Stories Of Greatness

In the early part of the 20^th century, a young girl stood near her father on the dock of a Polish harbor, a steamer trunk at her feet. Out of her nine siblings, 12-year-old Rose was the child chosen to be sent to the “golden land,” America. Life in Poland was hard, hunger a constant visitor in her home. After much scraping and pinching, her family saved enough for a single one-way ticket to the United States. And Rose, the youngest of the nine, was the lucky one chosen to go.

In 1929, Rav Boruch Ber Leibowitz zt”l and his son-in-law, Rav Reuven Grozovsky zt”l arrived in New York City to raise direly needed funds for the Kamenitz Yeshivah. On every occasion that Rav Boruch Ber spoke, he described the material poverty and contrasting spiritual riches of the yeshivah. But money was hard to come by; times were tough, and the language barrier made things all the more difficult. Fortunately, they found a native of Kamenitz who had lived in the United States for some time, Rav Yitzchok Tendler zt”l, rabbi of the Kamenitzer Shul in New York, and rosh yeshivah in Yeshiva Rabbi Jacob Joseph, who volunteered to help them. His task was immense, bridging the gap between two spiritual giants and the land of materialism and secularism. To this, add fund-raising during the Depression. The results could not be very lucrative.

The early 1950s was an especially terrible time for Jews in the Soviet Union, a period filled with terror and dread. With a maniacal tyrant leading the country, Joseph Stalin’s infamous “Doctors’ Plot” was at its peak, and Russia’s Jewish physicians were disappearing rapidly. People were being purged left and right, never to be heard from again. Around the world, Jews wept and pleaded for Divine salvation, but there was none yet in sight.

The chasidic dynasty of Belz is one rich in tradition and righteous devotion. The sleepy little Galician town of Belz may have been small in size, but it was a towering bastion of chasidic zeal and piety, as well as an immeasurable repository of Torah, yir’as Shamayim, and avodas Hashem. Beginning with the holy Sar Shalom who became the first Belzer Rebbe in 5577 (1817), Belzer Rebbes have led their flock for close to 200 years and, during that span, most have emerged as leading lights, not only for their followers, but for all of klal Yisrael. The previous Belzer Rebbe, Rav Aharon Rokeach zt”l, was a spiritual giant and a true saint in the literal sense of the word. Although he was a mere mortal, he was viewed by many followers in the pre-war generation, Jews and gentiles alike – and even contemporaries – as nothing less than a mal’ach, an angel!

The Gemara says that rich people are stingy. Rav Shimon Sofer zt”l explains that if a rich person was not stingy, his tz’dakah would be meaningless. Hashem makes him stingy by nature so that parting with his money will be a challenge, even though financially speaking it is not. This way, he, too, can earn the great mitzvah of tz’dakah with m’siras nefesh just like his less affluent brethren, who are parting with money that they can ill afford to part with.

The following story is told about Rav Moshe Leib Sassover zt”l (early chasidic rebbe in 18^th century Eastern Galicia, now in Ukraine), when he moved the first time from Sassov to the city of Apt. As Rav Moshe Leib and his family were traveling in their carriage, they came across two men in a horse and wagon. Rav Moshe Leib was told that this was a poor father accompanying his son who was getting married to the daughter of the shamash of Apt. He went out to greet them and was struck by the sad expressions on their faces. It didn’t take long for him to realize that the unfortunate man had no money for even the basic wedding festivities. Right then and there, Rav Moshe Leib decided to sponsor the wedding. He dressed the chasan in his own clothes, fed him from his own provisions, sat him in his own carriage, and sang and danced the wedding party into Apt. Eventually, the chasan’s family alighted from the carriage and joined them in their singing. As they made their way down the main street of Apt, throngs of passersby were pulled into the amazing celebratory circle of song and dance, until they reached the kallah’s house.