About a hundred and fifty years ago, in a small shtetl, everyone was occupied with preparing themselves for seven weeks to properly celebrate the holy yom tov of Shavuos. The more learned men increased the intensity of their learning; the more ignorant increased their charitable activities. Those in between strengthened

Dovid was a young man with a good head, and he was very successful in his learning. The custom in his hometown was that young men would learn in yeshiva until the age of seventeen, after which they would go into business or learn a trade. When Dovid turned seventeen,

After World War II, thousands of Holocaust survivors were left alone in the world, searching for a cousin, a distant relative, a neighbor; desperate to find someone from their prewar lives to reconnect with. Throughout the late Forties and early Fifties, numerous gatherings were held in the New York area

One Purim morning, after megillah, we gathered in the Yeshiva dining room, with Rav Shneur Kotler and Rav Sholom Schwadron. Rav Sholom relayed inspiring stories for close to three hours. The following is one of the stories he shared that day, which he heard directly from the protagonist himself. ***

The Taz was the son-in-law of the Bach, and both were tremendous talmidei chachamim, the gedolim of the generation. They lived far from one another, as they served as poskim in their respective communities, and they were esteemed far and wide. On one occasion, when the Bach was already in

Rav Meir of Rottenberg, known as the Maharam MiRottenberg, was a rishon who lived in Worms, Germany. A libel was brought against him by a former talmid who had gone astray, and Rav Meir was imprisoned. The Jewish community wanted to ransom him, yet the king was demanding the astronomical

The following story was told over by Rav Sholom Schwadron. The Sdei Chemed was one of the great Sephardic rabbonim; a tremendous talmid chacham who was well versed in the entire Torah. One Sukkos, the Sdei Chemed was sitting in his sukkah, radiating unadulterated joy. He was asked what was

Rabbeinu Shimshon Rabbeinu Shimshon was a tremendous talmid chacham and tzaddik who learned in the yeshiva of the great Rabbeinu Tam. The Rabbeinu Shimshon is quoted many times by the Bais Yosef, Tosafos, and Rabbeinu Tam. Despite his wealth in Torah, Rabbeinu Shimshon had little money, since he did not

Slippery Slope Rav Yonasan Eibshitz was one of the gedolei hador of his time. He authored many popular seforim, such as Karti U’Palti, Yaaros Dvash, Urim Vetumim, Ahavas Yonasan, and more. His two older sons, Rav Mordche and Rav Nosson, were tremendous talmidei chachomim who soon moved away from their

It was erev Pesach, and the Vilna Gaon was in the town of Pinsk, where he would be spending yom tov. The visit of such an esteemed personage made a stir in Pinsk, and everyone wanted to get a glimpse of the famed gadol. After the zman for burning the