to everyone who came into contact with him.