Leah Gitl Shukhman
This story was told by Rabbi Shlomo Levenstein. It concerns an incident involving Rabbi Isaac Sher, head of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Israel (as recounted by his grandson).
One day, the head of the yeshiva went out on an errand, accompanied by a student. They were walking along the road, and when they reached a corner, a young woman with a stroller suddenly appeared from the other side. She was rushing so fast that she nearly collided with Rabbi Sher. The woman was startled and so embarrassed that she did not even apologize, but simply hurried on.
“Does she think this is her own private courtyard? How can anyone rush through a crowded place like that?” the student exclaimed indignantly. “Where is even the slightest courtesy?!”
When he had finished, Rabbi Sher said:
“I am going to speak to myself now, but if you like, you may listen. I am thinking about what I have done for myself today and what I have done for others. I got up this morning. I got up for myself—what was I supposed to do, lie in bed all day? Then I got dressed so that I would not be cold. I went to pray, since I have things to ask the Almighty for. After prayers, I ate breakfast so that I would not be hungry. Then I sat down to study Gemara, because if I do not study, what kind of Jew am I?
And now I am out on an errand. So here it is, eleven in the morning, and I have not yet done anything for others. Everything has been only for myself.
And what about this young woman? She was awake half the night because her baby is teething. Then she finally fell asleep and jumped out of bed at half past six. She sent her husband off to pray with a minyan and took upon herself the task of getting the children off to school and putting the house in order. She made sandwiches and woke the children: one needed washing, another needed dressing, a third had lost a shoe…
When the house finally emptied, she quickly began making lunch so that the children would have something to eat when they came home. Then she rushed off to take the baby to the babysitter because it was time for her to go to work—she is substituting for a teacher at school to earn a little money for the family…