His mother suggested maybe he’d be happier buying a toy, but the boy insisted.

Photo: AEGedolimphotos.com

Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, the American-born rosh yeshivah of Slabodka in Eretz Yisrael who was in the US on a fundraising trip last week, spent a Friday visiting yeshivos and elementary schools in Flatbush’s Sephardic community. In Yeshivat Mekor Chaim, the boys all filed by to get their personal brachah. One little fellow in kindergarten, a boy named David, passed by and handed the Rosh Yeshivah (who was accompanied by Mishpacha photographer Avraham Elbaz) a heavy bag of change with a piece of paper inside that said “Slabodka.”

This little boy would get a nickel, dime, or quarter every time he made a brachah out loud, and he’d amassed a stash of coins. The previous night, the boy came home from school with a paper about the Slabodka rosh yeshivah’s upcoming visit, and the boy asked his father, “What’s Slabodka?”His father told him, “It’s a big yeshivah in Eretz Yisrael and the rosh yeshivah is taking time from a fundraising trip to visit your school.” The boy said, “I want to give all my money to the yeshivah.” His mother suggested maybe he’d be happier buying a toy, but the boy insisted.

“A reine neshamah,” said Rav Moshe Hillel when he heard the story behind the weighty contribution.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 887)