A Sweater Salesman and a Silent Cry: The Kindness of Rabbi Yechezkel Abramsky

A Knock at the Door

Rabbi Yechezkel Abramsky (1886–1976), author of Chazon Yechezkel on the Tosefta, was one of the most respected rabbinic leaders in Europe and Israel. He served as a dayan (rabbinical judge), head of a yeshiva, and guiding figure for the religious community in Bnei Brak. This Friday marks 48 years since his passing.

In his later years, while living in the cold Jerusalem neighborhood of Bayit Vegan, Rabbi Abramsky once sat learning Torah on a wintry day when someone knocked at the door. His wife opened it to find a street vendor with a suitcase full of sweaters, hoping to make a sale.

She told the man kindly, “I would be happy to buy, but our closet is full. We don’t need more sweaters.” The vendor responded, “In that case, perhaps I could at least receive a blessing from the rabbi.”

Upon hearing this, Rabbi Abramsky invited the man in. But before giving the blessing, he reached into his pocket, took out a large sum of money, and handed it to him. Only afterward did he warmly bless him and wish him success and well-being. The vendor left the home uplifted and deeply grateful.

“What Kind of Kindness Is This?”

After the man left, Rebbetzin Abramsky turned to her husband and asked gently, “Why did you give him such a large amount of money?”

Rabbi Abramsky explained: “Let me tell you. This man is clearly struggling. If, in the middle of winter, in the coldest neighborhood in Jerusalem, someone is still going door-to-door selling sweaters, that tells us something. Every home here is already well stocked for the season. So it's obvious he’s been turned away from many homes, some kindly, some not. His suitcase is still full, which means he hasn’t sold a thing. But at home, he likely has a wife and children waiting for him to bring back money to buy food for lunch or dinner. And what will he put on the table instead? A suitcase of sweaters?

“That’s why I gave him money. First, so his family can eat. Then, of course, I gave him a berachah.”

True Kindness Means Noticing What Others Miss

Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Schulsinger, who shared this story, concluded: “This is what it really means to be kind. We must train ourselves not only to help but also to think deeply about what the other person really needs.”

This same theme is echoed in Bereishit Rabbah on the story of Noach. The Midrash asks: Why does the verse note that God “remembered Noach” and ended the flood? The answer: God remembered Noach's constant acts of kindness in feeding and caring for every creature in the ark for twelve full months, day and night, never missing a detail. Those acts of kindness brought the flood to an end.

If such devotion to animals merited Divine compassion, how much more so when we extend careful, thoughtful kindness to our fellow human beings.