The Kollel Man Who Took the Tochachah Aliyah
A kollel man shrugged off the custom of avoiding the tochachah aliyah. When an inheritance pulled him from learning into business, Rav Chaim Kanievsky saw the lesson.
There is an established custom that the baal korei receives the aliyah for the tochacha – the section of the Torah that describes the punishments for those that don’t follow the Torah. The reasoning is that it is a bad omen to randomly call someone up specifically to get that aliyah. The baal korei is already standing there and doesn’t need to be called up. Moreover, it is not bad omen for him since the baal korei always gets that aliyah.
Someone learning in kollel commented, “I’m not into such things. I have no problem getting that aliyah.”
Soon after, a distant relative of the kollel man passed away in the United States. The kollel man travelled there to claim his inheritance. The inheritance involved a profitable company. Soon, the kollel man became wealthy and spent his time tending his business. When this was related to Rav Chaim, his response was, “You see that he shouldn’t have taken the aliyah! Before he was sitting and learning Torah, and now unfortunately, he is busy with his business!”