This story took place at the beginning of the tenure of Harav Shaul Brach, in the town of Krali, Hungary. Rav Shaul was known to be strict about anything relating to kavod Shamayim, and especially about the sanctity of the shul. To his regret, he noticed that many of the mispallelim in the shul in Krali spoke during davening and leining.
This distressed him greatly. He tried to speak to the mispallelim and also addressed the issue in his speeches, but it was not effective. Therefore, he decided to take action; he moved from the eastern wall of the shul to the middle of the shul. There, next to the bimah, he was able to closely follow what was happening in all corners of the beis medrash. This caused the mispallelim to be careful to be quiet during davening and leining, so they would not get caught doing something wrong.
The following story illustrates how seriously the Krali Rav took this issue of talking during davening.
In early days, it was self-understood that the Rav was the ultimate authority in the town; no one dared defy him. But at the time, the influence of the maskilim began to penetrate many hearts, and as a result, the kavod haTorah diminished in their eyes, and they dared defy the Rav.
In the town of Krali as well, there were residents who had a hard time accepting that the opinion of the Rav was the one that set the tone in the town, and that is what was obeyed. Those residents were used to receiving instructions from the rosh hakahal, and as the one with the money, his view was accepted without question.
One day, the position of chazzan became available, and one after another, well-known chazzanim visited the home of the rosh hakahal seeking to be appointed to the desirable position. The voice of one of these chazzanim captivated the rosh hakahal, and he decided that this was the best candidate to be chazzan in their community.
The rosh hakahal invited the members of the committee for a meeting, and they determined with the chazzan the salary and other necessary details. Only then did they go to the home of the mara d’asra to get his consent.
Rav Shaul tried to find out more about the chazzan, and after a short conversation he realized that his spiritual state was not appropriate for him to serve as a chazzan in the community. He unhesitatingly told the community leaders of his decision.
The rosh hakahal was none too pleased by this; he was a wealthy and arrogant man. He knew that he could not change the Rav’s opinion, so he decided to come out against him publicly. He decided to organize a large melaveh malka, where the chazzan would show off his talents to all the participants, and they, he hoped, would help him override the Rav’s decision.
The lavish banquet was held in a hall that was not owned by the community and therefore, was not subject to the Rav’s authority. It drew many participants. Hundreds of people, mostly the simpler folk, arrived for the evening. The guests, who were not aware of the rosh hakahal’s plans, didn’t seek to come out against the Rav chalilah, but rather, to enjoy a lavish meal with pieces of chazzanus for entertainment.
The large turnout strengthened the status of the rosh hakahal, and in words that he delivered that evening, after praising the chazzan and extolling his talents, he informed in an ominous voice that regretfully, they would not be able to continue enjoying the chazzan’s singing in the shul. “You all surely understand why...” he added with feigned innocence.
He concluded that he hoped that the situation would not last for long, and very quickly everyone understand that it would not be dignified for the community to send away such special chazzanim in shame, as had just happened.
Most of those present were, as noted, simple people, and they nodded in agreement. But there were some who were horrified by the chutzpah of the rosh hakahal. The very next morning they hurried to tell Rav Shaul what had transpired, and they also apprised some of his talmidim in his yeshivah, who they met on the way.
The Rav heard their words and immediately ran to the shul where the rosh hakahal was davening. There, as he had feared, he found a fuming group of young talmidim from his yeshivah, who were already waiting for the rosh hakahal to emerge from the shul to deal him justice for what he had done.
In a firm tone, the Rav instructed them all to leave and return to their studies. He added a firm warning that they dare not harm the rosh hakahal – not even his pinky finger.
Meanwhile, the rosh hakahal returned home, unaware of what had taken place out the shul. When he arrived, he found his wife standing in the kitchen. In one hand she was stirring a pot of milk on the stove, and in the other hand she was rocking the cradle of their one-year-old baby. When the woman noticed that the milk was about to boil over, she asked her husband to quickly take it off the fire. But then, a terrible thing happened. He tripped with the pot of milk in his hands, and its boiling contents spilled over their young child, who perished on the spot, R”l.
A few hours later, a heart-wrenching levayah took place, and the whole city was in an uproar...
On the Shabbos at the end of the shivah, the rosh hakahal came to shul, a shattered man. He had an aliyah and after reciting Birchas HaTorah, he banged on the bimah, and with tears choking his voice, he made the following announcement: “I wish to ask mechilah from the Rav, because I impudently came out against him, and I was immediately punished very harshly...”
The Rav, who had stood throughout Krias HaTorah near the bimah, did not let him finish his words, and hushed him right away while asking: “What heter did you find to speak about this at a time when it is not permitted to speak?!”
The Rav completely forgave the rosh hakahal; the tragedy that had struck him broke his heart. But no matter what happened, his pure soul could not remain silent in the face of speaking during davening and Krias HaTorah!
Shaul Bechir Hashem, p. 128
