THE
LOTTERY TICKET
Yrachmiel Tilles
When the great Chassidic Rebbe, the "Seer" of Lublin, passed
on to his Heavenly abode, he left behind a devastating void. A large
group of his orphaned followers approached one of his outstanding
followers, Rabbi Fischel of Strickov, to become their "rebbe"
and mentor. Others found this surprising; while the Seer was still
alive Rabbi Fischel had been a hidden person who kept very much to
himself, barely having personal contact with anybody, including his
fellow Chasidim.
Rabbi
Fischel had acceded reluctantly, as if under duress: "Where there is no man,
stand up and be a man." But soon thereafter the new Rebbe made it clear that
he intended to hew a path strikingly different from his predecessors. In contrast
to the custom of "miracle-working" Rebbes of the time who helped the
impoverished and persecuted Jews of Eastern Europe with advice, prayers, blessings
and even supra-natural intervention, Rabbi Fischel announced that he, for one,
would not do so. He was prepared to help one and all in their relationship with
the Creator and to guide them in Torah, prayer and the fulfillment of the commandments,
but he had no intention to get involved in their material concerns. He felt it
was not proper to bother the One Above with such petty matters.
The Chasidim
were flabbergasted by this "revelation," and of course disappointed,
but they had no choice but to accept it. It was the price they had to pay in order
to be connected to the newRebbe.
Even so, it would happen that occasionally
a suffering Jew would come and pour his physical misfortunes into the ear of Rabbi
Fischel, and the Rebbe would always listen sympathetically and endeavor to find
a natural solution for the person's woe. If the petitioner was in a desperate
state of poverty, Rabbi Fischel would try to enlist one of his wealthier supporters
to succor him, and if the problem was a medical one, he would recommend a doctor
with expertise in the needed field. Always good practical advice, but no miracles
or wonders.
Then one day something happened that shocked the Chasidim totally.
The Rebbe's door was locked! He refused to receive any of his Chasidim in audience!
The
chasidim gathered around the Rebbe's house in consternation, desperate for an
explanation of this strange new development. When Rabbi Fischel did step out,
his appearance so startled them that their hearts began pounding in trepidation:
the Rebbe was wearing a regular hat! From the day he accepted upon himself the
leadership, Rabbi Fischel had worn a streimel (expensive fur hat), in the
manner of all the other Chasidic Rebbes in Poland. But now he was dressed just
like any other Chasidic man on the street.
The Rebbe looked very serious
and there was a worried expression in his eyes. No one dared to approach him directly
and ask for an interpretation of his change of attire. But they were terrified
that he had decided to abandon his position as their leader.
Some time went
by. The Rebbe's door remained closed to his disciples. The chasidim felt abandoned.
Then something happened that gave rise to a new burst of hope in their hearts.
Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa arrived in town.
He too had been
a leading disciple of the Seer of Lublin, and he too had accepted upon himself
the mantle of leadership over a large number of Chasidim. Although he was much
younger than Rabbi Fischel, the two of them had a close, affectionate relationship.
The elder Strickover Chasidim implored Rabbi Bunim to influence Rabbi Fischel
to retract his devastating decision.
The two holy men sat and talked in
Rabbi Fischel's room for several hours. The Chasidim stood trembling outside.
They felt that their spiritual survival was tied to the success of the Pesishcha's
efforts.
Finally Rabbi Bunim emerged. The hearts of the Chasidim fluttered
in joy when they saw the broad smile on his face. They heaved a collective sigh
of relief. Their Rebbe would return to them; their prayers had been answered!
With
the heavy boulder of their concern rolled from their hearts, the Chasidim were
now filled with curiosity as to how the Peshischa Rebbe had managed to persuade
his elder colleague to change his mind. They gathered around Rabbi Bunim and begged
him to tell them all that had transpired. Rabbi Bunim smiled and agreed.
