Why Reb Moshe Left Slutzk

Rav Avrohom Pruskin, the son of Rav Pesach, once asked the Gaon Rav Moshe Feinstein, one of his father's main talmidim, why he had left the Slutzk yeshiva. He wanted to understand why Reb Moshe had left Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, the famous Rosh Yeshiva of Slutzk, to be with his father, who was then still relatively young.

Reb Moshe replied, "If you want to know who your father was, I will tell you what he did and how he acted. During the summer he went to the countryside with us and sat down in the grass, learning Torah with us for the entire day. He opened a Gemara and immersed himself in the minutest detail and the most infinitesimal nuances concerning the question at hand. He listened attentively to what each student said, and in this way he conquered our hearts. Where could we have found a Rosh Yeshiva like your father, who spent the entire day with his students? Of course Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer was an extraordinary Rosh Yeshiva, but he was busy tending to the needs of the city's community, and it was impossible for him to devote as much time to his students as your father did."

Rav Avrohom Pruskin said, "That was the secret of my father's success."