Targeted Esrog

Sukkos was fast approaching, and not a single esrog could be found. Then, just before Yom Tov, three esrogim arrived at the home of Reb Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863–1940) — the only three esrogim in all of Lithuania for the Sukkos of 1939.

Now it fell upon Reb Chaim Ozer to decide who would receive the remaining two.

The assumption was obvious: the greatest cities would be chosen. Yet the onlookers were stunned when the Gadol Hador decided otherwise.

The second esrog was sent to the Lutsker Rav, Rav Zalman Sorotzkin (1880–1966), whose community was also large and distinguished. But it was the third recipient that left everyone astonished. It was sent to Baranovitch — to the Slonimer Rebbe, Reb Shlomo Dovid Yehoshua Weinberg (1887–1940).

What made this so surprising was that there were many greater cities, and the Rebbe, at the time, was still young. Why would he be given precedence over other towering Rabbanim?

The question did not linger for long. When the messenger returned and described what had transpired, the answer became clear.

When Reb Shlomo Dovid Yehoshua received the esrog, the heaviness of the war seemed to lift from his shoulders. It was as though he had stepped into a botanic garden on a bright summer day, the weight of fear momentarily dissolved by a breath of Gan Eden.

The Rebbe took the esrog and danced with it through the entire night — and that became his preparation for this sacred mitzvah.

His students reflected, “I do not recall whether Reb Chaim Ozer ever explained that this was the reason, but even if he did not, it was pashut that this was why. He understood that simchah is a vital ingredient in avodas Hashem, and he gave that kedimah over others who would merely shake it.”

And so, in a year darkened by uncertainty and shadow, one man's joy became a beacon — a reminder that when simchah is guarded and elevated, it has the power not only to fulfill a mitzvah but to illuminate an entire generation.