R’ Yitzchok Zilberstein, shlita, told over the following remarkable story. One night, the phone rang in his home. One of the foremost pillars of Torah in our generation was on the line, a man who donates vast sums to mosdos HaTorah. He said he urgently needed to speak to the Rav. Although he wasn’t feeling well, he agreed. This is how the conversation went.
The night before, he’d been to the Rav’s father-in-law, R’ Shalom Yosef Elyashiv, zt”l, and introduced himself as one who donates generously to yeshivos. Then he asked for a brachah that his descendants should all become bnei Torah.
“R’ Elyashiv gave me this brachah with great joy,” the man reported, “but then I asked that he add a brachah for them to have a strong desire to learn Torah. He wagged his finger, indicating that he was not going to give that brachah.”
“That is not up to me,” said the great Posek Hador. “If you want children who have a strong desire to learn Torah, then it is clearly up to you, not me.” The philanthropist was deeply disappointed and upset with this remark, and wanted R’ Zilberstein to explain the incident. Why did R’ Elyashiv refuse to give him this brachah?
R’ Zilberstein tried to comfort him. He told him that it was clear that R’ Elyashiv had nothing against him. He was just expressing the Torah’s view that only a father can instill love of talmud Torah into his children. He further told him that if his children saw him snatch every possible moment for limud haTorah, and he did it with a ratzon, a free will, and not like one who was being forced into it by some invisible demon, they will learn that Torah is the most important thing. “They will see that you learn Torah with more drive than you do anything else, and they will want to do as you do.”
So that he could understand what it means to have a strong desire to learn Torah, the Rav told him about something that happened years before, just before an important, official state event - a spectacle that everyone went to watch; even many yeshivah bachurim couldn’t resist. One of the best bachurim in the Slabodka Yeshivah told him, “Davka now, when so many people are not in the beis medrash learning, let’s get a taste of true Torah. Let’s go to Ponevezh and listen to a shiur given by R’ Shmuel Rozovsky, zt”l.” R’ Shmuel Rozovsky was one of those who personified a drive for Talmud Torah. Bachurim left his shiurim oozing joy and spiritual satisfaction. Where did R’ Shmuel get that incredible drive and love of Torah?
It was common knowledge years ago, that R’ Shmuel’s father, R’ Michel Dovid Rozovsky, zt”l, did everything possible so that his son would become a talmid chacham. He paid one of the best bachurim in the yeshivah to learn with his son. This bachur was brilliant. At eighteen, he served on R’ Chaim Ozer’s beis din in Vilna. The bachur’s name was Yisroel Gustman, who went on to become one of the greatest educators and Roshei Yeshivah of the previous generation. One could see on his face just how pleasurable he considered learning Torah.
After a few days of learning with young Shmuel Rozovsky, R’ Yisroel Gustman, zt”l told his father that he did not wish to accept money for learning with his son anymore. R’ Michel Dovid’s pleas made no impression on him.
“I did not say that I was not going to continue learning with him,” R’ Gustman said. “It’s just that I was taking money on false pretenses. When I accepted money, it was because I thought it was going to be an effort, a job for me to learn with a young boy. But this is no job! I could never take money for learning with such a delightful chavrusah!”
One evening, R’ Michel Dovid saw them learning together with such pleasure that he joined with them. He didn’t stand on his own honor - he sat down to learn with his son and the yeshivah bachur. What did R’ Shmuel learn from that? That an intense desire to learn Torah removes all thought of self, so that his father could sit down to learn with his child and a young man.
“That’s what R’ Elyashiv was telling you,” explained R’ Zilberstein to the philanthropist. “If you show your children that you have an intense desire to learn Torah, and you set a personal example of doing so, believe me, they will imitate you. They will also have a strong desire to learn Torah. A brachah isn’t what’s needed here.”
(Adapted from A Treasury of Stories for Rabbis & Teachers.)
Rabbi Dovid Hoffman is the author of the popular “Torah Tavlin” book series, filled with stories, wit and hundreds of divrei Torah, including the brand new “Torah Tavlin Yamim Noraim” in stores everywhere. You’ll love this popular series. Also look for his book, “Heroes of Spirit,” containing one hundred fascinating stories on the Holocaust. They are fantastic gifts, available in all Judaica bookstores and online at http://israelbookshoppublications.com. To receive Rabbi Hoffman’s weekly “Torah Tavlin” sheet on the parsha, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
