Rebbetzin Hany Kaminsky a”h, wife of Rav Hershel Kaminsky shlita, long time maggid shiur at Yeshivas Mir in Brooklyn, passed away on 20th of Elul this past year.

Born in 1954 to her illustrious parents Rav Shmuel & Rebbetzin Reichel Berenbaum z”l, she lived in close proximity to their home and was devoted to them b’lev v’nefesh her entire life. Together with her distinguished husband, she merited to raise a large family of children, grandchildren, and great-grand-children following in the ways of the Torah. She possessed a rare refinement and nobility of spirit and served as a beacon of light to many with her exemplary character. Blessed with a strong intellect and an articulate delivery, coupled with an unusual depth of feeling and a very pleasant demeanor, she taught and inspired bnos yisroel with great success for over 45 years, at Yeshiva of Brooklyn, Machon Bais Yaakov, and Mesoros Bais Yaakov.
She was a child and grandchild of talmidei chachamim, the wife of a talmid chacham and a mother of talmidei chachamim, yet despite her yichus, capabilities, and accomplishments, or maybe because of them, she was an extremely modest and unassuming person. She personified hatznaia leches, staying under the radar and out of the limelight. There wasn’t a trace of self-aggrandizement in anything she did or accomplished. She had a rich meaningful inner life and had no need or desire for external validation and adulation. She was entirely comfortable in her own persona. To the contrary, the more she cultivated her inner world the less she needed from the world outside of her.

She rarely spoke about herself and her accomplishments, she always focused on others. Ain lach yaffe min hatzenius.
In the current culture that equates publicity with value and substance, her entire life exemplified that the two are unrelated and might even be mutually exclusive.

Growing up in the household of her great parents z”l, Rebbetzin Kaminsky was greatly impacted by their deep love and fierce dedication to to limud haTorah at all times and in all situations. She witnessed firsthand her father’s overwhelming reverence for the supremacy of Torah and incorporated that chavivus into her very essence. She continued to cultivate her unbridled love and respect for Torah throughout her life.

Rebbetzin Kaminsky imbibed from her great father the attitude that limud haTorah isn’t merely a duty or obligation, rather it was the most pleasurable and satisfying endeavor one can be engaged in. A Torah-centric life was enjoyable and the most productive life style a person can have in this world.

She further internalized this uplifting message to the extent that as she grew older she seemed to all those who knew her as an ambassador of sorts for the beauty and glory of limud haTorah. It was by far her most favorite topic and she would elaborate on it in so many different ways to everyone in her orbit, young and old alike.

As a woman who is exempt from actual Torah study, her overarching love and respect for Torah manifested itself in her own life primarily in the lengths she would go to facilitate and not disturb her husband and sons or any man in their limud haTorah. She viewed it as a sacred duty to enable men to learn Torah. This was her primary connection to Torah and she relished when the men in her life had more time to learn Torah.
Many chapters can be written about her unswerving dedication to her husband’s Torah learning throughout her life.

She shared her love and joy of of Torah with all her daughters and students, teaching and reminding them constantly about the great merit in not disturbing one’s husband for anything they can take care of themselves.
Rebbetzin Kaminsky’s intense love of Torah impacted her students greatly. Throughout her long career of teaching bnos yisroel, she inspired many many girls to marry bnei Torah. Her love and enthusiasm for Torah was so contagious that her listeners simply desired to also have a part in that glory of living a life of Torah.

Middle aged women at the shiva told the family how spiritual lessons they heard from her decades earlier are still reverberating in their ears. Such were her powers of hashpah which flowed from her own deep conviction and clarity.

The last few years of her life she started to give classes to middle aged women who did not merit to go to Bais Yaakov and seminary in their youth. It is difficult to for anyone to change, but it is particularly difficult for people in the prime of their life to change. Yet, Rebbetzin Kaminsky, who did not cut corners in her presentation of yiddeshkeit, managed to inspire those women by her own example and through her enthusiastic descriptions of halacha, to change and make ever greater commitments to shmiras haTorah and kiyum hamitzvos.

