Rebbetzin Margulya was
the mother of the Gaon, Rav Meir Shapiro, zt”l,
the Rav of Lublin and the Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivas
Chachmei Lublin.
She devoted her life to ensuring that her son would
eventually grow into a
Gadol B’Yisroel, and every day she reminded him that a day without
learning
Torah is a day wasted. When Rav Meir Shapiro began
to learn Chumash,
Rebbetzin Margulya prepared a beautiful Seudah for the local Rabbanim,
as an
indication of her great love for Torah. Reb Meir
Shapiro once told a childhood
story about his mother. “When I was a boy, my family was
forced to move
several times from house to house, and from city to city.
The constant moving
did not bother my mother, but only one thing would
disturb her— my Bitul
Torah, when I was not able to learn
Torah! On one occasion, as we were again
preparing to move, my mother contacted the Rebbe of the
town to which we
were moving, and arranged that he would meet me by the
gate of the city so that
he could be able to learn with me immediately when we
arrived at the town.
When we finally reached our destination, we searched and
searched, but the
Rebbe was not there. My mother sat down in despair next
to the wagon and
cried for a long time. I tried to calm her down by
saying, ‘Mommy, why are you
crying? I’ll learn tomorrow!’ My mother answered me, ‘Meir!
You don’t yet
know how to appreciate the meaning of one day of Torah
learning, and what
wasting a single day of Torah
learning really means!” (Chaim Sheyeish Bahem).
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