In the sefer Da Es Atzmecha, the mechaber writes that the essence of giving is that you are aware of what a person really needs or is lacking. To properly give someone a gift, you have to understand them. You shouldn’t, for example, give someone a sweater because you think it looks good. Since it was my birthday recently, my wife and son came up with an awesome gift for me.
Last year for my anniversary, my wife got me a digital photo frame and it’s been sitting in the box, unused. Over the summer, while at someone’s home, I saw such a frame displaying family pictures and commented, “Wouldn’t it be cool to just load a frame with with photos of gedolim?”
Well, thanks to my wife and son, my living room is currently rockin’ a digital frame with photographs (culled from the web) of:
The Chofetz Chaim, Rav Dessler, Reb Moshe and Rav Hutner (talking together), Rav Gifter, Rav Hirsh (illustration), Rav Kalonymus Kalman Shapira (the Piaseczno Rebbe), Rav Freifeld, Rav Moshe Weinberger, Reb Yaakov and Rav Ruderman (walking), the Rav, Reb Aryeh Levin, Rav Kook, and the Alter of Slabodka
That’s such a great idea!
Thanks. Eventually I’ll throw some different photos in there, too.