Mendel Aronow

My friendship with Rabbi Aronow, whom I knew as Mendel, goes back almost six decades way back at 140 Winona days, and I feel a personal sorrow in his passing. HAMAKOM HU YENACHEM ESCHEM B'SOCH SHAAREI AVOLEI TZION VIRUSHOLAYIM.

The icon of Toronto. I felt better every time I started ascending his outside stairs. His face didn’t change from the first time I met him with my dad over half a century ago. Timeless. Tehey nafshoh tzerurah bitzror havhayim. Zt”l.

R' Mendel was the most honest vendor of tashmishe keddusah.. As far back as 1963, I remember the house on Winona out of which he worked and the young kids floating around the house. His concept of raising prices was solely predicated on halachah- a percent allowed. As an "older" Lubavitch chassid, he explained to me how he viewed his Rebbi as it applied to mashiach. He never said that Rav Schneerson was or was not moshiach, but said that since he was his Rebby, R. Mendel would put him on top of the list for moshiach. When I once bought a Megillas Esther in 1969 for $35, and I was told that that could not possibly be the correct price. To make a long story short, he had said to me that if I truly believed that that was the price, I could have it at that price. Of course, I (my wife) paid him the missing $100 - which was still cheap. He actually asked to buy back the megillah for $1,000 - I refused. Every year, I bought my Lulav/esrog and my Pesach matzohs from him.. In 1970, I went to buy my Lulav on Tzom Gedaliah. When he heard that I was still fasting, he forced me to eat supper at his house after 4 hours of selecting the esrog. In my old age, it took less time. He also said that I should marry my daughters off early - before they get too particular. Over all the years that I dealt with him, he was always fair, honest and warm-hearted. True, his Russian Yiddish took some time to understand, but I did understand most of his jokes. Even though I have not seen him since I left to Israel in 2016, I will surely miss him. TNZBH. YZB

למשפחת ארונוב המכובדת, שבכל אתר ואתר : משתתפים אנו בצערכם הגדול בהילקח אבי משפחתכם החשובה זצ"ל המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים ולא תוסיפו לדאבה עוד יצחק רפאל דויטש טורונטו