"You see, he was saying, the Avnei Miluim was able to write a teshuvah on Erev Succos"

"There was a write-up in the secular media when the Rosh Yeshivah was niftar, an interview with his personal doctor, Professor Giladi. They asked him a question. Parkinson’s is known to be debilitating, to bring depression and a lack of will to go on — but in the case of this patient, it seems the opposite was true. He was known for his warmth and joy, his love for people, his grand dreams and grand actions, his radiant face and elevated spirit. How does it make sense? I will always remember his answer. The doctor said, ‘It doesn’t make sense. It’s a unique phenomenon that applied only to Rav Finkel and no one else.’ That was Rav Nosson Tzvi. Only Rav Nosson Tzvi. Circumstances didn’t dictate his reaction, but the opposite. He was above them, and they bent to him.”

—Rav Menachem Zaritsky,

Mir menahel, on the tenth yahrtzeit of Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel

"He told me we’d be learning Erev Succos too, like every other day, and we arranged to learn after Shacharis. But then he added, ‘Shmuli, come in your Yom Tov clothing.’ We sat down after Shacharis and learned straight, without cease, until the siren rang. And then, as we stood up, he looked at me, his face lit up in a radiant smile, and said, ‘I have a present for you.’ He showed me a teshuvah from the Avnei Miluim, dated ‘14 Tishrei.’ You see, he was saying, the Avnei Miluim was able to write a teshuvah on Erev Succos. That was the Rosh Yeshivah’s gift to a young bochur.”

—Rav Shmuel Wolman, Mir maggid shiur, on the tenth yahrtzeit of Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 882)