Lessons from Rebbe Shlomke of Zvhil
The sefirah of שביסוד יסוד is the yahrtzeit of Rebbe Shlomke of Zvhil, zt'l. Therefore, we will bring here some stories and lessons from this great tzaddik:
Rebbe Shlomke's compassion for all was legendary. As a child, Reb Avraham Fisher shlita was playing with the cats outside Rebbe Shlomke of Zvhil's zt'l home. The Rebbe came out and warned him not to hurt the cats. If we must be compassionate even to animals, even more so, we must be cautious never to cause our fellow man distress or heartache.
In Yerushalayim, there lived a tall, overweight, ignoramus person named Yaakov. He wasn't welcome anywhere. He wasn't even permitted to use the local mikvehs due to his foul odor and lack of hygiene. But he was welcome at Rebbe Shlomke of Zvhil's home. Rebbe Shlomke said, "If the people of Yerushalayim would permit Reb Yaakov to use the mikveh, the Yidden in Europe wouldn’t suffer so much [in the Holocaust]."
Rebbe Shlomke's home was open to all. People said that the only thing that showed he was the baal habayis was that when people came in, he would ask them whether they wanted bread with jam.
Once, a person came to Rebbe Shlomke's home, and Rebbe Shlomke offered him bread and jam. The slightly deranged man retorted, "You can eat bread and jam! I want pita with eggs." Rebbe Shlomke went to the grocery to buy pita and eggs. (This was perhaps the only time Rebbe Shlomke went to the store.) He fried the eggs for his guest, and when the man finished his meal, he said, "And what about the jam?" Rebbe Shlomke brought out the jam and asked him how much he wanted. "The entire jar," the man replied, and Rebbe Shlomke gave it to him.
A bachur from Chevron Yeshiva slept in Rebbe Shlomke's home. He asked the Rebbe to wake him up at six in the morning. "I can't do that," the Rebbe said. The bachur woke up at six o’clock and saw that the Rebbe was already sitting at his table, learning Torah. The following night, the bachur asked Rebbe Shlomke again to wake him at six in the morning. "I can't do that," Rebbe Shlomke replied. The bachur woke again at six and saw that Rebbe Shlomke was already awake. The bachur asked Rebbe Shlomke why he doesn't wake him, since he sees that the Rebbe is anyway awake at that time. Rebbe Shlomke handed him some money and said, "Buy yourself an alarm clock if you wish, but I won't wake you up. Everyone feels a bit uncomfortable upon awakening in the morning. Even someone who wants to wake up early feel discomfort the moment they wake up, and I don't want to cause another Yid distress, even for a short moment."