Her emunah and trust in Hashem was rock solid. Hashem was an ever present reality in her life that she contended with at all times. Whenever she set out to accomplish something, ranging from the sublime to the mundane, she would say to her family members – daven that I succeed. She lived with a natural sense that it is Hashem who is really running the world and orchestrating events. She depended on Hashem for every success. She also accepted every circumstance that transpired, be it good or not, as a complete expression of Hashem’s will.
Her great emunah led her to constantly daven and say tehilim for her family and for others in need. Both the standard davening and personal davening was a most important and integral part of her daily routine.

She knew by heart the opening words of the Mesilas Yesharim – “The real purpose of a person’s existence in this world is to come closer to Hashem and there is no greater pleasure in the universe then being close to Hashem”. She would repeat them often and they were the guiding force of her life.
She viewed the entirety of Torah & Mitzvos through that prism. A mitzvah in her eyes was a way to come close to Hashem and an aveira served to distance a person from Hashem – profound, yet simple and straight forward. She conveyed this rousing & penetrating message consistently to her children and students.

A son-in-law shared his recollection of a time when one of her pre Bar Mitzva sons was not paying sufficient attention in school and seemed not to be taking his Torah learning seriously. He depicted how instead of verbally reprimanding the child, she had sat him down on the stairs and shared with him in a soft and loving voice with pure simplicity as only a mother can – “how great it is to be close to Hashem, and the only way one can become close to Hashem is thru leaning Torah and doing mitzvos” etc. Conversations such as those left an inedible impression on the children.
She was constantly looking to grow in ruchnius. Whenever she noticed someone practicing a new hiddur in avodas Hashem she endeavored to incorporate it in her own life as much as possible.

She possessed great yiras shomayim and when she had any doubt on a halachic issue she would not hesitate to call senior poskim to determine the right path. The books she owned on hilchos shabbos were well worn from use.
When it came to matters of right and wrong she had deep conviction and surety and was very clear as to what the right path to follow was. This certainty flowed from her solid Emuna and her iron clad goals in life.

Her deep reservoir of emunah and clarity of purpose contributed greatly to the unflappable calm she always exhibited. She was not merely calm, she exuded and radiated calmness and tranquility to her surroundings at all times. At the shiva many visitors commented on the fact that when one entered her home you sensed an unusual quietude and menucha.

Rebbetzin Kaminsky was a very astute person and had a deep understanding and grasp of any given situation social or otherwise. She understood well the ways of the world. Yet, her superior perception notwithstanding, she worked her entire life on the midda of ayin tova and lev tov. She strived at all times to see the good both in people and in events. She perfected herself in this regard to the extent that according to the people close to her she never uttered anything negative about anyone or anything, let alone actual disparaging remarks or outright lashon hara. She endeavored constantly to see every person and interpret every event in a positive & uplifting light.

When asked how she was doing, her trademark refrain was – ‘Hodu laHashem ke tov’. This was not a superficial expression or mere platitude but truly reflected her attitude and perception on life. Since she succeeded in seeing only the good around her, she truly lived in a dazzling world, surrounded by light and kindness. The words ‘Hodu lahashem ke tov ke leolam chasodo’ were an accurate portrayal of the reality she lived in.

As was reiterated by so many visitors at the shiva, she treated every single person she encountered with unusual humility and respect. Part of the reason she treated everyone with such respect, was because of the immense good she was able to perceive in every person she met.

Besides enhancing immeasurably all her interactions with other people, her midda of ayin tova served her well as a parent and educators. She saw the current good and potential good in every single child, grandchild and student, no matter what their level was, and conveyed it to them constantly. Most often this would affect her children and students with a desire and determination to live up to her high regard of them. This was a big part of her great success as a parent and a mechanechas.

She also used her powers of ayin tova to spread goodwill and simcha amongst people by praising and pointing out to spouses and family members something positive about each other. Particularly in regards to chassanim & kallos, if she knew one of the sides, she would call the other side to regale them with the positive attributes of their new family member.

