By Yisroel Besser
R’ Tuvia Goldstein once went to borrow a sefer from Rav Moshe Feinstein, who lived in the same building. He saw someone leaving R’ Moshe’s house, and he was shocked. It appeared to be a certain Rav who had authored a booklet attacking R’ Moshe’s Igros Moshe, causing R’ Moshe pain.
“I imagine he came here because he needs a favor?” R’ Tuvia speculated, and R’ Moshe nodded.
“And I imagine the Rosh Yeshivah agreed to do it?” R’ Tuvia continued, and again, R’ Moshe agreed.
“I am mocheh, I protest,” R’ Tuvia exclaimed. “How can the Rosh Yeshivah look away from what he did and treat him nicely?”
R’ Moshe responded, “I contemplated the words of Chazal, ‘A person can earn his share in the World to come in a single instant,’ and I thought to myself, ‘maybe this is my instant!’”
R’ Moshe, who had finished Shas hundreds of times, who had learned and taught Torah under duress and opposition, who had written hundreds of teshuvos, who, with his generosity and compassion, bore the burden of Klal Yisroel, felt that perhaps that moment had been the one that would gain him entry to the World to Come! (Excerpted from the ArtScroll book – “Reb Dovid”.)
Reprinted from the Parshas Chaya Sarah 5785 email of The Weekly Vort.
