Rabbi Eliezer Geldzhaler, ZT”L, the Rosh yeshiva of Ohr Yisrael in Brooklyn, was known by his students as a great role model. Unfortunately, he was killed in a bus accident. Two years afterward, his daughter pulled into a full-service gas station where a “vertically challenged” individual approached to fill her tank.
The short man saw a picture of her father, Rav Geldzhaler, in the car and asked, “You know this man?” She responded, “Yes, that was my father.” The man replied, “What do you mean ‘was’ your father?”
She took a deep breath and explained that he passed away two years ago in an accident. After hearing this, the man started to cry. Puzzled, she asked, “You knew my father?” He replied, “Of course I knew him! Every week, he would come to fill up his car. Normally, when people see my height, they avoid making eye contact with me. However, when your father saw me, he said, ‘You’re an inspiration.’ I asked what he meant. He continued, ‘You are physically challenged - yet you got yourself a job and you’re doing something with your life. You are an inspiration!
“I have a yeshiva full of students and I am going to tell them all about you. What you are doing is an amazing thing.’ Your father made me feel like a million dollars and every time he came, he gave me a smile and a good word.” Those encounters changed his life and are experiences he never forgot.
Reprinted from the Parshas Shelach 5784 email of Torah Sweets.
