There is a fellow in Eretz Yisrael who is the editor of the Hebrew Yated Ne’eman. His name is Yisrael Friedman. He was extremely close with Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman. He was in his house many times. One day, eighteen years before Rav Aharon Leib was niftar, the phone rings by Yisrael Friedman. He picks up the phone – it’s the rosh yeshivah. Rav Aharon Leib is calling. Rav Aharon Leib tells him, “I have to speak to you right now…”
We have to learn from our avos, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, that we need to develop in every area of our lives. The avos built the future of Klal Yisrael. Their whole outlook and their whole avodah was with an eye on the future. It’s not the pshat that the avos were great Jews, super Yidden, and therefore they got a present, and were blessed with good children. That’s how we may see it. When we see a guy has good kids, what do we say? “Oh, he got a brachah. He went to a rebbe. He went to a tzaddik. He went to some kever. Maybe he did a good deed.” You have to realize the avos were called avos. Do you know what avos means?
