The annual dinner of Agudath Israel in the spring of 1999 was dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Moshe Sherer, who had passed away one year earlier on the day of that year’s annual dinner. In preparation for the dinner, Rabbi Sherer’s son, Rav Shimshon, visited Agudah headquarters in Lower Manhattan. He entered the huge office building and walked across the lobby to the receptionist, a gentile woman.
Rav Shimshon wished her a “Good morning” and asked if he had to sign in. “If you’re here to visit Agudath Israel, it’s not necessary,” she replied. Rav Shimshon said that, indeed, he had come to visit Agudath Israel. He added, “Rabbi Sherer, the late president of Agudath Israel, was my father. Did you know him?”
“Did I know him?” the woman responded. “I smile every day because of him!” She explained: “Among all those who occupied offices in this building, Rabbi Sherer was always the first to arrive for work each morning. He would enter the building briskly, as if he was in a hurry to do something important. He would press the button for the elevator and then, as he waited for the elevator to descend, he would hurry across the lobby to my desk. ‘Good morning — and keep on smiling,’ he would tell me. And I knew that he meant it.
“Tears are welling up in my eyes as I say this. At times, my life is rough, but then I remember your father’s words and I smile.”
Hearing this, Rav Shimshon was reminded of an incident that happened in his youth. As a young boy, he would walk through the streets of Boro Park on Shabbos morning together with his father as they made their way to shul. Rabbi Sherer wished a “Gut Shabbos” to every Jew he passed and a “Good morning” to every gentile.
One Shabbos morning, young Shimshon asked his father, “Daddy, are you running for president? Why must you say ‘Good morning’ to every single person whom we pass?”
I Greeted the Tzaddik with a ‘Shalom Aleichem’”
Rabbi Sherer replied, “As you know, when I was a student at Mesivta Torah Vodaath, I had the great privilege of serving as an assistant of sorts to the gaon and tzaddik Rav Elchonon Wasserman when he visited America in 1938. I first met Rav Elchonon when I reported to his room one morning at the Broadway Central Hotel. I greeted the tzaddik with a “Shalom Aleichem” and then we headed for the elevator to go downstairs.
“As we waited for the elevator, Rav Elchonon turned to me and asked, ‘Vi azoi zogt men ‘Gut morgen’ oif Einglish?’ (How does one say ‘Gut morgen’ in English?) I replied, ‘Very much like we say it in Yiddish — ‘Good morning.’
“R’ Elchonon then paced back and forth and practiced saying ‘Good morning.’ The elevator arrived, and as we entered it, Rav Elchonon wished the gentile elevator attendant, ‘Good morning.’ He then turned to me and asked, ‘Hob ich gut gezokt?’ (‘Did I say it well?’)
“And so,” concluded Rabbi Sherer, “I learned from Rav Elchonon that saying ‘Good morning’ to everyone is something that a Jew should do.”