At the beginning of World War I, the Chofetz Chaim had a dilemma about what he should do with the Yeshivah in Radin, as there was so much turmoil going on. One of the heads of the Yeshivah did a special Goral HaGra, where one can be directed by the Torah to a specific Pasuk that will guide one’s decision, to see where Hashem was leading them to.
Without knowing that the Rosh Yeshivah was doing this, the Chofetz Chaim was approached by some people in the Yeshivah and asked him what they should do, and the Chofetz Chaim said, “I have given this much thought, and I feel that we should split the Yeshivah in two, similar to Yaakov Avinu’s plan of action. When Yaakov was being approached by Eisav, he split his camp into two groups, so that at least one will be able to escape if it was attacked. We too should do the same thing.”
The Rosh Yeshivah heard this and said that miraculously, the Pasuk that came out in the Goral was the exact one the Chofetz Chaim had mentioned! They followed the plan. Half the Yeshivah fled from Radin, and other half remained. The Chofetz Chaim went along with the half that left to a city called Semiarch. There, they were welcomed by the Edelstein family, one of whose children grew to become Rav Gershon Edelstein, zt”l, the Rosh Yeshivah of the Ponovezh Yeshivah.
Heard the Sounds of a Woman Weeping
One day, while in Semiarch, the Chofetz Chaim heard outside his window the sound of a woman weeping. He looked outside and saw that she was speaking with the Rosh Yeshivah, so the Chofetz Chaim decided to approach them to see if he could be of any help.
The woman was requesting that her ten-year-old son be accepted into the Radin Yeshivah. While the Rosh Yeshivah thought the ten-year difference between him and the other boys would be too much for him, the Chofetz Chaim thought differently. He said, “The mother knows best. If she feels that her son would benefit here, we are to do the very best to ensure that he gets accepted.” And that was the end of the conversation.
A few months later, unfortunately, this boy became ill with a rare disease, and he had to be hospitalized for many months. The Chofetz Chaim instructed his daughter, Faiga, to supervise the boy, and be at his side to take care of all his needs. Soon after, the Yeshivah realized that because of impending war activity, they had to leave Semiarch.
The Chofetz Chaim Tells His Daughter to Stay and Help the Hospitalized Boy
However, this boy was still in the hospital, and if they fled, he wouldn’t get the medical care he needed. The Chofetz Chaim instructed Faiga to remain in Semiarch so that he could continue getting the proper treatment. After three months, when he was healthy enough to be discharged, he left the hospital.
However, instead of going and rejoining the Radin Yeshivah, he insisted that he switch and attend the Slabodka Yeshivah. His decision to go to a different Yeshivah was a little disappointing to Faiga. She had spent three months away from her family during a turbulent time looking after him, and just like that, he decided to leave the Yeshivah? Based on his age, he wasn’t even supposed to be accepted, but still, the Chofetz Chaim let him in, and she devoted all that time to him!
But she accepted the situation with Simchah. The young boy was successful in the Slabodka Yeshivah, and he became one of the top students, and eventually, he married the daughter of the Rosh Yeshivah. Many years later, toward the end of her life, Faiga, who was already a great-grandmother, moved in to her son’s home.
She told her daughter-in-law, “Years ago, my father asked me to look after a young boy who had been taken into the Yeshivah. I watched him for a few months in the middle of the war, and look what he became! That boy’s daughter married my son, and that daughter is you!”
Faiga reflected how she had nurtured a boy who ultimately left the Yeshivah, but in the end, she saw how, in that fearful time, she was actually looking after the father of her very own generations to come. This boy was Rav Moshe Chavroni, the Rosh Yeshivah of the Chevron Yeshivah, whose daughter married the grandson of the Chofetz Chaim!
Reprinted from the Parshas Ki Savo 5783 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah.
