Rabbi Lefkowitz’s Chilling Story About Dispute

Rabbi Michal Yehuda Lefkowitz, the Rosh Yeshiva (head of school) of Ponevezh for Young Men, once shared a deeply powerful story with his students. The lesson he taught was about the painful consequences of machloket, dispute and conflict. Years later, one of his students, the beloved maggid (Torah lecturer) Rabbi Reuven Karlinstein, retold the story in one of his own talks. It was later printed in the book Yechi Reuven.

Rabbi Lefkowitz began, “I was born in the city of Volozhin. During my childhood, there was a man who lived not far from our home. Sadly, his entire life seemed centered around arguments. Wherever he could stir conflict, he did. It gave him a strange kind of joy.”

As Rabbi Lefkowitz described it, this man didn’t just find himself in occasional disagreements, he actually thrived on creating them. Disputes were, in a way, his way of life.

When that man reached the end of his life, family and neighbors gathered around his bed. As his soul was about to leave this world, something terrifying happened. He began to cry out with fear. “Get rid of the black dogs! They’re coming to devour me!” he screamed.

His family was confused and tried to calm him down. “There are no dogs here,” they said. “What are you talking about?”

But the man continued to cry out in anguish. “Have mercy on me! Can’t you see them? Please get them away from me!”

At that moment, those present began to realize the truth. These weren’t physical dogs. What he was seeing were spiritual beings, dark, frightening images sent from the next world, perhaps as a reflection of his choices in this one. These terrifying visions, seen only by him, had come to greet his soul as it left this world.

After sharing this painful story, Rabbi Lefkowitz told his students a very different kind of ending.

He spoke about his own teacher, Rabbi Shlomo Heiman, the head of the famous Ramailles Yeshiva in Vilna. At the time of Rabbi Heiman’s passing, his final words were quite different.

Just moments before his soul departed, Rabbi Heiman suddenly said, “Bring a chair. Rabbi Akiva Eiger has arrived.” A few minutes later, he said again, “Bring another chair. Rabbi Chaim Ozer is here.”

Rabbi Lefkowitz explained that in his view, these two great Torah sages had come to greet Rabbi Heiman because of the kind of life he had lived. Rabbi Akiva Eiger, whose writings were learned and cherished in the yeshiva, came because of the joy Rabbi Heiman felt when studying his Torah. Rabbi Chaim Ozer, who had been a contemporary in Vilna, came out of the deep love and connection that had existed between them.

Rabbi Karlinstein, who shared this story later on, concluded with a moving reflection: “Some people are greeted by black dogs. Others are welcomed by great Torah sages like Rabbi Akiva Eiger. The way we live shapes how we leave.”

This story teaches a powerful lesson. Living in peace, avoiding arguments, and creating harmony with others doesn’t just make for a better life here, it also prepares our soul for the journey beyond.

Courtesy of the Dirshu website