My Father Was Not Makpid

It is told that an avreich once accompanied the Steipler Gaon to visit the Tchebiner Rav, Harav Dov Berish Weidenfeld.

After some time, the Steipler and the Tchebiner Rav went to daven Minchah. The avreich had already davened, so he remained behind in the sukkah.

For a ben Torah who wanted to understand the exact hanhagah of gedolim, this was a rare opportunity. He was sitting alone in the sukkah of the Tchebiner Rav. Here he could see, with his own eyes, how the Rav had built his sukkah.

Was the Rav careful with the chumros of the Chazon Ish? Was the schach supported in a way that satisfied that opinion?

The avreich began to look carefully.

He checked one side, then another. He looked up at the schach. He moved closer. Then he brought over a chair and climbed up to get a better look. Still not satisfied, he shifted things around so he could see more clearly. He leaned in, examining the structure from inside the sukkah.

And then, while his head was still up in the schach, the door opened.

The Steipler and the Tchebiner Rav had returned.

The Tchebiner Rav saw the avreich, understood exactly what he was doing, and said to him, “I learned the sugya two hundred times, and I agree with the Chazon Ish. But my father was not makpid on this.”

The Tchebiner Rav taught a great lesson. He could learn the sugya two hundred times and still say, with complete humility and clarity, “My father was not makpid.”

It is important to note who his father was. The Tchebiner Rav’s father was Harav Yaakov Weidenfeld, the author of Kochav MiYaakov. When the Tchebiner Rav said, “My father was not makpid,” he was not referring to a simple family habit. He was referring to a mesorah from a great gaon.