Upon arrival in Lakewood, he made his way to Alumni, where he approached anyone he saw learning alone and asked them to learn the Daf with him.

At that time, no one in Alumni or the Bais Sholom Bais Medrash knew Martin Stampf. Over the course of the next seven years, however, he would touch the lives of hundreds of people and, in a story paralleling that of Rebbe Akiva’s rise to greatness later in life, he would inspire many people with his mesiras nefesh to make up for lost time and become a talmid chochom, despite never having been fortunate enough to receive a Jewish education when he was young.

Martin was born into a completely non-religious home in Virginia. Even as a young man, he was drawn to spirituality and mitzvah observance. He would relate that he tried to build a Sukkah when he was a teenager and continued laying tefillin after his bar mitzvah, which was unheard of in his non-religious circles. He related that some relatives were not just non-religious, they were actively anti-religious, going so far as to take down his Sukkah and hide his tefillin from him. Despite growing up in this environment and having no Jewish education as children, both Martin and his sister eventually became fully shomer Torah u’mitzvos.

After his father passed away at a young age, Martin and his mother and sister moved to Baltimore, where he would marry and live for many years. While in Baltimore, he worked at Tov Pizza Shop, where his good nature and affable personality made him beloved to all. During this time, he meticulously kept all the mitzvos he knew, although he had not found a means to learn much Torah yet.

Seven years ago, he and his wife moved to Lakewood, settling in the Eleanor Levovitz Senior Apartments on Clifton. He was about 60 years old at that time. One of the maspidim at the levaya related that when Martin told his friends in Baltimore that he moving to Lakewood “to learn”, some tried to discourage him, telling him that Lakewood is a big place and it would be hard to find an appropriate shiur there. He answered, “I want to learn and I am sure that I will find someone who will learn with me.”

Upon arrival in Lakewood, he made his way to Alumni, where he approached anyone he saw learning alone and asked them to learn the Daf with him. Rav Segal and others learnt with him, helping him at the start of his journey in Torah. When he began learning, he barely was able to read Lashon Hakodesh, and he struggled with the Hebrew and Aramaic words. But he would not be deterred. He soon made his way into Bais Shalom, where he found the chaburah of Rav Yisroel Newman, shlita, which sits closest to the front door on “the stage” of the bais medrash. Again, he repeated his mantra of asking yungaleit to learn the Daf with him, and a number of them gave him their time. In this way, learning 20 minutes with one yungerman, a half hour with another etc., he finished the Daf every day, and then reviewed it himself a number of times using his Artscroll.

He could be seen in Bais Shalom for hours every day, spending the bulk of his time learning with no interruptions. In short order, Martin became an integral part of the chaburah. When he was learning, usually for 5 hours straight or more each day, he would not allow anything to interrupt him. If someone wanted to ask him or his chavrusah something not related to learning, he would motion to him that he could not talk now. He was in the middle of learning and could not be disturbed.

Over the next few years, he finished numerous masechtos of Daf Yomi, reviewing every page many times. He also became a genuine member of the chaburah, growing a beard and payos for the first time.

A few years ago, he decided that, in addition to Daf Yomi, he wanted to learn more in-depth. At that point, he began learning with a steady chavrusah during Second Seder, with whom he learned several masechtos b’iyun cover to cover. Rav Newman’s chaburah finishes every masechta it learns b’iyun, and Martin proudly took part in a number of siyumim the chaburah made at the completion of masechtos as one of the mesaymem.

R' Moshe Aharon's Living Room, With His Ever-Present Gemara Set Up Next To His Chair

Martin suffered from a plethora of physical disabilities; yet he never allowed them to affect his learning. Perhaps most notably, he had extremely weak eyesight. To overcome this, he would use a magnifying glass to read the words of the Gemara. It was truly incredible to see him holding up the glass and passing it over each word, line by line, as he went through an amud of Gemara. He also had a hard time walking, but still insisted on walking by himself from his apartment to Bais Shalom. He only asked people to pick him up and give him a ride if it was icy outside and he was worried that he might slip. Every day, he could be seen shuffling down Clifton, sometimes with the help of a cane, while wheeling a small suitcase containing his sefarim behind him. Additionally, he suffered from arthritis and various other aches and pains, which he did not allow to affect his leaning schedule. Finally, he had a difficult time enunciating words, but still made himself understood to learn with his chavrusas. His nephew related that he found a tape of Martin saying the words of the brachos over and over again. He was practicing saying and pronouncing the words clearly to ensure he said each bracha properly.

Although he never interrupted his learning to schmooze, Martin was a wonderful conversationalist, with a quick wit and keen sense of humor. He always had a good word for everyone he met. He possessed a certain charm and grace that made him beloved by all who got to know him. He and his wife were often invited to Shabbos or Yomtov seudos by chaburah members who lived in the area. Their visits were highly anticipated as Martin would regale the hosts with interesting stories and anecdotes, as well as poignant observations and quips.

