“Aharon carried the names of Bnei Yisrael on the breastplate on his heart, when he came into the Holy place, as a remembrance in front of Hashem forever.” (Shemos 28:29)

The two pieces of the Kohein Gadol’s clothing that the Torah speaks the most about are the Choshen (breastplate) and the Tzitz (headplate). Why does the Torah describe at length specifically these two pieces of clothing?

Rav Yosef Ber Soloveitchik (1903-1993, quoted in the Pardes Journal), gave a eulogy on Rav Chayim Ozer Grodzinsky (1863-1940). He said that there are some Rabanim who know much halacha in their heads, but don’t carry Klal Yisrael’s problems in their heart. This is an allusion to a disconnect between the Tzitz (one’s Torah knowledge) and the Choshen (one’s caring about all the different facets of klal Yisrael in his heart). A true Torah giant combines both of these attributes, when paskening a question or giving advice, as otherwise their Psak or advice may not take all of the pertinent information into account.

This kind of a situation seems to have also cropped up in the story of Megilas Esther. What do you think the headlines in the Shushan Jewish Times were when Mordechai refused to bow down to Haman? There were definitely those who said that Mordechai, with his religious fanaticism, sold Klal Yisrael down the river. In reality, it was actually the opposite. This was the catalyst to restore klal Yisrael in Hashem’s favor and cause the redemption to come.

Rav Shach (Elazar Menachem Man Shach 1899-2001) once had a question about how to handle a certain student. He went to the Brisker Rav (Rav Yitzchok Zev Halevi Soloveitchik 1886-1959) to ask advice. Rav Shach’s idea was to do something which was more on the liberal side. The Brisker Rav said not to do it. Rav Shach walked out and told the people that they can go ahead with the suggestion that Rav Shach made. Somebody, who had overheard the conversation, asked Rav Shach: “Didn’t the Brisker Rav say not to do it?”. To this, Rav Shach that if the Brisker Rav meant to not do it under any circumstances, he would have been screaming. The fact that he just said it in a normal tone meant that he was leaving it up to me to make the final decision. That person later told the Brisker Rav what Rav Shach said, and asked the Brisker Rav, what he thought of Rav Shach’s decision. The Brisker Rav responded that Rav Shach understands things very well.

We see from this story, that true Gedolim have the ability to read between the lines and see things that the regular person can’t see. Where does this come from? This comes from their brain, which is full of all the Torah that they have learnt. This is how the Tzitz is related to the Choshen. The combination of a thorough Torah understanding with their big hearts gives them the ability to give direction in worldly matters.

I told this story to a friend of mine whose grandfather learned with Rav Shach in Kletzk. His grandfather said that in Kletzk, one couldn’t speak to Rav Shach about anything besides Torah, as he didn’t have any interest or understanding in anything else.

This seems to me to be the exact recipe necessary to become a true gadol biyisrael. Those people who are fully focused on their learning will have the tools necessary to deal with what Hashem throws at them and to help those who seek their advice.