לנפש לא יטמא בעמיו…(אמור כא:ב)

A Kohen isn’t allowed to become impure…

The Zhiboi Rav zt’’l, R’ Asher Shmiel HaKohen Katz zt’’l, served as Rav in Montevideo, Uruguay, following WWII.  Many survivors settled there, and the Zhiboi Rav built a strong connection, listening, advising, and alienating their pain. 

A troubled woman came to the Rav seeking a blessing for her gravely ill husband lying on his deathbed. The doctors gave up since her husband was frequently afflicted with this illness, and now it was critical. They didn’t know what caused this illness or how to heal it.

The Rav told her to come back in a few days.

Meanwhile, the Rav sent a ‘kvittel’ to Maran Rebbe Aharon of Belz zt’’l in Tel Aviv since the woman’s husband was from a Galician dynasty affiliated with Belz.

The woman returned a few days later. The Zhiboi Rav told her he received an interesting answer from the Belzer Rebbe zt’’l, stating, “Your Husband should stop visiting Kevarim (gravesites)!” The woman became very emotional and started crying. “I’ve been begging my husband for years to stop visiting Kevarim, that it’s not right. The Belzer Rav knew exactly what to answer with his Ruach Hakodesh,’ she wailed.  

The woman explained. “When we arrived in Uruguay, my husband sought a parnassah, but nothing worked out. We were greatly in debt until my husband came up with the idea to accompany visitors to gravesites in Uruguay and say Kaddish at the site. The idea was good, except that my husband is a Kohen. But after contemplating his choice, he ventured on into this business.  

All these years, the thought gnawed at me that my husband is a Kohen, and he’s often by the Kevarim – a prohibited site for Kohanim to be there. Over the last few years, my husband became gravely ill, and after so many years of intermittent suffering, I finally approached the Rav to help  us out.” 

The woman continued: “And now, hearing the Belzer Rav’s reply, I’ll make sure that my husband doesn’t visit the cemetery, and I hope he will experience a complete recovery!”

 Her husband closed his business enterprise, stopped visiting Kevarim, and recovered.