Stories in honor of the 101st yahrtzeit of the tzadik Reb Shaye ben Reb Moshe of Kerister zy”a
Even before Reb Shayele was bar mitzvah, the local merchants would ask him to stand next to their stands, because they knew that just having him nearby brought success to their business!
A chassid once decided that he wanted to see Reb Shayele’s avodah at the lofty time before tekiyas shofar on Rosh Hashanah. He followed Reb Shayele and saw him standing next to a big tray of cake, cutting small pieces and putting them on plates, so that the Yidden should be able to make Kiddush quickly after davening! Reb Shayele once said about this “Other tzadikim are busy with רזין, meaning secrets of the Torah, while he is busy with לשובע ולא לרזון, that Yidden should be fed well!
Whenever someone couldn’t afford to make a wedding or a bris, he would come to Kerestir, make the wedding in Reb Shayele’s courtyard, and everything was taken care of. All of the food was given from Reb Shayele’s kitchen.
A Yid once had a court case, where the prosecutors had plenty of clear written evidence against him. He came for a brocha, and Reb Shayele told him, “They have no more evidence against you.” He later found out that mice had eaten up all the prosecutor’s papers!
Reb Shayele’s son was gravely sick. Reb Shayele was sitting in his room, weeping heavily. He told those around him, “The reason I’m crying isn’t because my son is unwell. It is because I always thought that when Yidden come to tell me their tzaros, I genuinely feel their pain just as it would have been my own pain, but now I see that my own tzara bothers me a bit more. This is why I am crying!!”
At Reb Shayele’s levaya, the head of the post office came and was weeping away. When asked why, he said, “You don’t even know what a great man he was. He anonymously supported many, many Yidden, sending them money through the post office. I saw every time he went to mail money to help another Yid. And even though some people sent him money in the mail for him to distribute, the amount he sent from the post office was three times more than the amount he received.
During the First World War, many Yidden who didn’t want to get drafted into the Austrian army found refuge in Reb Shayele’s shul. He would feed them and give them all their needs. He bribed the local police department, and they looked the other way. Once the government found out that there were hundreds of people taking refuge in Kerestir. They immediately sent a brigade of soldiers to perform a search.
When Reb Shayele was told that they had entered the city, he calmly said that all illegal refugees should open up gemaras and learn in the shul. The soldiers came, and Reb Shayele himself ushered them into the shul. They looked around and didn’t see a soul, even though there were more than three hundred illegal refugees in front of their noses!
There was a Yid named Reb Yonah Friedman who did many things to help Yidden run away from the army. At one point, the government got a lead on him, and he had to flee, coming to Kerestir to Reb Shayele. One of the local generals found out about this and told his soldiers, “I am going to look for him.” They said, “Aren’t you afraid of the famous rabbi?” He answered with great chutzpah, “I am not afraid of anyone!”
He came to the shul in the middle of davening and couldn’t find any illegal citizens. He then noticed that it looked like someone may be hiding under Reb Shayele’s tallis. He screamed at him to turn around. Since he was in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei, he didn’t hear. The general gruffly turned him around, saw that no one was hiding, and left.
A little later, he felt terrible pain in his arm. He ran to the doctor, who checked him out and said that he had a sickness in his arm. The only way to get rid of it is by amputating it. The general was stricken with panic! What will he do?
One of his soldiers told him, maybe it is because you dared touch the holy rabbi? He sent two soldiers right away to beg forgiveness of Reb Shayele. Reb Shayele said that if he would swear that he won’t ever hurt any Yid, he would forgive him. He swore, and all his pain dissipated instantly!!
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 77.