Rav Elya Lopian, zt”l
Rabbi Uren Reich told a story about his grandmother, Mrs. Steinbuch, who lived in London during World War II, and who, like Moshe, strictly adhered to the guidance of her Rav before making life-altering decisions. Mrs. Steinbuch was a young widow in her thirties with nine children, when her husband, Rav Asher Steinbuch, passed away tragically. She brought her children up with tremendous determination that they should grow up to be b’nei Torah with yiraat Shamayim.
At one point, London was being bombed relentlessly by the Germans, and Sir Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of England, made a public announcement that there's going to be a boat going out to America, and they're hoping to take 2,000 English children. It made a lot of sense for her to send children to America. She had relatives there.
She said to the children, “I will not do it without asking a Talmid Chacham his daat and his haskamah. Since her father lived in Switzerland and it was hard to contact him during wartime, she asked Rav Elya Lopian, zt’l.
“Should I send my children to America?” she asked. And he said, “This is a question that needs a goral hagra (a ritual where a big tzaddik opens a chumash for Divine guidance), and I can’t do that unless I fast. I will fast on Thursday.”
She went to him on Friday morning, and he said he wasn't capable of fasting the day before. “It'll have to wait until Monday.” She was very taken aback. The boat was scheduled to leave on Tuesday. She went to him on Monday night, and he said, “Mrs. Steinbuch, I am so sorry. I felt very sick; I couldn't fast, and I cannot do a goral hagra without fasting.”
There Was Much Disappointment in the House
Because she was such a strong-minded person when it came to yiraat Shmayim, she told her children, “It’s out of the question for me to do a thing like this, without the haskamah of a Talmid Chacham, and therefore you're not going.” There was so much disappointment in the house, but the children trusted their mother’s bitachon in Hashem and her ability to adhere to her principles in waiting for her rabbi’s guidance.
A day later, Mr. Churchill made a special announcement on the radio. “I have sad news to share with the English people. The boat that took the children to America was torpedoed by a German submarine, and most of the children on the boat have tragically died.”
Mrs. Steinbuch not only set a beautiful example for her children, but a wonderful legacy because they were saved. Moshe did not make any steps in Egypt without consulting the ultimate Rav for guidance, Hashem, and we all benefitted tremendously from his amazing example.