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CHASSIDISHE STORY ON THE PARSHA
פרשת ויצא
Parshas Vayeitzei
מה נורא המקום הזא אין זה כי אם בית אלקים…(ויצא כח:יז)
How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of Hashem.Reb Aryeh Leibish Rokeach zt’’l, the older brother of the Sar Shalom of Belz zt’’l, came to visit his mother Rebbetzin Rivka Henya a’’h, who lived in Belz with her son Maran The Sar Shalom.
Maran, The Sar Shalom, was then occupied building the shul by stacking bricks with cement. His bother, Reb Aryeah Leibish, wasn’t impressed by the sight and rebuked his younger brother by quoting Chazal, “כיון שנתמנה אדם פרנס על הציבור אסור בעשיית מלאכה בפני שלשה” – Since a person is appointed as a public figure, he is prohibited from working in front of a third party. – so why are you violating Chazal by laboriously working?”
Maran, The Sar Shalom replied: “Dear brother! You should know that when I lived in Skhol, I had two friends with whom I learned together. Heaven revealed that if one were to learn Torah for a thousand consecutive nights, he could attain lofty heights. So together, we set about to learn for a thousand nights. One friend dropped out a hundred nights and the other by eight hundred nights.
On the thousandth night, severe storm winds engulfed the city, smashing the windows of the Beis Medrash and blowing out its candles. I struggled my way to the Aron Kodesh and begged Hashem to calm the winds so that I could continue learning the Torah.
Hashem, in His infinite mercy, calmed the winds. Afterward, an elderly Yid appeared, and we learned Torah throughout the night. The last Halachah we learned pertained to the halachas of building a Shul,” concluded the Sar Shalom.
“Believe me,” The Sar Shalom told his brother. “If I had the strength, I would build the shul from top to bottom by myself. But Hashem knows I don’t have that strength, and what I can contribute to its construction – I do myself!”
Filed under Parshas Vayeitzei | The Holy Sar Shalom