A Name for a Long Life

Once, the parents of a gravely ill child approached Rav Yosef Chaim. They begged the Rav to bless their son and to daven for him, for the boy was very sick and his life was in danger.

Customarily in such situations a name such as Alter, Chaim or Rephael is added to the child's name, but Rav Yosef Chaim told the parents to add the name Hillel. From then on he would be called Moshe Hillel. Rav Sonnenfeld explained that the Gemara always calls Hillel by the name Hillel HaZaken, Hillel the elder, and so this name too is a segulah for arichus yomim, a long life.

The child recovered and was soon healthy. He lived to the age of sixty-five, the same gematria as the name Hillel (heh is 5, lamed is 30, and lamed is 30).