Weekly Chasidic Story #739 (s5772-18 / 28 Tevet 5772)

Very Fair Wages

The wife of the Rebbe Reb Zusya was accustomed to making do with very little, wearing the same old clothes year after year.

Connection: Seasonal - Yahrzeit of Reb Zusya

 

Very Fair Wages

From a spiritual perspective, Rebbe Zusya of Anipoli and his pious wife were "rich" people, but from an economic perspective, they were quite destitute. He devoted all his energies to Torah and Divine service and helping others, and had no source of livelihood. His wife was accustomed to making do with very little, wearing the same old clothes year after year.

At long last, however, she felt she should have a new dress, and asked her husband for the money to buy fabric. "I am ashamed to go among people in rags," she said. And when this holy woman referred to her clothes as rags, she was not referring to good garments which had merely gone out of fashion. She meant that her one dress was threadbare with multiple patches.

Impoverished as he was, Reb Zusya responded positively to his wife's request. With great effort, he managed to secure a loan for the required amount. His wife went happily to the tailor's shop, bringing along the newly purchased material. But just a few days later, she looked sad once more.

Reb Zusya asked why she wasn't happy.

"The tailor is very poor," she explained. "His daughter has been engaged for some time, but he still has no wedding clothes or other dowry for her. As he sewed my dress, I could see that he looked miserable.

"When I asked him what was wrong, he informed me that he was marrying off his daughter in a few weeks. He was very poor, and he was therefore unable to save any money for the event. All of his meager earnings were used up feeding his large family. He could not afford a wedding dress for his own daughter, and the young bride was very sad because of this.

"One day his daughter walked into the shop, and saw her father finishing the work on my new dress. She jumped to the conclusion that this was actually her wedding dress with which her father was going to surprise her. She asked to try on the dress, and it fit her perfectly. She was overjoyed until her father reluctantly told her that in truth the dress was not for her, but it was made for a customer. The tailor told me that the poor girl became depressed and was talking about not wanting to get married, even wishing to break the engagement.

"I stood up and told the tailor that the dress was his daughter's -- a complete gift. And now, I am left without a new dress."

Reb Zusya was overjoyed with his wife's act of kindness. "Thank G-d you were strong enough to overcome your personal desires," he said. "You have done one of the most selfless mitzvot possible. But tell me, did you pay the tailor for his work?"

"Pay him?" she exclaimed. "I should pay him? Isn't it enough that I gave away the dress I have been in dire need of for so long? You want me to pay him for the dress I never took?"

Trembling, Reb Zusya asked, "How could you cheat a man of his just wages? That poor man was waiting eagerly for his wages, in order to buy food for his hungry children. Is he to blame if you decided to leave the dress in his hands? He needs money! Business is business, and tzedaka is tzedaka."

The good-hearted woman, hearing this, recognized the justice in her husband's position. She ran over to a neighbor, borrowed the necessary sum, and went to pay the tailor his wages at once.

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Source: Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from "Stories my Grandfather told me" by Zev Greenwald, and from "The Tzedakah Treasury" by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer, both published by Mesorah. The latter was submitted by Yosef Ben-Shlomo HaKohen of blessed memory.

Connection: Seasonal - yahrzeit of the Rebbe Reb Zusya

Biographic note:
Rabbi Zusya of Anapoli (?- 2 Shvat 1800), was a major disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch, successor to the Baal Shem Tov. The seemingly unsophisticated but clearly inspired "Reb Zusya" is one of the best known and most beloved Chassidic personalities. He and his famous brother, Rebbe Elimelech of Lizensk, spent many years wandering in exile, for esoteric reasons.

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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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