Weekly Chasidic Story #625 (s5770-10 / 30 Mar-Cheshvan 5770)
The Last Straws
The Chassidim looked at the Baal Shem Tov, but he seemed unmoved by the children's cries.
Connection: Weekly Reading - Gen. 26:12
Once, the Baal Shem Tov and a group of his close followers made a long journey by carriage deep into the heart of Ukraine. After another long day of travel, they were all cold, tired and very hungry. Just then, they came upon a remote, obscure village in the Jaslowitz region. To everyone's relief, the Baal Shem Tov announced, "We'll stop here for the night. I think we'll be able to collect a large sum of tzedaka (charity) from a certain one of the villagers."
The chasidim looked at each and rolled their eyes in wonder. Besides the fact they had never even heard of this village, given its rundown appearance they were amazed to hear that any of it residents would have so much money to give. Even more, they were far away from their home of Medzibush and they doubted that the villagers had even heard of their Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov.
The carriage entered the village and stopped in front of a dilapidated house owned by a poor Jew. The interior of the house was just as decrepit as the outside. The woman of the house welcomed the Baal Shem Tov and his students and asked them to come in and sit down.
After they sat down around the kitchen table they said, "Madam, we can't thank you enough for your hospitality. We've been traveling all day and we're cold and very hungry."
She felt sorry for them so she heated water for tea and gave them the little bread that she had been saving to feed her children. This didn't go unnoticed by the children, who were walking around in rags and starring at the men eating the meager dinner their mother had originally prepared for them.
The children began crying, "Mama we're hungry. Please give us something to eat." The mother was heartsick that she didn't have any more food for her children. The chasidim looked at the Baal Shem Tov, but he seemed unmoved by the children's cries.
Just then, her husband, Hillel, returned home. He visibly cringed when he saw his children crying of hunger, his upset wife and a group of chasidim sitting around the table eating their last morsel of food.
Then, the Baal Shem Tov introduced himself and the others to Hillel, a liquor salesman who had just returned from an unsuccessful business trip. He had tried to purchase a keg of whiskey on credit but was turned down because he was already deeply indebted to the whiskey dealer from previous purchases.
At first, Hillel was very flattered that the famous Baal Shem Tov had come to visit him of all people. But then the Baal Shem Tov said, "My dear friend, we've come all this way to collect eighteen rubles from you. It is for a very good cause and I'm sure you'll be blessed from giving this donation."
"Eighteen rubles!" gasped poor Hillel. "But Rebbe, I don't even have one ruble."
"Maybe you could sell something to get the money," the Baal Shem Tov suggested.
"But Rebbe, look round. I don't have anything of value to sell," said Hillel.
"Why don't you sell the bedding," persisted the Baal Shem Tov.
The chasidim were so uncomfortable from this conversation that they couldn't even look in the direction of Hillel or his wife. Once Hillel realized that the Baal Shem Tov was serious about his request, he asked if he could wait until the next morning to sell the bedding.
"Okay, but then we have to be on our way," answered the Baal Shem Tov.
The next morning, Hillel gathered up all the pillows and blankets in the house and took them to the marketplace. A few hours later Hillel returned with exactly eighteen rubles. "Here Rebbe," he said, as he hesitantly handed the money to the Baal Shem Tov.
With barely a thank you, the Baal Shem Tov took the money. Then he got into the carriage and motioned for the chasidim to get in also. As the carriage drove away, the Baal Shem Tov said to Hillel, "G-d be with you".
Hillel, his wife and children followed the carriage for a short time, hoping that the Baal Shem Tov would stop and return the eighteen rubles. But the Baal Shem Tov never even looked back and the carriage soon disappeared from their sight.
Hillel returned to an empty house, a crying wife and starving children. By this time it was late afternoon and time to recite the Afternoon Prayer. He was so upset he could barely speak. He prayed as never before. Big tears streamed down his face as he begged G-d to provide him and his family with an abundance of food, money and health.
That night, the family, each with an empty stomach, got into bed and huddled together to try and stay warm. In the middle of the night, Hillel heard a loud knocking at the door. "Who is it?" he asked fearfully.
"Moshke, let me in," said a peasant in a rough voice. "I'm freezing and I want a glass of whiskey."
Our Hillel had sold the last drink from his whiskey barrel over a week before. But he was afraid of the peasant so he opened the door and invited him in. He told the peasant to sit down and get warm while he got him a drink of whiskey. Then he went into the next room and poured a glass of water into the empty whiskey barrel. After mixing the water around in the barrel, he poured it back into a glass. "Here," he said, handing a full glass of the "whiskey" to the peasant.
The peasant downed it in one gulp. "Yum," he sighed. "It's been a long time and I really needed a good, strong drink. And that was really good, and very strong. The only problem is that I don't have any money so I'll have to pay you later."
Hillel, still sleepy, said, "Sure, pay me when you can." He was thinking, "What a day, what a night." So, he lay down again to sleep. A few hours later he was again awakened by a loud knocking at the door.
"Who is it?" he yelled out. It was the same peasant, back for another glass of whiskey. Hillel served him as before but this time the peasant gave him a dirt covered coin that he took from his pocket. "Here, I don't know how much it is worth, but if you clean it up it should cover my drinks."
When Hillel took the coin to the market the next day, he could hardly believe what he found out. The coin was worth enough to pay for much more than the peasant had drunk.
When the peasant returned again the very next night for another glass of "your special" whiskey, Hillel gave him a drink and the change from the coin. The peasant was astonished at Hillel's honesty and began to return every night. And he spread the word. It wasn't long before liquor sales were booming and Hillel was getting richer by the day. In a relatively short time, the days of poverty were forgotten and Hillel became involved in many other lucrative businesses.
About a year later, the Baal Shem Tov and his chasidim happened to be passing by the little village where Hillel lived. Instead of the dilapidated house, there stood a stately home surrounded by a number of beautiful buildings. The chasidim stared with open mouths. "Rebbe, what happened?" they asked.
"All this wealth was set aside for Hillel on Rosh Hashanah," explained the Baal Shem Tov. " But he did not get it because he accepted his lot of poverty without any complaints. As it says, 'He opens His hand and fulfills the will of every living being,' (Psalm 145:16), and Hillel did not will or pray to escape his poverty.
"So I had to take everything he owned from him. When he was left without food or even his bedding, he finally had no recourse but to turn to but the Holy One, Blessed be, and pray for his situation to improve. And according to that one sincere prayer requesting his needs, G-d hearkened and opened His hand to fulfill the requests of our friend Hillel. So the poor man of last year is a rich man today, thanks to his changed perspective and fervent prayer."
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Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles (with a bit of help from Mishpacha Magazine)
from the rendition of his friend Tzvi-Meir Cohn, on his ground-breaking website,
BaalShemTov.com.
Connection: Weekly Reading - Gen. 26:12
Biographic note:
Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer (18 Elul 1698-6 Sivan 1760), the Baal
Shem Tov ["master of the good Name"], a unique and seminal
figure in Jewish history, revealed the Chassidic movement and his own identity
as an exceptionally holy person, on his 36th birthday, 18 Elul 1734. He wrote
no books, although many claim to contain his teachings. One available in English
is the excellent annotated translation of Tzava'at Harivash, published by Kehos.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Yerachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor
of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories
to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells
them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.
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