The Child's Miraculous Recovery

One day every member of the household of the holy Chasam Sofer fell ill. Among the sick was the six-year-old Shmuel Binyamin. As time passed his illness worsened and his life was in danger. Everyone davened for him and pledged tzedakah to spare his life, and they added the name Avrohom to his name. In the end he would suffer some five to seven illnesses, each severe and life-threatening.

The last of these terrible illnesses reached its peak, and the doctors concluded that the end was near. The members of the Chevra Kadisha were called to perform the final rites. They lit candles and recited tefillos, while the physicians and medical experts turned to the Chasam Sofer and said, "We know you are a holy man. Surely if your prayers are not answered, there is no hope."

Hearing this, the Chasam Sofer stood up and began to daven beside the bookcase that held all his writings and manuscripts of Torah. Suddenly the sick child cried out, "Shema Yisroel."

The Chasam Sofer answered his son. The physicians said, "Now we truly see how holy you are, and our hope is restored." "I myself never gave up hope," said the Chasam Sofer.

Seeing the child's miraculous recovery, the Chevra Kadisha put out the candles and left with a sense of relief. Others heard the tzaddik say to himself, "For one yovel (a jubilee), my prayers have been answered." And so it was that the Kesav Sofer lived another fifty years after that day.