Little Giant Man - Monthly Gedolim Story
As we are now in the month of Cheshvan, it is time for this months' "Gadol Story". The following tale, originally was found by me in one of Rabbi Paysach Krohns many books, before I heard it being told over on video by Rabbi Yoel Gold. Featuring Reb Eliezer Gelzahler a''h, this story it is one I have been thinking about posting on here for some time. I hope that, now as I am sharing it, you will enjoy it and learn from it.
Best Wishes to you all,
Yitzy Schweitzer
Little Giant Man - Monthly Gedolim Story
A few years ago, Chana Malka Gelzahler, the daughter of Reb Eliezer Gelzahler, was driving down the Garden State Parkway. Driving from Lakewood, New Jersey to New York, she realised that her gas tank was getting close to being empty. As she was on the Garden State Parkway, she went toward Exit 127, where there was a gas station she could make use of.
She pulls up to a pump and takes note of the fact that the attendant whose name was Vinnie, was midget measuring up at about three and half feet tall. He came over to the car, put the pump in and after putting in enough gas went to wash the windshield.
As he was washing one of the windows, he suddenly stopped and pointed to a picture. That picture was of Reb Eliezer Gelzahler, her father, who had passed away only recently in a bus accident. Vinnie turned to Chana Malka and asked "What is that picture doing there?" Chana Malka, who was wondering what this guy was looking in to her car for just said "He is my father, Rabbi Eliezer Gelzahler". Vinnie was shocked "This man is your father?" he asked, "Yes, did you know him?" Chana Malka responded curiously.
Vinnie responded "I have been looking for him for two years. You know, your father would come here to get gas and every time he saw me he would talk with me, keep me company for a few minutes. Why did he stop coming?"
Chana Malka softly responded "My father unfortunately passed away recently, in a bus accident." Vinnie was shocked and began crying. As he cried, he told Chana Malka, "You know, every day, every week, people come in, whether in the rain, sleet, snow, they drive through, ask for help with their gas and than they just drive away. Some of them look at me weirdly because of my midget status. But your father came out of his car, the moment he saw me, looked me straight in the eye and without missing a beat exclaimed 'You are my inspiration! You have every reason, to play the role of victim, stay in bed in the morning and not come to work like a regular person. Yet, you choose to act as if you don't have a handicap and you come to work like everybody else!" '
Vinnie continued, "Every time he would come and see me, he'd get out of his car, talk with me for a bit, keep me company and call me 'A Giant Man'.
Rabbi Gelzahler, after that first encounter with Vinnie, told him as he was leaving the gas station, that he was driving to his Yeshiva, Yeshiva Oh Yisroel, where he was a Rosh Yeshiva for over two hundred boys and he was going in with a tremendous lesson for the day, about how on his way to work, he met this fantastic young man, a gas station attendant, who overcame his given challenges and he would tell them "If HE can do it, YOU can do it, too!"
Vinnie turns to Chana Malka and says, "That day, your father was the first person to ever make me feel tall"
She pulls up to a pump and takes note of the fact that the attendant whose name was Vinnie, was midget measuring up at about three and half feet tall. He came over to the car, put the pump in and after putting in enough gas went to wash the windshield.
As he was washing one of the windows, he suddenly stopped and pointed to a picture. That picture was of Reb Eliezer Gelzahler, her father, who had passed away only recently in a bus accident. Vinnie turned to Chana Malka and asked "What is that picture doing there?" Chana Malka, who was wondering what this guy was looking in to her car for just said "He is my father, Rabbi Eliezer Gelzahler". Vinnie was shocked "This man is your father?" he asked, "Yes, did you know him?" Chana Malka responded curiously.
Vinnie responded "I have been looking for him for two years. You know, your father would come here to get gas and every time he saw me he would talk with me, keep me company for a few minutes. Why did he stop coming?"
Chana Malka softly responded "My father unfortunately passed away recently, in a bus accident." Vinnie was shocked and began crying. As he cried, he told Chana Malka, "You know, every day, every week, people come in, whether in the rain, sleet, snow, they drive through, ask for help with their gas and than they just drive away. Some of them look at me weirdly because of my midget status. But your father came out of his car, the moment he saw me, looked me straight in the eye and without missing a beat exclaimed 'You are my inspiration! You have every reason, to play the role of victim, stay in bed in the morning and not come to work like a regular person. Yet, you choose to act as if you don't have a handicap and you come to work like everybody else!" '
Vinnie continued, "Every time he would come and see me, he'd get out of his car, talk with me for a bit, keep me company and call me 'A Giant Man'.
Rabbi Gelzahler, after that first encounter with Vinnie, told him as he was leaving the gas station, that he was driving to his Yeshiva, Yeshiva Oh Yisroel, where he was a Rosh Yeshiva for over two hundred boys and he was going in with a tremendous lesson for the day, about how on his way to work, he met this fantastic young man, a gas station attendant, who overcame his given challenges and he would tell them "If HE can do it, YOU can do it, too!"
Vinnie turns to Chana Malka and says, "That day, your father was the first person to ever make me feel tall"
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