Who Deserves the Higher Aliyah

Rav Yaakov of Lisa and Rav Akiva Eiger of Posen once travelled to Warsaw together on communal business, and they spent Shabbos there. In shul the gabbai honored Rav Akiva Eiger with shelishi and gave Rav Yaakov the sixth aliyah, shishi.

Rav Akiva Eiger could hardly daven. His mind kept returning to the thought that his friend, whose learning he held in such esteem, might feel slighted. He was not troubled for himself. He was troubled for another man's dignity.

On the walk back, Rav Yaakov saw the worry on his face and understood at once. He told him gently that nobody had weighed their learning that morning. In such places the Torah honors follow the size of the community each rav serves, and Posen was a larger city than Lisa. The gabbai had counted people, not wisdom.

Rav Akiva Eiger was relieved, and the two went on to their meal as friends. Those who tell the story note how little ego was left in the room. One man worried that he had been honored above his friend, and the other took the trouble to lift the worry from him with a few quiet and truthful words.