Rav Eliyahu Chaim Meisel, z”tl was the Rav of Lodz and one of the gedolei hador in the second half of the nineteenth century. In addition to his greatness in Torah, he was a known ba’al chessed. He spent much effort easing the plight of those who were less fortunate. It was common at those times that poor Jewish children were taken and conscripted into the Russian army, but this never happened under his jurisdiction.
Once, Rav Meisel met with Rav Chaim Ozer, z”tl, and Rav Meisel praised the sefer Achiezer which R’ Chaim Ozer had recently published. R’ Chaim Ozer asked R’ Meisel, “When will we see a sefer from you?” Rav Meisel responded by emptying his pockets of little folded pieces of paper. They were promissory notes from loans he had signed to enable him to aid widows and orphans. He said, “This is my sefer. I am so busy with problems of this nature that I don’t have the time to complete a sefer.” Rav Chaim Ozer responded, “My sefer pales in comparison to your sefer.”
