Rabbi Cholek
Shortly before the wedding, I accompanied the kalla to have tests and I questioned the doctor. He was pessimistic since another tumor had since developed, giving her only a ten percent chance that she would recover. I told him not to say another word.
I ran off to HaRav Chaim and asked, "The kalla is a week before the wedding. What can we do?"
He looked at me and said, "That doctor doesn't know what he is talking about." He rolled his eyes for half a minute and then said to me, "Hashem will help and everything will be fine."
I asked him, "What should I say to the chosson?"
"Don't say a thing," he replied.
The wedding took place and I kept silent. On the morning after, they called from the hospital and told her to come for a test. "We are scheduling surgery for tomorrow." The chosson called me and asked, "What do they want of us in the midst of sheva brochos?" I told him that they had an appointment for four months time but this was a chance to finish with this. And they sent the pair home the next morning.
The most recent biopsy report came three weeks later. I accompanied them to the hospital. The doctor, Dr. Lieberman, said to me, "What exactly happened from the first time she was here?"
"Why are you asking?"
"You saw what she had, but the biopsy I just took shows everything clean. I examined the lump which I removed and it was not cancerous at all!"
I asked him if he knew Rav Chaim Kanievsky.
He banged on the table and said, "This is the third time he is doing this to me!"
And I said, "A tzaddik decrees and Hashem executes."
*
A young man of thirty once came to me suffering from gangrene, saying that the doctors wanted to amputate his foot. I took him to Rav Chaim who said to him, "Study Perek Keitzad Haregel." He then told him not to allow the amputation and the gangrene healed itself.
*
At the sheloshim of the Rebbetzin they asked me to say a hesped. I went to HaRav Chaim and asked him what I should say. He said, "Go to HaRav Aharon Leib [Shteinman]. He has ruach hakodesh and he will tell you what to say."
I went to the Rosh Yeshiva zt"l and I asked him what I should say. He said that I should ask Rav Chaim. I told him that I am just coming from R' Chaim and I told him what he had told me. Maran said, "Whoever criticizes, criticizes with his own shortcoming. (Kol haposeil bemumo poseil.)"
*
I was taking care of HaRav Shach zt"l. I went to R' Chaim to ask him if I could go abroad to raise money. He said, "How can you leave HaRav Shach? You have to take care of him. It is Klal Yisroel!"
"What about Ezer Mitzion?"
"Your efforts between your house and the home of HaRav Shach are enough hishtadlus," he answered.
Later that week someone from Switzerland came in from the street and donated $80,000. To this day I do not really know who he was.
I told R' Chaim: "The Rov performed a miracle."
He laughed and said, "It is HaRav Shach's miracle."
*
One time we got the names of sick people from donors to ask R' Chaim to daven for them. It was a pretty long list. I went to him and we read the names to him, individually. I noticed that from time to time he made a hand motion of dismissal. He did it for four names.
I asked his shamash Rav Yeshaya Epstein what it meant, and he answered, "Find out about those four, if they are still alive."
I checked it out and in fact those four were no longer among the living!
When he read the names he knew who was not among the living!
