The Divrei Chaim, Rav Chaim Halberstam of Sanz, was the first Rebbe in the Sanz Chassidic dynasty. More and more people heard about his greatness, so the number of his followers grew.
One day, a young man approached him and said, “I am a chassid of your son, the Shinover Rav. You should know that he is truly a great Rebbe.”
The Divrei Chaim was an extremely humble man. It was difficult for him to hear compliments about himself or even his son. “Why are you his chassid?” the Divrei Chaim asked. “There are so many other Rebbes to follow. Why did you choose him? Why do you think he is so special?”
“You must see how he davens,” the man replied. “It is so moving to watch. I feel that he is connecting to Hashem.”
“But many Rebbes daven with great kavanah,” the Divrei Chaim said.
“But he is a great talmid chacham,” said the man. “He is so learned. You should hear his shiurim.”
“No doubt,” the Divrei Chaim said again. “But so many Rebbes are great talmidei chachamim. I still do not understand what you find special about him.”
The man became surprised. He thought the Divrei Chaim would be happy to hear such wonderful things about his son, the Shinover Rav.
Illustrated by Rivky Neuhaus
Then he remembered something he saw the Shinover Rav do. “I was at the Shinover Rav’s house one day, and he did something truly amazing. It was a freezing cold day. A poor man came to his door asking for tzedakah. The man was covered with ice and snow. The Rebbe gave him some money. But as the man was leaving, your son saw that the man had no shoes. His feet were wrapped in rags.”
The man continued. “The Rebbe then took off his own shoes and gave them to the poor man, leaving himself without shoes.”
Now the Divrei Chaim was pleased. “Someone who takes what he has and gives it to someone else is truly a great Rebbe. You have chosen well.” What an act of chessed! Giving your own shoes to another person who does not have shoes to wear.
Reprinted from the Parshas Vayeishev 5785 edition of At the ArtScroll Shabbos Table. Excerpted from Living Chesed by Rabbi Avraham Asher Makovsky.
