R’ Akiva Eisenstadt Rosh Kollel
The story is told of a gathering of Chassidic Rebbes where each of the Rebbes had a moment to regale the crowd with stories of the intellect, scholarship and prominence of their respective fathers, their immediate predecessors, the previous Rebbes of their chasidus. One of the great Rebbes present at this auspicious gathering was Reb Yechiel Meir of Ostrov, who came from a much more humble background. His father had only been a simple baker. When his turn came to speak, the other Rebbes were prepared to excuse him from speaking, sensing and perhaps knowingly projecting to all the other Rebbes, that there could be nothing of value to be learned from a baker.
But the Ostrovtzer Rebbe proudly said: “My father taught me a great lesson about the service of G-d and man. He always said that when you want to bake good bread, you have to make the oven extremely hot with a great and mighty flame. From my father I learned that G-d also has to be served with a great flame and enormous fervour. He also taught me that fresh black bread is better than an old and stale challah.”
While some might believe that just being born into just the right family, the right conditions or the right surroundings are the cornerstones needed in order to succeed in life, and specifically a Jewish life, there are the many who have blazed their own path, those who created a new line of lineage, those who formed, fashioned and generated a pride and an inspiration for all Yidden. The Ostrivtza Rebbe was one of those who did.
