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Weekly Chasidic Story #954 (s5776-26 / 27
Adar A 5776)
The Royal Accountant
The third partner in the business of importing feathers and hides from Russia
and Galicia was the son of Rabbi Sar-Shalom, the first Rebbe of Belz
Connection: Weekly Torah portion -- The "book-keeping" for
the Sanctuary donations is the theme for the entire Reading
The Royal Accountant
Once, there were three men, Reb Ezriel, Reb Anshel, and Reb Eliezer,
who were partners in a business. Ezriel bought feathers and hides from Russia
and Anshel bought similar merchandise from Galicia. The third partner, Eliezer,
who was the son of Rabbi Sholom, the Belzer Rebbe, arranged financing
for their ventures and kept the books, auditing all the expenses and income
of their various transactions.
For a long time, all went well. Then, for some unknown reason, Ezriel and Anshel
asked Eliezer if they could examine the books.
"We would like to know where we stand," they said.
To their surprise, Eliezer refused to show them the ledgers. His two partners
decided to go with their complaint to his father, the Belzer Rebbe, and to see
if he would adjudicate the matter.
"I cannot be the judge," the Rebbe told the men, "because I am
the father of the accused and I am therefore disqualified to judge."
"Nevertheless," the two partners assured him, "we trust your
decision even though you have an interest in the matter."
"Very well," said the Rebbe, "but it is late, just before Mincha
and there is not enough time to hear all the details. For now, let me quickly
tell you a story that relates to this situation":
There were once two brothers,
one rich and one poor. The rich brother had a daughter who was of marriageable
age and the poor brother had a son who was a fine Talmud scholar of the same
age. The rich brother and his daughter had rejected many previous offers of
marriage, so the matchmaker urged him to take his nephew, the poor brother's
son, as a son-in-law. The rich brother and his daughter agreed and the two cousins
were married.
The young man, whose name was Yisrael, soon found life under his father-in-law's
roof very uncomfortable. Neither his wife nor his father-in-law appreciated
his occupation with Torah study and would have preferred that he involve himself
in business.
The situation became so tense that for the sake of peace for all involved, Yisrael
decided to accept a distant job as a Torah tutor. He traveled far, to an isolated
village, and there became the tutor for the children of a chasid of the Baal
Shem Tov.
Some months later, the chasid took a trip to visit his Rebbe. At the end, just
as he was about to depart with a group of other chasidim, Yisrael asked: "Can
you kindly mention me to your Rebbe? I have a difficult personal matter that
is a great burden. Perhaps the Baal Shem Tov will have some advice for me."
Yisrael's employer did indeed mention his name to the holy Baal Shem Tov, and
returned home with an urgent message. "As soon as we mentioned your name
to the Rebbe, he became quite upset. He told us to advise you to immediately
return to your home. He said it involves a serious matter regarding your wife.
Extraordinary! I didn't even know you were married."
"It is a painful story so I did not share it with you," he answered,
and then questioned his employer skeptically. "How would the Baal Shem
Tov know of me? How does he even know I'm married?"
"Never mind,"he insisted. "If the Baal Shem Tov was so adamant
about your returning home, you must do as he says. He told us that he looked
at the root of your soul and found a danger present. You must not delay. You
should leave immediately."
"How can I go home?" Yisrael answered. "My belongings are here
and besides, I don't have any money for the journey."
When the local chasidim heard the story, they immediately contributed funds
to hire a wagon and driver to take Yisrael home. They even helped Yisrael gather
his few belongings and load the wagon.
"What am I doing?" he thought to himself as the wagon bumped along
the dirt road. "I wonder if the Chassidim were just trying to get rid of
me. I wonder if they really even mentioned my name to the Baal Shem Tov. How
could he know about me?"
Such doubts filled his mind as he traveled. He had thoughts of stopping the
wagon and turning around, but the urgent words of the Baal Shem Tov disturbed
him greatly.
Finally he arrived at his hometown. As the wagon came to a stop in front of
his house, he hesitated. He finally summoned the courage to knock on the door.
A strange man answered the door. "What did you want?" the man asked.
"Is Reb Yisrael's wife at home?"
"She is no longer Reb Yisrael's wife, and she doesn't live here. In fact,
she is planning to get married in two days."
Yisrael was shocked. He had never divorced his wife. How could she get married
again? He now understood the urgency of the Baal Shem Tov's words. The first
thing he must do was to prevent his wife from marrying another man. But how?