~~~~~~~~
What
happened was this: few weeks before Rabbi Fischel's dramatic change of heart,
a desperately poor person had visited him in his room and confessed before him
his plight. He had several daughters of marriageable age, but he had no money
whatsoever to be able to provide for them and had exhausted all possible hopes
of acquiring any. He was broken-hearted, and his daughters even more so.
Rabbi
Fischel offered him advice but none of his suggestions bore fruit. Very much wanting
to help the man, he said to him, "I see that I am unable to aid you by natural
means. Therefore, I say this: go buy a national lottery ticket, and may G-d Al-mighty
provide your salvation."
At the first possible opportunity, the man
hurried to purchase a ticket. The system then was that the ticket enabled its
purchaser to participate in ten drawings over a period of ten successive days.
The first drawing took place and
the man did not win anything. Nor was
his luck any better in the second or third. The pattern continued for the entire
week. With each failure his frustration grew, and as each day passed his faith
in the Rebbe's blessing weakened.
After the ninth drawing, he was completely
disheartened. He decided bitterly that at least he should recoup his losses and
make back the outlay of the ticket. And indeed, he managed to sell it to someone
for the price he had originally paid.
The next day the news spread rapidly
that Mr. So-and-so had won a huge sum of money in the lottery. He, of course,
was none other than the lucky man who had bought the poor man's ticket.
The
poor man ran back to the Rebbe, bewailing his misfortune. In tears, he confessed
the whole story. Rabbi Fischel, too, was affected deeply. He saw in the episode
a divine message to him. He understood it as a sign that such miraculous behavior
on his part was displeasing to Heaven. That was why, he figured, his blessing
was distorted so bizarrely. It was fulfilled, but the person to whom it was given
still did not benefit at all from it. His conclusion was that he was unfit for
the Rebbe role he had allowed himself to assume.
~~~~~~~~
So how did
Rabbi Bunim convince him to change his mind? He told Rabbi Fischel how he too
had been approached by a desperately poor man with many children but not nearly
enough income. He blessed him that he should meet financial success.
However,
the man refused to be satisfied with such a simply expressed blessing. He demanded
to know exactly how it would be fulfilled, seeing that up to then he had failed
miserably in whatever he had undertaken in order to make a living. Rabbi Bunim
replied to him, "Woe to Bunim if thus is how he must serve G-d, that he has
to provide advice for Him as to how He should enable a Jew to prosper."
Rabbi
Fischel caught the gentle hint, and agreed to resume his post, and to do so with
a changed attitude.
Translated-adapted from the Hebrew
weekly, Sichat HaShavua, #334 (and first published on www.chabad.org). Yrachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and editor
of Ascent Quarterly and the director of the AscentOfSafed.com and KabbalaOnline.org
websites. He has hundreds of published stories to his credit. You may distribute
this e-mail as long as full attribution is given, including Ascent's email and
internet addresses.
Biographical note:
Rabbi
Fischel ("Fisheleh") Shapira of Strickov (1743 - 17 Tevet 1822)
was a disciple successively of the Magid of Mezritch, the Rebbe Elimelech and
the Seer of Lublin. He was known for his extreme modesty and humility. His colleagues
referred to him as "Oleh Temimah" - "the unblemished offering.
Rabbi
Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1765 - 12 Elul 1827) spent many years as a business
man and a pharmacist. He was a beloved disciple of "the Seer" and of
"The Holy Yid" whom he succeeded. Known as "a rebbe of rebbes,"
his major disciples included the Kotsker and the first Rebbes of Ger and Alexander.
R.
Yaakov Yitzchok Horowitz (1745 - 9 Av 1815), known as 'the Chozer (Seer) of
Lublin', was the successor to R. Elimelech of Lizensk (1717-1787), and leader
of the spread of chassidism in Poland. Many of his insights were published posthumously
in Divrei Emmes, Zichron Zos, and Zos Zichron.
Yrachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of
Ascent-of-Safed, and editor of Ascent Quarterly and the AscentOfSafed.com and
KabbalaOnline.org websites. He has hundreds of published stories to his credit.