Story Time

A few Hours late but today was the Yartziet of Reb Shlome ben Ben-Tzion Halbershtam- the Rebbie of Bobov Zatzal.
On a normal weekday the Bobover Ruv- R' Shlome Halbershtam, would daven shachris with the balai batim in the main Shul of Bobov. Being that most of the minyan was made up of people that had to be at work, the Ruv made sure to daven at a regular pace in order to be finished on time. When he was on vacation he was able to spend more time on Shachris and made sure to take advantage of it. It is said that Birchas Krias Shema- that usually takes five to ten minutes would take him at least twenty! One day while on vacation the Gabbi realized that the RUv was crying when he said the words 'Baal milchomos'- praising Hashem that he is the leader of war. The Gabbi was perplexed by this behavior for it was a time that the world was at peace and no war was being held, so he asked the Ruv what was he crying about? The Ruv answered that when he was in New York around the Chassidim the Chassidim had someone to look up to and be inspired by and thus their fight against the Yetzar Horah was easier. Being that he is away for awhile it's easy for the chassidim to forget him and loose some power in the fight for good and growth. When he praised Hashem that he leads wars he wasn't referring to the physical wars that go on in the world, he was praising Hashem and begging him to help his Chassidim back home to stay connected and be able to overcome the yetzer horah and not falter one bit from their connection to Hashem.