A Head Taller on Shabbos

Tzaddikim used to say about Rav Chaim of Czernowitz, author of Be’er Mayim Chaim and Sidduro Shel Shabbos, that on Shabbos “er iz gevein mit a kup hecher,” he was a head taller. His appearance changed so drastically on Shabbos that he seemed to be a different person altogether.

It is a well-known fact, related by many tzaddikim, that on Shabbos the Be’er Mayim Chaim was a head taller than on weekdays. Rav Dov Beirish Weidenfeld, the Tchebiner Rav, used to explain it this way. During the week the tzaddik was so intimately involved in the pain and anguish of the Shechina, the Divine Presence, in Her exile, that he was bent over in mourning. On Shabbos Kodesh he felt the awesome sanctity of the day, especially at his own lofty level, and this straightened him out, so that everyone could see plainly that he was a head taller on Shabbos than on weekdays.