A Matter of Life and Death

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu recalls that when he was young, his father would receive the public at their home. As soon as Rabbi Mordechai returned from his morning prayers, there were people waiting for him. He would sit with them, answering their questions and helping them until he had to leave for the bet din. That was his schedule day in and day out: Rabbi Eliyahu would receive visitors until the very last minute and then have a bite of breakfast. Rabbi Mordechai was very careful about leaving the house on time so that he would not keep people waiting for him at the bet din. To get there promptly, he had to end his receiving hours by nine o'clock.
One morning, Shmuel heard someone shouting in the area where the visitors would sit as they waited to be called. When he went to investigate, he saw a woman arguing with Rabbi Yehudah Mutzafi, Rabbi Eliyahu's assistant. Rabbi Mutzafi was telling her that Rabbi Eliyahu had to leave and that she should come back the following day. But she was insistent, explaining that her question was concerning a matter of life and death.
Rabbi Mordechai heard the shouting and came out of his room, telling the woman she could enter. She went in and consulted with Rabbi Eliyahu for some ten minutes — a considerable delay when he had already planned to leave. When she finally left the room, Rabbi Eliyahu called after her, "If that doesn't work, come back to me."
After she had gone, Rabbi Mutzafi asked Rabbi Eliyahu if it had really been a matter of life and death.
"Not exactly," Rabbi Eliyahu said. "But it was a very important question."
Rabbi Mutzafi asked what the very important question was, to which Rabbi Eliyahu responded, "The woman has a cat that hasn't eaten for several days. She's worried that it's going to die and she came to ask me what to do."
Shmuel couldn’t help but smirk as he asked his father, "What did you answer her?"
"I suggested that she change the cat's food and take it outside. I gave her a few suggestions, and I told her she should come back if none of them work."
"And that was the question that was so urgent that the rabbi had to miss his breakfast and will go hungry to the bet din?" Rabbi Mutzafi asked.
Rabbi Eliyahu nodded. "That was actually the most significant question asked to me this entire morning. The cat is the center of that woman's life. She was so distressed by her cat not eating. If it would die, she would be in tremendous anguish. We need to help each person in his or her place, wherever he or she is holding in life."
Years later, Rabbi Shmuel reflected on this story, saying, "At that time, this story confused me. But it has accompanied me through the years, and I preserve the memory of it as an important reminder to conduct myself with sensitivity, even to those who are so different from me."