ויאמר אל בנתיו ואיו למה זה עזבתן את האיש ... (ב-כ)
MASHAL: The ship carrying the Brisker Rav, R’ Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik zt”l, and his sons from Odessa, Russia, to Turkey, during their famous escape from war-torn Europe, in 1941, did not afford them many amenities. Although the streamliner did have a kitchen and offered food to the passengers, the Rav and his sons understandably would not touch their food. They brought their own food along.
There was one waiter who noticed that the rabbi and his sons would not eat anything from the ship’s kitchen and he tried to talk to them and convince them to eat healthy food. He told them that he would provide them with brand new pots and pans so they wouldn’t have to use the non-kosher utensils, and if they wanted, he would only cook vegetables in those new pots and pans, so there would not be any problems with non-kosher food. Time after time, they turned down the kind man’s offer, but he kept returning, urging them again and again, to eat healthier food than they had.
Finally, the Brisker Rav relented and agreed to allow the man to cook vegetables in a brand new pot. But before he cooked anything, he sent one of his sons to accompany the man to the kitchen to turn on the stove, so as to avoid “Bishul Akum” (non-Jewish cooking). Just as he struck the match to light the fire, the waiter slapped his forehead and exclaimed in perfect Yiddish, “He thinks I’m a Goy? I’m a Yid!”
When the Brisker Rav heard that the waiter on the ship was a Yid, he said, “I knew he couldn’t be a non-Jew. He kept trying and trying to help us. He just had to be a Yid!”
NIMSHAL: R’ Dovid Soloveitchik shlit’a explains that when Yisro heard that an Egyptian man toiled selflessly to draw water from the well for his daughters, he couldn’t believe that that the man was really an Egyptian. He asked, “Where is this man? I must meet him to see if it’s really true.” Yisro knew that a Goy would not toil so hard to help another - he had to be an “Ivri” - a Jew - and thus, he wanted him for his daughter.
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