Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Spektor (1817-1896) was a great rabbinic authority and chief of the Jewish community of Kovno, Lithuania.
When Simon J. Finkelstein was a boy of twelve, on his way to hear Rabbi Isaac (his grandfather) speak, his leg was fractured by a log that fell from a construction site. On the day before Yom Kippur, the venerable Rabbi came to the hospital to visit the sick; hearing about the accident, he placed his hands on Simon’s head and said, “You will live a long life and become a great rabbi in Israel.”
In Kovno there was a Reform shul, known as the “Choir Shul.” Being progressive and patriotic, they decided one year that the shul should fly the Russian flag. When Rabbi Isaac Elhanan heard of this, he was aghast at the sacrilege, and he let the members of the shul no the flag didn’t come down, he would leave Kovno.
So the Choir Shul had a meeting. The general feeling was that they could not possibly be the cause of Rabbi Isaac Elhanan leaving Kovno, so, if he felt so strongly about it, the flag would have to come down. One man, the richest man in the community was supposed; he said “Let him go! He’s not our rabbi, and he can’t tell us what to do.” However, this man was defeated in the flag came down.
A few days later there was a bris, and the Rabbi was there, and the rich man was also there. The Rabbi was shaking hands all around, and he also shook hands with the rich man. The people who all knew the story were appalled. “You’re letting the honor of the Torah lapse,” they objected. “It will be useful,” the Rabbi replied.
Some years later a Jew who had worked on the fortifications of Kovno was accused of selling plants to the Germans. Under the Tsars, as under their successors, a person accused and arrested for a crime was as good as convicted, unless some powerful influence could be asserted on his behalf. The only man to the Jewish community with that kind of influence was the same rich man, who is a close personal friend of the governor. So Rabbi Isaac Elhanan went to see the rich man, to ask him to ask the Governor to make sure that the accused got a fair trial.
The rich man was very reluctant. “You’re asking a very hard thing,” he said. “To interfere in a case of treason is very difficult. After all, I’m also a Jew.”
“There are times when one has to do dangerous things,” replied the Rabbi.
”Well, I'll do it,” answered the rich man. “But you should know I'm only doing it because I remember that handshake.”
The rich man's efforts were successful. The case was investigated fairly and the guilt turned out to lie with two Russian soldiers.
Louis Finkelstein was master of the useful handshake. - as told by Hadassah Davis, daughter of Rabbi Louis Finklestein
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