The Empathy Of A Gadol

לזכות רבי אפרים אבא בן מרים שושנה לברכה והצלחה בכל מעשי ידיו

A story I heard from the "baal ha-story".....

In 1991, Rav Ovadia Yosef ztz"l came to YU to give a shiur. There were 1,500 people waiting for "Maran" in the Beis Medrash to deliver his shiur. Right before he entered, as Rabbi Lamm was ushering him in, a student approached him and said in Hebrew "My father is in Iran and can't get out. Please give him a bracha". Rav Ovadiah stopped dead in his tracks and said "What? Your father is stuck in Iran and they won't let him out??" Rav Ovadiah started to cry. And cry. And cry. This went on for a number of minutes even though he was already supposed to have entered the Beis Medrash to start the shiur. Finally, he blessed the boys father with a long intense bracha that he should have the good fortune to leave Iran.

After spending 10 minutes with this boy he entered the Beis Medrash to start his shiur. He asked Rav Dovid Lifshitz ztz"l what sugya he was teaching in shiur and Rav Dovid told him that they were learning a certain sugya in maseches makkos. On the spot, Rav Ovadiah started his shiur...

13 hours later [after a wait of 3 years!!] his father received his papers allowing him to leave and eventually arrived in the US and was reunited with his family.  

We see the love of Chacham Ovadia for a fellow Jew he never met and we also see the power of a bracha of a tzadik.

Zchut ha-tzadikim yaazor vi-yagein vi-yoshea!!