Story Tour

In a certain city lived an very wealthy merchant who sold a lot of goods to the merchants living near his home town.

When it was time for the fair to be held, the merchant let everyone know that he wanted to travel to the fair so he could buy new and outstanding goods. For that reason the wealthy merchant urged all who owed him money to come and pay their debts.

Among those who owed him money was a merchant whose home had unfortunately burned down. All of his property had been consumed in the flames as well, leaving him penniless.

He was utterly distressed and ashamed at the thought of hav­ing to face the wealthy man. “How can I have the nerve to come before him empty-handed?” he asked.

“Just go to him and tell him the truth. There is nothing better than that!” advised his friends.

The merchant listened their advice and set out to see the wealthy man.

Sitting in the wealthy man’s waiting room, the poor merchant was unable to control himself and began to cry bitterly. The sound of the crying touched the wealthy man’s heart, and he asked to know why the poor man was crying. Soon after, the merchant’ s sad story was told to him.

The wealthy man felt pity for the unfortunate merchant; when the man was brought in to him he embraced him and and lovingly explained:

“Do not feel the least bit distressed. I hereby completely forgive you of your debt.” He then tore the bill of debt into shreds.

The merchant abundantly thanked the wealthy man and went on his way. The matter soon became known to the members of the community and. eventually spread to the public at large as well.

Among those who heard about it was a crook who decided to swindle the wealthy man.

He traveled to the wealthy man’s home, and upon taking a seat in the waiting room, began to wail loudly.

“What are you crying about?” shouted the wealthy man.

“I desperately need two thousand rubles,” he cried. “I beg of you, please give me the entire sum.”

“I am very sorry,” answered the wealthy man, “but I am simply unable to give you such a large amount of money.”

“But you forgave the other merchant from a debt of an equal amount,” insisted the disappointed crook.

“You fool,” said the wealthy man. “That individual owed me a great deal of money, and I knew that he did not have a penny to his name with which to repay me — what would I have gained had I not absolved his debt? Will I get my money back? That is why I forgave his debt. But as for you, I have absolutely no busi­ness with you – why should I acquiesce to giving you a sum of two thousand rubles? Should I give it to you simply because you are crying?”

The prayer, Unsaneh Tokef, speaks of many dire situations one may face during the year but concludes with the verse:

“But Repentance, Prayer and Tzedakah (charity) avert the severe decree.”

When a person repents honestly, he re­grets his misdeeds, and cries to the Holy One, blessed be He that He forgive him for his sins — G-d immediately forgives him. But if a foolish individual thinks to himself, “I will sin, repent, sin again, repent once again, and even cry over my sins after­wards” — his repentance will not be accepted!

May you all be inscribed and sealed for a good year in the Book of Life

Tags: Holiday, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Rosh haShanah, Rosh haShanah, Stories by Rabbi
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The rabbis of old taught that:

“In the place where those who return and truly repent stand, the purely righteous who have never sinned can not stand.”                                Beracho 34b 

The Captive Prince

 A king had two mighty and courageous sons. One day, the king went out to battle his enemies, and his two sons went with him as commanders in his army. Each son led his soldiers into battle. The sons fought with much strength and bravery, but the enemy was able to surround one of the sons. The battle raged on, but at the end he was taken captive by the enemy. The king’s son suffered in the enemy prison, starving and deprived, and after a full year, he finally succeeded in digging a tunnel so that he could escape from the dismal prison. The prince ran away, crossing over rivers and lakes, and trekking through forests and over mountains. After a while, he finally returned to his father’s home. How great was the happiness and joy in the king’s palace upon the prince’s return. Large celebrations were held in his honor, and the king sat him to his right and showered him with gifts. Without a doubt, this son’s joy is ten times greater than a son who had never left his father’s home.

This is the identical happiness that a person feels when he returns in complete repentance to his Father in Heaven. His joy is ten times greater than one who has never sinned, for only once a person has saved himself from sin can he truly perceive the taste of “captivity.”

L’Shana Tova May Everyone Be Blessed with a Good and Sweet Year

May all your Tales end with Shalom

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Tags: Holiday, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Rosh haShanah, Rosh haShanah, Stories by Rabbi
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Knowledge of the physical sciences was never consid­ered to be a deterrent from the studt of Torah (Scriptures). Some of our greatest sages, from the Talmudic era to our own generation, were extremely well versed in mathematics and the sciences. Works on these subjects by ibn Ezra, Maimonides (RaMbaM), Zacuto, and the Gaon of Vilna are consulted to this day and demonstrate their vast knowledge. 

The haskalah (Enlightenment) movement tried to un­dermine traditional Judaism and the study of Torah by introducing secular studies in all Jewish educational institutions, and they tried to use mathematics as a way of getting a foot in the door. The rabbis were against the education as presented by the maskilim. While they had no problem with the study of mathematics, they knew this was only a trick to destroy the traditional religious cheder (classroom). 

