The title of Rabbi Kamnetzky’s article was perfect. I too benefited from both the kindness and the cheese as a child growing up on the Lower East Side. My parents had a seforim store on Canal St. and we lived in the co-ops closest to Essex St. My father was niftar young r”l and my mother attempted to keep the store going herself.
One day I stopped in to buy some cheese. Reb Leibel Z’l asked me how my mother was doing? There were no other customers so he took a few minutes to offer some advice to me (an only child) on how to deal with my mother’s difficult situation. I was grateful for his chizuk and his timely advice. I still remember how it warmed my heart.
May he be a meilitz yosher for all of klal yisroel.
S. (Grossman) Feldbrand