Eternal Fire - The fire and passion of the legendary Mechanech Rav Shmuel Kaufman / אש תמיד באנגלית - האש והתשוקה של המחנך האגדי הרב שמואל קאופמן

“My father gives me a quarter every time I come here and walk around the beis midrash.”

Here is the story of a boy who hobbled around the Mirrer beis midrash determined to earn a quarter, but was really being led by Hashem to achieve true greatness and become an Aish Tamid, an eternal fire for Am Yisrael. Rav Shmuel Kaufman became a living legend in chinuch, in kiruv, and in the unbelievable chesed that he did, together with his eishes chayil, Risha.

The thousands of people who were touched by this rebbi with a limp in his walk and a fire in his heart, shared identical experiences: all of them were transformed by his unwavering emunah and unabashed open love of Hashem, Torah, and every tzelem Elokim.

Read about Rav Shmuel’s grandfather “All for the Boss” Reb Yaakov Yosef Herman, his uncle Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg zt”l, his rabbeim Rav Elya Meir Bloch, Rav Mottel Katz, and Rav Mordechai Gifter of Telshe Yeshiva, and many other Torah leaders of post-war America. You will be inspired by this quintessential rebbi, who impacted generations of children in Yeshiva Beis Yehudah of Detroit for more than half a century!

Words of Praise for Eternal Fire, from Rabbi Paysach Krohn:

Reb Shaya Ostrov has written a fascinating account of an incredible human being, his brother-in-law, Rav Shmuel Kaufman.

Rav Shmuel, in his early years, overcame one health adversity after another, with fierce emunah and bitachon. He surmounted his challenges and became an oved Hashem with a simchah that was contagious. He loved every Yid, regardless of his level of observance, and he sought to bring every Yid he met closer to Hashem.

In shuls, yeshivos, hospitals, jails, or in the streets of Detroit, he sought to be mekadeish Shem Shamayim in any possible way. Reb Shaya tells one captivating story after the other. One will make you laugh, another will make you cry, and a third one will leave you in awe at the strength, energy, and devotion that Rav Shmuel and his wife Risha had for any Jew.

I know you will be inspired as I was.

About the author:

Shaya Ostrov has written extensively on marriage, dating, and personal development. His first book, The Inner Circle: Seven Gates to Marriage, was published by Feldheim in 2000, followed by a series of three volumes entitled The Menuchah Principle, on menuchas hanefesh in personal life and relationships.

Rav Shmuel Kaufman married Shaya's sister, Risha, in 1959. Shaya and his brother-in-law remained close until Rav Shmuel's passing in 2016. This book is Shaya's tribute to the greatness of his late brother-in-law, with gratitude for his inspiring influence upon the Ostrov family and on countless Yidden the world over.

Shaya and his wife, Vivian, live in Far Rockaway, NY, and have three married children: Mordechai and Esti Steinfeld,(Far Rockaway), Rabbi Dovid and Miriam Ostrov (Yerushalayim), and Rabbi Nosson and Racheli Krancer (Passaic, NJ).