A Mother's Tears at the Derosha

It is told that even before the Kol Arye was born, his mother was shaping his future. While she carried him, she came often to the shul in Mad and sat behind the mechitza to hear the fiery deroshos of Rav Amrom Rosenbaum, known as Rav Amrom Chasida.

One day, as Rav Amrom worked through a difficult sugya and its pilpul, she burst into tears. People came over, afraid for her health, but she waved them away. “Do not be afraid,” she said. “I am not crying from pain or distress. I am pleading with Hashem that I should merit to raise this child with good mazal, so that one day he too will be able to speak a derosha as deep as this one.”

The child was born within days, on the yahrzeit of his ancestor Aharon HaKohen. Those who tell the story say that his path to greatness was paved by his mother's tears.