A Letter for His Adversary

His family related that when Rav Moshe's ruling on a well-known sheilo was publicly attacked, one of the critics, a man of poor middos, insulted him personally. Rav Moshe stayed firm in his psak.

Some time later, the man was caught by the American authorities for a minor offence and feared a harsh sentence. He came to Rav Moshe, not to apologize, but to ask for a letter to the judge, since even non-Jews respected the Rav's word. Rav Moshe at once took out paper and pen and wrote a warm letter that read as if it were about a close friend, and handed it over.

His astonished family asked how he could help so wholeheartedly someone who had so recently shamed him. Rav Moshe was not working on his middos; he acted naturally and did not understand their surprise. "If I am in a position to help this man," he said, "how can I refuse to extend a helping hand to a fellow Jew in need?"