A Call for Teshuvah

Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank (born 5633, 1873), chief Rav of Yerushalayim and author of Har Tzvi, used to tell a story from his childhood that left a lasting impression on him.

"When I was a child in Kovna, at the beginning of Chodesh Elul, I followed all the adults into the bais medrash to hear the derosha of Rav Yisrael Salanter zt"l. The bais medrash was packed, and finding no other place, I sat on the steps leading to the Aron Kodesh. In the middle of the derosha he called out, 'Yidden, mir gefinen zich itzter in Chodesh Elul, macht teshuvah. Fellow Jews, we find ourselves in the month of Elul, do teshuvah.'

As he said these words he fainted and fell at the foot of the bimah. I saw him lying there, pale as a ghost, looking as if he had died. The sight of this has stayed with me all my life."