by Rav Michael Bramson

HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was surrounded by many students

asking him some of the most complicated question from all over shas. One by one
Rav Shlomo Zalman answered the students’ complex questions.
Along came a boy who was not quite on the level of these yeshiva students. In
fact, he was not at all comfortable asking the gadol hador any deep questions. S
o
he went up to Rav Shlomo Zalman and asked whether Bazooka gum needs a
hechsher. The other boys smirked at such an easy and absurd question.
Rav Shlomo thought and thought and, after a long while, said, ”That is a very good
question – I need to look in to it more but I believe that it does need a hechshe
r.” The boy walked away feeling good about the fact that his question was on such
a high level.
The other students were perplexed. They had asked all the hardest questions
from all over shas which Rav Shlomo Zalman answered with no hesitation yet
seemingly the great Rabbi struggled with this boy’s easy question.
Rav Shlomo though, understood that this student was simply looking for a
connection with him. This was the level that the boy was able to ask and this wa
s
a way for this boy to connect with Rav Shlomo Zalman. Rav Shlomo Zalman
wanted to the boy to feel that the question was of utmost importance so that he
would continue to form this connection with Rav Shlomo Zalman.
When Moshe was asked by his father in law, Yitro, “Why do the people line up all d
ay?”
Moshe responds (18:16) ”They come to me to seek out G-d.”
What was Moshe’s answer to Yitro? They did not come to him to seek out G-d;
they came to him to get an answer to their halachic question or to settle a disp
ute between themselves and someone else. Harav Yaakov Bienenfeld answers that M
oshe was telling Yitro much the same as Rav Shlomo Zalman told his students. Man
y in BneiYisroel simply wanted a connection with the gadol hador. Some of them p
erhaps did not even have very difficult questions. They simply wanted a chance t
o meet with Moshe because through their connection with this amazing leader they
could learn how to form a closer relationship with Hashem himself.
Establishing a rebbi/ teacher is very important. Not simply to get your question
s answered but to learn from your rebbi how to be closer to Hashem. Whether it i
s through your rebbi’sactions or teachings, this relationship will help you form a
closer relationship with Hashem.