Although Rav Elyashiv’s passing couldn’t have come as a shock, when the bitter news reached us, our hearts trembled and we cried, and a feeling of orphanhood descended upon us.
For even if we couldn’t explain it we felt that as long as he was with us even in failing health the Torah was also with us. But now the crown of Torah has been removed. The shield that has protected us as a community and as a people is gone.
A stranger to our society cannot understand this feeling; it belongs to us alone. A stranger would not understand the masses of people who came to escort Rav Elyashiv on his final journey masses who never spent even a moment in his presence yet felt that some part of them has been ripped away and taken to its eternal rest.
Gallons of ink will yet flow about his unmatched hasmadah about his clarity in issuing halachic rulings. Those who were privileged enough to be close to him will write about his greatness. I did not have the privilege of witnessing any of these things.
But one incident a tiny anecdote through which we can glean an idea of the inner power that gave rise to this incredible giant of Torah shoots to the surface of my memory.
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