The Chazon Ish thanked the Imrei Chaim for the “gutte shecheinus,” and assured him that it would last

When Rav Eliezer Zev Hager, the Vizhnitz-Yerushalayim Rebbe (who today lives in New York) visited Lakewood recently following the announcement of the building of a Vizhnitz neighborhood in the yeshivah town, the historical context wasn’t lost. With a new Vizhnitzer kiryah to join so many other chassidic groups who’ve settled in Lakewood in recent years, it’s not the first time Vizhnitz and a major yeshivah settled side by side.

Veteran chassidim recalled how, many decades ago, the Imrei Chaim — grandfather of this rebbe — moved the chassidus to Bnei Brak. At the time, the Rebbe insisted that the yeshivah and surrounding homes use a generator on Shabbos instead of electricity from the Israel Electric Corporation, since in Bnei Brak, he maintained, the psak followed the Chazon Ish — and the Chazon Ish ruled against using electricity on Shabbos.

At the time, one of the chassidim asked the Chazon Ish if the generator wasn’t an impediment to oneg Shabbos, since it made so much noise. “The generator,” the Chazon Ish replied, “isn’t making a commotion, it’s shouting, ‘Shabbos, Shabbos, Shabbos.’ ”

In time, the Chazon Ish thanked the Imrei Chaim for the “gutte shecheinus,” and assured him that it would last: The two tzaddikim would later be buried near each other, in Bnei Brak’s Zichron Meir cemetery — the partnership enduring.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 826)