והיה לך לאות על ידיך ולזכון בין עיניך (בא יג:ט)

R’ Yehoshua Jacobowitz zt’’l (from Boro Park) related an incident that occurred when he was in Budapest with Maran Rebbe Aharon of Belz zt’’l.  R’ Yehoshua was preoccupied with dealing with a situation that was Pikuach Nefesh (life-threatening), and it delayed him from putting on tefillin in the morning.  He finished dealing with the crisis late afternoon but still needed to discuss it with Maran Rebbe Aharon of Belz.

When R’ Yehoshua entered Maran’s home, The Bilgorai Rav zt’’l and Maran’s gabbai R’ Duvid Spira a’’h warmly thanked him for his dedication towards Maran and helping others.  However, when he entered Maran’s room and wanted to give “Shalom” to Maran, Maran wrapped his hand in a towel and gave his hand to R’ Yehoshua to accept the greeting.

Everyone in the room was perplexed by Maran’s gesture since it was customary for Maran to wrap his hand in a towel when shaking the children’s hands.  One of the chassidim mentioned to Maran, “This is R’ Yehoshua Jacobowitz.” But Maran didn’t react.

When R’ Yehoshua left the room, the Bilgorai Rav and R’ Duvid Spira wanted to assuage what had occurred, but R’ Yehoshua stopped them, saying: “Don’t worry.  I know why Maran didn’t offer his hand to me and wrapped it with a towel. Because I hadn’t yet put on tefillin today, and Maran saw this with his holy eyes!”