Rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Halberstam ZT”L (1813–1898), was known as the Shinever Rov. He was the eldest son of the Divrei Chaim, Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz ZT”L. Rav Yechezkel Shraga was born in Tarnogród, Poland which was then under the Russian Tsar, Nicholas the First. Tsar Nicholas the First, issued the draconian Cantonist decrees where Jewish children were forcibly taken from their parents to serve in the Tsar’s army for many years.
At the age of 16, Reb Yechezkel Shraga married the daughter of Rabbi Arye Leib Lipszyc. To get married at the age of 16, Rabbi Arye Leib needed permission from the civil authorities who required that he be assessed as to whether he was mature enough to marry. He met with the authorities and was accompanied by his mother.
During the meeting, the official asked him a sensitive question, “Who do you like better, a Jew or a Gentile?” Alarmed, his mother whispered to him, say “gleich” which means “equally”. This was the response that the official wanted to hear and would gain him the permission to marry. Instead, Reb Yechezkel Shraga responded forcefully and in a somewhat perturbed fashion, “Why should I dislike a Gentile who has done me no harm?” Satisfied with the response, the official permitted him to marry and issued him a marriage license.
When they had left the building, Rav Yechezkel Shraga apologized to his mother and said, “Had I responded with, ‘gleich’ that would have been a lie, and I did not wish to lie.”
