Wisdom & Wit

Wisdom & Wit - Parashat B'shalach

World War I caused a tremendous amount of disruption to the Jewish communities of Europe. Tens of thousands of Jews found themselves refugees, having been forced to flee their homes. Often, these refugees were lodged in the homes of other Jews, many times people they did not even know, as the local Jews responded to the needs of the hour.

Brisk, too, found itself inundated with Jewish refugees from all over. These people, who had fled without taking a thing with them, were often penniless, and had no money to buy any food.

The local leaders called a meeting to see if a way could be found to raise money to pay for food for these refugees. At this meeting, a local Rav rose and proclaimed: “While I understand the need to raise money to buy food for the refugees, why aren’t we engaging in a campaign to purchase religious items for them? Many of them don’t even have tefillin.

R’ Chaim Soloveichik immediately took the floor and told the people gathered there: “When it comes to tefillin, a single pair can suffice for all the refugees. They can take turns putting on tefillin. On the other hand, we can hardly expect a single loaf of bread to be enough for all of them…”

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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