Amazing Lesson from Brisker Bochur Who Went to a Non-Jew’s Hotel Room to Discuss Football

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FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019 file photo, Buffalo Bills' Cole Beasley celebrates his touchdown with fans during the first half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Orchard Park, N.Y. New York is making an exception to its restrictions on large gatherings to allow about 6,700 fans to attend a Buffalo Bills home playoff game in January 2021 as long as all test negative beforehand.(AP Photo/John Munson, File)

BNEI BRAK (VINnews) — At a schmooze last week at a Mesivta in Bnei Brak, Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Dunner told a fascinating story about an American bochur attending Rav Dovid’s Brisk.

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Rav Dunner said, “The bochur was visiting the Kosel, and saw an American goy writing a kvittel and placing it into a crack. The bochur was curious about what the goy could possibly have written.

After the goy left, the bochur pulled out the note and read the English message: “For the sake of G-d, there is a football game right now between team X and team Y in America, please let me know who won. Thank you, Alex.”

The goy went so fasr as to write his room number at the Plaza Hotel beneath his signature on the kvittel. The bochur decided to answer the man’s prayer. He called his father in the U.S. and asked him who won the game.

The father was taken aback.: ‘You’re learning in Brisk. What does this have to do with Zevachim and Menachos?

The bochur said that he would explain later, and again asked for the score. The father checked the results of the game and told his son.

The bochur took a taxi to the hotel, went to the goy’s room, knocked and asked: “Are you Alex’? The goy said yes. The young man replied: ‘I am a messenger of G-d.

The goy was annoyed and asked, “What do you want, messenger of G-d?”

The bochur replied, “You asked G-d who won the football game.” The goy was startled.

The bochur then said: ‘G-d sent me to tell you that team X won. The goy got excited and thanked the bochur emphatically. Then he pulled out a checkbook and wrote him a check for $2,000, saying “This is for the Messenger of G-d.”

The bochur returned to yeshiva, and his friends began debating whether he was allowed to keep the money. They said, “You lied about it, and also it was a gift from a goy.”

The bochur replied: ‘If I were to tell him that Hashem asked for $ 2,000 it would certainly be forbidden, but here the goy gave it on his own.”

Rav Dunner said that they called to ask his opinion, and he paskened that he was allowed to keep it.

However the story does not end there.

Rav Dunner continued: “When the bochurim were discussing the shaila in Bais Medrash, the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Dovid Soloveitchik (zt”l) saw them arguing, and asked what they were discussing.

“And here we see how a Gadol looked at the story. Rav Dovid said ,’A goy just asked Hashem for something, and Hashem answered him.’

Rav Dunner continued: “Now we see a new picture of this story. Who gave this guy a bug in his head to open the note, and travel all the way to see the goy? It’s all from Hashem.

“This means that the goy asked Hashem to tell him who won the game – and Hashem answered him.” Why Hashem answered him is not relevant, the lesson for us is that we see that even when a goy simply asks, he gets an answer, all the more so when a Jew asks Hashem, ‘I want to understand the Gemara, I want to understand the Chumash. He will answer, He has no shortage of ways and it has nothing to do with us – and this is the lesson for us, and this is what a yeshiva guy needs to know. ”

Rabbi Dunner concluded the schmooze by saying that every yeshiva bochur should recognize the power of tefillah, and should ask Hashem to help him understand his learning, and ask for answers in areas where he is striving to succeed.

(Please note: While this schmooze was delivered this week, the story told by the Rav took place years ago.)


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64 Comments
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Straight shooter
Straight shooter
2 years ago

Why is this weirdo reading private kvitlach at the kotel.

Ina
Ina
2 years ago

Why do we even wish to believe such utter nonsense! Pray tell, how did the Brisker know the man was a “goy”! Was he wearing a T-Shirt that said: “I am a goy”? The Brisker had no scruples as he should not have read any note that had been inserted in the Wall.

Normal
Normal
2 years ago

Is it appropriate to read other people’s kvittels? Is it appropriate to read a letter addressed to another person? And then act on the information in the letter and lie and say that Gd sent you? And then analyze what happened without mentioning the inappropriate behavior? And why would a goy go to the kotel and only ask that stupid question which he too could get an answer to instead of asking Gd for a mobile phone or good health?

