There was a rabbi, I think in Bnei Brak; he had a yeshiva of younger students. He would speak to his students once every few weeks on Shabbat. After a little while, he started writing down the notes of the speeches he gave to these young boys, 15-year-olds, 16-year-olds. After a while, he wrote these speeches down after Shabbat. Then he compiled them, I guess with some simcha (celebration) he had in his family. He compiled them and made a little kuntres, a little—I don't know what you call it—booklet. A little booklet of his speeches.
And, you know, one day he goes to a wedding and sees the Gadol HaDor (greatest of the generation), who I believe was probably already in his 90s at the time: Rav Gershon Edelstein, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Ponevezh Yeshiva. Rav Gershon Edelstein tells him, “I heard you wrote a booklet. Why didn't you give it to me?” He says, “Give the rabbi a booklet. I'm embarrassed. It's a book. It's a speech I gave to kids. It's not like Chiddushim (novel insights) that were earth-shattering. It was just a speech that I gave to kids.” He says, “The rabbi wants it.” He says, “I really, really want one. Yes, please. I'd love to have one of your booklets.”
Okay. Gadol HaDor, Rav Gershon Edelstein, wants a booklet. I'm going to get him a booklet. So he gets a booklet to the rabbi's house. He sees the rabbi a little while later, and the rabbi tells him, “Thank you so much for that booklet. I read it cover to cover three times.” Now he's like, “It's one thing if the rabbi has a courtesy, he wants to see his book.” You know, the way that usually works is you say, “I want to see your book.” You open up the book for 20 seconds. You read a few words. It looks nice. Thank you. That was wonderful. You tell him it was wonderful. Everyone feels good. Cover to cover three times.
He says, “If you don't believe me,” the rabbi says—or Rav Gershon Edelstein says—“you could ask my family. You could ask my children. They see me. Sometimes before I go to sleep, I read it. Sometimes while I'm eating, I read it. I read it cover to cover three times.”
So finally, this young rabbi is like, “Rabbi, can I understand why the rabbi would read my book cover to cover three times?” He says, “I'll tell you why. Gershon Edelstein gave a shiur (lesson) to young boys.” He says, “I give a shiur to young boys. I'm getting old, and I know the language of the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, and the 80s. Or in Hebrew, the Tav Shin Kafs (the 50s), Tav Shin Lameds (the 60s), and Tav Shin Mems (the 70s).” He said, “But as I'm getting older and the boys are still young, I don't know the language of today. I really appreciate your booklet because I got to read your speeches, and it trained me on the language of today.” So I read it cover to cover three times.
Most people would never admit it. They're not confident enough to admit it. Rav Gershon Edelstein has enough confidence to know: “Just because I read someone 50 years my junior, 40 years my junior, and someone who is not even a quarter as great as him, just because I read his booklet, doesn't mean there's anything wrong with me. I'm confident enough to say thank you.” Many people are not. Many people don't feel secure enough; they don't feel confident enough, and therefore it's hard for them to admit how much they got from you.