Continued from the biography of R. Zalman Duchman:
R. Zalman’s exceptional kindness and selflessness is aptly portrayed in the following story, as recounted by his daughter:
It was the day after Simchas Torah and my father had lain down to rest. He was exhausted after spending the last two days on his feet, and without much sleep. Just then there was a knock on the door. A local rabbi came with an urgent request: There was a Jew who was being expelled from the country because of the lack of necessary papers. If a respected man like R. Zalman would testify in court on the man’s behalf, the man could perhaps be allowed to remain. R. Zalman’s wife tried to reason that her husband was exhausted and he needed the rest, though R. Zalman heard the conversation from his room. He immediately got dressed and went with the rabbi. For many hours they travelled and waited in the court in Manhattan, and they successfully spared one Jew from suffering.