The discovery of a temporary passport issued in Vilna for Rav Elchonon Wasserman Hy”d 77 years ago triggers a wave of recollections,
“There were two great tzaddikim in that generation” Rav Shraga Plonchak reminisces in his Bnei Brak home. “One was the Chofetz Chaim. The second was Rav Elchonon — and in him you could see his rebbi the Chofetz Chaim” (Photos: Menachem Kalish)
Rav Shraga Plonchak contemplates a photo of Rav ElchononWasserman Hy”d and the decades fall away.
“He looks young here” he says. “In my memory the Rosh Yeshivah was older.”
Then he glances at the attached letter typed in Lithuanian Latvian and French. A name jumps out: “Plonchak Srul Yitzchak ” followed by signature in black ink still clear after 77 years.
“That’s my brother!” he exclaims. “My older brother the first of four of us who went to learn under Rav Elchonon.”
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