I would like to share with you an incredible story — one that would be hard to believe if it weren’t for the fact that it is documented from Rabbi Nosson Wachtfogel (1910–1998), the late Mashgiach of the Lakewood Yeshiva.
When Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l (1891–1962) was niftar, his talmidim were shattered. He was not only their Rosh Yeshiva, the fire that had lit their avodas Hashem — but he was their father, the one who looked after all their needs. With his passing, it felt as though the world had dimmed, and they struggled to imagine how to move forward.
Rav Nosson rose to comfort them with a story that, he said, was both authentic and profoundly stirring.
“A talmid of our yeshiva once shared a dream. He saw Mashiach lying asleep. Giants tried to rouse him — but nothing helped. The Chasam Sofer (1762–1839) appeared and pleaded with him to awaken, but Mashiach remained still. Rav Aharon Kotler himself stepped forward and tried urgently to wake him, yet even that did not break his slumber.
“And then,” the Mashgiach continued, “a handful of unassuming yeshiva bochurim — simple boys, unknown to the world — approached. They called out ‘Wake up!’ And in that instant, Mashiach opened his eyes, rose, and came alive.”
The talmid sought validation from Reb Nosson, and the Mashgiach affirmed that the message rang true. (Years later, the Mashgiach’s son, Reb Elya Ber Wachtfogel, Rosh Yeshiva of Zichron Moshe in South Fallsburg, confirmed that the bachur who had that dream was Rav Yankel Shiff.)
The Mashgiach concluded:
“We no longer have our Rosh Yeshiva to shake the heavens for us. But do not tremble — take heart. Because it’s not gedolim alone who will bring redemption. It’s us — the ones who learn, who daven, who struggle and rise again. We — ordinary bochurim, ordinary Yidden — hold the power to wake Mashiach!”
