STORY #1 - I FORGIVE YOU

Rabbi Chaim of Brisk related the following story about his father, Rabbi Yosef Dov, author of the Beis HaLevi:

I was once sitting with Father in the Slutzk yeshiva, studying the daily Talmud lesson. It was a hot summer day, so Father took off his hat and jacket. While engrossed in our studies, one of the town butchers suddenly entered the study hall and started screaming and shaming Father. Among other insults, he accused Father of judging unfairly, for Father had judged him and another butcher the previous day. This butcher claimed that even though he was innocent, he had been found guilty because the other butcher had bribed Father.

When Father heard what the butcher was accusing him of, he put on his hat and jacket, stood up and quietly looked down at the ground. The butcher saw that Father was standing shamefaced and embarrassed, so he continued with his tirade. He cursed all the rabbis and called Father a dishonest person. He even lifted his hand and threatened to hit Father. All this time, Father controlled himself and bore his shame in silence.

As the butcher began to leave the study hall he continued mouthing curses and insults against Father, but Father did not try to justify himself or scold him. Instead, he went after him saying, "I forgive you, I forgive you. No one is held accountable for his suffering."

The following day, this butcher was leading some bulls that he had bought. Suddenly, one of them became wild, attacked the butcher and killed him. This incident shook Father up and he became dejected. He told me a few times, "I am afraid that I caused his death because of my animosity."

I replied, "But Father, you forgave him yesterday."

He questioned me, "When? How do you know?"

I answered him, "I heard with my own ears, as the butcher began to leave the study hall, you walked after him and told him several times, 'I forgive you'."

Father began to interrogate me to ascertain that I had actually heard him forgiving the butcher, and that I wasn't making it up just to calm him. Only after I assured him that I had heard him forgiving the butcher and pointed to the exact place he had stood when he forgave him, was he convinced that he had actually forgiven him and he became somewhat consoled.

Father was still pained and dejected over the incident. He went to the butcher's funeral, cried bitterly upon his grave and took it upon himself to say Kaddish for eleven months and learn Mishnayos (Talmudic portions) daily to uplift the butcher's soul. Furthermore, every year on this butcher's yahrtzeit, he would fast and learn Torah to uplift his soul. On that day, he would practice the same customs that he would observe on his own father's yahrtzeit.

STORY #2 - THE MISSING BOOK

Shmuel Dovid Warshavchik, a student of Rabbi Boruch Ber Levovitz, the Rosh Yeshiva of Kamenitz, related the following story, which demonstrates fear of Heaven. During the First World War, Rabbi Baruch moved from city to city, and at times he was even in danger of losing his life. After the war, he returned to Vilna.

A few years later, his students saw that a tremendous fear came upon him and his whole being was trembling. When they asked him what had happened and what he was so worried about, Rabbi Baruch Ber told them the following story:

"Today I found amongst my holy books, one with the sign of the shul of Kramentzuk. This city lies on the other side of the border of Russia, and after the war it is not possible to reach it."

Rabbi Baruch Ber was there during his wanderings. It seems that the book was with his own books when he was in that shul, and without realizing it, he must have taken it with him.

Rabbi Baruch Ber continued: "As we continued on our travels during the war, we arrived in the city of Minsk, and there I joined a rabbinical court of the rabbi of the city, Rabbi Eliezer Rabinowitz, in order to organize a Get (divorce). Now, there is an opinion that if the judges are not honest, this can affect the legitimacy of the Get. Now that I realize that I have sinned in stealing the book, therefore, the Get is not valid and the woman is still married. This is a terrible situation!"

His students tried to convince him that according to Jewish law he was not considered a thief, and also that this sin did not disqualify a man from being a judge for a Get. But Rabbi Baruch Ber, with his pure fear of Heaven, was not convinced.

Suddenly he remembered that on the way from Kramentzuk to Minsk, a band of marauders had suddenly attacked him and he was one step away from death. He remembered the Viduy (confession) that he'd confessed in those moments -- in that confession he had repented of all his deeds. Since he had repented in truth, and the changed borders of the lands made it impossible for him to return the book to Russia, he was cleared from the category of an evildoer and consequently the Get was valid. Only after Rabbi Baruch Ber remembered that Viduy did he relax.