The Chasam Sofer's Birth and Recovery

His birth was a difficult one, and the labor was drawn out and painful. When some of the disciples and Torah scholars saw that their rebbe did not seem to do anything to try and hasten the birth of his son, they questioned his lack of motive. “Why didn’t the rav daven that his wife give birth easier and quicker?” they asked.

“Surely, you knows the statement of Chazal Yoma 38 that when one sun rises, the other sets?” the Chasam Sofer said. “When one tzaddik’s life ends like sunset, another tzaddik’s life begins like the sunrise. Surely my son will be a tzaddik; and if so, how can I hasten his birth and cause another tzaddik’s life to end prematurely?”