The Rabbi from Sadigura Asked: 'Who Will Protect Tel Aviv Now?'; Profile of Rabbi Zauber z"l

About eighteen years ago, when actor Danny Shtag first arrived at the Gra Synagogue on Hayarkon Street in Tel Aviv, he did not expect the run-down sight that met his eyes: peeling walls, buckets suspended to catch water from the leaking ceiling, faded wooden shutters, water puddles near the Torah reading platform, and the cherry on top: five people waiting for a minyan, sometimes for more than 45 minutes.

So what kept him there nevertheless, to this day? "The holiness there was something hard to describe in words," he replies. But there was another reason, perhaps the main one - the internal click that happened there: Reb David Zauber z"l, who served as the synagogue's gabbai. "I remember approaching him, introducing myself, and asking: 'So where can I sit?' The place was completely empty, there were over a hundred free seats to choose from - yet I didn’t know it. I will never forget Reb Dovid's reaction. He looked at me with such innocence, as if to say 'I like the way you ask that question,' and replied: 'All the seats are at your disposal. Just choose'."

Nowadays, marking a year since the passing of Rabbi David Zauber, we wish to shed light on the character of the man many of his close associates, including Shtag - testify as a hidden righteous person. "He had rare genes - quiet European courtesy alongside genuine fear of heaven, extraordinary hospitality, and love for fellow Jews that is almost unheard of today," Shtag recalls. "To me, he was a righteous person, but real. He had blue eyes, kind yet piercing - and with one look, you could understand that he wasn’t a pushover. From the moment I met him, at age 82, I never saw even a minute of his time wasted. He had immense self-sacrifice for the service of Hashem that today can almost only be found among the great of the generation."

For about ten years, Shtag served as the gabbai at the Gra Synagogue alongside Rabbi Zauber z"l - and during that time, not only did he become the rabbi’s confidant, but he also claims he learned a thing or two from his unique conduct. "When I first arrived, we began studying the Tractate of Purities together. It is a very difficult tractate, especially for someone like me - who had never touched the Shas. But Reb Dovid made me enthusiastic about the study in an exceptional way. I particularly remember one time, it took us three days to decipher six lines. We struggled and tried countless interpretations. After three days, when suddenly the heavens 'illuminated' us with the answer to the complex question - we found ourselves jumping from our seats and dancing on the tables." Reb Dovid was then 90, but the joy he felt at those moments made him look youthful. 

Reb Dovid Took Tel Aviv Back in Time

Reb David Zauber, "Reb Dovid", never married. Upon his immigration to Israel, from a small town in Hungary - he opened a small textile factory and began selling hats, scarves, and women's clothing. An assistant of Uzbek origin helped him market his products across the country and later even learned from him the secrets of the trade. Hashem sent him a blessing in his work, and he made a living from this trade until about three years ago, when his health deteriorated.

"His door was always open, even to cats and dogs," says Eli Cohen (27), who became acquainted with Rabbi Zauber at the age of 17. The connection began about 15 years ago, when his father passed away. He was then a 12-year-old boy, going through a very difficult period, until he met a man whose simplicity and humility managed to mend his broken heart. "I saw an old and simple Jew with an angelic face, sitting in the synagogue and smiling at me with a fatherly and loving smile. From that moment, my soul was tied to his."

About the hospitality he saw at Reb Dovid's house, Cohen says even the homeless knew the address where they could always eat without feeling embarrassed. "His mind was always on feeding Jews. He insisted on preparing the dishes himself, and out of so many pots - you didn’t know what to choose. Every Shabbat, guests of all kinds would come to dine at his table - sometimes ten people, sometimes twenty-five. Everyone had a place in the house and a place in the heart, and the more people came - the more food there was. It was simply amazing."

Cohen continues to recount times when Reb Dovid heard noises in the stairwell and immediately called his non-Jewish assistant asking: 'Run and see who it is, maybe someone is hungry and too shy to ask to eat.' And it was not only the quantity of the food he was blessed with, but also a different taste - a taste of holiness. "To the extent that we enjoyed eating even bread dipped in salt," Cohen admits.

