Author: ArtScroll Staff

AS: To those who knew him, Benny Fishoff was a legend and a shining example. Can you tell us, briefly, a little about him, for those not privileged to have ever met him?

YB: Holocaust survivor turns businessman turns generous and caring askan. Baruch Hashem, Klal Yisrael has been gifted with many who fit that description. Benny Fishoff stood out in the way he related to people — to all people, VIPs and parking lot attendants. His genuine love and caring for others, profound emunah, and fantastic business savvy made a unique and unforgettable combination. Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz z’l told people, “When I grow up, I want to be Benny Fishoff.” How’s that for unique?

AS: Rabbi Moshe Sherer called Benny Fishoff the “malach of shalom.” Tell us about his amazing ability to make peace between people.

YB: I’ll let him tell you himself, in his own words: “The most important lesson I learned is that machlokes doesn’t pay: it simply is not worth the time or the energy.” He was a master of listening and understanding, bringing people who were at each other’s throats to make compromises and move away from hate. His messages of ahavas Yisrael and empathy are something that we all must hear, especially in these times.

AS: The book is a departure for you: partially memoir, told in Benny’s voice; partially stories told about him by others. How did you go about writing this unusual work?

YB: I met Benny Fishoff when researching another book, and I was immediately captivated by his endearing personality and fascinating stories. He told me he wanted his story written down so that his grandchildren would know about the family that they’d never met, all of them victims of the Holocaust. That mushroomed into tales about building his business, with an emphasis not on his successes but on when he’d failed and how he’d learned and grown from his failures. Benny fell ill not long after we’d finished his memoir, but the manuscript was printed for his grandchildren. Other people read it and said how much it had fascinated and influenced them. Then, after Benny’s passing, more and more stories about his amazing accomplishments came to light. We added the stories, and the result was this book.

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Imagine an encyclopedia — or, in 21st-century terms, a Wikipedia — of Torah thought, wisdom, and hashkafah. You can read this encyclopedia through from A to Z — or, in this case, from Aleph to Tav. You can also use it as a reference on specific topics. Or you might want to just riffle through the entries, broadening your knowledge and enriching your understanding.

And imagine that you can go to that encyclopedia and find not only facts and wisdom, but also brilliant and practical advice for living, as well as gentle mussar designed to strengthen your connection to Hashem and His Torah.

You don’t have to imagine it. That encyclopedic collection of Jewish wisdom and guidance has been available and beloved for two centuries. It’s called Sefer Pele Yoeitz. And it is now available and accessible to ArtScroll readers, with a flowing translation and elucidation, in the Haas Family Edition Pele Yoeitz: The Classic Work by Rabbi Eliezer Papo.

Pele Yoeitz was authored by the renowned halachic authority, ethicist, and kabbalist Rav Eliezer Papo. The work, which has achieved universal popularity, is arranged alphabetically; it covers themes that range from philosophy to halachah to practical advice. Topics discussed in this first of the projected four-volume series range from advice on chinuch to interpersonal relationships, conducting a business, developing personal integrity, and how to build a home, look for a shidduch, or publish a sefer … the list goes on and on.

This first volume also features a comprehensive 70-page discussion of dibur, speech, and how a person can sanctify his words, with separate sections on “mitzvah” speech, permitted speech, and forbidden speech. Like the rest of the book, each section is a beautiful blend of hashkafah and practical, down-to-earth advice that displays a profound understanding of human nature.

This is a book of “pele yoeitz” — wondrous guidance — that has illuminated Jewish life for two centuries and continues to bring Torah wisdom to us now.