Rav Yisroel Hager ZT”L, the third Rebbe of Vizhnitz, was the son of the saintly Rabbi Baruch of Vizhnitz. He was born on August 20, 1860 and was known as the “Ahavas Yisroel.” In 1893, he was appointed as Rebbe in Vyzhnytsia. He invigorated the Vizhnitzer dynasty and attracted many more followers from the surrounding provinces. He established many Talmud Torahs (small institutions for students with modest backgrounds), and he established a Yeshiva which became one of the largest dormitory Yeshivas in Europe.
He was known for being very careful to always tell the truth. He was also a remarkable Ohaiv Yisroel - a man whose love of people knew no bounds. Once he had to write a response to an inquiry from a particular Rabbi. When writing a response to a Rabbi, the custom was to address the Rabbi with certain honorifics (e.g. “Our Master”, “The Brilliant One”, etc.) However, Rav Hager felt that one of the honorifics that he was expected to use did not apply to this particular Rabbi. What should he do? On the one hand, calling the Rabbi by a title that did not apply was not Emes (truthful). On the other hand, the Rabbi may be insulted if the honorific was not used.
Rav Hager decided not to respond to the Rabbi in a letter through the mail, but rather to respond by telegram. In this manner, the Rabbi would be honored that a response to his inquiry came so quickly via telegram, and at the same time, the lack of honorifics would not be insulting because the Rabbi would assume that the honorifics were not used, because of the significant expense that would be incurred for each additional word in the telegram. In this manner, he was able to fulfill both ideals – not hurting another’s feelings and always telling the truth.
