Report: Levaya of Rebbetzin Miriam Salomon a''h in Lakewood

From Hamodia  see photos HERE More photos below article.

At the Levaya in LKWD, credit Hamodia

LAKEWOOD - The Torah world was plunged into mourning Monday morning with the petirah of Rebbetzin Miriam Salomon, a”h, the wife of, ybl”c, Harav Mattisyahu Salomon, shlita, Mashgiach of Bais Medrash Govoha (BMG) of Lakewood. She was remembered as the ultimate eishes chaver whose life was defined by her absolute dedication to the Mashgiach as well as to the needs of his many talmidim and the myriads who seek his counsel. With her natural sense of selflessness and pure yiras Shamayim, she cared for and inspired all those who were privileged to come in contact with her. She was 75 years old.

“What a zechus she had … I depended entirely on my wife; she was a source of so much chizuk,” said Rav Salomon in his hesped, a mussar shmuess in itself in which the Mashgiach gave short explanations on each passuk in Eishes Chayil relating them one-by-one to his Rebbetzin. “Her whole life was filled with doing good for others, for big and for small, for so many in this town.”


The Rebbetzin was hospitalized several months ago. On Motzoei Shabbos, her condition became critical, and she was niftar in the hospital Monday morning, surrounded by family members.

Photo: Hamodia USA

“She was a remarkable woman, who with tremendous chachmah was able to juggle her responsibilities to her own family and to the klal in an unbelievable manner,” Harav Ahron Dovid Dunner, a brother-in-law of the Rebbetzin, told Hamodia. “She was available day and night and did everything imaginable to relieve her husband of any burdens that would take him away from his avodas hakodesh.”

Rebbetzin Salomon was born in Manchester in 1941. Her parents, Reb Avrohom Tzvi, z”l, and Mrs. Sarah Falk, a”h, were known for their tremendous yashrus and yiras Shamayim. The couple had fled their native Germany just a few years before.

In an age when it was hardly popular, the Falks went to great lengths to see that their children should strive to build homes built on Torah and made every effort for their four daughters to marry true bnei Torah. At the time, the decision made him an object of ridicule, but Reb Avrohom Tzvi’s stubbornness bore for himself and for Klal Yisrael as his family includes Harav Pesach Eliyahu Falk, Dayan Ahron Dovid Dunner and Harav Salomon, among several other prominent marbitzei Torah.

Mashgiach at the Levaya

In 1960, the Rebbetzin and, ybl”c, Rav Salomon wed and settled in Gateshead where her husband had already been in yeshivah for several years. With their union, she began what was a lifelong career of absolute dedication to her husband’s well-being, growth and, eventually, his own harbotzas haTorah.

As the Salomon family began to grow, it quickly gained renown as a model of a “Yiddishe shtub,” with the Rebbetzin firmly at its helm. It was built on the strong mesorah she had inherited from her own parents and scrupulously guarded against any foreign influences.

As the Mashgiach began to assume greater responsibilities in the Gateshead Yeshivah, the Rebbetzin’s partnership with her husband’s avodas hakodesh took on a new dimension. In his role as Mashgiach, a constant flow of bachurim found their way in to the Salomons’ house. Whether the visit was for a short conversation with Rav Salomon or to stay for a Shabbos or Yom Tov, the Rebbetzin tried her utmost not only to make talmidim feel at home, but as if they were part of the family.

For many decades, the Salomons’ home in Gateshead was known for its warmth and hospitality to the entire community. With a sense of absolute duty to the klal, the Rebbetzin went to great lengths to see that all who passed through her doorway left feeling honored and cared for. The sight of local women pouring their hearts out about serious problems, coming for a few kind words, or even to lighten their day with the Rebbetzin’s famous sense of humor was a regular occurrence.

When the Salomons moved to the United States in order for Rav Salomon to assume the position of Mashgiach of Bais Medrash Govoha of Lakewood in 1997, the Rebbetzin’s role multiplied together with that of her husband’s. As the Mashgiach’s time, energy and wisdom became a quantity in constant demand throughout the American Torah world, she too redoubled her efforts to simultaneously facilitate his expanded role while protecting his own well-being. Without possessing any official position and preferring her own kitchen table to any public place, she discreetly kept the schedule of one of Klal Yisrael’s most demanded Gedolim and dispensed a world of chessed and wisdom.

Late Monday afternoon, a crowd of thousands gathered at Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood to bid a tearful farewell to the Rebbetzin who for decades had played a quiet, yet pinnacle role not only in Gateshead and Lakewood, but wherever bnei Torah lived.

Harav Yaakov Yehudah Salomon, a son of the Rebbetzin, began his emotional hesped by saying “it is not coincidence that we are here on a Monday night,” the time when the Mashgiach usually delivers his weekly mussar shmuess in the yeshivah.

“As he [Rav Salomon] prepared in the afternoon, she would sit in the kitchen and say Tehillim … and the Tatte would not leave the house before asking the Mama for a brachah that the shmuess should go with hatzlachah,” he said.

Other maspidim included the Roshei Yeshivah of Bais Medrash Govoha: Harav Malkiel Kotler, shlita, Harav Yeruchim Olshin, shlita, Harav Dovid Schustal, shlita, and Harav Yisroel Newman, shlita, as well as Harav Yitzchok Sorotzkin, shlita, Rosh Yeshivah, Mesivta of Lakewood and a mechutan of the Salomons, and Harav Moshe Salomon, another son.

From Lakewood, the levayah departed to JFK airport where additional hespeidim were scheduled to be delivered before the aron was flown to Eretz Yisrael for kevurah on Har Hamenuchos.

The Rebbetzin is survived by, ybl”c, her husband, Harav Mattisyahu Salomon; several siblings; sons; Harav Yaakov Yehudah, Harav Moshe and Harav Meir; daughters, Rebbetzin Naomi Jacobs, Rebbetzin Chana Gitelson, Rebbetzin Nechama Weinberg, Rebbetzin Rivka Perkowski, Rebbetzin Esther Knopfler, Rebbetzin Rochel Sorotskin, and Rebbetzin Ettel Halpern; as well as by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Yehi zichrah baruch.

Rav Malkiel Kotler

Levaya Inside Yoshon BM at BMG