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#477 (s5767-16 / 20 Tevet 5767) A Fatal Delay Rabbi Aharon of Chernobyl agreed to adjucate the court case with the deceased. A Fatal DelayA stranger once walked into the shul frequented by the chasidim of Chernobyl who lived in Berditchev, and asked the men assembled there if they were followers of Rabbi Aharon of Chernobyl. Hearing that they were, he gave them money for tikun, and asked them to prepare a festive meal at his expense. When they were all seated together around the table he said: "You people think you know who your tzaddik is? I have just come from him now. Let me tell you what happened to me, and then you will know what manner of man he is. "When I happened to be here in Berditchev a few years ago, a certain businessman who worked on a commission basis came here to buy up various goods for the shopkeepers of his town. Even after he had paid for them he had quite a sum left. "As he walked off, his wallet fell from his pocket unnoticed. I picked it up. I wavered for a moment whether to return it or not, but the stranger was already on his way. I then set out follow him quickly, but lost him in the crowd and could not find him. I went about my affairs, and in the course of time the Almighty prospered my way and I became a rich man. "But when that unfortunate agent came home to his town his creditors gave him no peace, for the money he lost was theirs. In addition he lost his livelihood, for the shopkeepers were no longer willing to trust him. He died in misery soon after, leaving his wife in wretched poverty, and his sons' illiterate - for there was no one to pay their tuition fees. "After some time he appeared to me in a dream. 'Why did you kill me?' he said. 'And worse still, look at the state my widow and children are left in - all because of you! I now demand that you appear with me in a lawsuit to be heard here in the World of Truth!' "I woke up in alarm. But then I told myself: 'Does the Prophet Zechariah not teach that Dreams speak falsehood?' And does the Talmud not tell us that a man is shown in his dreams only that upon which his heart ponders by day? It is only because I have thought of this incident so often that it figured now in my dream!' "But when the same dream repeated itself the next night, and the next night again, and so on I saw that this was no joking matter. So one night I answered him in my dream: 'Very well, I agree to the lawsuit - but not in the World of Truth. For what will you gain from it if my wife and children will be widowed and orphaned too?' "'In that case,' he replied, 'tell me where the hearing should take place.' "'Give me time to think it over,' I said, and he agreed. "First thing in the morning I set out to consult the Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon ("the Second") of Karlin, but he said that he couldn't get involved in a matter of this sort, and recommended that I go to see Rabbi Aharon of Chernobyl. Your Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon, told me that when this man came to me again in a dream I should tell him that the hearing would be held before him. I returned home, and when I passed on this suggestion at the next opportunity the plaintiff agreed, and I set out at once for Chernobyl. "I appeared at the date and time set by the tzaddik, and he opened the hearing by inviting the deceased to state his claim. Not a word of what was said reached my ears, but after a few moments the tzaddik turned to me and said: 'The deceased has various well-founded claims against you - that you brought about his death, and so on. What do you have to say in your defense?' "I explained that I had in fact wanted to return the wallet, but had lost him in the crowd; and since I had no idea who he was, what was I to have done? "'Will you agree to accept whatever verdict I hand down?' the tzaddik asked me. "I said I would, and the tzaddik said the plaintiff was also agreeable. "'This, then, is my verdict,' he said after a pause. 'You are to return home and to make an honest stocktaking of whatever you own in money and property, down to the last thread and shoelace. Half of the total you may keep for yourself. As to the other half, you are to make the journey to the township where this man's widow lives, and hand it over personally to her. While you are there, hire competent tutors to teach her children, In addition, you are to set aside a certain proportion of your half and distribute it as tzedakah to the needy.' "Stage by stage I did exactly as I was told - first at home, then in the widow's hometown - and then I made another journey to Chernobyl to express my gratitude to the tzaddik for having looked after the whole affair for me. I am now on my way home from there, so I thought that since I was passing through Berditchev, I would like to drop in here and hold a thanksgiving meal in the company of you folk.' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Biographical note:
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. |
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