Prayer, word for word, "as if he had counted coins," and the entire congregation listened attentively to every word that came out of his holy mouth.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind: to tell Chafetz Chaim about the loophole that this landlord's son was doing in my city to desecrate Shabbat, so that he would influence him on this occasion to command his son to observe Shabbat. For this purpose, I called the husband of the Chafetz Chaim's granddaughter, the Gaon Rabbi Hillel Ginzburg, who accompanied him on his way. I asked him to go out with me and told him the whole thing. I told him, For we will soon return to the carriage and I will call the sick-dreamer outside, where I will talk to him at length, so that Rabbi Hillel will have time to convey to Chafetz Chaim what I want to influence him on Shabbat, and before the train moves we will return to the car, and the Chafetz Chaim will certainly know how to influence him.
Rabbi Hillel agreed to do as he wished. However, by the time we returned to the car, we saw that we had been late. The Chafetz Chaim had already finished his prayers, and the sick man came ahead of us and approached the Chafetz Chaim. To ask him for a blessing... We were well aware of this, but what had been done could not be reversed, so we began to hear the dialogue that took place between the Gaon and the Tzaddik and the patient who asked for his blessing. He approached the Saba Kadisha in horror and fear, saying, "Rabbi! I have been critically ill for more than a year, I have been in hospitals in Warsaw and Vilna, there is no cure for my plague; and while I was sleeping that night in the hospital in Vilna, my old mother came to me from the world of truth and said to me:
When the Chafetz Chaim heard that he was being held up as an exemplary Baal (and all his associates and visitors knew very well – how much he hated hearing such a thing), he jumped up and cried out aloud: Who will give you a blessing? Yisrael Meir? (After all, this was the Chafetz Chaim's first name) and it was useful to you? God forbid! The blessings are not arranged in my hands!" and as usual in the Holy Scriptures, he would repeat each and every article three times, and went on to talk as if to himself: "Do you know to whom the blessings are traditional? Shabbat Holy!
As it is explicitly stated in the verse of Parashat Bereishit: "And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it"... Similarly, we say in Kabbalat Shabbat: "Towards Shabbat, go and go, for it is the source of the blessing," and why, then, do you ask for a blessing from Yisrael Meir?!
The Chafetz Chaim continued to speak to the man and added: "If you keep Shabbat properly and receive the blessing of Shabbat, and you want to receive a blessing from Yisrael Meir, will Yisrael Meir also give you a blessing, but from whom? Don't you want to keep Shabbat properly and receive the blessing from its source, and say in your heart that it is enough for you to receive a blessing only from Yisrael Meir? This is impossible! I can't recite a blessing without the blessing of Shabbat!" ... And as is his custom in the Kodesh, he repeated each and every article three times, with special emphasis and emphasis.
The entire car, which was full of Jews, listened to his words with horror and awe, and most of all: "The sick man, who apparently knew the bitter truth, was like a 'heart that knows the bitterness of his soul.' The Gaon Rabbi Hillel and I looked at each other's faces with astonishment and great astonishment, and we thought: How did our thoughts and the thoughts of our hearts reach the Saba Kadisha?
Until we stand in astonishment and astonishment, and behold, the old tzaddik, after a brief silence, begins to speak again to the man: "And perhaps you will say, 'Shall I not keep the Sabbath, and I am worthy of a blessing?' But look at what is written on Shabbat: "Remember the day of Shabbat to sanctify it... Shabbat to the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter shall not do any work..." After all, there is no example of this warning in the other mitzvot: it is not stated, "You shall not eat pork, you and your son and your daughter," or you shall not wear sha'atnez, you and your son and your daughter, because each one is responsible for himself alone, whereas on Shabbat the father is also responsible for the sons in his possession, even if they are adults, even if you observe Shabbat and your son... If your son travels on Shabbat, and your daughter combs her hair on Shabbat, it is impossible for you to receive a blessing from the source of the blessings, from a holy Shabbat – and the blessing of Yisrael Meir will not achieve or benefit you!"
Only the words came out of the mouth of the grandfather, "You and your son and your daughter... You keep the Sabbath and your son travels on Shabbat" – and at that time there were only three people present on the train who knew that this was not just a parable and an example, but things that had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, and they were: Rabbi Hillel, me and the father of the Shabbat violator... And now, this sick Jew can no longer resist and shouts: "Rabbi, I accept that there will no longer be such a thing in my house, as it has been until now!" I will do my best, I will beg my son, I will give him the best of my money and property, only on one condition, that he will no longer desecrate the holy Shabbat! Then Grandpa Kadisha, Chafetz Chaim answered him and showered the trembling and trembling Jew with faithful blessings, and promised him a complete recovery soon, thanks to Shabbat Kodesh!
And the whole story ended with a good cry. The man returned to our city, and after much effort he got what he wanted from his son, and the promise made to Chafetz Chaim was fulfilled. The car stopped desecrating Shabbat on its journeys, and the driver made sure to do so, much to the delight of his father, who was recovering from his illnesses. And in fact, this miracle was another good and wonderful result – because it didn't take long for the driver who stopped being one of the Shabbat violators in our city, he once again approached the British authorities with a request to receive an immigration permit (certificate) to the Land of Israel. And this desire came to him – he obtained the license, was privileged to immigrate to the Land of Israel and remained alive and well in it. Thanks to Shabbat!
