As a safety precaution, Rav Aharon didn’t speak to the driver while he drove
Dr. Moshe Biberfeld learned in Beis Medrash Govoha in the late 1950s and had the zechus to drive Rav Aharon Kotler ztz”l in his final years. At the time, Lakewood was still a resort town, and the fledgling yeshivah numbered only 100 students, including the kolleleit.
Dr. Biberfeld liked to drive, and it wasn’t hard to snag the privilege from Mr. Butch (Avrohom) Stefansky, who was in charge of the yeshivah’s old-fashioned DeSoto. But he has few memories of conversations with his venerable passenger: As a safety precaution, Rav Aharon didn’t speak to the driver while he drove.
As a bochur, young Moshe loved his two months of summer camp, but it meant leaving yeshivah early. Rav Aharon found out and called the bochur in. Moshe explained what camp meant to him and how badly he wanted to go. Besides, he added, he was moving on to the Chaim Berlin kollel after that summer.
The Rosh Yeshivah looked at him with a smile on his face and said, “If you come back to yeshivah next zeman, I’ll even let you go to camp.”
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