T he visitor to Radin hadn’t expected the gadol hador’s home to be luxuriously appointed yet she was startled at its sparse bare furnishings. Rav Yisrael Meir HaKohein’s penetrating response to her wonderment has become a classic among storytellers and maggidim:
“Where is your furniture?” he asked the guest.
“I have none with me. I don’t live here; this is not my home. I’m only passing through.”
“Ah” said the Chofetz Chaim. “This is not my home either. I too am a traveler merely passing through this world.”
