Posted on 10/16/25
Baltimore, MD - Oct. 16, 2025 - On Shemini Atzeres night, my wife and I were blessed with a newborn son. Little did I realize that on that same night, my Rebbi – one of the most impactful people in my life – would be taken from us without warning. I am in complete shock and cannot find the words at this moment to eulogize him in any way. But in truth, I don’t know if I ever will. Rabbi Hauer’s influence on me runs much deeper than words. As I sit here at my desk at 1:00 am with my shirt torn, the few words of eulogy - which we read just this morning - written by Hashem Himself over the death of his most trusted servant, Moshe - will have to suffice:
וימת משה עבד ה'.
Moshe Rabbeinu’s life was summed up in those two words, Eved Hashem. It was Hashem’s will alone that Moshe yearned to know and wished to obey. I, too, weep and say: וימת משה עבד ה'. Every breath and every fiber of my Rebbi’s being cried out “ Is there anything else I can do for You, Hashem? Is there anything else I can do for Your beloved children? Just tell me, and I’ll do it. הנני.”
I noted in my drasha on Shemini Atzeres morning that the essence of the day is that of emotion. A day that we connect with Hashem without the assistance of a physical mitzvah. In His non-corporeal way, Hashem emotes and tells us, “ It is so hard to see you take leave from Me ”. In response, we spend one last day singing and dancing to express our love – our deepest emotions – to Him.
We continued by speaking about the embrace of the freed hostages and their parents after years and months of longing, along with the embrace that I was so lucky to give my newborn son the night before. And we spoke about the thousands of widows and orphans who will not merit to do the same this Yom Tov. Yet we also spoke of the embrace that Hashem gives His precious neshamos that reside so close to Him in shomayim. That embrace exudes with love which runs far deeper than we can ever imagine. It is that bond that we attempt to describe with the words etched on virtually every Jewish matzeiva: תהא נשמתו צרורה בצרור החיים. “May his soul be bound in the bond of life”.
I am still a young rav who has much to learn. As Rabbi Hauer told me when I became a rav, “Call me whenever you’d like”. And I did, because I needed to. I will miss his wise advice, but perhaps more than that, I will miss the loving hug and kiss he gave me every time we met after not seeing each other for some time. I was not only academically bound to my rebbi; I was emotionally bound to him, like a child to his father. “Banecha, elu talmidecha.”
It is at times like these that Rabbi Hauer would say, “Hashem knows what He’s doing. It’s our job to have Emunah in Him.” Rebbi, I appreciate your words very much because this one is very hard to swallow. I really do not know how we will recover. But one thing I do know: I will do whatever I can to raise my newborn son - whose birthday coincides with your yahrzeit – to be a true eved Hashem. Just like you.
תהא נשמתו צרורה בצרור החיים