Among the four kedoshim (martyrs) murdered in Jerusalem today was Rabbi Moshe Twersky. Moshe was the elder son of my teacher and doctoral supervisor, Harvard University’s Prof. Isadore Twersky, the Tolner Rebbe, z”l, and grandson of Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveitchik, the greatest talmudist and Orthodox philosopher in American history.

As it happens, Rav Moshe was also my roommate during my first two years at Harvard Graduate School (he was at the time an undergrad at Harvard). Moshe and his brother, Rabbi Meir Twersky (yibadel l’chayim) each inherited and disseminated different aspects of the wisdom of their father: Meir, a gentle soul, internalized much of chassidic spirituality, but Moshe was the quintessential Mitnaged, truly an ayzerner kop (a mind of steel) and carried Prof. Twersky’s mastery of medieval halachic literature to new heights.

When we were sharing an apartment, back in 1976-1978, at a time when I davened every morning with my late father’s unique nusach, he mentioned that he enjoyed listening to the nusach and asked me to make him a tape of Joseph Yossel Nadler’s daily nusach hatfilah, which I did. Hearing of his brutal death was truly devastating, so today, I davened for him, with that same nusach, fighting tears.

Moshe Twersky was an adam gadol b’Yisrael, a great man of the Jewish People, by every measure. Just like his father, he had a cold and intimidating external manner, masking a pure soul: he was generous to a fault and scrupulously honest in all he did and said, and he demanded the same of others, which was often a huge challenge.

In Moshe Twersky’s life there was fulfilled in the fullest the answer of the Psalmist to the question, “Who shall live on the Mountain of God, who shall ascend to his holy heights?”

“Lo ragal al leshono, lo asah lereyeyhu ra” – “One on whose tongue there was never malice, and who never harmed his fellow man”

Moshe’s intense and single-minded devotion to Torah study was evident to all who knew him, even when he was in his late teens, which is when we shared a living space. He had neither time, nor patience, nor tolerance for anything less trivial than the quest for the meaning of Judaism’s sacred texts, which he firmly believed were all inspired by Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit

His death is a huge loss to his Yeshiva, Toras Moshe, his community, his many friends over a far-too-short lifetime, and to the Jewish People.

All who ever knew him are reeling with shock and deep sadness.

Montreal native Rabbi Allan Nadler is a professor of religion and director of the Jewish studies program at Drew University in Madison, N.J. He is also currently serving as interim rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Montreal.

Share and Enjoy !