Parshas Re'eh 5785
- Torah Tavlin
- Aug 22
- 3 min read
בנים אתם לה' אלקיכם לא תתגדדו ולא תשימו קרחה בין עיניכם למת ... (יד-א)
The Mishnah tells us that the Almighty, out of His great compassion, informs us that we, the Jewish people, are His children. The reason for this, explains R’ Leib Chasman zt”l, is because without this important tidbit of knowledge, we might never know who we really are. Imagine a man who in theory is the owner of great riches; he can have all the money in the world, but if he cannot access it, what good is all that wealth? We, the children of Hashem, however, were informed about this excessive gift, enabling us to access it, appreciate it, and elevate ourselves with this unduplicable gem.
R’ Shlomo Karliner zt”l once said: “One should be overjoyed with happiness just by the fact that he is a Yid and not a goy. He could’ve been born a gentile who has no eternity, and their lives are filled with abomination and destruction.”
The Ksav Sofer’s youngest son, R’ Shimon Sofer zt”l, known as the Erlauer Rav, was an exceptional tzaddik who fasted for days on end, completely detached from this world. As a young man, he married the daughter of R’ Chaim Shmuel Birnbaum zt”l, the youngest son-in-law of the renowned R’ Akiva Eiger zt”l. R’ Chaim Shmuel, a chassid of the great Rebbes of P’shischa, was the son of one of the wealthiest Jews in Russia.
Immediately after R’ Shimon’s marriage, he entered the luxurious home of his father-in-law. R’ Shimon, who was not accustomed to such luxury, felt that this was hindering his growth in ruchniyus. He tried to live in such opulence but after half a year, he told his wife that the comfort level in the home was disturbing him from his growth and that he must move away. His wife was unwilling to forsake her family and their lifestyle, to which R’ Shimon concluded that they must divorce. The decision was made, and R’ Shimon returned to his father’s home, leaving her with her family.
R’ Shimon’s wife, who at the time was expecting a child, later married the great Gaon, R’ Yitzchok Shmelkis zt”l, known as the Beis Yitzchok. The child was raised thinking that he belonged to the Shmelkis family, while in truth he was the son of R’ Shimon Sofer, and a grandson of the Chasam Sofer and R’ Akiva Eiger.
When he reached marriageable age, the Beis Yitzchok decided that it was time to tell his step-son about his biological family, and that he was from a very renowned and principled family, a grandson of the Chasam Sofer and the Ksav Sofer.
When the young man heard the news, he decided to travel to Vienna to seek out his family and inquire after them. Needing somewhere to eat during his lengthy trip, he found a kosher restaurant to eat dinner. After ordering his food, he sought an empty table to sit down at but there were no empty ones available. Without a choice, he walked over to a table that already had a fellow sitting there and asked if he can join him at his private table. The man was happy to welcome him to his table.
While sitting there, the man asked him his name, and the young man felt a bit awkward. Finally, he admitted that up until just recently, he had assumed his name was Shmelkis, from the wealthy and prestigious family of the great Rav, the Beis Yitzchok. However, he just found out that his real name was Sofer, that he is the son of the Tzaddik, R’ Shimon Sofer.
The man sitting at the table was shocked. He asked him sharply, “Do you mean to say that you’re the son of my father, R’ Shimon Schreiber, the Michtav Sofer? You are my brother?” He identified himself as the son of R’ Shimon. His father, however, had never revealed to his family that he was previously married and that he’d fathered a son from that first wife.
He sent a telegram to his father questioning if this man could really be his son. His father received the message and replied, “I indeed had a son from a previous marriage. Please bring this boy back home to see his family.”
R’ Ephraim Wachsman shlita concludes this narrative by telling about a person with exalted lineage who was totally unaware of it. “We are the sons of Hashem, as the posuk says: ‘Banim Atem L’Hashem Elokeichem.’ By not being aware of who we really are, we are like this son who hadn’t known of his lineage, and thus missed out on this nobility.” R’ Moshe Weiss from Yerushalayim heard this story from the son of R’ Shimon Sofer, who then relayed it to R’ Wachsman. (Zichru Toras Moshe)