THE BATTLE FOR "SHALOM" - part 4

When the meeting (or more accurately, the tirade) was over the man pointed to a different exit and told them to go out that way. They opened the door only to find that the exit was through a warehouse! On the way they passed a desk and were stopped by a secretary who it seems was told to give them a check (needless to say she should have been instructed to bring the check into the office). She didn’t offer them a chair (instead Rabbi Weissberg brought one for the Rosh Yeshiva) and altogether treated them shabbily (obviously “getting the message” from her employer) and wrote them a small check -- making sure they continue out through the warehouse (rather than back through the office where they would again meet the “boss”).

Rabbi Weissberg could hardly restrain himself over the atrocious treatment accorded the Godol Hador and implored the Rosh Yeshiva to not dignify the man’s behavior by accepting his check, which in any case was nowhere near the amount they came for. The Rosh Yeshiva refused, explaining that whatever they do will reflect on Telze which arranged the meeting in the first place. The check was duly accepted.

Rabbi Weissberg adds that the Rosh Yeshiva never reacted to a personal insult at all! K’vod Hashem and Chillul Hashem elicited a very strong reaction from him but if the bizayon was personal, he was quiet.

Regarding some of the Rosh Yeshiva’s own thoughts on tolerating and even accepting difficulties and bizyonos in his efforts to raise funds for Torah we have the following from Reb Amos Bunim, as heard from him directly and as written in his book “A fire in his Soul” (section entitled “Rabbi Aaron Kotler – His Sterling Qualities” pp. 197-8).

Once Rabbi Kotler and Irving Bunim’s son, Amos, sought a donation from a wealthy man in the building trade. After waiting in the man’s outer office for three-quarters of an hour, Amos could no longer contain himself. “It’s the greatest honor to wait with the Rosh Yeshiva, but I don’t understand why the Rosh Yeshiva has to suffer these “bizyonos” [humiliations]. All the time we’ve waited, the Rosh Yeshiva could have been learning Torah, giving a shiur, working for Klal Yisroel or talking with his talmidim.”

Rabbi Kotler gently shook his head. “I want to tell you something,” he said, “and I want you to remember it for the rest of your life. Chazal say that the day Moses broke the tablets containing the Ten Commandments, G-d decreed that anything having to do with real Torah has to be accompanied by hardships and “bizyonos”. If working for Torah does not come with difficulty, then you have to worry about the authenticity of the Torah involved.”

Young Bunim began to ask a question, but Rabbi Kotler held up his hand. “I want you to know, too, that I am happy on two counts. First, if what I do comes with such difficulty, then I know I am working for true Torah. Second, I am Mekabel [accepting of] the insults with Ahavoh [love] because [by so doing] I am thus working in accordance with [the aforementioned] Chazal. This is the way true Torah has to be.”

“The privilege of supporting Torah requires special merit,” Rabbi Kotler added later, “and it appears that Heaven did not deem some men worthy of it. Remember, Amos, that we are promised that Torah will not be forgotten, that it will flourish and grow stronger.”

“He often emphasized that it was a great Zechus to give to Torah causes. He genuinely grieved for those who could not share it. Once, Rabbi Kotler and Amos Bunim asked a wealthy man for a contribution. The man refused, openly denigrating Rabbi Kotler and his efforts. Amos’s anger flared at the man’s Chutzpah. “Could you imagine the Chafetz Chaim coming to you today,” he snapped, “and you treating him in this shabby way?”

After they left, Rabbi Kotler gently tugged at Amos’s sleeve. “Amos,” Rabbi Kotler said, “you were wrong.”

Still seething at the man’s behavior, Amos was bewildered by the Rosh Yeshiva’s words. “I stood up for Kevod ha-Torah,” he protested.

“Amos,” Rabbi Kotler said quietly, “I realize that you feel bad on my behalf, but you needn’t. You felt sorry for the wrong man. Your concern should have been for him, not me. For myself, I am mochel [forgiving] concerning my own Kavod [honor]. Instead, you really should feel sorry for that man who does not have the Zechus to support Torah.”

[These are just a few stories. Bizyonos, and hardship, especially when it came to fund raising, were daily fare for the Rosh Yeshiva (as they were for the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Schneur zt'l). He dealt with all kinds of people, yes, most appreciated him, some understood him, many didn’t understand him and he suffered often from it.

It is a sign of his greatness that he accepted it all so willingly, a sign of his great Emunoh in Torah, in every word of chazal, in Tachlis Hachayim - life’s purpose; it was a sign of his love of Hashem, love of Torah, love of Bnei Torah, love of Klal Yisroel - his love and overriding concern. It was a sign of his inner strength, his G’vuroh, that he was so ready to endure for Torah and to endure willingly (as above).

The Rosh Yeshiva would often quote in this context T’hillim (119): “Tov Li Ki Unaisi Lma’an Elmad Chukechoh,” and Rashi there who explains: “It was good in my eyes that I endured suffering in order to learn your laws - when I learned Torah with pain” (which undoubtedly applies to teaching and supporting Torah also).

It was a sign of his overriding sense of responsibility, his sense of mission - his Shlichus to bring Torah to these shores. [The Mashgiach of Lakewood, Rav Noson Wachtfogel once made an absolutely amazing observation in this context. He said (in a shmuess) that the Rosh Yeshiva [almost?] never spoke about Kletzk when in America! Of course he loved and remembered Kletzk well; of course he cried in his heart over his talmidim who perished, but right now he had to devote himself to his mission; he had to build the present and the future; he was a Shliach!] And of course, as above, enduring frequent bizyonos with equanimity was a sign of his great level of the Midoh of Savlonus.

However a point must be made. Yes enduring difficulties is a sign of greatness and yes the Rosh Yeshiva undoubtedly ruled that it was part and parcel of his responsibility to build Torah. Building and upholding Torah is a responsibility that our Torah leaders have accepted throughout the ages - no matter what it entails; it is a responsibility laid on their shoulders Min Hashomayim. . .

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