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



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