At one of the Yarchei Kallah gatherings of the Ponovezh Yeshivah, the Rosh Yeshivah, Reb Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, shared with the participants a personal story that took place many years earlier.
When he was still a bachur in the Chofetz Chaim’s yeshiva in Radin, he had a chavrusah-shaft with a bachur who at first he thought was just a few steps behind him. But, as time went by, he realized that the bachur wasn’t just a few steps behind but a few stories behind him. Reb Kahaneman was way advanced in the sugya, and his chavrusah was still trying to grasp the very basics. He continued in the chavrusah-shaft until the day came when he just couldn’t go on. He felt that it would benefit both of them to break it off. So, he approached his chavrusah, and in a warm tone of voice, shared with him that he was parting the shaft. This was challenging for his chavrusah, but he accepted the reality.
Late that night, as Reb Kahaneman was learning in the ezras nashim, he heard weeping sounds coming from the main beis midrash. As the clock was ticking, the noise grew louder and louder. Reb Kahaneman got onto his tippy toes and made his way quietly into the main beis midrash. There, he saw a figure from behind the Paroches with his face tucked into the Aron Kodesh.
“As I inched my way up,” described Reb Kahaneman, “I was shocked at what I saw. It was my former chavrusah. From between the cries, I heard him plea, ‘Only You, Hashem, know how much I want to learn, and how I desire to grow in my Torah learning.’ Hearing those words pierced a hole right through my heart.”
But what he heard next was the straw that broke the camel’s back. “Ana Hashem,” the chavrusah pleaded. “B’Rachamechah harabim — Please, Hashem, in Your infinite compassion, place a change of heart in my chavrusah so that he should continue learning with me.” When Reb Kahaneman heard that, he knew that there were no two ways about it; he couldn’t leave such a mevakeish lingering without a chavrusah. He would have to build up the courage and find the strength to continue their bond, one way or another.
The next morning, they were back to sitting in their same seats as they had been the day before. And although the learning didn’t go so easy for Reb Kahaneman, he knew that he was doing the right thing. That filled him with joy.
That encounter escalated the chavrusah to a different plane entirely. Once they started learning again, the chavrusah started to see fruit from his labor like never before. Day in and day out, they learned together, and each day he saw significant improvement.
Before concluding the story, Reb Kahaneman said, “I cannot divulge who this bachur was, but one thing I can say is that before I deliver my shiur klali in the yeshivah, I check his sefer to see that my words are in line with his. He turned out to be one of the leading roshei yeshivah of this past generation.
“You have no idea what’s awaiting you,” concluded the Ponovezher Rav, “by not succumbing to the challenges posed before you. By his determination and perseverance, he made it up to the top, and so can you. There is gold behind each challenge.”
Sometime later, Reb Simcha Kook, the Rav of Rechovot, spoke in Har Nof and recounted this story, as he had been present when the Ponovezher Rav had delivered this account. However, Reb Simcha added one point: “As I was returning home from that Yarchei Kallah, I escorted the Rav to his house. When I got to his front door, I stood in the entrance way and demanded that the Rav tell me who that man was. And he did.
“But,” concluded Reb Simcha, “I cannot disclose his name. Trust me — he was one of our greatest leaders, and that’s what I’m leaving you with tonight.”
But Reb Yonah Steinhouse, one of the participants at that shiur, wasn’t going to leave this story lingering like a wet towel. He, too, was eager to find out who the chavrusah had been. So, he imitated his rebbi, and at Reb Simcha’s door, he stood and insisted on knowing who that man was. Reb Simcha told him that it was the renown Reb Elchonon Wasserman.
Now, that is gadlus.
