In the early 1950’s, some yeshiva bochurim visited the Tchebiner Rav, ZT”L, in Yerushalayim to discuss various talmudic concepts. At one point in the conversation, the Rav asked the bachurim an extremely difficult question, a question to which nobody had the answer to.
After some time, a bachur in the back gave an incredible answer which greatly surprised the Rav. This bachur was none other than Rav Moshe Sternbuch, Shlita. The Rav responded, "This is not your own answer.” The Rav continued, “Your answer is so good and so extraordinary that it is not possible that at your age you could have thought of it on your own. This answer most likely comes from your mother, from her tefillos and her tears in crying to Hashem that her son should be a talmid chacham (Torah sage).”
He Knew They Would Need Jewels for Bribes
Rabbi Yechiel Spiro once told a moving story of a Holocaust survivor. When he was young and the Nazis invaded his town, they told his family they had an hour to pack what they could before they were transported on the train. As a young man, he understood where they were being taken and knew that they would need jewels and money for bribes if they were to survive.
That is why, as the clock was ticking, when his father asked him to iron his white shirt, he was very surprised. Almost challenged to comply because this seemed so irrational, he nevertheless did it simply because his father asked him. Half an hour later, he handed his father a perfectly ironed shirt and very politely asked why his father wanted this.
His father explained, “I know where we are heading and that most of us won’t survive. I also know that one of the most valuable things I can give you is the opportunity to perform kibbud av v’eim (honoring parents) - inexplicable kibbud av v’eim, and you did it anyway. That is worth more than all the silver and diamonds you can imagine.”
Reprinted from the Parshas Acharei Mos 5784 email of Torah Sweets.
