He welcomed him to the daily program. In this week’s Parashah Shemini, the Pasuk (verse) says, vehitkadashtem. The word means “and you shall sanctify yourself.” Chazal (the Sages) tell us, “If you make yourself sanctified, if you make yourself holy, I will make you holy and assure you that nothing unkosher will enter your body.” As the Gemara says in Chullin, HaKadosh Baruch Hu doesn’t make anything bad happen through the animals of the tzadikim (righteous people). So the tzadikim themselves—certainly nothing bad will happen to them. Meaning, they will not eat anything unkosher.
The story goes that Rabbi Yosef Ber from Brisk, known as the Beit HaLevi, once had a trip right before Kippur (Day of Atonement), on Erev (eve) Kippur. On his trip, he stopped in a city to see Maharil Diskin. When he departed from Maharil Diskin, Maharil Diskin gave him some food to eat on the road. Eating on Erev Kippur is a mitzvah (commandment) from the Torah, and Maharil Diskin also wanted him not to be weak on his road trip. So he gave him grilled chicken and a loaf of bread. Rabbi Yosef Ber went on his way and boarded the train to his final destination.
On the train, he washed his hands to eat the bread and grilled chicken. He made a motzi (blessing over bread) in his seat. When he went to take the grilled chicken, he smelled a bad smell and returned it to its package. A few moments later, he took a piece of grilled chicken again, and again he smelled a bad smell. A third time, he smelled something bad in the chicken, so he didn’t eat it. There was a goy (non-Jew) sitting next to Rabbi Yosef Ber. The goy asked, “Why do you keep taking out the chicken and putting it back?” Rabbi Yosef Ber told him, “Because every time I take it to eat, I smell a bad smell. That’s bad.” The goy told the rabbi, “I understand chickens. Let me smell it.” The goy took the chicken, smelled it, and told the rabbi, “Everything is good. There’s no bad smell.” But the rabbi said, “I’m not interested. I’m not eating the chicken.” The goy said, “If you don’t want to eat it, I’ll eat it.” Rabbi Yosef Ber gave the chicken to the goy to eat.
When the rabbi reached his final destination, they were waiting for him at the train station. They quickly went to him and gave him a telegram from Maharil Diskin. It said that after the rabbi had set out on his trip, they found out that the other half of the chicken left at Maharil Diskin’s home was taref (not kosher). They decided that it wasn’t kosher, and therefore, if the rabbi didn’t eat the half of the chicken, he shouldn’t eat it. Then they asked Maharil Diskin, “How did you think of sending a telegram? You gave the rabbi the chicken to eat on the road, not in the city of his destination.” Maharil said, “It was simple to me that from the shamayim (Heaven), they would help Rabbi Yosef Ber from Brisk, the Beit HaLevi, not to eat taref. But since I’m down here on earth, I have to do my hishtadlut (effort) and send a telegram to make sure that he didn’t eat it.” Baruch Hashem (Blessed is God), the Beit HaLevi did not eat anything unkosher because HaKadosh Baruch Hu protected him.