Maasei Emunim
A Story About Amen and Tefillah
This story was heard from the Sanz-Klausenberger Rebbe, the Shefa Chaim, zy”a, during a Chumash Rashi shiur on Parashas Matos that he delivered in 5738. The Rebbe heard the story from Rav Avraham Yehoshua Freund of Năsăud, who heard it from the Divrei Yechezkel of Shinovah.
Simcha, an evil and uncouth person living in Pressburg during the days of the Chasam Sofer, had chosen a cruel profession. He would track the actions of the Jews of Pressburg with a discriminating eye, and when he caught someone transgressing a law, he hurried to update the authorities. The members of the community tried to speak to him and pleaded with him to desist from his unsavory behavior, which wrought tremendous damage upon his Jewish brethren. But he closed his ears and refused to listen. His hatred for the traditions of his ancestors, as well as the benefits showered upon him by the authorities, blinded him, and he sold his soul to the enemies of the Jewish population.
During that time, the Austrian authorities required all young men to enlist in the army. This service was spiritually dangerous for Jewish bochurim, and they did everything they could to evade the draft. The bochurim of Pressburg Yeshivah found a clever tactic to avoid being drafted. They registered in the population registry with erroneous information. They altered their names, ages, or any other detail that would lead their names to be omitted from the list of eligible draftees.
Putting deceptive information down in records was considered a serious crime, but the bochurim did not hesitate and chose to take the risk, as long as they could continue learning in the yeshivah under their beloved Rav. They truly desired to learn Torah and nothing could stand in their way.
But it didn’t take long until Simcha the informer discovered their secret. He didn’t waste a minute and took immediate action. He sent a threatening letter to the leaders of the community in which he detailed everything he knew about the tactics the bochurim used to evade the draft, and declared that he planned to report these activities to the military authorities.
In alarm, the community leaders came to Simcha’s home and pleaded with him not to carry out his plans. But his blind hatred for Torah and all those who learned it made him irrational. He told the community leaders that nothing would change his mind – he would not back down from his decision to inform on the yeshivah bochurim, and they would see how quickly all the bochurim would be donning Austrian army uniforms.
The community leaders were familiar with Simcha and his plots, and they knew his threats were not empty. They were appalled at the impending catastrophe that would strike the yeshivah bochurim, and decided to turn urgently to the rosh yeshivah, the Chasam Sofer.
At the time, the Chasam Sofer was in the middle of giving a shiur in the yeshivah. In light of the severity of the situation, the community leaders decided that this could not be postponed, and they came into the yeshivah and sat down in front of the Chasam Sofer. When he saw their unusual behavior, the Chasam Sofer realized it was something urgent, and motioned with his hand, as if asking what had brought them there.
The community leaders approached, and with tears in their eyes, told him about Simcha the informer who was threating to go to the authorities about the yeshivah bochurim. The danger was immediate if he made good on his threats; it was like a sword hanging over the heads of the yeshivah students.
“And what do you want from me?” the Chasam Sofer asked the community leaders.
“We tried to speak to Simcha and pleaded with him not to raise his hand against the lomdei Torah, but he rejected all our entreaties. Now, we are at a loss, and we came to ask the Rav’s advice about what to do now,” the askanim replied.
“I am doing it,” the Chasam Sofer said, pointing to the Gemara in front of him, and continued saying the shiur. Upon hearing this, the community leaders stayed there and waited for the shiur to be over.
At the end of the shiur, the Chasam Sofer stood up and said: “Now I will go and speak to Simcha and I will warn him against carrying out his plans and harm the yeshivah students.”
Right away, the roshei kahal stood up to escort him. Some of the yeshivah students also joined the distinguished delegation, out of respect for their Rav.
When the Chasam Sofer entered Simcha’s home, the latter remained sprawled on his couch, and looked derisively at the venerable figure of the Chasam Sofer who was standing in the doorway.
The Chasam Sofer paid no attention to his mocking behavior, and began to speak to Simcha not to be tempted to carry out his plans. He explained calmly about the importance of the lomdei Torah, who help sustain the world, and who promise the eternal continuity of the Jewish people, one generation after another.
But Simcha’s heart remained as closed as it had been. The Chasam Sofer’s piercing and emotional words did not move him one iota. While still lounging on his couch, Simcha impudently declared that he was a busy man and he had no time to listen to the Rav’s explanations. “Either way, when morning comes, I will go to the office of the army commander in the city and I will tell him all that I know,” he said obtusely.
The Chasam Sofer heard this and emotionally exclaimed the words of the passuk (Bamidbar 16:5): “Boker veyeida Hashem es asher lo,” in other words, you think in the morning you will go to carry out your plans? We’ll wait for morning and we’ll see how things turn out, from Above.
The Chasam Sofer left Simcha’s home, his face burning with a holy fire. While he was still on the way back, Simcha’s wife’s screams could already be heard. She ran frantically to the Chasam Sofer weeping: “A few minutes after the Rav left, Simcha’s tongue began to swell, and he’s struggling to breathe. Please! Can the Rav have mercy on him and daven that he shouldn’t die from choking?” she asked.
The Chasam Sofer replied firmly: “Indeed, I will daven for your husband the tefillah that is most befitting for him, and that is the tefillah of Velamalshinim al sehi sikvah...’ I am sure that HaKadosh Baruch Hu will listen to my tefillah and to the cries of the whole city, and will pay the rasha what he is deserving of.” The Chasam Sofer finished his statement and turned towards his home.
Just a few minutes later, a messenger arrived from Simcha’s home to inform the Rav that he had died a terrible death, with much suffering. Indeed, the tefillah had been accepted, and the tongue that spoke too much grew and swelled until it left the cursed informer no air to breathe.
When the news reached the Chasam Sofer, he expressed a desire to attend the levayah and to say a few words. Needless to say, no one in Pressburg remained at home, and they all came to participate in Simcha’s levayah. Thousands of people stood silently and listened to the brief message from the Chasam Sofer: “In the seder of tefillah on Rosh Hashanah we say, ‘Simcha l’artzecha vesasson l’irecha,’ and we can explain it in a witty way that when Simcha is buried in the earth – ‘b’artzecha’, then there is rejoicing for the city of Pressburg...as they are all praising and thanking Hashem and saying baruch shepetaranu mei’onsho shel zeh...and the city of Pressburg rejoiced...”
Shefa Chaim Torah Umoadim, Vol. 19, p. 375
