Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski zt"l
Rabbi of Vilna
Author: Achiezer
5 Av 5700 (1940)
Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski would often spend his summers in Druskenik, a resort town near Vilna. He would take long health walks in the forest. Each time he would be accompanied by a group of students and a Rabbi seeking his counsel. They were once walking when a young man with a speech difficulty came over to ask directions to a certain place. One of those who accompanied Rav Chaim Ozer was about to give the directions, when Rav Chaim Ozer suggested that they walk with the young man instead. It was not such a short walk, but furthermore it was completely out of their way. The other Rabbi asked Rav Chaim Ozer why simply giving the directions would not have sufficed. Rav Chaim Ozer replied, "That young man has great difficulty speaking. The directions are far from easy to follow. He would therefore have to stop a few more times to ask people for directions. I am sure that as a result of his speech impediment he finds it difficult to ask something of others which would surely cause him further embarrassment. By accompanying him to his destination, we made certain that he would not have to ask anybody else for directions."
A young man came to Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky to receive a bracha that he should not be drafted into the Russian army. Besides the dangers of war, the term of conscription would usually last twenty to twenty five years, especially if the authorities knew the inductee was Jewish. During the course of their conversation, Rav Chaim Ozer asked him, “Do you wear Tzitzis?” The boy could not lie, and mumbled, “no.” They continued speaking and then Rav Chaim Ozer asked, “Do you put on Tefillin everyday?” The boy hesitated for a brief moment, and then uttered an almost silent "no.” After a few more moments of talking, Rav Chaim Ozer asked, “What about Shabbos? Are you Shomer Shabbos?” The boy could no longer look Rav Chaim Ozer in the face, and while staring at the ground said, “I am not religious at all.” The boy was expecting to be rebuked about his lack of religious commitment and possibly even sent away. He wasn't ready when he heard, “I give you a bracha that the Soviet authorities should be as disappointed in you as I am.” A few weeks later, the boy returned to Rav Chaim Ozer, his face beaming, and exclaimed, “Rebbi, I wanted to tell you that your bracha helped! The army rejected me!” Then, glowing with pride, he lifted up his shirt and showed Rav Chaim Ozer the Tzitzis he started wearing. The man continued to wear Tzitzis, Tefillin and keep Shabbos for the rest of his life. All because of the well thought out response of Rav Chaim Ozer. Rather than take an opportunity to yell at the young man, Rav Chaim Ozer took the opportunity to build him, and give him a dose of warmth instead.
Rav Chaim Ozer once visited Cracow. When he arrived, Rav Chaim Ozer sought a tailor who could sew his suit which had torn on the way. He eventually found one, and requested that he fix his suit. The tailor answered, “Forgive me, Rav, but I have not yet lit the Chanukah candles. If you wish, you can wait until I light, and after a half an hour, I’ll sew your suit.” While Rav Chaim Ozer waited, he noticed how this simple tailor prepared himself for the Mitzvah. He removed his weekday clothing, and donned Shabbos clothing. He washed his hands and joyously prepared to light the candles. Rav Chaim Ozer was astounded by the sincerity of the man and he said, “Now I understand how the city Cracow produces such Gedolai Torah and giants in good middos, if this is what the tailors are like."
Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski was most distraught when his trusted doctors ordered him to go to the health springs in Karlsbad and to remain there over the Yamim Noraim (the Days of Awe). He would be missing the intense spirit and awe in his beloved Vilna, and was most unsettled to have to remain in an alien setting. But having no choice he followed his doctor's orders. During his stay at the spring, he chanced upon an American Jew who did not know his identity. In the course of their conversation, the foreigner remarked that he was intending to marry his brother's wife who had been left a widow with small children (even though the Torah explicitly forbids such a marriage). The man insisted to carry out his wishes, and had no intention of changing his plans. Indeed, he announced that he would only be persuaded to listen to none less a personality than the chief Rabbi of Vilna. At that point Rabbi Chaim Ozer smiled and introduced himself as the chief Rabbi of Vilna. The American Jew was taken aback by surprise. Gently, the outstanding scholar proceeded to dissuade his newfound friend against transgressing what would have amounted to a serious sin. Only then did he understand why it had been imperative to spend the Days of Judgment in a foreign environment for this encounter. In relating this story, Rav Shach memorably remarked. "Note the incredible sequence of events. Hashem thought it worthwhile for the greatest Torah authority of the generation to be afflicted with bad health so that he would have to spend time in the health springs away from the Torah center of Vilna, all so that a Jew would not violate a Torah prohibition!"
