Weekly Chasidic Story #765 (s5772-44 / 4 Menachem-Av 5772)

The Eighth Plague Again

The students of the Holy Ari of Tsfat became very frightened and asked: "Rebbe, for what has this severe punishment been decreed? What sin have the residents of Safed committed?"

Connection: Seasonal - the upcoming 440th yahrzeit of the Arizal

 

The Eighth Plague Again


Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the holy Ari [Lion], together with his students, made their way quietly from Tzefat to the grave of the prophet, Hoshea ben Beari.** They were accustomed to study in the mountains, and occasionally the Ari would invite the members of his group to pray at the various cemeteries that were scattered throughout the area. They already knew that by such visits, one could attach his soul to that of the tzaddik, and learn secrets of Torah.

**[It would seem this was not the burial cave traditionally associated with the prophet Hoshea, because 1) that is in the Ancient Tzefat Cemetery, very close to the Ari's home; and 2) the Ari was one of the few who never accepted that tradition, and insisted rather that it is the burial place of the Mishnaic sage, Rabbi Yehoshua. -yt]

The Ari stood near the grave of the Prophet in a long, silent prayer, surrounded by his students. Then they sat and listened to his discourse, words of Torah and Kabbalah that were beyond [most] human comprehension.

Suddenly, the students noticed that their Rav's face had changed. The joy that always reigned turned to an expression of stressful concern. For quite a time the Ari was thoughtful, and then he turned to his students: "I have just been informed that a difficult decree is now hovering over the inhabitants of Tzefat. A plague of locusts will descend on Tzefat, that will eat all the grass of the land and consume all the fruit trees, until there will be no source of sustenance remaining in the area."

The students became very frightened and asked: "Rebbe, why has this severe punishment been decreed? What sin have the residents of Tzefat committed?"

The Ari replied: "All this has come about because of one Jew, named Yaakov Altrin. He is terribly poor and has lost his source of parnasa [livelihood]. He poured out his grievance about his severe condition to the Al-mighty. When they saw from Heaven that none of the inhabitants of Tzefat had come to help him, the harsh decree was issued."

"But, Rabbi," the students called, "perhaps it is possible to do something, to save the whole town from distress, Heaven forbid. What should we do?"

The Ari ordered each of his students to contribute a certain sum of money, which amounted to a respectable sum. Then the Ari summoned R. Yitzchak HaKohen, a close student, gave him the bundle of money, bidding him to take it and deliver it to the poor man.

R. Yitzchak HaKohen went out and searched the entrances to the city, until he located the house of the man. The external appearance of the house was quite miserable. The student knocked on the door, but was not answered. Only the sound of bitter weeping could be heard coming from the house. Strengthening himself, the student opened the door, and right away he saw R. Yaakov Altrin sitting in the center of the house, surrounded by his family. His speech was directed upwards, and he was crying.

The surprise entry of the Ari's student immediately silenced R. Yaakov's crying. He looked into the visitor's face in wonder and, asked: "What do you want?"

R. Yitzchak told him that he was a student of the Ari, and he had just heard that R. Yaakov was in deep trouble and would like to help him. "What happened to you, and why do you cry?" asked R. Yitzchak.

R. Yaakov poured out his heart before his guest. He told of his daily struggle to earn a livelihood, to bring bread home. He had a large ceramic jug, with which he brought water to the homes of his neighbors in the region. With the little he earned from this, he had managed to support his family. Now the jug had broken, and his livelihood went down with it. Without a jug, there was no point to go out to work, and he could no longer feed his children and family.

"In my distress, I turned to G-d," the simple Jew added. "I claimed: Is this proper for me? Has the penalty of hunger been decreed upon me and my family? Am I more evil than the rest of the world? Does He not sustain the whole world with grace, loving-kindness and mercy? Why did He take away the source of my income from me?"

The student was amazed to see how right the words of the Ari were. He took out the bundle of money collected by the students, turned to the Jew and said: "Listen R. Yaakov, G-d has heard your prayers, and from now on you will no longer lack anything. We, the residents of Tzefat, will support your family, for whatever is needed."

His face lit up, and his joy knew no bounds. He looked happily at his family, and at the coins placed into his hands, and did not stop thanking G-d and expressing his thanks to the guest who came just at the right moment, to save his family from the shame of hunger.

However, R. Yitzchak was not interested in these words of thanks. With a serious face, he turned to the Jew in a tone of reproof: "Do you know that on account of you, almost all the residents of Tzefat were at risk of extinction and hunger?! When you come with your claims against us to the Almighty, they looked down from Heaven and saw that you were without any help from your brethren and neighbors, and so a harsh decree was cast. If not for our holy Rabbi who heard of this, and in whose merit all the residents of the city were saved...."

The man was very sorry about the things he said in his distress, and promised that henceforth he would put his trust in the Merciful One and complain no more. He departed from R. Yitzchak excitedly, and the latter returned to his friends to tell them the story of R. Yaakov.

The group of friends [the inner core of disciples] asked the Ari whether the decree had indeed been averted. He responded to them, that indeed, the charity money they had given to the poor man worked to remove the decree from the residents of Tzefat.

Time passed. Suddenly, one day, what seemed to be a heavy cloud of locusts was seen approaching the hills of Tzefat. Horror befell them all. The students turned to their Rebbe, and asked if the Divine decree had not been averted after all. The Ari's face was peaceful and shining, and he did not seem to worry at all. "Continue to learn, my sons," he said, "and the cause for your concern will pass."

A few moments passed, and a strong wind appeared and moved the entire cloud of locusts out to the sea, until not one remained.

The story spread and made waves, everyone learned that in the merit of the holy vision of the Ari, the entire area was saved from a plague of locusts.

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Source: Adapted and supplemented by Yerachmiel Tilles from the translation from Sichat HaShavua by my old friend Yitz, which he posted--along with the two graphics--on his blog for Chasidic music and history: //heichalhanegina.blogspot.co.il.

Connection: Hei Av (Mon. night - Tues.) is the yahrzeit of the Arizal.

Biographic note:
Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (1534-5 Av 1572), Known as "the holy Ari," revolutionized the study of Kabbalah and its integration into mainstream Judaism during the two years he spent in Zefat before his death at age 38.
(For a more full biography) (For teachings of the Ari translated into English)

 

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