The Rosh Hayeshiva Rav Yeruchim, shlita, who delivers regular va’adim to the chaburah, relates that Martin would approach him before the va’ad and ask, “Can you please speak in English? I don’t understand Yiddish and don’t want to miss out.” Out of respect to this great mevakesh, the Rosh Hayeshiva would accede to the request.

Rav Yeruchim said, “He was moser nefesh for mitzvos his entire life, He had a tremendous ahavas Hashem and love for mitzvos, and, in the last years of his life, he was moser nefesh for Torah. It didn’t come easily to him, but he put in the efforts to learn. And he merited becoming ‘echad m’bnei hachaburah’ of such a choshuve chaburah. He became a demus of mesiras nefesh for Torah that we can all learn from. We can all learn from what it means to have the power of bikush for Torah and mitzvos.”

Rav Yeruchim added, “He did not grow up in a yeshivishe environment. He did not have a father who raised him with learning. Yet he became fully attached to Torah.”

The Rosh Chaburah, Rav Newman stated, “After he began learning with a chavrusah b’iyun, he told me that he hopes to be able to finish 10 masechtos like this. A few months ago, he told me, ‘Now, I hope that I’ll be able to go through all of Shas in-depth with this chavrusah.’ During Bain Hazemanim, he learned with a chavrusah in a shul near his home, learning the entire seder just like he did during the zeman. On Shabbos, he would come to Bais Sholom in the afternoon and remain there learning until the night. He once ate a seudah with me on a Friday night. After the seudah, I asked him if he wanted to go home. He answered that he wanted me to come with him to a shul to learn, and he stayed there learning until late at night. A few years ago, he was sick for a few weeks and was going back and forth to the hospital. Whenever anyone would visit him in the hospital, he would ask them to learn part of the Daf with him.

“The Gemara says that Hillel is mechayev aniyim to learn. Martin is mechayev all of us.”

The levaya at Bais Shalom

Rav Moshe Blomberg, a distinguished member of the chaburah, relates, “R’ Moshe Aharon came over to me to discuss his learning almost every day without fail. He would chazer over and over every blatt he learnt each day. Everything he spoke about revolved around the Gemara. He loved the blatt, and he lived the blatt. His biggest concern was having steady chavrusas to learn with him. Anyone who knew him before he moved to Lakewood could not believe it when I told them where he is holding today as a member of the chaburah. I spoke to people who knew him in Baltimore and told them how he does not leave the Gemara and how when I speak to him, he quotes Gemaras literally throughout Shas. They could not believe their ears. This is an unbelievable lesson of ‘ain dovor omed b’fnei haratzon.’ If someone believes he can do it, he can do it. He had every excuse in the world. He did not have the clarity of eyesight or speech that most people have. His feet could not carry him like most people’s do. But that didn’t stop him.”

Learning With His Chavrusah, Rabbi Yechiel Tauber

Rabbi Yechiel Tauber, his chavrusah, relates, “He used to tell me that his greatest joy is learning through a masechta. He would say, ‘You make me young. You’re like a fountain of youth.’ He would add that when he learns, he forgets all his aches and pains and doesn’t feel the discomfort he usually feels. You could see a huge smile on his face whenever he learned. Especially when the learning was lebedig, he would become overcome with joy. His wife said that she noticed that when he learned at home, he automatically started humming the words of the Gemara in a happy tune.”   

Martin’s beloved wife passed away three months ago, on Motzoei Yom Kippur. This loss was a tremendous blow for him, but he continued his learning schedule unabated.

This month, he completed Shas with the Daf Yomi cycle, having learned each Daf at least 4 times. He made a private siyum in honor of the simcha, inviting his friends from the chaburah. At the siyum, he asked someone to bring him a Gemara. “Which Gemara?” he was asked. “Any Gemara will do,” he answered. He opened the volume of Gemara and exclaimed, “Look at this page? The words are shaped like a brick. This indicates that every page of Gemara is like a brick that we use to build a palace of Torah! With every Daf, you are building!” Indeed, Martin built a beautiful Torah palace over the past seven years.

On Monday morning, the lights in the front of the stage in Bais Shalom, where Martin learned for many hours every day, suddenly and inexplicably went out and would not turn back on. It was soon learned that Martin had been found unresponsive in his apartment that morning.

He merited fitting kovod acharon. His levaya in Bais Shalom was attended by hundreds of bnei yeshiva who came to pay their final respects to this unique and incredible individual who could barely read Lashon Hakodesh seven years ago but left this world as a genuine talmid chochom.   

Martin and his wife did not merit having children. Everyone is asked to learn and do mitzvos in memory of R’ Moshe Aharon ben Shraga Feivel z”l.

May his memory be a blessing.  

BJL thanks www.lakewoodshopper.com for this article