Wisdom & Wit

Wisdom & Wit - Parashat Yitro

After R’ Nosson Tzvi Finkel moved to Chevron, he would often go for extended walks in the early morning hours along the road leading to Yerushalayim. Those who accompanied him saw how he often stopped along the way to remove rocks that lay in the road. Those who were with him assumed that his actions were meant to prevent injury to others who might walk on this road. When a brave soul finally asked him why he did this, R’ Nosson Tzvi said that what he did was simply in accordance with R’ Chanina’s actions. We are told that R’ Chanina would remove obstacles on the road, and, as Rashi explains, he did so because of his great love for Eretz Yisrael. It was his desire not to allow anyone who walked on the road in Eretz Yisrael injured.

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“When I was seven years old,” said R’ Moshe David of Chortkov, “I promised myself that I would never wish anything bad on any other person.”
“And what do you do when an anti-Semite torments Jews?” he was asked.
“I pray that the Jews will so gain so greatly in stature, that no anti-Semite would dream of starting up with them,” he replied.

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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