לא איש דברים אנכי גם מתמול גם משלשם גם מאז דברך אל עבדך כי כבד פה וכבד לשון אנכי ... (ד-י)
There was once a terrible epidemic in the city of Ostroh, Ukraine, with many people dying before their time. Everyone gathered in the city’s main beis medrash for a day of fasting, introspection, and tefillah. The Rav, R’ Shmuel Eidels zt”l, known as the Maharsha, stood in front of the community and proclaimed, “This epidemic has come to us because of our sins – but we don’t know which sin. If someone knows of a sin taking place in this city, either by an individual or by the public, please come forward to tell me and the beis din, as we have to figure out which aveirah is causing the plague.”
Two people came forward, thinking that they might know the source of the plague. There was a person who used to daven with them every day, and for a while now, this man stopped coming to the beis medrash. On top of that, there were a number of unusual acts they noticed in the man’s behavior which aroused their suspicions and they decided to trail him to see where he goes and what he does. At midnight, they saw him leave his home carrying a lantern. They followed him and watched him leave the city, walking into the thick forest. They didn’t follow him further, rather they reported to the Rav what they saw.
The Rav said, “Tonight, when you see him leaving for the forest, call me. The three of us will follow him. We are doing this to benefit the entire city, to find out who is committing serious aveiros that have brought on the epidemic. Don’t be afraid.”
That night, the two men and the Maharsha followed him into the forest. They could see the man sit down in the forest and heard him recite Tikkun Chatzos accompanied by bitter tears and anguish. And then, they heard another voice, crying and wailing together with him, but they didn’t see anyone besides him. They wondered who that voice belonged to.
Upon completing Tikkun Chatzos, as the man began heading out of the forest, the Maharsha revealed himself. “We followed you in an attempt to figure out who is sinning in our city, but now we know you are a true tzaddik. Please forgive us for suspecting you, and please tell us, who is the second voice we heard? Who cried along with you in the forest?”
The man replied, “Every night at midnight, I cry over the Churban Beis HaMikdash, and Heaven gave me a gift: Yirmiyahu HaNavi comes to say Tikkun Chatzos together with me.” The man continued, “I will ask Yirmiyahu HaNavi, and tomorrow morning, I will come to the beis medrash and tell you what Yirmiyahu HaNavi answered.” The Maharsha returned to the city and announced that everyone should come for Shacharis the following morning, to hear the cause of the epidemic.
A large crowd came for Shacharis. It was time to daven, but the hidden tzaddik hadn’t arrived yet. The Rav said that they should begin davening. Soon afterward, the tzaddik arrived donned in his tallis and tefillin, and his face shone with a very saintly and ethereal appearance. Everyone became afraid when they looked at him, and some people even fainted.
After Shacharis, in front of the entire congregation, the Maharsha asked the hidden tzaddik why his presence caused so much fear. The tzaddik replied that it was becauseof his tefillin. As Chazal (Brachos 6) say, wearing tefillin causes people to be afraid. The Rav then asked, “But we all wear tefillin, and yet it doesn’t cast fear. What is special about yours?”
The tzaddik replied, “I am extremely careful and I never speak idle talk when I wear my tefillin. I am cautious with its holiness, therefore my tefillin have this segulah that it casts a holy fear on all who gaze at it.” The tzaddik then added, “Idle talk is also the root of the epidemic. Yirmiyahu HaNavi told me that people in this town were speaking during tefillah, which aroused Hashem’s anger. I stopped coming to this beis medrash long ago because I couldn’t stand all the talking.”
The community was duly chastised and accepted upon themselves to not talk in the beis medrash during tefillah, and the plague stopped immediately. They wrote this story on a plaque on one of the walls of the beis medrash, so that it should never be forgotten. When visitors came to the beis medrash and weren’t aware of how strict they were about not speaking during the tefillah, congregants would bring them over to the plaque and have them read it. They did this without saying a word, and the newcomers learned to be silent during the tefillah. We should all learn a lesson from this and remain silent during tefillah.