The Chevra Shas Shul in Crown Heights, one of the oldest shuls in the neighborhood, will be renamed after their Rov, Rabbi Mottel Gurary a”h who passed away last month from COVID-19.
The Chevra Shas Shul in Crown Heights, one of the oldest shuls in the neighborhood, will be renamed after their Rov, Rabbi Mottel Gurary a”h who passed away last month from COVID-19.
In a letter sent out to members of the shul, the family of Rabbi Gurary let them know of the renaming, and said that “Bais Mordechai” will be added to the name making the Shul “Chevra Shas Bais Mordechai”.
The family said that the past months have been ones of “much unspeakable pain” with the loss of numerous members of the shul, including Rabbi Menachem Nissim a”h, Rabbi Gedalia Korf a”h, Rabbi Yisroel Friedman a”h, Rabbi Moshe Zaklikovsky a”h, and particularly the revered and honorable Rav, HaRav Mordechai ben Mordechai Gurary a”h, the pillar of Chevra Shas.
“HaRav Mordechai Gurary ע״ה tirelessly and lovingly devoted most of his life to our shul as well as to the community and anywhere else that he was able to make a kiddush Hashem and kiddush Lubavitch,” the family said.
“He has been constantly inspiring us with his Torah teachings throughout the week as well as his geshmake divrei Torah and farbrengens on Shabbos and Yom Tov, his davening with such chayus and warmth as a real chosid emulates, his Krias HaTorah which he so powerfully articulated, making everyone feel like they are actually living in the moment. He endeared everyone with his wit, wisdom and warmth.
“He displayed so much love for his fellow yid as he was eager to help others who were less fortunate, with his kind gestures, encouraging words, clever advise and/or financial assistance (through his tzedaka fund). We can go on and on about all his special middos, but we don’t want to limit them in any way.”
“It is our duty and obligation to keep his legend going and to take lessons from him לעילוי נשמתו.
“We plan to do whatever possible to keep the light of our beloved Chevra Shas burning so that our dear Rav’s neshama will shine brightly above and be a maylitz yosher for all of us. Therefore, the name “Bais Mordechai” will be added to our wonderful shul. Bez”H when we will reopen, we hope to continue having weekly Shabbos divrei Torah, leining in shul by family members and continued shabbos mivorchim farbrengens.
“Let us all take pride in the fact that our mispallelim keep our shul so sacred and extraordinary as Rabbi Gurary always stressed the importance of not speaking during davening and krias HaTorah.
“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their nichum aveilim, their words of inspiration and for sharing their personal experiences of how they were affected and influenced by Rabbi Gurary ע״ה.
“With blessings for Chevra Shas-Bais Mordechai to continue to grow and prosper while still preserving the warm, family feeling the way Rabbi Gurary ע״ה would be proud for us to emulate.”