25 Sep VAYELECH – YOM KIPPUR: GRABBING MERITS

Erev Yom Kippur
afternoon, the
Chasam Sofer zt’l
once asked his
daughter to arrange
a shidduch between
two orphans.
“I will do it
immediately after
Yom Kippur” she
said. The Chasam
Sofer asked her to
take care of it immediately. “I want to
have this merit for Yom Kippur.”
She began the process, and reported back
to her father, “The boy is concerned since
she has no money.” The Chasam Sofer
replied, “Tell him that he will always
have parnassah. He will not necessarily
be rich, but he will always have all his
needs.” The shidduch was finalized right
then and there, on erev Yom Kippur.
When the Chasam Sofer came into the
beis medresh for Kol Nidrei, the gabai
pointed to his watch. It was late.

“It’s not late” the Chasam Sofer told
him. “Heaven begins the judgment when
I say Kol Nidrei.”
The Chasam Sofer’s son-in-law once
saw a pillar of fire in the Chasam Sofer’s
house on erev Yom Kippur and fainted
from fright. When he came back to,
the Chasam Sofer told him that it was
Eliyahu HaNavi.
These are examples of the greatness
of the Chasam Sofer: In heaven they
started adjudicating on Yom Kippur
only when the Chasam Sofer began Kol
Nidrei! Eliyahu HaNavi was seen in his
home! Yet, the Chasam Sofer felt that
he doesn’t have sufficient merits for
Yom Kippur, so he sought to finalize a
shidduch before Yom Kippur.
We should learn from this and seek to do
as many mitzvos as we can, to increase
our merits for Yom Kippur.
Rebbe Shlomke of Zvhil zy’a was
walking to shul for Kol Nidrei wearing
his tallis and kittel, when he noticed
that someone’s plumbing system broke.
He immediately summoned a plumber,
and didn’t leave until the pipe was

fixed. A passerby saw Reb Shlomke
helping the plumber, and said, “It’s erev
Yom Kippur! Is this the right time for
such things?!” Calmly, Reb Shlomke
answered “I am doing what the Cohen
Gadol did when he was in the Kodshei
Kedoshim.” Rebbe Shlomke understood
that chesed is paramount, especially at
such a holy time.
Rebbe Dovid of Lelov zy’a, too, was seen
moments before Yom Kippur rocking the
crib of a child, as the mother had rushed
to beis medresh for Kol Nidrei, and
didn’t know that the baby she left behind
was crying. These tzaddikim understood
the importance of chesed, especially
before Yom Kippur.
The Rambam writes, “Throughout the
year, everyone must see himself as being
50% virtuous and 50% guilty, and also
the entire world is 50% virtuous and
50% guilty. If he sins, he will tip his own
scale and the entire world to the side of
guilt, and will bring destruction to the
world. And if he does a mitzvah, he tips
himself and the entire world to the side
of merit, and he will bring salvation to
the world… This is the reason all of Bnei
Yisrael are accustomed to increase
tzedakah, good deeds, and to do
mitzvos from Rosh Hashanah until
Yom Kippur, more than the rest of
the year…” (Hilchos Teshuvah 3:4).
We should always consider that we
need just one more mitzvah to be on
the side of zechus (merit) and grab
every opportunity to perform another
good deed. Especially, during Aseres
Yemei Teshuvah, we should seek
to do mitzvos, because this can tip
the scales, for ourselves and for the
entire world.
The following story was told by Rav
Hersch Shach, zt’l. He heard it from
Hershel Kamenitzer z’l.
Herschel Kamenitzer learned in the
Chofetz Chaim’s yeshiva. He never
married. (He had a lung disease, and
couldn’t find a shidduch.) One Yom
Kippur night, the beis medresh was
empty; everyone had gone home to
sleep, only Reb Hershel Kamenitzer

was there. Reb Hershel was sixty-
years-old and was feeling bad for

himself.
Suddenly, the Chofetz Chaim
came in. The Chofetz Chaim came
especially to speak with Reb Hershel,
to give him encouragement.
The Chofetz Chaim told Reb

Herschel about his younger years, when
he was an orphan. How the Haskalah
movement was making inroads and
many people were being swept up in its
vicious whirlwind. The Chofetz Chaim
said evil people were trying to draw him

into the Haskalah, and he needed iron-
clad strength to pass those tests.

Then, the Chofetz Chaim told Reb
Herschel about his life as a young
adult when he sought a shidduch. A girl
from a wealthy family was suggested
to him. The Chofetz Chaim wanted
the shidduch, so he could learn Torah
undisturbed, but his step-father wanted
him to marry his daughter. The Chofetz
Chaim understood that if he doesn’t
agree, it will create a rift in his mother’s
shalom bayis, so he agreed to marry his
step-father’s daughter.
“Now, years later, I realized that this was
better for me,” the Chofetz Chaim told
him. “My close friend married a wealthy
girl. Soon after his marriage he went
into business and lost all the money.
He was left without Torah and without
money. But I am still learning Torah. My
wife stood by my side all these years,
and with her help I printed my sefarim,
which are zikuy harabim. If I married the
wealthy girl, I would have been sucked
into business, and all of that would be
lost.”
The Chofetz Chaim spoke with Reb
Herschel Kamenitzer for a long time,
and explained to him that everything
Hashem does is for the good. We don’t
always understand, but we believe that
everything is arranged for our benefit.
The Chofetz Chaim was very careful
with his time, even more so, on Yom
Kippur. But on that Yom Kippur night,
he spent hours talking to a lonely
bachelor, to help him be happy with his
lot. Every day, especially during Aseres
Yemei Teshuvah, one should seek ways
to increase his merits.