Yom Kippur Katan: The Chofetz Chaim's Lesson About the Stops Along the Way

As Rosh Chodesh Kislev begins Monday evening, a story told about the Chofetz Chaim offers a message of chizuk: spiritual renewal need not wait until the next Yom Kippur.

In the account, the Chofetz Chaim was traveling from Radin to Warsaw when he met a fellow Jew making the same journey. At the first stop, the man prepared to leave the train.

He explained that he could not afford the fare for the whole trip. Instead, he would get off, sell a few small items and earn enough to reach the next station. Stop by stop, he hoped to make it to Warsaw.

Later, on Erev Rosh Chodesh, the Chofetz Chaim looked for a shul where he could daven Yom Kippur Katan. In a chassidishe shtiebel, he was told that it was not their Rebbe's minhag.

He responded with the lesson of his traveling companion. A person with enough resources can make a long journey without stopping. Someone with less needs opportunities to gather strength along the way.

So too in avodas Hashem, the story explains: while a great tzaddik may have the spiritual resources to carry him from one Yom Kippur to the next, ordinary people benefit from regular moments of tefillah, teshuvah and reflection.

Yom Kippur Katan is one such opportunity to pause, take stock of the past month and enter the new month with renewed resolve.

Gutten Chodesh.

מזבח חדש בציון תכין ועולת ראש חודש נעלה עליו