Members of the Bnei Brak City Council on behalf of Degel HaTorah came for a holiday visit to the rabbi of Ramat Elchanan, the rabbi Yitzhak Zilberstein.
Rabbi Zilberstein devoted his time and guided them on the path of public conduct, and in the manner of approach desired as public figures who meet with our brothers who have not yet been blessed with complete repentance.
Below is a transcript of his full remarks, from a recording published on the 'Shiach Yitzhak' website:
""Blessed be God that we have good leaders. Rabbi Dov is something tremendous. I studied with him in yeshiva. Rabbi Dov is a gift from God that we received. He is not afraid of any human being, except for God. He does not know what fear is, and that is a very big thing for us.".
""What is our duty to do at this time? To sanctify the name of heaven..., our representatives, our conduct and our speech, we have a great Rabbi and this is Rabbi Dov, but our speech should be to make a good impression on the people.
""I'll tell you what it's called a good impression, I live in Ramat Gan, I'm considered a Bnei Baraki because I'm here all day, and when I'm not here - I'm here too, but I live in Ramat Chen, I want to tell you something very, very interesting, suddenly I see that last Hanukkah my neighbor, who is the head of the heretics, is lighting Hanukkah candles.
""I asked him, look, excuse me, what happened here? So he said to me: 'I want to tell you something, you speak to me nicely, when I pass by you you say hello nicely, and I was sure that when I pass by you you would spit in my face, but you say hello very nicely to me, and I decided that I would light Hanukkah candles.' This is a very nice thing... What's the matter? You spoke to me nicely.
He later spoke about Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt"l. "I saw a story about him that was told about him, that some terrible guys lived next to him, and he would always greet them very nicely, except once, on Shabbat, when he wouldn't want to look at them, would close his eyes, and didn't want to see them. But except on Shabbat, he would always greet them nicely.
""And the neighbors said, we saw the figure of a human being. After all, we are wicked, and we should spit on us, but no, he would show them a beautiful face and say hello to them nicely, except on Shabbat, when there are no tricks! And Rabbi Moshe said, 'I have acted with this more than with any other action in the world, and all the haters have become my friends.' I learned something from that.
""Our representatives should know that personally, not to speak disdainfully of any person, but to speak nicely. As Rabbi Moshe Feinstein did.
""We have people in our party who are very sharp like fire, woe to those who encounter them, but we must remember that Rabbi Moshe Feinstein is also our Rabbi, and he didn't do that, he spoke to them nicely. And look what happened to me when the neighbors started lighting Hanukkah candles.".
""Our behavior should be in accordance with our Rebbe, who is Rabbi Dov, and we should also know that there is a case for speaking nicely, in a civilized manner, even though he is my enemy, even though he wishes me well... I will still wish him good things.".
To the question of one of those present: Is this also said about someone who is a disbeliever in the Torah of Moses?
Rabbi Zilberstein: "I'll tell you a story. In Russia, the authorities announced that only those who would commit suicide and become a Torah apostate could live here. There was one man there who was extremely bad and would publicly desecrate Shabbat, and he said: 'I will do anything except commit suicide,' and he left all his possessions and fled, the main thing being not to commit suicide.
""And Maran the Chofetz Chaim zt"l explained, everyone has a Jewish soul, and in a time of trial if they tell him to self-destruct – he abandons everything, and does not self-destruct. Because it is in the Jewish blood, as long as he is well, he does not feel the Holy One, but when they tell him to self-destruct, he absolutely says no. Even the worst Jew, when he heard about self-destruct, he absolutely said no, there is a limit to what a Jew can go through.
""We have our Rebbe, who is Rabbi Dov, may he be healthy, and we need to remember one thing, there is one detail called sanctifying the name of God, even when we meet with errant brothers, we can speak rudely about them, and we can speak nicely to them. We can speak nicely to them.".
Rabbi Zilberstein blessed: "May God bless you, my dear ones, that you may be blessed with the name of God, and also with our enemies, so that they will feel that it is not hatred, but out of love. Let us sanctify the name of God!""
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