Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv: A Journey of Devotion, Wisdom, and Truth

I still remember it vividly, my father, my brother and I waiting outside of the room, standing in a small room with a bunch of chasside and waiting for our name to be called, and which we would be then hopefully ushered in to have a short meeting with this great godel. The godel who had more than 300,000 individuals come to pay their final respects at his leviah, the great arbiter of the Jewish law, the poise kadar, the masmin, the individual who redefined what it means to have devotion and hasmada, and talmud taira, the great saddik, rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliyashov. When we were brought in, I remember feeling like this magical light hit me. I remember the books on the svarme shelves. I remember being able to shake his rather old, frail but certainly kind of interestingly glowing and holy hand and then, before I knew it, we were out on the street, it was over. It was a pretty cool experience and there's a story that I once heard about Rabbi Yosef that really sets the tone and helps us to identify with this great godel. It's a story you may know, but it's a story you have to know. It was an individual who was trying to encourage the great godel to be the saddik, the godfather, the companion of his child at the brismila. He was using Ramaz and Vilna goings to encourage Rabbi Yosef and eventually he told the godel he said please become the saddik at the bris. Rabbi Yosef would have to break his schedule, very rigorous schedule, in which he woke up every morning at 2am to begin study. And ultimately this man said and don't you know, rebbe, that it's a segula. One can be immediately administered and accepted into olamhabal, the next world, even if you become a saddik just once. The gamaritels, it's a very easy shortcut. And Rebbe Leyashov told them very sternly that I worked my whole life to see Hashem and to be in olamhabal and now you're offering me an easy way out of shortcut. I have no interest, I am not interested in your shortcut when a person wants something and works for something and they want to do it. Therefore, lech atchila every day, day in and day out. Shortcuts or fech were uninterested. I want the hard way, I want the real thing. Rebbe Leyashov was someone that the more that you study, you realize his MS. I believe there were times that he didn't even schmooze in learning because it wasn't as MS as just getting the real thing. He wasn't even with Gdylem. At times he wouldn't do it because it was all about the real thing. I want it in the best way possible, without any shortcuts. The great Rebbe Yosef Sholame Leyashov should inspire us to learn with Hashemada to push ourselves, and if we can mimic his ways, even one, one thousandth, we will have already taken a large step forward.