Their differences in psak halachah did not get in the way of the genuine respect and friendship they shared for each other

IN 1916, my grandfather, Rav Menachem HaLevi Pollak, a highly regarded talmid chacham, succeeded his father-in-law Rav Pinchas HaLevi Billitzer as the rav in Szerencs, a town in northeast Hungary. Rav Pollak was an eminent halachic authority for the region, and in 1934 he authored Shu”t Chelek Levi, containing over 330 teshuvos on various facets of Jewish life.

For many years, Rav Pollak worked with the local authorities on matters pertaining to the welfare of the community. But as Nazi propaganda began to influence the local populace, things began to change. The burgermeister (mayor), who’d been cordial and helpful in the past, now greeted him with coldness and indifference. Another time a gentile teenager slapped him across the face, without any provocation.