A strange story was related regarding Rav Shteinman.
the story goes that when Rav Shteinman was a young man and went out on a shidduch date with his eventual wife, he wore a shmatta covering his eyes. When asked why he did this, Rav Shteinman supposedly answered that he was concerned that maybe the young woman he was going to meet would not want to marry him, and then he will have seen her for no reason and "impurified" his eyes for no purpose. He had decided that if she would say she wants to marry him, he would then remove the cover from his eyes and look at her momentarily, as he would be required to see his wife before marrying.
source: Kikar
I am not really sure what the purpose of this story is. Is it true? Is it not true? Is it hadracha - is this how we are supposed to act, or a level we are supposed to try to achieve? Is this just a story of something extraordinary by somebody extraordinary for us to admire but not really learn from on a practical level? I am not sure what the point is.
It does seem to be another moment in the hassidization of Litvishe rabbonim, though to be fair - the story was being told by a hassidishe rav.
Rav Shteinman is a great man, rav, leader. He doesn't need stories like this. They don't make him greater. If it really happened as it was told, I don't think this is one of those stories we need to know or are meant to learn anything from.
------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel
------------------------------------------------------
