An Affable Lion

On Rav Yechezkel's ninetieth birthday, the Jewish Chronicle paid him tribute. It wrote that he carried himself like an affable lion and ruled exactly as he understood the law, though he was not always so affable, especially when halachah was contradicted. Even Sir Robert Waley Cohen, a man who had little regard for holy people, stood in awe of him.

A fired shochet once took the London Beis Din to a secular court, and Rav Yechezkel was called to testify. After establishing his name and position, the shochet's attorney asked whether he was the foremost living halachic authority in all of continental Europe. "Yes," Rav Yechezkel answered. "It's true." The judge said sharply that surely some humility was in order. The Rav replied, "Your honor, I am under oath."