Welcome back to the daily holy story.
The holy Chafetz Chaim used to travel from town to town to sell his books. He once reached the town of Vilna and checked into a hotel. As he was sitting in the dining room, a man came in, sat at the table, and demanded that the waiter bring him roasted duck and some alcohol. He started speaking to the waiter in a very low way. When the waiter brought the duck and alcohol, the man gulped down the alcohol and ate the duck in a way that was hard to believe, like a real, real animal. Then he started talking down to the waiter, giving him all kinds of instructions, and yelling at him.
The Chafetz Chaim was beside himself. He decided right then and there that he was going to go over to the man, give him Musar (moral instruction), and tell him he was not behaving well. When the owner of the hotel saw that the Chafetz Chaim was about to approach the man, he went over to him and said, “Rabbi, leave that man alone. It’s not going to be good. I’m afraid he might hit you if you tell him anything. You have to know that when that man was seven years old, he was drafted by Czar Nikolai into the army. He was taken away from his parents and sent to Siberia until he was 18 years old. At 18, he was drafted into the army for about 25 years. What do you expect from this guy? He grew up among Goyim (gentiles). He hasn’t even learned the shape of the Aleph-Bet (Hebrew alphabet). He doesn’t know the letters of the Aleph-Bet. He has no experience. He has no exposure to Judaism. Leave him alone. Forget about it.”
When the Chafetz Chaim heard the man’s history, he turned to the hotel owner and said, “Thank you for telling me this information. Now I have a great idea, and I hope it works.” Without hesitation, the Chafetz Chaim got up and went over to the soldier. He put his holy hands on the soldier’s shoulder and said, “Tell me, is it true what they say about you? That when you were seven years old, you were drafted and sent to Siberia, where you suffered in the cold? They probably told you, ‘You’re a dirty Jew.’ They probably tried to convince you to change your Judaism to Catholicism, to become a Goy, and you didn’t do it. You were probably forced to eat unkosher food. You went through all kinds of difficulties. You went through hell in Siberia and then in the army for 25 years, and you suffered and you suffered. Oh, how I wish I could have your place in Gan Eden among the holy tzaddikim (righteous people). You are certainly going to get tremendous reward. How lucky you are to have such reward for what you went through. Thank you.”
The man heard these words. He had never heard such warm words from anybody. The Chafetz Chaim told him, “You are even greater than Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.” The more he heard, the more emotional he became. His hard heart softened, and tears began to stream down his cheeks. The Chafetz Chaim turned to him and said, “You are such a holy Jew for everything you went through. If you would only now continue to sit down and learn and study Torah, and learn how to be a good Jew, you will certainly have a higher place in Gan Eden.”
When the man heard those words, those holy words from the Chafetz Chaim, he didn’t let go of the Chafetz Chaim, and the Chafetz Chaim started to teach him. Little by little, he became a true Baal Teshuvah (one who has repented) and a great tzaddik.
Thank you for listening and have a wonderful, wonderful day.