One member of the haskalah movement argued with the rabbis, saying that the knowledge of mathematics would not affect anyone’s Jewishness in the least. One of the rabbis challenged him: “Then let me ask you a simple arithmetic question. How many days is it today in the counting of the Omer (days between Pesach and Shavuos)?” 

When the maskil was unable to answer, the rabbi said, “See, with all your enlightenment, you don’t even know simple Jewish arithmetic.”

haYom esra yamim sh’hem shevu’ah echad v’shelisha yamim l’omer

Tags: Faith, Holiday, Holidays, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Stories by Rabbi
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Shir haShirim, The Song of Songs is read in many Synagogues on Shabbos Chol haMoed.

Sometimes the meanings of the words are hard to understand. The verse says: Like a rose among the thorns (2:2), but what can this mean? 

One may think that tavern would seem to be a most unpromising place in which to serve one’s Maker. So, at least, was the conflict that raged inside a simple Jewish tavern keeper who came to pour out his heart to the holy rabbi who was visiting the village. Since he earned his living by pouring drinks for all kinds of vulgar people, and had no choice but to hear their coarse language and see their improper behavior, he was afraid that he might become common by his contact with them.

The holy rabbi smiled and said:  ”It seems that you want to fulfill your function of being faithful and proper by being given a sack full of gold coins, being seated in a clean and splendid palace, dressed in silken garments with an impressive fine hat upon your head, with shelves on all sides filled with holy books — and then you will be able to serve the Almighty with your prayer and study proceeding from a clear and pure mind. But you may take my word for it: if the Holy One, blessed be He wants individuals to serve Him without any distractions or ob­stacles — why, for that he’s got hundreds of thousands of angels! The real delight that He finds in This World comes from those who are surrounded on all sides with difficulties and hardships, until it almost seems to them that they have been forced into a gutter — and even with this their minds cleave firmly to their Creator, and they anxiously yearn for the happy opportunity of one single moment when they’ll be able at last to ad­dress just a few words to Him. This longing no angel can experience! Do not complain about your livelihood. On the contrary, give thanks to Him for hav­ing given you the privilege of serving Him in this manner — to stand all day long in a place of impurity, and yet in your heart of hearts to cling to the wellspring of holiness and faith!”

Tags: Faith, Holiday, Holidays, Pesach, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Stories by Rabbi
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And whoever elaborates on the story is praised… 

Whoever tells at length about the leaving from Egypt, increases his own praise, because the more one recognizes and appreciates the great miracles performed on his behalf, the more his own worth becomes apparent. 

It once happened that…. 

A ship transported many merchants to a distant land to sell their wares. The ship’s passengers included all sorts of merchants, each with his own merchandise: flour, fabrics, art objects, and precious stones. 

Out at sea, a pirate vessel approached the ship. The pirates commanded the ship’s captain to veer from his course and fol­low their vessel, as a captive ship. 

Fear descended upon all the ship’s passengers, for the pirates were infamous for their cruelty. 

The fearless captain immediately gathered his crew together and told them how to behave at this difficult time. The sailors obeyed his orders. Some climbed up the main mast and stretched out the sails. Some stood on the deck, swords and boarding hooks in hand, and some descended to the belly of the ship and from there, fired cannons at the pirates’ ship. 

When the pirates saw the captain’s and sailors’ courage and heard the sound of cannons exploding, they turned around and hastily sailed away. 

Although surely all of the mer­chants felt great happiness, this was not felt equally by each and every one of them. The relief of a merchant whose sacks of flour have been saved cannot be compared to the rejoicing of one whose precious jew­els have been saved. 

And even without knowing which merchant possessed the most valuable cargo, one could guess it by seeing which merchant most abundantly expressed his relief that the ship had been saved. The more elaborate the merchant’s appreciation of the rescue, the more valuable his wares. 

So too it is as the haggadah says, “and whoever elaborates on the story is praised.” When a person elaborately recounts the story of the leaving from Egypt, he reveals true faith and, “makes a joyful sound unto the L-rd.

Tags: Holiday, Holidays, Pesach, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Stories by Rabbi
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The hagaddah says:

“…even if we were all wise, all of us clever, all elders of our people, all fully versed in the Torah, we would still be obligated to recall the leaving from Egypt.”

It is the retelling of the story and the strengthening of faith that will bring us closer to the time when we will no longer be slave. 

There was once a city that was very well fortified. It was enclosed by a thick stone wall, thought to be impenetrable. 

A wise king decided to conquer this fortified city. After inspecting the fortifications, he sent his mightiest soldiers to bring down the wall and attack the city. These soldiers fell. 

He next sent a second wave of less mighty soldiers, and then a third wave, and so on. Before long, his entire army had been depleted and the wall had not come down. 

But the king did not give up. Once again he circled the city, inspecting its walls “How can you expect to capture this city if all your mighty soldiers are gone?” he was asked. The wise king smiled. “If you look closely, you will see that though the soldiers could not breach the wall, they did succeed in cracking  and weakening it. It is no longer strong and impenetrable. Now, with even the weak and wounded I can bring down the wall.” The king then sent his few remaining and weakest soldiers into battle and conquered the city. 

