Novardok
Novardok had people who were oozing with goodness, and an eye witness told me that when he spent some time in Novardok, his uncle took care of him more than a father for his son. When I spent a few weeks in Bussières with R’ Gershon Zatzal, I had the feeling that I was always on his mind. He was always looking at me and praising me without end in public and in private.
More than anything, I remember his constant nodding approval when people did something positive. Always giving support and appreciating. And everything with a smile. He admired this one and that one. Especially Torah builders. He once asked a major Israeli Torah builder: בַּמֶה כֹּחֲךָ? How do you do this? I’m so impressed! I once watched him having a conversation with a big Baal Kish'ron in his Yeshiva. He spoke with Derech Eretz and admiration for the Chashuva Yungerman.
This is despite the fact that this person could have been his grandson. He felt that this Yungerman should write a Sefer with his Chidushei Torah, and he kept telling him: “Don’t forget to mention whatever they had been discussing in your Sefer“. Everything was laughter and laughter. He was always in a good-humor mode. Once a girl from his seminary approached him and started talking to him.
When she left, he told me, “She’s asking me for money”, and he started laughing. When his Talmidim brought over their children for a Bracha, he would put his two hands on their cheeks and kiss them on their foreheads and smile. He laughed very easily; in fact, he didn’t know how to stop laughing. His hours and hours of learning Mussar about Bitachon dominated his very essence.
He once told me that a person should make sure that his Simcha is coming from the right source (of course, this is too high for our generation. For us, any Simcha is good. But it’s still an ideal to strive for). I know a Novardoker Yungerman who has a daily long Seder in Shaar HaBitachon. He said that the day he doesn’t learn about Bitachon, his wife and children are in trouble; he becomes snappy and irritable and depressive.
The greatest enjoyment and Geshmak in the world is learning Shaar HaBitachon, or other holy Seforim on Bitachon. Nothing is sweeter than developing a Geshmak in turning to Hashem to calm you down on ALL issues, such as when people are hurting you, Parnasa, and health.
