Rashag Yahrtzeit 6 Adar Rishon 2024, Memories of my years, 1969-78 at ULY - Rabbi Chaim Dalfin

going to um first start off with a story I was here the first day that this Yeshiva opened up in 1969 I was 8 years old and it was Friday afternoon Friday after Yesa 12:00 and we lived in these flat Bush at the time and we had a special bus to take these flat Bush most of the boys went to Crites but we went to these flat Bush and you know as a boy you're a little older most of you but you run and I was running towards the bus to make sure that I I don't miss my bus I can get home to his flat Bush and those front steps that I walked up on now I don't know if they're the same steps but I probably they're the same those steps I started to run down the steps towards the bus and guess what happened fell I fell down but why did I fall down I fell down cuz the steps were still not cemented it was just put on and I fell down and made a form of my body my little body on the steps that's what happened on the first Friday when this yiva opened up in 1969 and you can imagine what happened when I came home my father sold me all messed up so when RAB called me to speak to you about the was y us today it was a great pleasure it's a great pleasure to be here it's very emotional for me to be here I spent I spent here from 1969 to 1978 it's a long time 9 years years and I remember all the rebies the kitchen Ram's office the dormatory which doesn't exist anymore I understand on the fourth floor I can write a book just about this building and maybe I will one day and who was the one who made it possible for this Yesa to be here understandably but who was the one who was in charge of all theas under the Reb his older brother-in-law rabar we call him the rash R Shin giml rash this rash was born in Ukraine in kuk Ukraine in in 1897 and he passed away in 1989 and I have a story with him too cuz generally we didn't see the the office when you come in to the left where I think I saw offices over there that was his office and no when ever went into his office it was like a holy place once in a while we would see him come out and go into the yesha's office where the other staff people were and once he was going in or going going in and he saw me and he used to call every student that's what it say whether you were 10 years old 8 years old 12 years old you were B so he says to me b that's yish for what's your name so I said dolin so he says dolphin come inside he calls me into his office the first time I ever was in his office and I remember what he said to me and he said to [Music] me came down th means poor do dolphin right d don't be poor be wealthy be rich and then he said you can go now as Saidi the rash the rabbitson said the rabbitson said to one of the Unix who told me I think un who told me my man's is harav gurari my husband's biggest the Reb's biggest is Rabbi gurari and it doesn't only mean what Rabbi de alluded to but in this book that I wrote about the rash and the and the relationship called rash I documented and brought many letters and information how he was committed all the years and I I'll tell you another story short stories but they bring the point I worked for this Yeshiva 2 when I came back actually the Yesa brought me back in California to be the alumni director and guess what I ended up sitting in Rabbi gui's chair not everyone was happy about that but that's that was the office and I saw his gigantic I remember RAB his big roadex this big people from all over the world people he was in contact with and when I came back I was working to bring money funds into the ISA as the alumni director so I met someone who gave a size of ible donation to the Yeshiva and I asked him what connection do you have to the Yeshiva what connection do you have to rabi gari and he says I really don't so I said why are you giving this large donation I'm just curious he said I'll tell you why this was an American in Brooklyn not from and he said to me I get letters from people from organizations in Yas all over Brooklyn everyone wants needs money and I understand and everyone gets a little money I send everyone a little money but there's a difference between the letters I get from rabig gari and the other administrators of yeshivas the others say we don't have money we're closing the Yeshiva and we need your money and then he said and RAB gari writes we don't have enough money but we're going further we're not closing anything and he said to me that's why I give him money cuz there's no such a thing as not accepting a boy in Yesa because there isn't enough money that's what he told me and where did the rabbi gari get this from the [Applause] is the most special place you can be in the is eternal Everlasting it never will stop not till Masia but even mhia will come very soon is going to be there you've heard I'm sure from your Rees makes lamplighters what's a Lamplighter a Lamplighter is someone who doesn't only think about himself but he thinks about other people and I have a story for that too so when I was in B Med next door took me in that was my B Med our B medish was a