Amazing Story About Rabbi Shalom Mordechai Hakohen Schwadron ZTL

0:14In the previous generation, the mitzvah that we learned about in last week's parsha, Parashat Kedoshim, HaKadosh Baruch Hu has said: "You shall be holy because I am holy." We have to be holy people. And then He gives us the details of what makes us holy—different mitzvot that we have to... you know, make sure to warn each other if we see that someone is a criminal and he's about to do business with somebody you know in the kehillah, even if that person that you know in the kehillah is not your friend or you don't even like the guy, but you know he's about to do business with somebody that's a criminal, you have to warn him. You can't just stand idly by while somebody else's blood is being, metaphorically, spilled. If you see that there's another Jew, you have to love this Jew. If you see another Jew committing a sin against Hashem, if it's a sin from the Torah, you have to rebuke them. Now, there are different mitzvot, but you cannot hate people and so on and so forth. So the mitzvah that you must rebuke your brother and do not come to the way of sin was in Parashat Kedoshim last week.

1:41In a previous generation, there were a few tzaddikim that were zealous for Hashem. One of them was Rav Shalom Schwadron. Rav Shalom Schwadron was not only a gadol baTorah, but also a powerhouse when it came to helping Am Yisrael do teshuva. He had a very unique style of speaking and communicating with people—making fun of himself while simultaneously inspiring and instilling fear—all at the same time. He was a very great person, both spiritually and physically strong. Alongside him was another tzaddik by the name of Rav Shabtai Yuda Levidz. Rav Shabtai Yuda Levidz was also a prominent and strong individual, both in Torah scholarship and presence. Together, they were dedicated to promoting mitzvot observance and instilling a deep sense of Yirat Shamayim in their community. And both of them were chachamim, talmidei chachamim. Serious talmidei chachamim. Not like today where some are considered talmidei chachamim. Now, they were zealous for Hashem. What does it mean to be zealous for Hashem? They would do different things aside from the basics. So on Friday night, they wanted to make sure that everyone in the neighborhood keeps Shabbat. How do you make sure everybody keeps Shabbat? On Friday, they'd come to every store.

3:00"Shabbat is coming! It's two hours, three hours before Shabbat. Okay, Shabbat is coming. Let's go, close the shop. Remind everybody: every Shabbat, close the shop, close the shop, close the shop. Now, you have somebody coming to your store to remind you, even if you don't keep Shabbat. But every Friday, they come to your store and tell you to close the shop, not to open on Shabbat. After a while, just from the embarrassment, you might stop, unless you are the exact opposite of them." You're zealous for sin. And there was such a person. There was one Rasha that hated Judaism. Not only did he hate Judaism, but he was also zealous for sin. He despised it when they came. He'd come to a store, and they would tell him "Shabbat, Shabbat," but he'd continue working, careless about what they said. Now, Rav Shwadron and Rav Yehuda Leib Levin... Weren't just somebody you could pick on. They wanted to make sure that if they needed you to close the store, you were going to close the store. So one day, this guy decides, "I'm going to get my revenge." What does he do? He goes and buys a huge pit bull—a vicious pit bull—and raises it.

4:22in one of these backyards, places where they fight dogs and such. Dogs just can't wait to kill someone. Now, pit bulls in general, they're very loving animals. I had one for 16 years. But if you train them to act contrary to their nature, they'll do it because they think they're protecting you. So he had this vicious pit bull, bought it, and hid it in the basement. Now, anyone who's ever been in a retail store knows that many times the stores put all of their merchandise stock in the basement. They have a door leading to the basement, functioning like a gate that opens to reveal stairs you walk down. So what did he do? He had the dog right behind it. As soon as he opened it, the dog lunged out, attacking whoever was in front of it. That was his plan. have the dog sit there, starving, waiting. Whoever's in front of him, as soon as he opens that gate—finished. Who's the lucky candidate? I'm going to go against these religious people. So this rasha waited the whole day, licking his lips, waiting, waiting for the opportunity to hurt some religious people. Only today, he tried hurting the wrong ones, but the right ones.

5:46So, as you would have it, a couple of hours before Shabbat, they come to the street, starting with "Shabbat Shalom, Shabbat Shalom!" It's time to go. "Shabbat Shalom, everybody!" They go from one store to another, one store after another. Eventually, they get to this guy's store, and they come together, one on this side and one on that side. "Shabbat Shalom, Shabbat Shalom, Mr. Oven, Shabbat Shalom!" Shabbat Shalom, he opens the gate, the pit bull lunges out. Rav Shvadron looks at Rav Yehuda Levitch, they look at each other, as the dog, this was like instant, people saw this, instant, the dog lunged at them. One caught him from the front, the other one caught him from the back, and they ripped the dog in half. They were so powerful, they ripped the dog in half. They put it on his table, said "Shabbat Shalom," and left. He kept Shabbat from that point on. Why? He understood this is not human power; this is Kedusha power. It's Kedusha power. We have a hard time ripping a steak with a fork and a knife, too.

7:15But when you have two giants in Torah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu will not let them get scratched. True story. You see, Rabotai HaKedoshim, HaKadosh Baruch Hu sends different messages to different people in their own way. The more specific you need it, the more it's going to shock you and maybe hurt you. That guy was not going to do teshuva any other way. He thought he was going to get revenge against the Torah. He had something coming to him. He received a personal message, but that's the message that he needed.