לא יחל דברו ככל היוצא מפיו יעשה (מטות ל:ג)

He shall not desecrate his word; he shall do according to whatever comes from his mouth.

When the Tchebiner Rav, Haoen Reb Dovid Berish Weidenfeld zt’’l, arrived in Eretz Yisroel, the Torah world didn’t know about his greatness and depth of Torah knowledge.  One Yerushalmi Talmid Chacham grasped the greatness of the Tchebiner Rav and decided to serve as his shamash (assistant).

Once when the Tchebiner Rav left his house, a button became loose, and the shamash offered to mend it on the spot, for it wasn’t respectful for the Gaon to be seen on the streets with a hanging button. While threading the needle through the garment, he mistakenly pricked the Gaon.  The shamesh was so taken aback that he said, “I’m afraid I’ll go into Gehenim for this!”

The Tchebiner Rav calmed him down and said, “My dear child, even if they place you in Gehenim, I’ll come and bail you out!”

Many years passed, and before the Tchebiner Rav was niftar, he summoned his shamesh and said, “Remember I promised you that I’d take you out of Gehenim? If I promised, I will fulfill it. But do me a favor, don’t make it hard for me.”

Filed under Parshas Mattos |