ראש השנה טו

When רבי שלמה איגר heard on ערב יום טוב that the גאון רבי יעקב of Lisa, the author of חוות יאיר, arrived in Warsaw, he immediately went to greet him.  רבי שלמה said: “Even though the חכמים said חייב אדם לקבל פני רבו ברגל, they also said חייב אדם לטהר את עצמו ברגל.  In my opinion, these two מאמרים are consistent.  Just as a person is required to enter the חג when he is already טהור on the ערב חג, so too when the פסוק states that חייב אדם לקבל פני רבו ברגל, it refers to ערב חג.”  Smiling, רבי יעקב responded: “In truth, the חכמים were referring to the חג itself.  However, they were speaking of a רב.  But someone who hasn’t actually reached the level of a רב and is only בחזקת ערב רב, a person like that you should be מקבל פניו בערב החג.”

05/10/2021