Once, the guys dared to bring the rabbi's attention to the fact that an unpleasant smell 'wafts' from one of the homeless people. "All the people present noticed it and grimaced with a sense of disgust, but for Reb Dovid - it was very upsetting. 'What does it matter what he smells like?', he quietly said to us after the homeless man left. 'What matters is whether he is hungry or not.' That was what he saw in his eyes, and that was all that mattered to him. He not only fed the hungry but did so with love and joy. Many times we saw with our own eyes people stealing things from his house, but he would not open his mouth against them because 'they are unfortunate people'. Today I know we were privileged to be in the presence of an extraordinary Jew, not seen every day. One of the old-school people, truly taking Tel Aviv back in time."

In a Second, Hearing Words of Torah - He Came to Life

Meir Ariel z"l and Rabbi Uri Zohar ybdl"a, were just part of the study partners who learned with Rabbi Zauber over the years. "I continued in their path on the bench and was blessed with a real friend," Shtag smiles.

About three years ago, Rabbi Zauber's health significantly deteriorated, and his vision and hearing dulled. Yet, for Reb Zauber, it didn’t change much in terms of his daily self-sacrifice. "So that he wouldn’t miss studying, he received special magnifying glasses from Germany, and when his hearing also diminished - he used headphones and a speaker. Towards his end, he would arrive at the synagogue in a wheelchair, appearing still and lifeless. But in the second he heard words of Torah - he became an entirely different person, dramatically coming to life. Even when asked a difficult question - you could see in his facial expressions how he revitalized like a sharp knife and made an effort to solve it. It was an amazing phenomenon, indescribable in words."

Since his passing last year, not a day goes by for Shtag without Reb Dovid crossing his mind, without asking himself dozens of times a day: 'What would Reb Dovid say, what would he think about this, and how would he behave?' "After his death, I felt a very heavy weight on my shoulders. The longing for him, for his honest and innocent conduct - is something that doesn't leave me. When the bitter news of his passing reached the ears of the Rabbi of Sadigura, the rabbi cried out and asked: 'Who will protect Tel Aviv now?' That was our collective feeling - that our good father, who loved each and every one of us as if we were his child - was taken from us."

Final Moments with Reb Dovid: "It Was a True Farewell"

Currently, Rabbi Shalom Gillernter serves as the synagogue's rabbi, a dear and dedicated scholar from Bnei Brak - who, for 20 years(!), visits the synagogue's study hall daily. "He is the perfect person for it," Shtag says. Asked what he believes now brings joy to Reb Dovid in the afterlife, Shtag answers: "I think what would make him happiest is seeing that Rabbi Gillernter and I continue his path in financial integrity and the spirit of the place. After all, these are 55 years of extensive work that he dedicated here. He gave his heart and soul, and it was important to him that anyone who took the position was a true human being, in every sense of the word. I hope we manage to bring him spiritual satisfaction in this regard."

Did you manage to say goodbye to him?

"Before his death, there was hardly any time that Reb Dovid was alone. Even when hospitalized - Ulim, his caregiver, served him faithfully until the last day. So unfortunately, I had almost no time alone with him."

Nevertheless, just a day before he passed away, Shtag went to visit the hospital and got the moment he had been waiting for years. "I met Ulim in the corridor, and he told me he was going to have lunch. I was happy. Finally, I had a few minutes alone, just me and Reb Dovid. I had waited for this moment for years. When I entered the room, I found Reb Dovid lying in his bed. He couldn’t speak, and I didn’t know how to communicate with him until an idea flashed in my mind: I closed the curtain, opened the microphone on his chest, and started singing him Shabbat songs.

"It was a very formative moment for me, but even before I could cry and give vent to my feelings and longing - the unimaginable happened: Reb Dovid opened a pair of lively eyes and looked at me with a gaze I had never seen before. A pure gaze, devoid of any ulterior motives - like an arrow dipped in infinite love, shot straight into the soul. That gaze conveyed to me love, empathy, and feelings I had never received from him before. Our connection was usually very intellectual and full of thought, and that gaze - was purely fatherly emotion. It was a powerful moment I will never forget. At those moments, I felt as if Reb Dovid put all his pain and suffering aside - so I could have a real farewell smile on my path. And what a wonder? That was Reb Dovid. All for others, even in his last moments."