Last edited 2 years ago by Normal
Oebrchuchem
Oebrchuchem
2 years ago

This post is great! It serves everyone’s needs.

  • Those who need to enjoy a light anecdote
  • Those who need to be up in arms about something
  • Those who need something to smile about
  • Those who need to badmouth Brisk
  • Those who need to praise Brisk
  • Those who need to discuss the lomdus
  • Those who need to be detectives about whether the story is true
  • Those who need to think about hashkafa
  • Those who need to post a comment
ShlomoGg
ShlomoGg
2 years ago

What a silly and petty little story.
Not Bakovodik to post and mention the Rosh Yeshivah’s name with this irrelevant little tale.

LeibelFromKentucky
LeibelFromKentucky
2 years ago

Fake story all around. He needed to know the score from the kosel???? Open your smartphone and check or better yet, call your secretary back home and ask. If the story would have been that he asked hashem for a specific team to win then I would believe it, but this story??? All fake inside out. Reminds of the LA billboard story.

Emes
Emes
2 years ago

Disgusting if true!
I can’t believe the lumdisher gemara dreys here.
Bottom line is this bochur opened a personal note put in the kosel! That’s theft, how dare anyone open anothers personal private note, his so to speak “personal note to G-d”. And none of the Rabonim involved thought to rebuke him for peeking at another person’s confidential message!
Shame on all of them, this is Torah?

Marlow
Marlow
2 years ago

This story has a few holes, not least of which is the fact that this bochur essentially acted as a Navi Sheker – a false prophet (as defined by the posuk in Parshas Re’eh as anybody who falsely says something in the name of G-d), I am sure Rav Dunner would have picked up on that.

Cholent Top Sheitels
Cholent Top Sheitels
2 years ago

Must Be A Slow news day !!??

E V
E V
2 years ago

This story is true. It just happened around 20-30 years ago. Rav Shimshon Pincus used to tell over this story.

Liam K. Nuj
Liam K. Nuj
2 years ago

Where does it say that this story happened during the internet age, let alone the smartphone age?
I remember back in the 1980s, we had to look for the most recent copy of the International Herald Tribune to find some (but not all) of the scores from the week before.
And calling the U.S. was prohibitively expensive. While money apparently is not an issue for this sports fan, who said he had someone in the U.S. that he can reliably call?

Last edited 2 years ago by Aron1
bmchillas horav zeh lo domeh
bmchillas horav zeh lo domeh
2 years ago

when a goy simply asks, he gets an answer, all the more so when a Jew asks Hashem,” A goy is answered so that he will not feel disappointed and complain..
But a believing Jew who will not complain is a different situation.

TheMaven
TheMaven
2 years ago

The story happened many years ago, BEFORE internet, etc.

Bored Lawyer
Bored Lawyer
2 years ago

This reminds me of a story, which I heard from the sons of the Rav in the story.

There was a Rav in Staten Island, who would sometimes drive Rav Moshe Feinstein from the Staten Island branch of his yeshiva to the Lower East Side. One time he was driving him, and a cop pulled him over, and gave him a speeding ticket.

After he pulled away, he asked Rav Moshe, “I thought I would have some siyatta di shmaya, since I was driving the Rosh Yeshiva home.”

To which Rav Moshe answered, “You did have siyatta di shmaya. That’s what the ticket was.”

Mussar haskel I learned from this

(1)   Hashem knows better than us what is good for us.

(2)   Hashem has many ways to exercise his hashgacha, including what we perceive as normal, natural events. 

Wierd
Wierd
2 years ago

regardless of the veracity of the story, its pretty messed up that this kind of action is ok

Peter
Peter
2 years ago

Why Hashem answered him is not relevant”, yes indeed, Hashem wanted this bucher get his $2,000, either for his kiddish hashem or something else. He deserved it and Hashem has his ways how to give it to him.

ManchesterUk
ManchesterUk
2 years ago

We can learn a lot from the mesirus nefesh of this Yeshiva bochur. He decided to do a chesed with a goy. Firstly, he called his father and asked him what must have sounded like a ridiculous question (and a cause of concern – my son became a football fan!?). Years ago when this story occurred, a long distance call was not made very often, as I well remember from my years learning in eretz yisroel. And it would have been expensive. Then he took a taxi to the hotel and back, another not inconsiderable expense. He had no way of knowing that the fellow would give him a cheque; it was done altruistically. In fact he had no way of knowing what sort of reception he would get from the goy. So all in all, we can learn a lot from this bochur’s midos. As the posuk states, ורחמיו על כל מעשיו.

Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
2 years ago

Correction His surname is Dunner not Diner as published
He is a brother of the famous speaker Dayan Ahron Dovid Dunner Shlit”a From London England

Nina
Nina
2 years ago

What an awful story! It makes me feel uncomfortable with writing a note to Aveinu Malkeinu knowing that someone would read my notes! And how would anyone know whether or not someone is a non-Jew? You can’t judge a book by its cover.

5TResident
5TResident
2 years ago

I find this story very troubling, even if it was a moshul and not a Maiseh Shehoya. If this “goy” put a kvitel in the kotel wall only to find out the score of a football game, when such information is easily obtained from many other sources, then this “goy” obviously had cognitive issues. Aside from reading the kvitel, which itself was wrong, the Bochur taking this unfortunate person’s money was a huge Chilul Hashem – taking the money of a person who obviously is mentally ill is genaiva, period. I find it hard to believe that any Rov would allow him to keep the money under these circumstances.

Yem
Yem
2 years ago

This story was told years ago. Possible it was before smartphones or the goy didn’t have one. Before you scream ” fake story ” know that you don’t have the details of that situation.

TheMaven
TheMaven
2 years ago

Note: The story happened BEFORE INTERNET existed…

ezra
ezra
2 years ago

Who the heck has the audacity to take a private note out of the Kotel? How would the Bocher know the man was a Goy? What kind of person would put a note about a football score? This story is not only fabricated…. but stupid. This kind of shtuss is why I left yeshiva as a teen and never looked back.

Jack
Jack
2 years ago

A speaker tells a story. This is pretty much how all the glossy artscroll books about the “amazing Yidden” are written.

Shlomo
Shlomo
2 years ago

I think the only strange and tellingly made-up point in this story is the fact that goy left his address on the paper. That makes no sense, but fits nicely into this narrative.

Last edited 2 years ago by Shlomo
mo613
Active Member
mo613
2 years ago

whats a brisker doing at the kosel bitul tayra lo hohu davrim mea olim. they forgot to tell the end of the story ,,,and then the bachor woke up

Sue
Sue
2 years ago

Should not be printed publicly. Do you think only jews read vin

John doe
John doe
2 years ago

Reminds of the famous story of r’ zushe mi’anipoli who used to open his window after davening every day and say “God, zushe is hungry” etc.

Chaim
Chaim
2 years ago

I’m curious. Suppose it was a goy who found a Jew’s private note and read it and then went to the Jew’s home and told him he was a messenger from Hashem.

How would you all feel about the story then?

John doe
John doe
2 years ago

I wouldn’t trust stories about people opening private notes at the kosel

There was an author of kids books who wrote several stories about a woman who used to open notes at the kosel and we all know how he turned out…

Anonymous
Anonymous
2 years ago

The shmooze and daas Torah perspective is nice, but this is rather bizarre.

Did the gentile not have a phone and/or TV in his hotel room? No Internet? Why did he need G-d to (send a messenger to) tell him who won?

Whatever; I guess he had his reasons…

Achdus
Achdus
2 years ago

Nonsense at it’s best. The goy could have found out by himself faster than anyone else with one click on the internet.
The true mash is that in the paper the dude asked Hashem for team Y to win and promised God 2K if so would happen. The “brisker” wanted to make sure that the money reaches Hasehem.

grumpy
grumpy
2 years ago

beautiful inspiring story! thank you VIN

Triumpinwhitehouse
Triumpinwhitehouse
2 years ago

Very suspicious story in the age of the internet

Rats rats DemocRATs
Rats rats DemocRATs
2 years ago

Beautiful story.

Frank the God father AKA Frankie the calzone.
Frank the God father AKA Frankie the calzone.
2 years ago

Weird story….youze are weird peeples.

lastword
Noble Member
lastword
2 years ago

The players who stand up against the ridiculous injection mandates will be the bigger winners for a long time.