By Dr. Zev Ballen
Rabbi Lazer Brody, who for years has been a steadfastly loyal pupil of Rav Shalom Arush, told me that though many people know that Rav Arush is a tzaddik, they still don't know what level of tzaddik he is - his spiritual powers are simply awesome.
The following two stories prove it.
I heard from Rav Dror Moshe Cassuto that there was a large gathering of people, here in Israel, several years ago. Thousands of people came to participate and hear a panel of distinguished Rabbis speak.
The organizer of this event had the merit to drive Rabbi Dovid Stern from Bnei Brak to the gathering. Rabbi Dovid Stern is the son of one of the thirty-six hidden tzaddikim of our generation. On the way, in the car, the organizer of the event remarked to Rabbi Dovid Stern, 
that there is someone who makes CD's, his name is Shalom Arush. He said, 'I simply cannot stand to hear that man's voice.'
Rabbi Dovid looked the man squarely in the eyes and said: 'You obviously don't know who you are speaking about. Rabbi Shalom Arush has achieved something than no human being has achieved since the creation of the world.'
If you have any doubt about it - read this:
My chavrusa (study partner) told me this story. He heard it from Rav Dror.
There was a man living here in Israel. He was a non-religious Jew whose wife divorced him. The man was given a terrible judgment in court. He had to pay almost his whole salary to his ex-wife every month. As time went on, he became more and more depressed. It was bad enough to lose his family, but to work like a dog for the rest of his life and have nothing for himself - that was too much to bear. He decided he would end his life.
He took his car out on the highway. He put his foot all the way down on the accelerator and thought that eventually he would crash into something - then his suffering would be over.
The car raced up to 90mph...then 100mph...then 115mph - When all of a sudden, the young man saw one of Rabbi Shalom Arush's CD's sitting next to him. One of Rabbi Shalom Arush's students had given it to him at an intersection. He had never listened to it.
Seconds away from disaster, his hand inexplicably reached for the CD. He thought that if he listened to it as he was leaving this world at least he would go out listening to something holy. He was hoping that this would help him in the next world. He shoved the disk into the player and hit the button a few times. By now he was flying at 120 mph. He didn't care about listening to the disk from the beginning. It started someone in the middle.
The very first words that he heard Rabbi Shalom say were: "WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF?" Continue here...
Have a Blessed week!
Dr. Zev Ballen
