Their smiles rose up the sides of their cheeks expressing their gratitude to Hashem; yet, a hint of anxiety, due to the catering and seating arrangements, was simultaneously visible in their scrunched eyebrows. This family in Israel just had a baby boy and was preparing to give him a bris. During the emotional roller coaster, their hearts nearly dropped straight to the ground when the terrible news came in. Their newborn son had a very serious illness, which only certain hospitals outside Israel were equipped to address and they had to fly out immediately.
However, there was a real risk that the baby wouldn’t survive the flight to receive the procedure. Unsure of what to do, the parents approach Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, ZT”L, for guidance. Listening with empathy, one could see in the Rav’s glassy, crystal-like eyes that he didn’t merely hear their words, but that he also felt their pain. After contemplation, the Rav decided they should take the flight to have the procedure.
Three months later, that family returned, happy once again, to the Rav announcing that the procedure was successful, the baby was now healthy enough to have a bris and they’d like the Rav to have the role of Sandek at the bris, a position of great honor.
In the Rav’s legendary sensitivity for others and emotional intelligence, he told them that he assumes they already had a Sandek planned from the first bris and it would not be proper to take away that honor from him. That is a Gadol (Torah Giant)!
Reprinted from the Parshas Vayeira 5785 email of Torah Sweets.
