Rebbe Rebbe

the Kehilla guest house, he invited her and her children into his own home. We quickly discovered that the Rav only had a single bedroom, his own.”
“Even though he was in shana rishona (Year 1), your grand- father offered his own bedroom and beds to my mother and her children. He instead would sleep on the living-room floor together with his wife.”

“When my mother saw this, she told him that her family hadn't bathed in a while and were crawling with lice. How- ever he wouldn't budge and insisted on the arrangement.”

“So it was that she slept with the children while your grand- father slept on the floor.”

“My mother and family eventually made their way to Amer- ica, but we again met hardship. When my mother read in the Jewish newspaper that HaRav Shmuel Dovid Walkin had recently arrived from Shanghai, she decided to call him for help. Your grandfather recorded all our info, were we wanted to live, and even the furniture we needed.”

“A few days later he called my mother back with the news that he found us an apartment. He also informed her that he found a furniture dealer who had odds and ends that weren’t sellable and was therefore willing to donate them.”

“About five or six years after this incident, we contacted the alleged furniture donor regarding repairs. To our surprise we found out that the Rav actually paid for the pieces him- self!