Quoting an interview with Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Auerbach, rabbi of Ramat Chen for close to fifty years:
At one point in our discussion, the Rebbe put his hand on my shoulder. “I wanted to ask: Have you been involved in the current debate taking place among the rabbis of Eretz Yisrael?” In those days, a heated Halachic controversy had erupted on some serious questions concerning Jewish matrimonial law and conversion to Judaism. Some rabbis had taken a “lenient” position on these issues, while other, more charedi authorities were more traditional.
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Clarifying his questions, the Rebbe added: “I know that there are some rabbis in Israel who have become involved in politics, and their Halachic positions must be treated with caution, since they may be politically motivated. But I also know that your uncle, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman, has nothing to do with politics. That’s why I’d like to know his position.”
I told the Rebbe that I was very close with one of the rabbis at the heart of the debate, and because of all the controversy, I turned to my uncle for his views on the matter. He told me that he, too, had been personally acquainted with the same rabbi as a young man; they had both been considered prodigies, and they have studied together for a time. “His Halachic views,” my uncle asserted of this rabbi, “are mixed with private ambition and personal interests.”
When I pressed my uncle, he refused to elaborate: “I have told you what I needed to say; anything more is gossip. I don’t want to speak about it any further.”
Interestingly, on my return to Israel, I gave my uncle a detailed account of my audience with the Rebbe. When I mentioned what the Rebbe had said of him – that he was apolitical, and that his Halachic views were devoid of ulterior motives – he gave a slight nod. I know that my uncle had great respect for the Rebbe – he would occasionally hand me one of the Rebbe’s published talks and say that I would benefit from learning it – but he didn’t know how well the Rebbe knew him. When I told him how deeply affected I had been from my audience with the Rebbe, he gave another gesture with his head, acknowledging how fortunate I had been to meet him.