Among the countless stories about the boundless Ahavas Yisrael, incredible acts of chessed, and the miracles witnessed in the zechus of the brachos of the Kopycznitzer Rebbe, zy’a are many that could easily fill entire volumes. We share a few of those stories that contain pertinent lessons. At a certain gathering of gedolei Torah at which both Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l and the Kopycznitzer Rebbe were present, Rav Aharon turned to the Rebbe and asked his opinion on the issue under discussion. When Rav Aharon was later asked why the Rebbe’s opinion was so important to him, he replied: “The Torah was given to the Jewish people in order to purify them - and the Kopycznitzer Rebbe has purified himself.”
The Kopycznitzer Rebbe was the first one to volunteer for any holy undertaking, and he was one of those who shouldered the burden of fund raising for Chinuch Atzmai. Together with Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky and the Novominsker Rebbe, he knocked on people’s doors for hours each night to appeal for donations. Each month, ten thousand dollars had to be collected. Before Yom Kippur, Rav Aharon Kotler called the Rebbe and said the money must be sent immediately to Eretz Yisroel for the teachers to be paid before Yom Tov, but he did not yet have the entire sum. Rav Aharon asked the Rebbe to please lend five thousand dollars to the cause, and he himself would make up the difference. The Rebbe answered that there was no way he could take a loan since he had not paid back the loan from the previous month, but he agreed to raise the requisite sum.
On Erev Yom Kippur, as everyone was getting ready for the seudah hamafsekes, the Rebbe called Reb Henoch Cohen, the director of the Chinuch Atzmai American office and requested that he come at once. When Reb Henoch arrived, the Rebbe said to him, “Go to my table and gather up all the money that’s there.” Many Jews had come to the Rebbe on Erev Yom Kippur, in order to receive a brocha and give a pidyon. Reb Henoch knew that the money on the table was the Rebbe’s means of supporting himself for the next half a year and he hesitated to take it. But the Rebbe insisted, saying, “Don’t worry about me.” So Reb Henoch took the money and indeed, it added up to the requisite sum needed for Chinuch Atzmai.
Yisroel Safrin author. As featured in the Monsey Mevaser 'Klal Personalities' series.
