Rav Aharon and the Mafia Chief

It is told that during World War II, twenty-four Rabbonim were detained in Italy, in danger of being returned to Nazi-occupied Europe, where death was certain. Rav Aharon went to Mr. Irving Bunim, the askan (communal leader) who later wrote Ethics From Sinai, and asked who could intercede for them. Mr. Bunim suggested the Italian Mafia, and Rav Aharon urged him to make contact at once.

When the Mafia agreed to a meeting, Mr. Bunim asked who would be going. Rav Aharon said simply, "You and I." They went to see the godfather, Joe Bonnano. Since Rav Aharon did not speak English, Mr. Bunim explained the plight of the twenty-four Rabbonim.

Bonnano asked who the elderly man beside him was. Mr. Bunim answered that he was the godfather of the Jewish people. Bonnano then said he wanted a blessing, and Mr. Bunim passed the request on in Yiddish. Rav Aharon replied that he should live long and die in bed. When this was translated, Bonnano said he liked it, and he promised to arrange the release of the Rabbonim within two weeks. He kept his word.

Some twenty years later, in 1964, a black limousine pulled up outside the yeshiva in Lakewood. Two well-dressed men asked for Rav Kotler. When Rav Shneur Kotler introduced himself, they said they were looking for an older man. He told them that was his father, who had since passed away.

The visitors were the Bonnano brothers. Their father, they explained, had always credited his long life to Rav Aharon's blessing, and now that he had retired and they were taking over the family business, they had come for the same bracha. Rav Shneur answered that his father could give such a blessing but that he himself was not on that level. They understood the idea of yeridas hadoros (the spiritual decline of the generations) and left. Joe Bonnano is said to have lived to the age of ninety-seven.