One Crown Traded for Another

Rav Sholom Kaminker's grandfather and namesake, the wealthy Graf of Rava, once fell ill. In those days the railroad did not yet run past those parts, and the chassidim who passed through town on their way to the Chozeh of Lublin added his name to a long list of petitioners on a large kvitel.

It took them weeks to arrive. When they handed the Chozeh the kvitel, the tzaddik ran his finger down the names and pronounced his blessings and tefilos for each one in turn. When he reached the name of the Graf, Rav Sholom Rosenfeld, the tzaddik shook his head sadly. "I can no longer do anything for him. He has traded in his crown for another. Instead of kesser malchus, he has donned the kesser Torah."

The chassidim did not understand these cryptic words. Later they learned that the Graf had already passed away from his illness, and that in the meantime a grandson had been born and named for him. Since the grandfather had been known as the wealthy Graf, they then understood what the Chozeh meant: he had left this world and the crown of malchus and wealth behind. His soul had descended into his new grandson, who bore his name and was crowned with the kesser Torah as the tzaddik Rav Sholom Kaminker.