This is the story of a man who was married for sixteen years without children! On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, he decided to buy the "Maftir of Chana", which is a known Segula for having children.

That year, Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbat, and seven people were called up to read the Torah. When one of the congregants prepared to go up for the sixth aliyah, (ascent to the Torah) his brother suddenly said to him, "I bought the seventh aliyah, how can I go up to the Torah after you? (Indeed, two brothers cannot ascend to the Torah one after the other, as indicated by Orach Chaim 141-6).

In this synagogue, they refrained from adding people to be called to the reading of the Torah, so the person who had bought the seventh aliyah addressed the one who had bought Maftir (the two men did not know each other), and explained his problem with his brother, and asked him: "Could you please exchange your aliyah with me? You will go up for the seventh aliyah and I will go up for Maftir? (Of course, he did not know that the man who bought Maftir was childless, and had especially bought Maftir.)

The man was very surprised at the request, and thought; 'I really wanted this Maftir, and I put a lot of effort into this, how can I give up this great opportunity?' However, he chose to acquiesce: "Please, take my place." The childless man ascended for the seventh aliyah, and the brother who had bought the seventh aliyah ascended for the Maftir of Chana. After the prayer, the brother suddenly thought to himself; 'what did I do? How could I ask a Jew to give up Maftir, maybe he especially wanted this aliyah? As he was immersed in his thoughts, someone whispered in his ears: "It is not easy for me to tell you this, but the one who bought the Maftir of Chana has been waiting for sixteen years to have children.''

The man was horrified to hear this and his heart broke. He hastened to apologize to the man without children; "I do not know how I can atone for the grave mistake I made..." But his interlocutor reassured him; "It is not necessary to apologize, I did it with all my heart ... I have already tried many Segulot to have children, but I have not yet tried the Segula of giving something up. "

A year passed. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the childless man arrived at the synagogue, and the man who had gone up to Maftir Chana the previous year was waiting for him by the entrance. He approached him tearfully; "listen, all year long, I thought about what I did last year. My heart was broken. Do not buy the Maftir of Chana this year, I would like to buy it for you...'

"It's not necessary, really, everything is fine," interrupted the man.

But his interlocutor persisted: "You are obliged to accept the Maftir, so that perhaps I will be able to get a Kapara, an atonement, for my act."

"But I am telling you, my dear friend, it is not necessary! "

"What do you mean?"

The man who had been without children answered with a broad smile: "Thank G-d, we had twins three months ago!"

(According to Maggid Hamsharim, Rabbi Shlomo Levinstein shlita)