The episode with the semicha was in part due to ravs humility never obtaining credentials and also, I think when he was running from Soviet Russia to Lita in the 1920s, so pikuach nefesh overrode humility. He actually paskened that it was pikuach nefesh when he asked his s-i-l to go get the vids on Friday, and sil replied yes, I’ll take first train on Sunday, but rav said: no. Please go on shabbos. Incidentally, he later regretted the decision to save his life at the expense of abandoning others, as all rabbis left and remaining Jews had no support. This is relevant to some other discussions about how to relate to nonreligious Jews especially from USSR
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