A TRUE STORY I just heard this from an eyewitness. There is a super Talmid Chochom who ligs in learning: כָ ל יָמָ יו his whole life, who sits in the corner of a large Bais Medrash of a famous Yeshiva; everyone goes to him for the most difficult Shaylos (questions). Recently, he stared reading Bitachon Weekly from cover to cover, and after reading the Bitachon Weekly for a few months, everyone noticed a dramatic change in this person’s Simcha and Menucha level. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard such a story.
STORY R' Nekritz Zatzal was one given a ride by a famous Seforim dealer in Monsey. He asked the Seforim dealer what he does all day? He answered: I'm a: ח מוֹר נוֹש א ס פ ר ים (donkey carrying Seforim). R' Nekritz Zatzal said: In Novardok, you're not a: ח מוֹר נוֹש א ס פ ר ים (donkey carrying Seforim). Do you know who is one? A person who learns all day but doesn’t learn Mussar! That’s a: ח מוֹר נוֹש א ס פ ר ים (donkey carrying Seforim)!
A group of Novardoker Bachurim once went to the Chofetz Chaim Zatzal with a Shayla about a person who loves his relatives, and they need him at home, but he needs to learn during that time. The Chofetz Chaim Zatzal said that the Torah is like: א ש fire, and relatives are like a pot on the fire, which comes off and on. The main thing is the fire. A while later the Novardokers had to leave Russia (when communism forbade Limud HaTorah) and they couldn’t tell their parents that they were leaving (since they would stop them, Chas V'shalom).
R' Nekritz Zatzal loved his family, and he felt that the words of the Chofetz Chaim Zatzal were meant for him with Hashgacha Pratis to make it easier to learn. Hundreds of Novardokers crossed the border safely and arrived in Poland to rebuild the Novardoker network. When they built Yeshivos, they worked on being L'shem Shamayim. The Alter Zatzal said that if you build together with a person who is not your type, the you can be sure that you are Li'shmah.
