Why a Chassid Sharpened a Knife Before Rosh Hashanah

It was Elul, a mussar shmoozer, a maggid, a traveling preacher came to town. He gave a speech in shul. And of course, being Elul, what did he preach about? He preached about everybody's a big sinner and everybody's going to be judged for Rosh Hashanah, the the Yom Hadin, the judgment day is coming and everyone's going to be judged inadequate and you better repent because Hashem's going to punish you all for your terrible sins. And uh these are simple people in shul. And they were they were terrified. Obviously, they were terrified. And they were crying. They were all anxious and uh Reb Shmuel didn't like this very much. He didn't like this guy coming in and uh tormenting these simple these simple folk. Reb Shmuel found out where the guy was staying. You know, he was a traveling preacher, so you know, he has to I don't think there was a hotel. He was probably staying with somebody or wherever he was staying. Um Reb Shmuel found out and uh made a little rendezvous with this guy in his in his uh guest suite. And Reb Shmuel shows up and he's sharpening a knife, you know, with like a sharpening stone, with like a whetstone. He He says to the guy, the the maggid, the speaker, says to him, "You know, you uh you were speaking in shul. It was so uh riveting. It was so captivating. You really made an impression. And uh I was thinking, you know, before Rosh Hashanah, we were told that it's a Jewish custom to pray, specifically pray before Rosh Hashanah at the grave sites of the righteous." And the guy says, "Yeah, well, you know, what about it?" You know. "Well, you know," Reb Shmuel says, and he's like sharpening the knife. He says, "You know, the closest grave of a tzaddik that we have to this town, it's very far away. It's not in our town. You were right what you said about us, you know, we're a bunch of sinners, so we never even had a righteous person who ever lived here really, even for generations. We don't even have a a grave of a righteous person. You have to go we have to travel pretty far to get even to get to the closest grave of a of a righteous person. And he's sharpening the knife the whole time. The guy's saying, "Yeah, okay, what what about it? What do we Well, you know, so you know, I'm thinking, you're right, we're very big sinners over here. Like we're we're we're in big trouble, you know, based on what you're saying. Uh we need to really pray and we should pray at the grave sites of the righteous really really that's where that's what we should be doing really. We need to do it and uh but we don't have any grave sites of righteous people around here. Now, I was listening to you, you know, and you you're very you're very righteous, you know, like I I could hear from the way you were rebuking us and pointing out all of our our sins, you know, that you're you're obviously someone who who doesn't sin, probably never sinned and um yeah, so I got this idea, he says menacingly, sharpening the knife. He says, uh I got an idea that maybe we could arrange to have a tzaddik, a big tzaddik such as yourself, um buried right here in this town. And then it would be a such a merit for the people in this town. We really need it, you know, you were right, we're big big sinners and to have a tzaddik like you buried here, it would really it would help us out a lot. We really He says, you know, sharpening the knife. The guy all of a sudden he realizes what Shmuel is implying. >> [laughter] >> He says, "Oh, no, no, no, no, you don't you know, you you don't want me, you know, not me, not me." He says, "Oh, yeah, oh yeah, yes, yes, you, you you're you're you're a real tzaddik." He says, "No, no, no, no, I think you're overestimating my my righteousness. I'm not such a tzaddik." He's like, "No, no, no, you are. You are." He says, "No, no, I've I have sinned. You know, I think I sinned. I've I've done I've done I've done some sins." He's like, "Yeah, okay. I'm sure, you know, one little thing, you know, here or there. But, you're way, way better off than any of us. You're good enough for you know, for this town, you're the biggest tzaddik we ever had. And I think we're going to arrange that you should be buried right here and in in time for Rosh Hashanah will be perfect." The guy starts saying, "No, no, no, no, no, I'm not righteous at all. No, I did this sin and I did that sin." He starts confessing all of his sins. And Reb Reb Shmuel is is is arguing with him, "No, I didn't That's an aveira. I didn't even know that was a sin. No, that doesn't count. That's not a sin." And finally, the guy confesses all of his dirty secrets. And when he gets it all out, Reb Shmuel looks at him, you know, the guy just confessed to all the you know, all the stuff. And uh Reb Shmuel says, "So, you you really you really not such a tzaddik." He says, "No, no, I'm really So, why are you terrorizing these people?" And he turns around and he leaves.