The Alter of Slabodka Hides a Father's Death
The Alter of Slabodka kept news of young Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman's father's death from him so he could finish Shas, valuing it above the Kaddish.
Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman, zt’l, who was the rosh yeshiva of Ner Yisrael, had learned in the Slabodka yeshiva as a teenager. He had under-taken to complete Shas for the second time during a winter z’man. It was then that the news reached the Alter of Slabodka that Rav Yaakov Yitzchak’s father had passed away. The Alter was afraid that the news of his father’s passing might seriously hamper Yaakov Yitzchak’s learning and he would not be able to complete his goal of finishing Shas again. The Alter viewed the achievement of that goal as crucial to the young student’s development. Therefore, the Alter temporarily hid the bad news from him. Someone asked the Alter, what about the merit of a son reciting Kaddish? The Alter answered that the z’chus of completing Shas and growing in Torah is seven times greater than all the Kaddishes he would miss. (The Mashgiach, p. 268)