Chassidish Stories and Great Rabbis

The seventh yahrzeit of Rav Shlomoh Wolbe, the most published mussar and hashkafah author of our generation, falls on the 17th of Nissan. I would like to share with our readers what I wrote at the time: Rav Shlomoh Wolbe passed on to the yeshiva shel maalah during Chol HaMoed Pesach, leaving the following tzavaah:

The Torah giant Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Eidels, better known as the Maharsha, faithfully fulfilled the commandment to delve into the Torah day and night. So when the local Jew-hater planned a scheme against the Jews, he tried to spring a trap on the one night a year that the Rabbi didn't study...

Only a Tzaddik like Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev could arouse the envy of the Angels. But making the Angels jealous could be dangerous...

HaRav Avraham Shapira, the Torah giant who led the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva for over two decades and served as Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, was known fondly by generations of students and by all those who came to seek his Halachic rulings, wisdom and counsel as "Reb Avrom." His genius in Torah was matched by his warm, compassionate personality and his unforgettable prayers on the High Holy Days. A student shares some recollections.

A few days later, a royal emissary of the Empress Maria Teresa appeared at the rabbi’s home. The surprised rabbi realized that the wealthy Jew had broken the convention by which Jews did not involve non-Jews in their inner disputes. He had no choice.

The still-hiding nephew is shocked to see the Chafetz Chaim, at the end of his long performance, suddenly begin weeping and pounding on his chest, “You are still alive, and you have the ability to merit the World to Come! Why do you not repent?!”