At a rabbinic meeting that Rav Simcha Wasserman ztz"l "was
forced to attend," he had been increasingly disturbed by
the direction taken by a number of
his colleagues on some serious communal and religious matters. Some of
those present had been passive, allowing a group of their peers to express opinions that seemed to veer
dangerously from the Rosh Yeshiva's
premises about the primacy of Daas
Torah.
As the discussion was about
to go up for a vote among the rabbis,
one of them turned to him: "Well,
Rabbi Wasserman, what do you say?" He was quiet for a
moment and then said, "Gentlemen,
having listened to your new ideas, I
have decided that if you are rabbis,
then 1 want to be called 'Mister'. Please
address me as 'Mr. Wasserman.'" The
tide of the meeting turned and the
matter at hand was settled according
to Torah priorities.
