Rav Avrohom Asher Makovsky related a great story. The Tepliker Rav, zt”l, was one of the great Poskim of Yerushalayim. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt”l, turned to him many times for clarification when Rav Shlomo Zalman was writing his Sefer, Meorei Eish, in which he discusses the subject of electricity, which at that time was a new and complex topic of Halachah. With the Tepliker Rav’s reputation for the highest levels of Torah knowledge, it was no surprise that from Yom Kippur to Erev Succos, long lines of people formed at his door wishing to show him their Esrogim. The Tepliker Rav not only knew Esrogim, but he treasured the Mitzvah and always purchased for himself the most beautiful Arba Minim that were available.
Therefore, people were shocked when on the first day of Succos, the Tepliker Rav asked someone, “Could you please give me your Esrog as a present?” He phrased his request this way, because Halachah states that on the first day of Yom Tov, a person may only fulfill the Mitzvah with Arba Minim that he owns. The man understood the request, but he was incredulous that the Tepliker Rav didn’t have an Esrog. How could this be? He gladly gave the Rav his Arba Minim, and later set out to discover the story behind this strange request.
This is what he discovered: On Erev Succos, the Tepliker Rav’s apartment had quieted down. The lines were gone and the Rav sat quietly learning. Suddenly, he heard shrieking coming from somewhere in the apartment building. It sounded like someone was in trouble! He leaped out of his seat and ran out the door into the hallway. There, he saw an open door and could perceive that the screaming was coming from within that apartment.
He knocked on the door and said, “Is everything okay? Is anyone hurt?” The woman of the house was hysterical. She explained, “It’s so important to my husband to get a good Esrog. He bought the most expensive one the dealer was selling, and he warned all the children to stay away from it. He just left the house to do a few last-minute Yom Tov errands, and my son took the Esrog and began to play with it and it fell. A piece broke off! The Esrog is ruined, and I can only imagine what my husband is going to do when he finds out!”
The Tepliker Rav calmly told the woman, “There is nothing to worry about. Wait right here.” He ran to his apartment and came back with his own Esrog. He told her, “Listen to me carefully. Here is a beautiful Esrog, but your husband obviously is not going to be misled into thinking it’s his. Give me the broken Esrog. I’ll dispose of it. Take this new Esrog and tell your husband that I came to see his Esrog because I heard it was so beautiful. I looked at it carefully and I admired it, but I found a Shailah that might have made it invalid. So, I took an extra Esrog that someone gave me as a gift, a very special Esrog, and gave it to him as a gift instead.”
That is how the Tepliker Rav found himself without an Esrog on Succos. Rav Makovsky writes that we learn from this what our priorities should be. Having a beautiful Esrog is a worthy goal, but it’s not the only Mitzvah in the Torah. It doesn’t supersede everything else. When faced with the choice between having a magnificent Esrog or doing an exquisite act of Chesed, the Tepliker Rav knew which to choose!
Reprinted from the Succos 5785 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah.
