Weekly Chasidic Story #757(s5772-36 / 8 Sivan 5772)

Saturday Night Special

Rabbi Dovid-Moshe of Chortkov expounded to his chasidim how the merit of King David protects those who eat the "Melave Malka" meal.

Connection (among others): King David passed away on Shavuot.


Saturday Night Special


One Saturday night, when the chasidim of Rabbi Dovid-Moshe of Chortkov gathered for the "Melave Malka" meal, singing soulful melodies and telling stories of great righteous Jews, the Rebbe himself unexpectedly appeared and joined them. He sat down and expounded on the significance of this meal, which was established by King David himself, and how the merit of King David protects those who celebrate it.

After that, he next related a story of two Jewish business partners who were very careful to escort the Shabbat queen with a proper Melave Malka each Saturday night, even when it was exceedingly difficult.

"Once, the central fair was to take place on Sunday, compelling the partners to begin their journey on Saturday night, soon after Shabbat ended and they officially completed it with the Havdalah ceremony. As for Melave Malka, they packed food and planned to stop and eat somewhere on the way.

"It was a frigid, cold night, and as they were traveling, snow began to fall, concealing the road they were following. Remembering that they had not yet eaten Melave Malka, they decided to stop and conduct the meal, but then suddenly realized that they had no water with which to wash their hands.
"Looking around, they noticed a light twinkling from afar, so they traveled towards it, arriving at a peasant's small hut. They knocked on the door and asked to wash their hands. The peasant agreed, offering them to come in, warm themselves and eat their meal on his table. The partners sat down, ate, and sang the traditional Saturday night songs in honor of the Shabbos queen.

"Concluding the Melave Malka, they prepared to leave and continue on their journey, when without warning, a group of thugs appeared, forcefully blocking them from exiting. "You will not leave from here alive," they shouted. "We kill all those who come here and take all their belongings." Seeing no way out, the two Jews begged for a few minutes to say the vidui confession before death. The criminals laughingly granted them this last request.

"Suddenly ringing chimes, announcing the approach of a carriage, were heard, followed by knocks at the door. A travelling nobleman, a duke, had come to ask for directions, for he too had lost his way in the snowstorm. Laughing, the robbers told him that also he would not leave their hut alive and demanded that he hand over all his money. Having no choice he obeyed, and then requested a last wish, that he be given some whiskey to quench his thirst. They agreed, and the duke invited the wild criminals to join him in drinking. As soon as they began to drink, the would-be murderers suddenly became paralyzed, unable to move, like stones. The nobleman turned to the partners, instructing them to quickly take their belongings and escape. In a short amount of time, the two grateful Jews were far from the danger zone."

The Chortkover Rebbe concluded, "Do you know who the gentile nobleman was? It was King David! He came to save the partners in the merit of their extra care to eat Melave Malka properly, including washing hands for bread and sitting at a table."

The next morning, two strangers arrived in Tchortkov, and began to excitedly tell everyone they met about the miracle that had occurred to them while traveling to the fair.
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Source: Divrei David Likutim. Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from the rendition in Lma'an Yishme'u # 86.

Connection (among others): King David passed away on Shavuot.

Biographic note:
Rabbi David-Moshe Friedmann (20 Cheshvan 1828-21 Tishrei1903), the first Chortkover Rebbe, was the fifth of the holy six sons of the famed Rabbi Yisrael of Rhyzhin (1797-1850). After the death of his father, he attracted a large following. He is the author of Divrei Dovid.

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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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