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Weekly Chasidic Story #573 (s5769-08 / 20 Cheshvan 5769) From Tsfat to Hebron and Back The wife of Rabbi Shmuel of Kaminka was a pious woman who would recite the entire Book of Psalms every day with great fervor. (Connection: weekly Torah reading--Chevron and the Cave of Machpela)
From Tsfat to Hebron and BackRabbi Shmuel of Kaminka was a disciple of Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov. He was a holy man, and his wife, whom we will call Michla, was a pious woman who would recite the entire Sefer Tehilim (Book of Psalms) every day with great fervor. One day, this righteous woman heard of a young mother who was undergoing a very difficult childbirth. She went to the house and as soon as she began her recital of Tehilim, the baby was born. Some time later Michla heard of another woman who was experiencing difficulty in childbirth, and so she went to say Tehilim there too; again, the baby was born shortly thereafter. Soon her reputation spread, and when any woman in the town encountered problems in childbirth Michla would hurry over; as soon as she would read some Tehilim, the crises would pass and the baby would be born. Her husband, Rabbi Shmuel, had always had a very strong love for The Holy Land. Unfortunately, even though he aspired to live there, he did not even have the means to pay for passage to get there, let alone to sustain himself in the country. His source of livelihood was a small inn in part of his house where guests would stay. One day, a nobleman was lodging at the inn. He informed his host that he would be checking out in the afternoon to attend a very important meeting, then went to his room to rest until his departure. The nobleman overslept, and when he awoke and realized that he would be late for his meeting, he hastily gathered his belongings, paid his bill and hurried off. Some time later, when Michla was cleaning her house for Pesach, she moved the bed away from the wall in this guest room and discovered that, in his haste, the nobleman had forgotten to pack one of his boots. Without his name or address there was no hope of contacting him, and she decided to discard the stray boot. She picked it up and found it to be unusually heavy; upon further investigation she found concealed inside a small fortune of money and gems. Not having any information about the former guest, they had no means of returning the find to its owner. Rabbi Shmuel feared that this was some sort of trap; perhaps they would now be accused of having robbed the nobleman. His wife assured him that if that were the case, the nobleman would surely have returned by now to assert his claim. Her assessment was that it was a gift from Heaven to enable them to at long last move to The Holy Land, and perhaps the nobleman was Eliyahu the Prophet in disguise. Bowing to his wife's opinion, Rabbi Shmuel booked passage on a boat and the couple sailed to Israel. Michla asked her husband not to disclose to anyone her special power of helping women in distress with her recital of Tehilim; she was concerned that being called constantly to help those in distress was preventing her from immersing herself in her prayers with total concentration. The couple moved to Tsfat, where Rabbi Shmuel spent his days engrossed in the study of Torah, while Michla, as before, continued her commitment to reciting all of Tehilim daily. One day, they heard of a young woman in the throes of labor who was suffering terribly. When it became known that the doctor declared the woman's life to be in danger, Rabbi Shmuel turned to his wife and told her, "I understand your wish to keep your gift a secret, but in this case you are obligated to help the woman." She was unhappy about revealing her special power, but understood that it was the proper thing to do. She went to the woman's house, began saying Tehilim, and, as before, the baby was born shortly afterwards. The residents of Tsfat realized that Rabbi Shmuel's wife had helped the woman, and her reputation soon spread, so that, as before, she would be called whenever a woman experienced difficulties in childbirth. At that time, the Turks occupied The Holy Land, and the area which included Tsfat was ruled by a Turkish sheik. Himself no friend of the Jews, the sheik had an adviser who was known to be a rabid anti-Semite. This man sought any opportunity to devise a plan to discredit the Jews in the eyes of the sheik. One day, the sheik's daughter was undergoing a difficult childbirth, and her doctor despaired of her life. The adviser had heard of Rebbetzin Michla's ability to help people with her reciting of Tehilim, and he told the sheik about it, assuming that she would refuse to pray on behalf of a gentile. Then, he could incite the ruler to take revenge on the entire Jewish community. The sheik sent an urgent message to Michla, demanding her services for his daughter. She was aghast at the thought of using her holy powers to assist an anti-Semite, but her husband wisely insisted she must go or risk placing the entire Jewish community in danger. Once again, her fervent prayers achieved their desired result and the sheik's daughter gave birth speedily and without complication. The sheik was most grateful for her assistance, and the adviser was dismayed to see that his plan had backfired. He approached the sheik and tried to convince him that Michla was a sorceress who had made use of magic; Turkish custom demanded that she be burned at the stake. So grateful was the sheik, however, that he refused to believe his slander. He sent agin for Rebbetzin Michla and informed her, "Tell me what you wish for a reward - I will give you whatever you ask!" She shunned any sort of financial reward, but told the sheik that her fondest wish was to be able to recite the entire Book of Psalms in the Machpela Cave (the burial place of Adam and Chava, and our three forefathers and their wives) in Hebron, which at that time was off limits to Jews. The sheik gladly consented, impressed by the modesty of her request. The adviser was enraged that the Rebbetzin had made such a favorable impression on the sheik. In his fury, he decided to have her eliminated. He bribed the guard at Machpela to lock the door of the chamber so that the Rebbetzin would be trapped in the room and die of hunger. Rebbetzin Michla came to the holy site and began to say Tehilim. The guard locked the door behind her, and after a few hours, when she had completed her tearful prayers, she tried to go out but found that she was trapped. She immediately grasped the evil scheme that had been planned for her. Taking out her Tehilim once again, she prayed, "G-d, if it is Your wish that I must die now, I accept this wholeheartedly, but, I beg of You, please: I do not want to defile this holy place with my dead body. Please, Master of the World, take me out of here so that I may die elsewhere." She continued her heartfelt plea until she fell asleep, when she dreamt that a man of saintly appearance with a crown on his head was standing over her. "I am King David. Because you have dedicated your life to the recital of Tehilim, which I authored, I have come to save you." In her dream she saw him leading her out, and when she awoke she found herself outside of Machpela. Meanwhile, the adviser told the sheik that apparently the woman had disappeared, further proof that she was a sorceress. The sheik sent a messenger to Rabbi Shmuel's house to inquire as to the Rebbetzin's whereabouts, and he determined that she was alive and well, pursuing her normal activities. The sheik realized that his wicked adviser, jealous of the good woman, had been trying to discredit her, and he banished him from the palace. From then on, whenever the sheik had a problem, he would discuss it with Rabbi Shmuel or his noble wife, and the Jews lived in security throughout his reign. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Connection: weekly Torah reading -Maharat HaMachpela Biographical note:
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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.