ויקרא לבנו ליוסף ויאמר לו אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך וכו' אל נא תקברני במצרים ... (מז-כט)
Yaakov Avinu asked his son Yosef to show him kindness and not bury him in Egypt. Rashi offers a few explanations. One is that he saw into the future, that Egypt would be stricken with the ten plagues and the dust of the earth would turn into lice. He wished that his corpse would be spared this unpleasant scenario, infested with lice during Makkas Kinim. And although Yaakov could have asked to be buried in a coffin made from some kind of material like metal which lice cannot penetrate, he recognized the power that Yosef had at that time, as ruler of Egypt, and instead asked to be taken to Mearas HaMachpela, where his parents and grandparents are buried. More important than anything was being buried in Eretz Yisroel.
One of the unique and generous individuals who supported the Baranovitch Yeshivah in Poland, was a man of means called R’ Cheikel. Besides assisting them with their needs, every morning, he would go to the local bakeries to get bread for the hungry yeshivah boys. As he approached the bakers, he would employ his special morning charm of singing for them while requesting their generous donations. When he had a substantial amount, he would return home with the collected bread and lay out his wares, as his house doubled as the yeshivah’s dining room, and the boys would eat their breakfast there.
After that was done, he’d then turn to the butchers and ask them for any leftover meat to sustain the yeshivah boys for their supper meal. For a long time, his efforts successfully kept the boys well nourished.
R’ Elchanan Wasserman zt”l had great admiration for R’ Cheikel and for his dedication. One day, R’ Elchanan called him over and asked him if he had any request that he could fulfill in return for what he does on behalf of the yeshivah.
R’ Cheikel responded that he never intended that the Rosh Yeshivah would grant him something in return for his work. But, if he was offering, he had one request: “Once a week, I ask that your shiur be given to the bachurim in my house. I may not understand what you will be learning, but at least there should be some Torah learning in my home.”
This wasn’t so bizarre, since his home already served as the dining room for the older boys. Out of hakaras hatov, R’ Elchanan immediately approved his request and set up a weekly shiur in his home. R’ Cheikel diligently listened to R’ Elchanan’s shiur, often leaving food for those who needed a snack, though he didn’t understand any of it.
It was known throughout Baranovitch that no bug could ever be found in R’ Cheikel’s dining room. Though there were plenty of bugs swarming around the adjacent rooms, they stood immobile at the entrance to his dining room. People from the town came to observe this miracle, amazed at how the bugs didn’t enter, despite the great amount of food that sat around.
When R’ Elchanan was asked to explain what was happening in the home of R’ Cheikel, all he said was that he hoped that in the Next World, they will give him an opportunity to gaze at the portion awaiting R’ Cheikel.
But not everyone believed this open miracle. One time, a certain Rav Bornstein brought along a man named Dreazen, a well-known apikores in town, who sought to disprove Yiddishkeit. This Yid didn’t even come to shul on Yom Kippur, and now here he was, looking at R’ Cheikel’s dining room, analyzing it in order to disprove the open miracle. “Look here,” he said, and he took several bugs in his hand and tried to coax them into entering the dining room. Yet, despite his brazenness, the bugs miraculously wouldn’t go in. With all his force, he was unable to get them to go there. Several times he tried to disprove the miracle, but to no avail. The bugs just wouldn’t go into the yeshivah’s dining room. Dreazen was amazed and after a few more efforts, he was convinced. It took only a few short days and the news hit the town of Baranovitch and the yeshivah that the former apostate Dreazen had returned to Yiddishkeit and was now becoming observant. Dreazen explained that when he saw what the Almighty was doing for R’ Cheikel despite his limited knowledge in learning, he understood that great power lies in Torah learning. And although Cheikel wasn’t the greatest talmid chacham, nevertheless, he was doing the best with whatever capacity Hashem had given him. That gave Dreazen the courage to start a fresh commitment to serving Hashem.