הוי מקבל את כל האדם בשמחה ( אבות ג: יב)

When Maran, Rebbe Aharon of Belz zt’’l, and his brother, the Bilgorai Rav zt’’l arrived in the city of Ungvar during WWII, they were transported with an ambulance to Budapest, Hungary and upon arrival they were hospitalized in the local hospital. Maran was released soon after, while the Bilgorai needed to remain for another few weeks.  

Yidden used to visit the Bilgorai Rav, and on one visit, the Bilgorai Rav told the Yid: “I can’t compare myself to my brother,” and he explained why. “A woman recently approached my brother and cried that her husband was drafted to the Munktaba Labor Camps. Rebbe Aharon consoled her by saying, ‘A Yid isn’t allowed to cry! A Yid always has to be B’Simcha – happy! Therefore, don’t cry so much; be happy!”

The Bilgorai Rav concluded, “After all the suffering my brother experienced, losing his whole family, many of his chassidim, and the whole Belzer court, he can still say that a Yid should be b’Simcha, and is not allowed to cry – I wouldn’t be able to do that!”