Shirayim to Heal the Sick

As heard directly from the Kedushas Yom Tov's son, Rabbeinu Yoel zt"l.

When Rav Yoel was a child, he once saw his father enter his room while he was sleeping and set out some pieces of cake by the window. The Kedushas Yom Tov was a known gentleman who always removed his shoes on entering a room where someone slept, so as not to wake him. But Rav Yoel needed little sleep and was always eager to watch his father. His curiosity got the better of him, and he waited to see what would happen.

The next day the Nirbater Rav came to the Kedushas Yom Tov and said he would like to stay for Shabbos. The Kedushas Yom Tov replied that he appreciated the company, but he wanted him to return to Nirbater at once. He told him that the wife of the Rosh HaKuel (president) of the Nirbater's shul was sick. Then he took the pieces of cake he had prepared, gave them to the Nirbater Rav and told him to give them to the sick woman, with the following message from the Kedushas Yom Tov.

"It says, 'ועבדתם את ה' אלקיכם וברך את לחמך ואת מימיך והסרתי מחלה מקרבך' (You shall serve Hashem your God, and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove illness from your midst, Parshas Mishpatim 23:25). Therefore eating shirayim, the Rebbe's leftover food, is a segulah for health."

The Rebbe was the Nirbater's uncle, so he had no choice but to follow the instructions. He went home, asked the Rosh HaKuel to come to him and repeated what the Kedushas Yom Tov had said. The Rosh HaKuel was astounded, because his wife had only fallen sick that very day, and he stood in awe of the Kedushas Yom Tov's ruach hakodesh.

Years later, when Rav Yoel repeated the story, he used to add that it held several remarkable features. How did his father know that the Rosh HaKuel's wife was sick? How did he know that the Nirbater Rav would come to visit and could take the shirayim back with him?

But what struck Rav Yoel most was that the Kedushas Yom Tov had said that his own shirayim would heal the sick.