A Rav from a neighboring town had a chavrusa-shaft with Reb Meir Simcha of D’vinsk, otherwise known as the Ohr Someach every Friday night. Several times, the visiting Rav noticed the Rav of D’vinsk short of breath, and that even while they were learning, he was trying still to gasp for air. He attributed this to Reb Meir Simcha’s build, as Reb Meir Simcha was tall and broad.
One Friday night, this Rav showed up early and was shocked by the scene that unfolded before his eyes. He saw Reb Meir Simcha’s daughter chasing him around the dining room table. The visitor was beside himself to see the Gaon himself in such circumstances. He burst into tears, unable to control himself seeing his rebbi suffer so from his one and only daughter.
When this daughter had been of marriageable age, Reb Meir Simcha had sought the finest shidduch for her. Sometime after the chasuna, though, while living in Warsaw, she had lost her mind, and while the couple had initially remained together, eventually her ailment had required them to divorce. She had returned to her hometown of D’vinsk, and now that she was back with Reb Meir Simcha, she was disturbing him and destroying the house. This is what bothered the guest.
After a few minutes of “cops and robbers,” Rav Meir Simcha’s daughter lost vigor and called it a game. She sat down to rest, and Reb Meir Simcha went on to greet his chavrusa and begin their learning seder.
Reb Meir Simcha noticed that this episode was very bothersome to the viewer, so he remarked: “Vus meint ihr as dus is – what do you think this is? In Himil zie vilin zhen vee Meir simcha lernt Torah in a zelicheh umshtendigen – in Shamayim, they want to see how Meir Simcha will learn Torah under such circumstances. Hashem purposely placed me in this situation to see how I’ll react under these limitations. He knows about it, and he wants to see if I’ll derail because of it. There is nothing to pity.” (Reb Yisrael Tzvi Brody related this from someone who heard it from an eyewitness. This story is also referred to in some speeches from Reb Steinmann; see K’ayol Ta’arog, ’76, p. 52)