Rebbetzin Kaminsky grew up in a home that was saturated with neseus b’ol and chessed. She witnessed firsthand her parent’s extreme care and sensitivity towards the needs of others and absorbed that attitude into her very being.

Her concern and compassion for others manifested itself in a listening ear. She had a unique ability to empathize with another person’s situation or pain. In general, she had a great sensitivity to people who were hurting. An older single who ate many Shabbos meals in her home, expressed to the family at the shiva, how, when he would talk to her about his difficulty in finding a shidduch, he sensed in her eyes how much she cared and participated in his pain.

Whenever one of her children would share with her a story of a classmate or friend who was undergoing difficulty, she would take it to very much to heart and would immediately encourage them to do whatever they can to help that person. She would not forget about their plight easily, and would continue to keep tabs on the situation. In particular, when she heard about a child being picked on in school or was friendless, she would urge her children to befriend or protect that unfortunate child. Whenever she heard about a person being treated unjustly she would try to do anything in her power to correct the situation.

Rebbetzin Kaminsky’s attitude towards the fulfillment of the mitzva of kibud av v’aim was exceptional. She revered her great father and mother to no end. Her entire life she built and added on to that reverence by highlighting and meditating on the amazing qualities and positive attributes of each parent. As all her children can attest, she did not miss an opportunity to point out to the people close to her the unusual characteristics and actions of her parents.

She studied the conduct of her parents and endeavored to emulate them as much as possible.

Her endless admiration for her parents manifested itself clearly in the realm of action. Whenever her parents needed anything she would stop what she was doing and go help them, she simply never said no.

As her mother Rebbetzin Berenbaum aged and needed help with shopping and other errands. Rebbetzin Kaminsky was always there to drive her to where ever she needed to go. She did all this happily with no reluctance and sense of difficulty at all. To her it was the greatest privilege and merit to serve her saintly mother who she admired so. When a family member once offered to do one of the errands for her mother in her stead, she did not relinquish easily, she commented “I am not sure I am willing to give up this opportunity and zechus”.
Her kibud av v’aim was carried out with the utmost sensitivity and dignity.

When Rebbetzin Kaminsky arrived on schedule to her mother’s home to drive her somewhere and Rebbetzin Berenbaum was not ready to go yet. Family members testify she always waited with amazing patience till her saintly mother was ready to go, as if she had all the time in the world. She never ever nudged or urged her to get ready quicker.

Rebbezin Kaminsky had an outstanding ability to prioritize and focus on what is truly important in life and not get caught up with matters that might seem important at the time but really were inconsequential long term. In addition, she had the strength of character and strong sense of self not to be influenced by what others were doing or considered important.

Without a doubt her children and family were the center of her life and avodas Hashem. She deeply believed that the more a mother is physically present and interacts with a child in their younger years, the healthier it is for the child’s formation and stability as a future adult. She therefore poured all her talents, energy, and time into being with them as much as possible and giving them her undivided attention children. According to her daughter, even though she was an excellent teacher, the real impetus for her teaching career while she had children at home was simply to help the family’s finances. Otherwise, there was nothing in the world as important as being there for the children physical and emotionally.

Her children recall that as youngsters they always felt that they were the most important people in her life.

She resisted mightily falling prey to the all too strong societal pressure to constantly leave the house at night to participate in the various events, speeches, and even family simchos. She did not attend them, because she lived with laser-like focus on to what was truly important in life, and to her interacting with the kids was the most important mission a mother can be part of, as it is an investment that bears fruit for eternity. Her priorities were unshakeable.
With her passing Klal Yisroel lost a true gem. Her esteemed brother so aptly declared at the Levaya – “Hashem descended and plucked from his precious garden a most beautiful and perfect rose….”.

May her important spiritual legacy continue serve as an inspiration to her family, students, and acquaintances for many years to come, until that great day when we will all be united once again with the advent of Mashiach and Tichias Hameiseim.