Wisdom & Wit

Wisdom and Wit - Parashat Mishpatim

Once, when R’ Moshe Feinstein was being driven by car on a sleet-covered road, the car skidded and R’ Moshe’s head bumped into the windshield, causing a bruise to form on his head.

When he arrived at his destination, R’ Moshe asked for a few minutes to himself. In accordance with the Talmudic dictum that nothing happens by chance, he wanted to make a cheshbon hanefesh - to engage in soul searching - to understand why this had happened to him.
Only after he had spent few minutes in introspection did he return to give the shi’ur he was due to deliver.

~~~

After the Chasam Sofer lost his first wife, he was informed that R’ Akiva Eiger had a daughter who might be suitable as a wife. Knowing R’ Akiva Eiger for what he was - a great Torah scholar of impeccable honesty - The Chasam Sofer wrote to him and asked him about his daughter.

In his reply, R’ Akiva Eiger praised his daughter highly, for she was indeed worthy of such praise. In concluding his letter, though, he added: “There is one thing I must warn you about in advance. I know that you would like to marry the daughter of a talmid chacham - a Torah scholar. Unfortunately, I have not attained such a rank.”

Shmuel Himelstein’s Words of Wisdom, Words of Wit; A Touch of Wisdom, A Touch of Wit; and “Wisdom and Wit” available at your local Jewish bookstore

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