The great yeshiva of R' Chaim of Volozhin was handed
after his passing into the trustworthy hands of his
son, R' Itzele, who stood at its helm until his last
day.
During the earlier years of R' Itzele's tenure as
rosh yeshiva, his daughter came of marriageable
age. Among the bochurim suggested to R' Itzele as
a match were the most distinguished boys -- the cream
of Volozhin.
Rabbenu, however, had an intuition that saw further
than what met the eye of most. To everyone's surprise,
he chose as a son-in-law, not the greatest illui,
but a "good" bochur.
Considerably perturbed, R' Itzele's family tried to
convince him that such a shidduch would not befit
the future heir to the leadership of Volozhiner
yeshiva.
Reb Itzele chose to remain silent and leave their
questions unanswered.
Motzei Yom Kippur in Volozhin was an exalted,
exultant time. The large crowd that had spent the
entire day davening in the yeshiva hall pressed
forward to pass, one-by-one, before the Rosh Yeshiva
and to receive his blessing for the new year.
Among the last were those family members who had
criticized R' Itzele's choice of son-in-law. After
wishing them a gutte voch, R' Itzele beckoned to
them to follow him. "I'd like to show you something."
He led them to a small room adjacent to the main
beis medrash and opened the door. There sat the
new chosson, deeply engrossed in learning.
"Hirsch Leib," called R' Itzele, "It's time to make
havdoloh and break your fast."
Looking up momentarily, the young man replied, 'I've
already made havdoloh and I've eaten, too," and
turned back to his gemora.
"Nu," said Rabbenu as he gently closed the door. "Now
you all see what I understood much earlier. While we
are still tarrying and wishing each other a gut
yohr, this young man had made havdoloh, eaten
and is already deep in his studies.
The above story was retold by the Chazon Ish to a
talmid who asked him with what impression one
should come away from the holiest of days. "This Hirsch
Leib became later world renowned as the Netziv,"
concluded the Chazon Ish. We see from here, as did R'
Itzele of Volozhin, that in order to become the
godol hador one must learn at every opportunity,
even immediately following ma'ariv on motzei
Yom Kippur.
***
R' Itzele's was a very difficult period for Jews in
Russia under Czarist rule. Many were the decrees and
plots carried out against the Yidden, and perhaps
even more were those plans that were foiled.
In this vein Rabbenu explained the verse in
Tehillim, "Hallelu es Hashem kol goyim -- the
goyim and nations praise Hashem -- for He bestows
upon us his kindness."
Asks Rabbenu, why would the gentiles praise Hashem for
doing kindness to us? His answer was apt for the times:
Currently there are so many decrees and evil plots that
the goyim plan against us, and before we become
aware of them they are foiled by Hashem. Only our
gentile rulers themselves know how many of their
gezeiros have been forestalled -- and they
therefore praise Hashem, Who guards His nation.
Sometimes R' Itzele was forced to enter the lion's den
and intercede on behalf of the Jews before the Czar
himself.
At one such meeting, the Czar turned to him angrily and
posed a question.
"I heard recently that you Jews bless the ruler every
Shabbos before your Torah and pray for the welfare of
the kingdom, which I was pleased to hear. Now I've
discovered, though, that it's just part of the ritual.
We're in the throes of a bitter war against Germany
and, although the Russian Jews officially pray for my
success, what will that help me if the Jews in Germany
pray for the victory of their Emperor. How will your G-
d answer everyone's prayers?"
Rabbenu's answer was prompt and to the point.
"Did you notice when the prayer was translated to you
that in the first sentence we say, `He paves a way in
the sea and in the mighty waters . . . ' Why do we
praise our G-d who helps people cross the sea and then
ask Him to grant our rulers success?
"Let's imagine two Jews who wish to travel across the
sea, one from west to east and the other from east to
west. Each one prays that Hashem cause the wind to blow
in his favor and guide his ship on the course that will
bring him to his desired destination. Since Hashem, our
G-d, can accomplish anything, He can indeed cause the
wind to blow for one boat eastward and for the other
in the opposite direction.
"The same is true with the rulers. Although it may be
beyond our understanding, Hashem grants success to each
ruler in a different way."
The answer pleased the Czar and his anger abated.
***
The Griz of Brisk, HaRav Yitzchok Ze'ev Soloveitchik,
would quote Rav Itzele's quick thinking on another
occasion. Rav Itzele entered the royal court to plead
for the nullification of a certain decree. A noble,
upon seeing the Rabbi, spat in disgust and began
cursing the Jews in general, "Who needs you in the
world at all? All our troubles come from the Jews!"
Rabbenu's only reaction was a demure smile, which only
served to enrage the noble even further. "Fool," he
seethed. "What are you smiling about when harsh decrees
hang over your head and you are cursed from all sides?"
"In our Torah," replied Rabbenu calmly, "We are told
that when the goyim say that Jews are not needed,
that's when we will be strengthened."
"And where is that written?" sneered the officer.
Rabbenu called for a Bible to be brought and showed
him Parshas Bolok, " . . . it will be said to
Yaakov what did G-d do," meaning the gentiles will say
to us why did G-d create Jews at all. This verse is
followed by, "Behold it is a nation that will rise like
a lioness and raise itself like a lion."
"Seeing the first verse being fulfilled by you, my
lord, I smiled and rejoiced, for I know that the next
verse too will be fulfilled."
***
Rabbenu was extremely particular about the sanctity of
his speech. Not only would he not speak words that are
osur, but he was totally unable to talk
derogatorily about a fellow Jew.
Once, he had to report that a Jew was a liar and could
not bring the words to pass his lips. In the end,
Rabbenu said: "This man has a phenomenal memory. There
are some people who remember events that occurred ten
years earlier, there are those who can recall twenty
years on and some even over fifty years. But this man
even remembers things that never took place at all!"
HaRav Yitzchok (Itzele) of Volozhin, zt"l