Joseph,
Thank you for pointing out your response. I don’t think it was “up” for viewing when I wrote mine.
He suggested Reb Elchonon was zoche to die al kiddish Hashem when the time came for him to leave this world; not that Reb Elchonon was zoche to die.
I understand this point in theory, but isn’t it presumptuous for a human being to say whether another man died at his proper time? Or to assert with certitude what was in the Divine calculus when a gadol was murdered? It doesn’t sit right with me. And furthermore, such thoughts can CV”S lead to callousness. When Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel was murdered al kiddush Hashem before the eyes of Rabbi Yishmael the Kohen Gadol (which was actually Rabbi Shimon’s wish, because he did not want to witness the murder of the Kohen Gadol), did Rabbi Yishmael exclaim what a marvelous zechus it was that Rabbi Shimon received, or did he weep?