A hitherto unknown letter, written by R' Chaim Soloveitchik
of Brisk to R' Dovid of Karlin has recently been discovered.
It contains the following story:
R' Yosef Ze'ev of Brisk told Maran about a certain Jew -- a
successful merchant named Rev Lipa of Brisk -- who would
conduct business in Kovna. Whenever he was Kovna, he would
stop over in nearby Pinsk in order to visit R' Dovid Karliner
and discuss Torah with him. (Karlin is a suburb of Pinsk.)
Before parting with him, R' Dovid would always say to Reb
Lipa: "Please send greetings to my mentor, R' Chaim of
Brisk."
One time, as usual, Reb Lipa visited Karlin, and discussed
Torah with R' Dovid. When the two parted, R' Dovid sighed and
said: "What a pity that your rav isn't learning. What a pity
that he isn't learning."
The Jew was shocked. R' Dovid's words were an enigma. He
didn't understand them. What was the meaning of the sigh, and
how could R' Dovid know that R' Chaim wasn't learning? Surely
there had been a misunderstanding.
Of course, he didn't dare mention this to R' Chaim. But he
told R' Chaim's sons what had happened. The sons were also
startled, and told their father. R' Chaim was astounded, and
began to ponder R' Dovid of Karlin's intention. The following
thoughts crossed his mind: "R' Dovid recently sent me his
book, Yad Dovid, and hoped to receive my reply and
comments. I immediately sent R' Dovid a letter of blessing,
with comments and remarks, but perhaps the letter did not
arrive. As a result, R' Dovid concluded that I was so busy
with public matters, that I no longer studied, for if I was
learning, and nonetheless didn't take note of the
sefer there was cause to be angry."
R' Chaim sat down immediately and wrote R' Dovid a letter in
which he explained that he had already sent him a letter with
comments on the sefer, and that it had apparently
gotten lost on the way.
What is the end of the story?
During that period, the rav of Pinsk, R' Hirsch Hacohen Volk,
was niftar, and R' Chaim of Brisk, together with R'
Eliezer Rabinowitz of Minsk, journeyed to Pinsk in order to
arrange a ma'amad for the rav's widow. R Eliezer then
returned home, while R' Chaim went to visit R' Dovid of
Karlin. The two sat and discussed Torah for a long time. R'
Chaim asked and explained, probed, investigated and brought
proofs, until he felt that R' Dovid Karliner's mind had at
last been set at ease, and that he had great nachas
ruach upon seeing that R' Chaim was indeed learning.
At that point, R' Chaim expressed his amazement over R'
Dovid's tzidkus. We must understand that when R' Dovid
didn't receive a reply about the book he had sent, he wasn't
offended by R' Chaim's supposed overlooking of the
sefer, which was replete with brilliant words of
Torah. But he was saddened by what he presumed was the fact
that the Rav of Brisk was so involved in public needs that he
had no time to study. Upon seeing that the Rav of Brisk was
indeed still overflowing with Torah, R' Dovid deduced that he
surely spent his time learning. Knowing this, R' Dovid felt
better.
The family of Maran HaRav Shach, shlita, heard him
relate this story a number of times. They also knew that R'
Mordechai Savitsky zt"l had sent Maran a photostat of
the letter of R' Chaim of Brisk. Recently, this letter was
found among Maran's seforim and writings.
In that letter, the R' Chaim had written:
"Yaarich Hashem yemei kevod harav hagodol hamefursam, ner
Yisroel mofeis hador, R' Dovid, neiro yoir, ga'avad dekehilas
Karlin. Yehi ohr Toraso zorei'ach lonu ulechol Yisroel ad
olom.
"After receiving the blessing of kevod geduloso haromoh,
shlita, the esteemed Reb Lipa came to me and told me that
I hadn't written a letter upon the receipt of the
sefer of kevod geduloso haromoh shlita, and if
such was indeed the case, this would have been a offense on
my part. Therefore, I declare that as soon as I received the
sefer, I wrote a letter expressing my gratitude and
blessing kevod gevuroso haroma, shlita, for this
important gift. Since I was greatly honored by this gift, it
is inconceivable that I didn't respond with a letter of
gratitude and brocho. Nonetheless, I am obligated to
explicitly state that I indeed wrote a letter of gratitude
and blessings. . . .
"Hashem ya'arich shnosav veyizkeh lir'os bevo leTziyon
Goel veyaaleh leTziyon bernana."
An explanation of the background for the writing of this
letter appears in Shimusho Shel Torah (p. 186). This
sefer, which includes stories and facts heard directly
from Maran, the rosh hayeshiva HaRav Eliezer Menachem
Shach shlita, was, reviewed in our newspaper upon
publication and has already gone through five printings.
