There was a Bachur who traveled from the Mir to Radin to ask advice from the Chafetz Chaim. The train arrived at the station near Radin very late at night and a few passengers disembarked. They sat down and waited for a wagon to drive them to Radin. On the wagon the boy sat next to an elderly respectable Yid who asked him why he came to Radin.
The boy answered that he came to speak to the Chafetz Chaim. The man explained that it was too late to go now to the Chafetz Chaim and he kindly invited him to come and sleep over in his house. The boy accepted the invitation, happily followed the man home, knowing that he would have a bed to sleep on that night.
The man offered the boy to join him for dinner. At first, the boy refused, as he hadn’t davened Maariv. But his host offered to be his Shomer (to remind him), like this the boy could wash and eat a proper meal. The boy ate some bread, butter, cheese and finished off with a hot drink. After he finished Bircas Hamazon, his host showed him his bedroom and reminded him to daven Maariv.
The room didn’t have any heating so it was very cold. The boy was shivering from the cold so he slipped under the blanket to warm himself up. He decided to start davening Maariv under covers until Shemone Esrei. But the boy was so tired that he fell asleep instantly. He woke up in the morning, got ready and went to daven Shachris in the Yeshiva.
He was surprised to see his host sitting in the front, only to find out that his host was Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Levinson, son in law of the Chafetz Chaim and the Rosh Yeshiva. After Shachris the Rosh Yeshiva invited him for breakfast and then showed him the way to the home of the Chafetz Chaim. The boy went over to the Chafetz Chaim’s house, entered his study and sat down next to the Chafetz Chaim.
The Chofetz Chaim
Before the boy even had a chance to say anything, the Chafetz Chaim started talking quietly, as if he was talking to himself. The boy listened carefully. “I remember,” said the Chafetz Chaim, “before the war, there was an abundance, the economy was successful and people had plenty money. If a person would walk on the street and see a copper kopeck on the floor, they wouldn’t bother to pick it up. It was a waste of time and effort.
“But since the war, times have changed, there is a lot of poverty. If a person were to see a copper kopeck now on the street, even in the mud, they will stop, pick it up wash it and clean it. After all, one can buy a small roll with a kopeck.”
“Why am I saying this,” continued the Chafetz Chaim? “Because once upon a time most Jews were Shomer Torah Umitzvos – kept the Torah and Mitzvos. So, if it happened, that someone fell asleep before they davened Maariv and they missed Krias Shema in Maariv and Krias Shema before going to sleep, in Heaven they didn’t miss it, after all there were so many other Mitzvos and prayers from so many Jews. But nowadays, that there are so few Jews who are Shomer Torah Umitzvos, if a Yeshiva boy falls asleep before Maariv, in Heaven they miss his prayers.”
The boy jumped in shock remembering he had forgotten to daven Maariv the night before and had to go and daven another Shemone Esrei. He was shaking as he quickly asked the Chafetz Chaim for a Beracha and ran out to go and daven, completely forgetting what he needed to ask the Chafetz Chaim.
The truth is, that our Torah, our prayers and our Mitzvos doesn’t compare to those of the Jews that lived generations before us. So naturally, we look at our Mitzvos and our Tefilos and think, what are they worth? If the prayers of all the great Tzaddikim from so many generations weren’t answered, if there Mitzvos that were done with such perfection didn’t bring the redemption and Mashiach never came until now, why should our prayers and Mitzvos accomplish anything?
