וילך איש מבית לוי ויקח את בת לוי .... (ב-א)
A story is told about R’ Chaim Volozhiner (Itzkowitz) zt”l, the preeminent disciple of the Gaon of Vilna zt”l and the founder of the renowned Yeshivah in Volozhin, Lithuania. The “Volozhiner Yeshiva” began in 1803 and soon became renowned as the “Mother of all Yeshivos” after which many other such yeshivos were modeled.
The town of Volozhin was built on the main road leading from Vilna to Minsk. It is apportioned into two sections: the “lower neighborhood” along the river and the “upper neighborhood” toward the hills. It is divided by a river, with a bridge connecting the two parts of the city. In the 1800’s, each section maintained their own Rav, however, for the most part, the Jewish population of Volozhin was considered one community. R’ Chaim served on one side of the river, while a certain R’ Elya served on the other. Since the two communities were not really distinct, there was an uncomfortable overlap in the activities of the two Rabbanim. People would sometimes gripe and say that one city cannot have “two kings wearing one crown” (Chullin 60b). R’ Chaim never expressed any bitterness about this situation, in keeping with the advice he once wrote in a letter: “One should never bear any resentment towards another, even inwardly, and certainly one should never express resentment to others. Patience and tolerance will help a person achieve his desires far more than all the resentment in the world.” This was his way and he showed great respect to R’ Elya at every opportunity.
However, a number of years after R’ Chaim founded the Volozhin Yeshivah, a vacancy opened up in the rabbinate of a nearby city. R’ Chaim sent a message that it would be best if R’ Elya were to leave Volozhin to take the other position.
When R’ Elya’s wife heard this message, she was incensed “What nerve telling my husband to leave his post!” she exclaimed. She insisted that R’ Elya respond that R’ Chaim should take the new post but R’ Elya quickly reproached her and told her that the wish of the great R’ Chaim Volozhiner must be obeyed. Without another word of discussion, he summoned a wagon, loaded his meager possessions on it - what did he own already? A Shas, a Shulchan Aruch, perhaps a few other seforim and a few pots and pans - and set off for the nearby town, where he took the rabbinical post.
Not long after R’ Elya and his wife left Volozhin, R’ Chaim’s 1-year-old grandson, the son of R’ Itzele zt”l, took ill and passed away. While trying to console his son, R’ Chaim remarked, “If only R’ Elya could have troubles like yours,” a reference to the fact that R’ Elya had no children. He explained to his grieving family that indeed, their situation was preferable in light of the well-known Medrash in Parshas Shemos (Shemos Rabbah 1:17) which relates that when Amram separated from his wife Yocheved, their daughter Miriam told him, “Your decree is worse than Pharaoh’s, for Pharaoh decreed that the male newborn die only in this world, while you (by separating and not having children at all) have decreed death for them both in this world and in the World to Come.” R’ Elya never had a child so his troubles were infinitely worse.
This remark was subsequently reported to R’ Elya. Miraculously, a short time later, R’ Elya and his wife were finally blessed with a son. The parents’ joy was unbounded, and their hearts were full of love for the precious gift Hashem had sent them. When the baby reached the same age at which R’ Itzele’s son had passed away, he contracted typhus, a disease for which there was no cure at that time. Typically, a patient’s condition would grow progressively worse until he reached a crisis point. Usually there was one critical night, and if the patient survived it, he would gradually recover. If not ....
The doctor had warned R’ Elya and his wife to expect this crisis from the beginning of the baby’s illness, and they lived in constant fear of it. When the decisive night finally arrived, R’ Elya sat by the child’s bed reciting Tehillim and praying with all his heart. From time to time, he punctuated his Tehillim with a heartfelt cry, “This isn’t what R’ Chaim meant! This isn’t what R’ Chaim meant!” Hashem heard his tefillos and the young child overcame the crisis and returned to good health.
According to one version of the story, that child grew up to become the father of the Rashash, R’ Shmuel Strashun zt”l.