Recently (this year, on erev Shabbos Korach), one of the great teachers of Klal Yisrael was niftar, Reb Shaya Greenbaum zt'l. He wrote the famous set of sefarim "Siyata d'Shmaya" on Chumash and Mishnayos, which are studied by tens of thousands, and he gave thousands of shiurim. He attributed all his spiritual successes to a friend of his youth, Reb Yisrael Falkowitz Shlita. Sixty-four years ago, Reb Yisrael Falkowitz gave him chizuk and encouragement, which was needed then. This story wasn't known until recently.
In the year 5781, Reb Yisrael Falkowitz was in the hospital, sick with Covid and with much yesurim. Reb Shmaya Greenbaum called him on the phone to perform the mitzvah of bikur cholim. (As many will remember, during COVID-19, it was forbidden to visit patients with contagious COVID-19, so bikur cholim was performed over the phone.) Reb Shmaya told him that he recently was also hospitalized in the same hospital with Covid, and he had recovered and returned home. Reb Shmaya gave him many brachos for refuah and success, conveyed from the depths of his heart and with much love. Reb Shmaya's children overheard this conversation and felt something was out of the ordinary. They asked him how he knows Reb Yisrael Falkowitz, and why he feels so close to him. Reb Shmaya replied, "I attribute all my successes in life, all my sefarim, and all my shiurim, to Reb Yisrael Falkowitz. I owe him lots of hakaras hatov. Everything I have is from him."
It was hard for the children to get the story out from their father, who had kept it a secret for so many years, but they eventually managed to do so. Sixty-four years ago, in the year כ"תש, a bar mitzvah was a very significant celebration because it was a sign of the continuation of Klal Yisrael after the destruction of the Holocaust. At the bar mitzvah, the parents would remember the family they left behind in Europe, and they found solace with the young child who was carrying the torch forward. Bar mitzvahs were held in a hall, the bar mitzvah bachur prepared a "pshetel" (dvar Torah), all the bar mitzvah bachurim's friends came and sang songs with the bar mitzvah bachur and they would buy him a present.
Reb Shmaya Greenbaum and Reb Yisrael Falkowitz learned in the same class in the Satmar cheder. Twenty other children were in the class, and their Rebbe was Reb Yonah Glauber. All the students participated in the great joy and celebration of their friends' and classmates' bar mitzvahs. But there was one bachur who didn't come to the bar mitzvahs of his friends. His name was Shmaya Greenbaum he had arrived from France. He was a great masmid. Even during recess, he studied Torah; he didn't play much with his friends. At night, he would study again. He quickly became the top of his class in Torah, but he didn't have a connection with his classmates. And when there was a bar mitzvah celebration for one of his classmates, he didn't participate. He said it was bitul Torah for him to go. His friends didn't appreciate his behavior. "Why doesn't he come to our bar mitzvahs?" they wondered. (Very possibly, their resentment and anger with Shmaya were influenced by their jealousy of Shmaya’s success in his studies.)
The boys decided that no one would participate when Shmaya's bar mitzvah was celebrated. They will give him a taste of his own medicine. They also won't buy a present for him. However, one classmate, Yisrael Falkowitz, protested. He felt very strongly that it was wrong to embarrass a bar mitzvah bachur just because he was a masmid and a yerei Shamayim. He spoke to all his friends and convinced them not to proceed with their plan. They bought a small shas for him to give him as a gift, and they all came to the bar mitzvah. The simchah was great, and Shmaya was very happy at his bar mitzvah. His face shone with joy.
Years passed and everyone had already forgotten the episode. One day, Reb Yisrael Falkowitz came to Reb Yonah Greenbaum’s store. Reb Yonah was the father of Reb Shmaya Greenbaum. When Reb Yonah Greenbaum realized that Yisrael Falkowitz had entered his store, he immediately remembered what this man had done for his son years earlier. He said, "It is in your merit that I have a son, a talmid chacham." Reb Yisrael didn't understand what he meant, so Reb Yonah explained, "My son overheard that his classmates weren't planning on coming to his bar mitzvah, and he was very hurt. He asked himself, 'Is this the reward for studying Torah? Because of my hasmadah, my friends will ignore me, and I will be the only boy in the class without friends?' Due to these thoughts, he almost concluded... (that he should abandon everything). "But then you came to the bar mitzvah with your classmates, and his eyes lit up. He was so happy. This gave him great chizuk. He would have been devastated if you hadn't come. This gave him the push he needed to continue studying Torah with hasmadah. And due to his special intellectual abilities, he became one of the great and renowned teachers of Torah."
Reb Yonah Greenbaum said this before the sefarim Siyata d'Shmaya were printed and studied by thousands. All this success is due to the kind deed of Reb Yisrael Falkowitz. Just think what would have happened if Yisrael Falkowitz hadn't spoken up in Shmaya's honor. How great a loss for Klal Yisrael that would have been! And who knows how many potentially great gedolei Torah were stopped in their tracks suddenly because their friends disgraced them?
The main thing is to rectify the future. Be aware that thousands of young children, bachurim, and yungerleit, are in the midst of their growth. They can become great Rabanim, ovdei Hashem, teachers of Torah, roshei yeshivos, wealthy baalei tzedakah, people who are active for the community's needs, and so on. But they are at significant risk because a foolish thought or act of some young friends can stop all of this. Therefore, let us remind our children and students how careful they must be with their words. How much the generation can lose because of an unkind word or gesture. And, in contrast, הלשון ביד ...החיים, speech can give life. We can accomplish so much with a kind word. It builds the future for all of Bnei Yisrael. All the good deeds that people will do in the future will be attributed to the merits of this person who encouraged them when it was needed.
