By Yoni Schwartz
Each Shabbos, Rav Moshe Feinstein, ZT”L, would walk to his yeshiva. On his way home Friday night, he would often pass by a park where his granddaughters were playing. Every time they saw him, they would run over, excitedly asking for a Shabbos bracha: “Yesimcha Elokim... Yevarechecha Hashem V’yishmerecha...” With joy, Rav Moshe would place his hands on their heads and bless them each time.
One week, when his granddaughters were about nine years old, they were joined by two friends - also nine -who asked for a Shabbos bracha as well when they saw their friends receiving one. Standing nearby were Rav Moshe’s sons, Rav Reuven and Rav Dovid, who watched with curiosity. By that age, placing his hands on the girls’ heads might no longer have been appropriate and they wondered what their father would do.
To their surprise, Rav Moshe gently placed his hands on the girls’ heads and gave them the bracha just like he did to his granddaughters. One of his sons later asked him why he did so. Rav Moshe replied, “I could find ten heterim that would permit me to touch their heads, but I couldn’t find even one heter that would allow me to embarrass them.”
Reprinted from the Parshas Naso email of Torah Sweets.
