When Shlomo Burstein first got to Baranowitz Yeshivah, he was welcomed by a group of boys who told him that the Rosh Yeshivah, Reb Elchonon Wasserman, wasn’t available at the time, and that he should speak with Reb Leib, his next-of-kin, to set up an exam. Finishing the interview, Reb Leib told him that he was welcomed to join the yeshivah and that he could attend the fifth shiur.
Shlomo was in shock. He had been concerned all along if they’d even accept him, and now he was told that not only was he accepted, but that he was advanced to the fifth shiur — the shiur of Reb Elchonon. Incredible. (In the yeshivah, there were six shiurim, and Reb Elchonon presented the shiur for the two highest shiurim.) There was barely enough room on his face for his smile. He was overly excited.
Every day, he attended the Rosh Yeshivah’s shiur, which was held in the home of R’ Cheikel, a friend of the yeshivah. Shlomo’s curiosity was stirred; why would Reb Elchonon deliver his well-recognized shiur in such an inexplicable location? There must be a legitimate reason, he reasoned, but it took him some time to get the courage to ask. The response he got was the following story:
R’ Cheikel arranged the meals for the bachurim in the yeshivah. The yeshivah’s financial abilities were very meagre, and R’ Cheikel saw to it that the bachurim wouldn’t go hungry. Early morning, he would go from one bakery to the next and collect leftover breads and pastries to nourish the talmidim. He was so devoted that he had even forsaken his job as a sofer so that the yeshivah boys would have sustenance and thereby be able to learn without grumbling stomachs.
As he approached the bakeries, he used a special melody to motivate the bakers to open their hearts and contribute generously. He would sing, “Food, to sustain the souls of the hungry...so that the boys would be able to learn without disturbance. Who wouldn’t want to grab this opportunity?! Who wouldn’t aid the glory of our nation?”
Hearing his sweet voice with such piercing words melted their hearts. They would collect all their remaining food along with some freshly baked goods and place it into R’ Cheikel’s basket. When he had a substantial amount collected, he would return to the dining room and offer the boys a nourishing meal. After breakfast was over, he would make a route to the butchers, asking for any surplus meat with the very same melody. His efforts successfully kept the boys nourished.
One day, Rav Elchonon called over R’ Cheikel and asked him if he had any request that he could fill in return for all that he had done on behalf of the yeshivah. R’ Cheikel responded that he never intended to receive anything in return. “To assist learning boys is my dream come true,” he said. “That itself is my reward.” But the Rosh Yeshivah insisted. He wanted to do something that would show appreciation for his devotion.
R’ Cheikel said that if the Rosh Yeshivah insisted, he had one request: “I ask that your daily shiur be delivered in my house. I am not a learned person, so even if I can’t learn myself, at least let the walls of my home be saturated with Torah learning.”
That wasn’t such a bizarre request, as his home already served as the yeshivah dining room (for the boys in the sixth shiur), and Rav Elchonon approved the request. Every day, Reb Elchonon would deliver his shiur in R’ Cheikel’s house, and R’ Cheikel listened diligently — though he didn’t understand much.
As Shlomo progressed to the next shiur, he was privileged to eat his meals with the highest shiur that ate in R’ Cheikel’s house. One of the things that shocked Shlomo was how the room was always free of any insects. Despite the amount of food that was served and the inevitable leftovers, there were never any bugs to be found. Not one.
However long Shlomo was in the yeshivah, the idea of R’ Cheikel’s house being bug-free always mesmerized him. It wasn’t as if there weren’t bugs in the vicinity; there were plenty. Yet, the hoards stopped right at the door of his house. The windows were lined with insects, and the neighboring houses were infested, yet not one bug trespassed the doorway of R’ Cheikel.
When Rav Elchonon was asked to explain the miracle, all he said was that he hoped that in Olam Haba, they would give him an opportunity to gaze at the portion awaiting R’ Cheikel.
The entire city and beyond were marveled. People with no connection to the yeshivah would come to observe the phenomenon. One day, as Shlomo was standing and marveling over this, he noticed Mr. Drazen looking on. Mr. Drazen was one of the wealthiest community members, but not its most productive by any stretch of the word. Not only was he unproductive — he was destructive. He used his wealth to harass the Yidden at any given opportunity. He was one of the many Yidden who’d joined the Communists, but unlike most of them, who didn’t disturb the yeshivah’s functioning, Mr. Drazen did. At every possible chance, he would cause them untold heartache.
Shlomo was looking on and was thinking to himself, “What does he have up his sleeve now? Is it not legal to have a bug-free zone?! Will he find a way to bother us because of that?”
Observing the scene, Mr. Drazen was speechless. Mr. Drazen, though, couldn’t stand there doing nothing. All his harassment would dissolve if he couldn’t explain the miracle he was witnessing. It questioned his whole outlook on Yiddishkeit. He tried taking the bugs and forcing them into the house, but he was unsuccessful. Embarrassed of the onlookers, he excused himself, saying that the bug-free house was no proof whatsoever. He explained that he didn’t “really” give it a fair try, but even after several additional attempts, he walked away disparaged. He was dumbfounded before some of the yeshivah students, and left humiliated and humbled.
Several days later, news broke through the streets that Mr. Drazen had dropped his empty theories and was a believing Yid. After witnessing a miracle of such truth, he had been left with nothing other than the belief that there is a Hashem and that He gave us the Torah at Sinai. The man who hadn’t come to shul — not even on the day of his parents’ yahrzeit — started coming to shul three times a day. His non-kosher diet was quickly replaced with a high-standard kosher diet.
Mr. Drazen explained that what especially touched him so was the fact that Hashem defied the teva for someone like R’ Cheikel. R’ Cheikel was not a learned person, and yet Hashem displayed such a spellbinding miracle for him. It must be that the Torah is so pure that it purifies not only those who learn it, but even those who support it. And if so, he too desired to deal with something of such caliber. That gave him the courage to commit to serving Hashem and shine meaning and joy into his day-to-day living, in an unparalleled fashion.
