In the Zechus of Shabbos
Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman
In 2006, Maran HaGaon Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman visited Lakewood, NJ. At that time, there were many choilim in the community, far more than usual. This was brought to the attention of Maran zt"l, and he was asked how the town could be zoiche to a yeshuah.
Horav Aharon Leib zt"l replied that everyone should be mekabel Shabbos thirty minutes early and that this would be a segulah for the cholim. The town residents readily embraced this segulah. That Shabbos Kodesh, Hatzalah did not receive a single call. On a typical day, they would receive about forty calls, but on that day, there were none. That is the zechus of Shabbos.
Humility at All Costs
Rav Moshe Feinstein
Rav Moshe Feinstein’s family related a remarkable incident that took place after Rav Moshe paskened a famous shailah as permitted. There were rabbonim who disagreed with his psak, as often happens in galus where, as the saying goes, "We have no navi."
A follower of one of these dissenting rabbonim, a man with bad middos, stood up publicly against Rav Moshe’s psak and even degraded him personally. Rav Moshe, true to the Torah’s command, “You shall not fear any man,” did not sway from his daas Torah and held his ground.
Not long after, this man was caught by the American authorities for a minor crime. His court case was imminent, and he faced a very harsh sentence. He turned to Reb Moshe — not to apologize for having humiliated a gadol hador, but to request that the rabbi write a letter to the judge in his favor, as even non-Jews respected the rabbi’s word.
Immediately, Reb Moshe took out a paper and pen. He wrote such a warm letter that one would have thought it was for a close friend. He handed it to his adversary, and the letter ultimately saved the man from a harsh verdict.
His family was astonished. They asked him how he could so wholeheartedly help someone who had besmirched his name only a short while earlier.
“If I am in a position to help this man,” he explained, “how can I refuse to extend a helping hand to a fellow Jew in need?”
