Rav Yosef Shmuel, mechaber of the Mesores HaShas and Av Bais Din of Frankfurt DeMain, had a group of talmidim,Talmidei Chachomim, whose custom was to each study a topic privately until they had delved into its depths. In the evening they gathered together with their Rebbe at their head and he would teach the topic, answer their questions, draw conclusions and remove any doubts. They studied together in this manner until they had completed the entire Shas – the whole Talmud. You can only imagine to what depths they delved, studying Shas. The Chida also testified that Rav Yosef Shmuel studied the entire Shas some forty-two times, and that for some twenty-five years he studied Torah while standing on his two feet and that he learned lishma!
After Rav Yosef Shmuel passed away and was buried, an awesome and frightening incident took place. As the chabura of students came together to study, they all saw their Rebbe and teacher, Rav Yosef Shmuel, standing there at his spot where he had always stood during his life. They were all frightened by this specter, but Rav Yosef Shmuel calmed them and explained his return:
“Do not be afraid or alarmed. I will soon return to my place in the afterlife, but I have returned to tell you what happened to me. After I departed, I came before the heavenly court and immediately the Bais Din Shel Maala ruled that I deserved Gan Eden and appointed me a spot to be beside the Tzaddik, the holy Rav Yeshaya HaLevi Horowitz, mechaber of the Shela HaKodosh. However, the Shela HaKodosh intervened and protested, saying, ‘I oppose this new neighbor, because I authored the sefer Shnei Luchos HaBris full of mussar and Yiras Hashem. It teaches Bnei Yisrael to serve Hashem, and I cried many tears over my sefer as I composed it, but the Gaon, Rav Yosef Shmuel, although he taught the entire Shas, did not engage in mussar and did not rebuke his talmidim.’
“The Bais Din heard the Shela’s arguments and ruled that although they were justified they could not overrule and remove me from my proper place. They therefore sent me
