When R. Samuel Abba returned from Moscow, he stayed for the first Sabbath at his son-in-law R. Gedaliah Aaron. During the meal, R. Samuel Abba said – “Hand me an egg with some sugar powder and some vinegar and I will make a dish” – and then recounted the following story.
When he was in prison together with the Ruzhiner they would bring both him and the Ruzhiner food from the outside. There once occurred a [halakhic] problem [with the food] – and in the end, he did not have anything to eat – so he sent a request to R. Samuel Abba whether he could give him something to eat. R. Samuel Abba wanted to fulfill [the commandment of] welcoming guests with all that he possessed. So he made him a dish out of the things he then had with him – an egg some sugar powder and a cup of vinegar. Afterward, he asked the Ruzhiner’s servant whether the Ruzhiner enjoyed his dish. The servant replied – “Yes, yes, he enjoyed it very much.”
R. Samuel Abba concluded: “Since the Ruzhiner enjoyed it I wish to eat this dish during the first Shabbat I am free.”
{Pinchas Landau says “R. Samuel Abba related this even though we know that he did not hold of the Ruzhiner”}
I.F.
Pinchas Landau