little bigger at the time and this was where I was in B medes I was six 17 or so yeah and I I enjoyed learning and I wanted to learn and I we have Kus when you get older you learn in Partners cuses right one with one and you learn you prepare the Gar so I said to RAB ten who was our principal I said to him I really want to have who is topnotch so between he and I we can really go high score big really go over the top we will learn and we will really and Rabbi tmam said to me no I want you to learn with a student with a Kusa with a partner who doesn't know as well and he gave me a partner from Italy who wasn't yet sharp in gor and he suggested I learn with him but I said that means I'll be his teacher I thought it's AA partnership two equals he says you do this and you'll become stronger and better in your learning and he was right a Lamplighter doesn't only light up his own candle lamp lighter make sure that it lights up the whole street the whole Community the whole area how do you do that through learning you learn and you learn and then you DAV you're in a Sho do you know that I had a special C I took from home I remember was a red cover they don't publish it today kabad sitter and I remember I used to sit over there I think and I translated words because I didn't know the meaning of daving I was saying I don't know what I'm saying every day every day every day I D so as I I became Bar Mitzvah a year later I don't remember exactly the year I maybe 15 I said wait wait wait I don't know the meaning of daving so I took a pencil my my first language was Yiddish is Yiddish and I translated the words into yish this was before we had an English translation of the S and I learned the meaning of daving in this Sho that we are sitting in right now and this all is B the Merit of Rabbi gari Rabbi gari in the 1940s when he came together with his father-in-law the he managed 14as most of them were called not in Rochester in Buffalo in Boston in Chicago etc etc 14 laab isas was known but where was the main Yeshiva it was first in bford stensson where I learned as well called bford and Dean and then in 1969 there was a fire and we Mo and this building was built in other words they were already going to they were building building anyway and we moved in here now let me tell you something who likes football here I can't believe only so few hands okay I like football so we used to go out in this yard right here I think the yard's still there it is and we had the best touch not tackle touch football out here I remember like now one of my good friends he Liv in Florida today I used to be the quarterback and he was the wide receiver and I remember we I we used to call it throwing a bomb throwing a bomb he's going all the way up and he was so athletic he was able to jump up and and he got caught the ball but his head hit there's a there's a piece sticking out there we go down to the uh kitchen or downstairs I don't know again if still there still there and his head hit and he had a concussion I remember that but that's that's how we were boys we both enjoyed Sports and I remember downstairs you still have the Bas basetball courts and everything I remember how I I wasn't so into basketball but there were many here that were big basketball players it was a a lot of fun a lot of good times but together with that we learned and that's my final message to you today that you you're young you're fresh you remember learn learn a lot learn just keep on learning and ask your Rees to help you and as you learn yes do your sports enjoy things that are Kosher and good and I'm sure your Rees talk to you about that and then you can have kind of The Best of Both Worlds you could be a and a a good athletic sport that a wanted and made it possible we had English I don't know how it's today but we had English with teachers and diplomas and graduations and it was all in this building Ocean Parkway was the Yesa you know before before becamea this Yesa we were the Kings serious all the best Bim were learned here still are here thank you I'm sorry I didn't mean to indicate otherwise the head schim not only head many schim who are my age and older we all learned in Ocean Parkway I can give you names but it's I understand there's some booket here Rabbi booket Rabbi booket was my our rashash sha his son his sons were my friends and guess what we played ball together as well you know it's great times and now that we're living in a time where Messiah is about to come it's even greater it's really greater why because the energy of mashiach helps every single one of you in your studies in your life and in everything and sometimes when we when when a a curve ball is thrown to us you know the curve ball starts going like this the curve right sometimes things that's why you have you have the Rees talk to them and open up and they'll help you mayem help that the that that [Music] the it's 25 years right 1989 to 19 25 35 35 sorry getting old I didn't do well in math truth is I didn't yeah May the alah M should come already we should see Masia he and everyone else and all theik will be back and celebrate