Parshas Vayechi: Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin Curses The Hospital
The
famous magid of Yerushalayim Rav Bentzion Yadler retold the story of a
group of Askanim who came to Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin to tell him that
they purchased a plot of land to build a hospital outside of the old
city of Yerushalyim near Shaar Shchem. Rav Yehoshua Leib said to them,
"Yehi Ratzon Shelo Tishreh Shechina Aleha", it should be Hashem's will
that the Shechina will not reside there. The group was baffled. Why
would Rav Yehoshua Leib curse their holy venture?
Then they realized the slyly disguised bracha in Rav Yehoshua Leib's
words. The pasuk says (Vayechi 47:31) that after Yosef swore to bury
Yaakov in Eretz Yisroel, Yaakov turned to the head of the bed and
bowed. Rashi explains that from here the gemara (Shabbos 12b) learns
that the Shechina rests above the head of a sick person's bed. Rav
Yehoshua Leib gave them a bracha that their hospital should not have
many sick people in it and all of Am Yisroel should be blessed with
good health! (Gilyon Pninim Al HaParsha)
printable version
