The Rebbe of Toldos Aharon zt'l would often say the following:
It could happen that a person goes to heaven after 120 years, and they show him a bus filled with religious Yidden and tell him that all these people were saved because of him.
He asks, "How did I save them? I don't even know who they are."
Heaven will tell him, "An Arab came onto a bus, intending to detonate a bomb, and you saved everyone. Because of you, the bomb was found just in the nick of time. All of their lives are to your credit."
The man says to the court, "I never saw that Arab before, and I don't remember being on that bus, either."
The court in heaven will respond, "That's true; you were never on that bus; you were far away from the bus, but nevertheless, you saved everyone. This is because a moment before the bomb detonated, you had a test. You chose to give honor to Hashem, and you passed the test. This merit aroused Hashem's compassion, which saved a busload of people..."
The lesson is that all Yidden are connected. When we have a test, passing it can arouse Hashem's compassion, bringing salvation to Klal Yisrael. When we go up to heaven after 120 years, we will discover all the salvations we accomplished with our good deeds.
Fifteen years ago, in the year 5769, there was a drought in Eretz Yisrael. It first began to rain at the end of the winter. One of the gedolei hador of the time zt'l said that the rain came in the merit of one person who had a test and he passed it. The gadol added that this person wasn't a great tzaddik, but salvation came because of him. This teaches the merits of those who fear Hashem. In their merits, salvations come to the entire world.
Divrei Binah zt'l writes that this is the reason a tzaddik is called עולם יסוד צדיק, a tzaddik, the foundation of the world. The entire world stands on his merit; the entire world has salvation in his merit. Yosef is called עולם יסוד צדיק. He passed a difficult test, and then he became the person who gave parnassah to all Mitzrayim, as it states והוא הארץ עם לכל המשביר. Ruchniyos and gashmiyos come to the world in the merit of a person who passes his tests.
It states (Devarim 23:15) ושב דבר ערות בך יראה ולא מאחריך, "Hashem should not see anything unseemly among you and would turn away from you." This means that when there are aveiros related to tznius and arayos (דבר ערות), Hashem turns away from us, and we lose Hashem's hashgachah pratis and protection. This is the root of all troubles in this world.
Many rabbanim and a large crowd of laymen were gathered at a rabbinic convention. They were waiting for the Imrei Emes zt'l, the rebbe of Gur, to join them. He sent a message that he wouldn't come into the hall unless the mechitzah was improved. There were rabbanim present who said that it wasn't necessary. The mechitzah was kosher according to halachah.
They decided to ask the Chofetz Chaim, and they would do as he ruled. The Chofetz Chaim ruled that it was proper to listen to Imrei Emes's request. The Chofetz Chaim explained that kedushah and tznius bring blessings and protection to the world. When kedushah is lacking, that is a great danger for the Jewish people. Therefore, when someone wants a higher standard of kedushah and taharah, we should take his request seriously.
We add that in our generation, when we need so many salvations, we should be aware of the great importance of kedushah, taharah, and tznius. Even if you are just one person, you can bring protection and blessings to all of Bnei Yisrael. The day will come when you will be shown what you accomplished and saved through your caution in matters of Yiras Shomayim.
