Honored Even by Family Members
Sefer Bais Yaakov asks what is meant by the word “to their families”. Why is it necessary for one’s “head to be raised” amongst his family? He answers that when an individual who grew up in a certain city succeeds in life and becomes an important official or a Rov, the city’s residents, who knew him since he was a child, often do not respect him as much as others do. All the more so, his family members tend to treat him in a less respectful way than others, as they remember him as a baby. Accordingly, the Torah is saying that the heads of the children of Gershon should be raised so that even their family members show them respect and honor.
In this vein, it is related that when the Maharsham of Berzhan zt”l was offered the position of Rov of his hometown of Zlotchov, he jokingly said, “Lo adu rosh (using the words of the Shulchan Aruch, Orech Chaim 428:1, which literally mean that Rosh Hashanah cannot fall out on a Sunday, Wednesday or Friday). In a place where they call you ‘du’ (the informal Yiddish word for ‘you’, as opposed to the more formal ‘ihr’), you cannot be the leader.” Therefore, he did not agree to accept this position, and he eventually become Rov in Berzhan.