Distraught, he went to the local Torah-study Hall and sat down to think. Moments
later, he overheard several of the local beggars talking about the impending
wedding. "I can't wait for the feast. It will no doubt be lavish because
the bride's father is certainly rich."
Yisrael then knew what he had to do. He went immediately to the town Rabbi's
home. He related his story, insisting that he had never sent his wife a divorce.
The town Rabbi remembered Yisrael and believed him. "Please stay here while
I go to your father-in-law and discuss this matter."
It turned out that Yisrael's father-in-law had been deceived by an unscrupulous,
traveling darshan [public expounder of Torah lessons]. The darshan
had come to town and realized the rich man's great despair because his daughter
had been deserted by her husband. So he approached the girl's father and said,
"In my travels, I've met your son-in-law and we became friends. I'm quite
sure that I can get him to divorce your daughter. Just give me power of attorney
to act on your and your daughter's behalf and I will take care of everything."
"That would be wonderful! And you can be sure that I will pay you well
for your kindness," the rich man told the darshan.
The darshan quickly traveled to another small town some distance away
where he was not known. There he found three men of questionable honesty who
were willing go along with his ruse for a profit. The darshan, accompanied by
his three new companions, then went to a rabbinical court in yet another town,
claiming that he had recognized a man at the local inn who was sought for abandoning
his wife. "His name is Yisrael and he refuses to give his wife a divorce.
Her father has asked me to force him to give a divorce at any cost."
The rabbis of the court were convinced by the darshan's story. They had
the man in the inn, who was one of the three conspirators, apprehended and brought
before them. After some 'coaxing', the man admitted that he was the husband
that had deserted his wife. Then, the two false witnesses -- the other two conspirators
-- were brought to testify that they also knew the man to be the alleged Reb
Yisrael, the runaway husband of the rich man's daughter. The Beis Din
'managed' to gain this Yisrael's acquiescence to prepare a Get, a document
of divorce, which they gave to the darshan, after he showed them the
power of attorney of the rich man and his daughter that he was carrying.
The darshan returned to the rich man with the prized bill of divorce.
"How can I repay you for all your efforts?" the rich man asked.
"I do not want any money," said the darshan. "I was just
doing a kindness. However, I would appreciate the opportunity to introduce an
eligible young man to your daughter. That is all I ask."
The eligible young man just happened to be the darshan's son, and he
made a favorable impression on the family. The wedding date was set and plans
were made.
Once the real Yisrael spoke to the town Rabbi, the latter, accompanied by the
local police, marched to the rich man's home. The Rabbi explained Yisrael's
story and accused the darshan and his son of fraud. The policemen promptly
took the two scoundrels to jail.
The rich man was embarrassed that he had been deceived, but was very happy that
the plot had been foiled in time. His daughter expressed her deep regret over
her unloving behavior towards Yisrael, and begged him to remain as her husband.
"Indeed," concluded the Belzer Rebbe, "they did live happily
thereafter. But do you understand why I told you this story?" he asked
the two men before him.
"You, Reb Anshel, and you, Reb Ezriel, were the two false witnesses and
my son Eliezer was Yisrael in a former life. Your souls are in debt to his for
the shame and discomfort he suffered. My advice is that you increase his share
of the earnings and I am sure he will show you the books."
And so it was.
________________________________________
Source: Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from the rendition of Tzvi-Meir
HaKohane Cohn, based on a story in Sipurei Yaakov as translated in Stories of
the Baal Shem Tov by Y.Y. Klapholtz, and posted on Cohn's website, //baalshemtov.com.
Biographic notes:
Rabbi Sar-Sholom [Rokeiach] of Belz [1779-27 Elul 1855] was the first of the
Belz chasidic dynasty. He became the main rebbe of Galician jewry, and had tens
of thousands of chassidim. His teachings are collected in Dover Shalom.
Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer (18 Elul 1698-6 Sivan 1760), the Baal Shem Tov ["Master
of the Good Name"], a unique and seminal figure in Jewish history, revealed
the Chassidic movement and his own identity as an exceptionally holy person,
on his 36th birthday, 18 Elul 1734. He wrote no books, although many claim to
contain his teachings. One available in English is the excellent annotated translation
of Tzava'at Harivash, published by Kehos.
Connection: Weekly Torah portion -- The "book-keeping" for the Sanctuary
donations is the theme for the entire Reading
Yerachmiel
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