By R’ Yoni Schwartz
One summer Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky was in a bungalow colony. He was standing next to the bookshelf after Krias HaTorah on Shabbos morning. A seven-year-old boy wanted to help by collecting all the chumashim and bringing them back to the shelf. He stacked the chumashim all the way to the top in his hands because... well... he was seven years old, and that’s how seven-year-olds show that they’re “big boys.”
He was approaching the bookshelf with a chumash tower in his hands that was probably taller than him when he lost his balance and twenty chumashim came crashing down right at the feet of the Gadol Hador, Rav Kamenetsky. The boy was mortified; this was probably the most embarrassing moment of his life.
Everyone nearby rushed over to kiss and pick up the chumashim. However, Rav Kamenetsky rushed over to the boy and began gently conversing with him, asking him, “Where are you from and who is your rebbe in school?” After a couple of minutes, the young boy calmed down and went off. Rav Kamenetsky turned to the person next to him and said, “First kiss the boy, then kiss the chumashim.”