Though the armies of the King  did not succeed in bringing the Mashiach, all the great Tzaddikim of the previous generation did succeed in cracking the wall. 

Tags: Holiday, Holidays, Pesach, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Stories by Rabbi
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One Passover, a rabbi conducted his first Seder with great spiritual inspiration. He carried out each of the Kabbalistic intentions and felt as if he were soaring through the heavens. He never remembered carrying out such an exhilarating Seder. 

On the following night, he rabbi lay down to rest after the evening prayers to gather his strength. Suddenly, he was overcome by a deep sleep. Without realizing, he slept for several hours, waking only a half hour before midnight. 

The rabbi was accustomed to finish the afikoman before midnight on the second night as well and, therefore, had to rush through the entire Seder. He had no time for mystic thoughts. With little more than the simple meanings of the words in mind, he read the Haggadah and ate the matzah, maror, and afikoman. 

He felt crushed, How could he have conducted such a Seder, particular after yesterday’s heights? 

After Pesach, the rabbi went to visit his master and teacher in a faraway city. When the rabbi greeted his teacher, his teacher replied:

 ”I watched your Seders, my student. The first night, shockingly low, soaring through the heavens, pheh… 

“The second night, wonderful. The simple meaning of the Haggadah, the earnest desire to fulfill G-d’s command. How could anyone conduct a holier Seder!”

Tags: Holiday, Holidays, Pesach, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Stories by Rabbi
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One Passover, after the conclusion of the Seder, the holy Rebbe of Berditchev felt very satisfied. He had fulfilled all the Passover mitzvos carefully and carried out all the mystic intentions associated with them. As he reviewed his behavior, his thoughts were interrupted by a heavenly voice: 

“Don’t be so proud of your Seder. In your city, there is a poor Jewish water carrier whose Seder far surpassed yours.” 

Disturbed and curious, the Rebbe dispatched some of his students to bring the water carrier to him. Despite the lateness of the hour, the students set out to fulfill their teacher’s request. Unfortunately, the water carrier was not a known person in the village and none of the students were sure where he lived. 

After a considerable search, the students located the water carrier’s home and knocked at the door. Somewhat astonished to see the Rebbe’s attendants arrive at her home so late at night, the water carrier’s wife opened the door. 

When the students asked to see her husband, she shyly answered “He can’t speak to you now.” 

“But the Rebbe wants to see him,” they insisted. 

Realizing that they would not take no for an answer, she pointed to their bedroom. “There he is, lying on the bed. He’s stone drunk. What could the Rebbe want from him?” 

Without pausing to answer, the students approached the sleeping water carrier and tried to wake him. Unable to rouse him, they were forced to carry him to the Rebbe. In the holy rabbi’s presence, the water carrier began to come to his senses. When the Rebbe looked him in the eye, he began to cry continuously. 

With soothing words, the Rebbe gently calmed his guest. When he regained his composure, the holy rabbi asked him: “Tell me about your Seder.” 

Again the water carrier burst into tears. After calming him once more, the Rebbe assured him there was no need to worry. His Seder had found favor in G-d’s eyes and he, the holy rabbi, wanted to learn from it. 

Stuttering, his words interrupted by occasional sobs, the water carrier began to tell his story: 

“There’s one custom which I have adopted that I follow loyally. Each morning after prayers, I take a little vodka and say l’chayim to to the Holy One, blessed be He. 

“This morning, after following my daily custom, it occurred to me that since I wouldn’t be able to drink alcohol for the next eight days, I should say I’chayim for the entire holiday. Without thinking much longer, I downed eight more l’chayims. My head became groggy and I went to sleep. 

“I slept very soundly without realizing how the hours passed by. At nightfall, my wife tried to wake me to go to shul, but I couldn’t get out of bed. When everybody was coming home, she tried to wake me again, but I just turned to the other side. 

“She waited a little longer, then, came to wake me a third time. Shaking me with all her strength, she cried: “Husband! It’s Pesach! What about the seder? All the Jewish people are celebrating the holiday. What about us?’” 

“I felt terrible. She was almost crying. Summoning whatever strength I could, I stumbled to the table and began to speak: “I am a simple person and my father was a simple person. I can’t read Hebrew and don’t know what we’re supposed to say now, but I know one thing about Passover. Our ancestors were slaves to the Egyptians and God took them out of exile. We’re in exile again now. May G-d redeem us very soon.” 

“Afterwards, I noticed that my wife had prepared matzos, wine, eggs, and some vegetables on the table. I drank the wine, ate the food, and went back to bed. That was my Seder.” 

The holy Rebbe of Berditchev again assured the water carrier that his Seder had been accepted by G-d and asked his students to take him home. When they returned, he told them: “The few words he said, he said with all his heart, and therefore. G-d appreciated his Seder.”

Tags: Holiday, Holidays, Pesach, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Stories by Rabbi
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The haggadah says, “This year, we are here; next year, in the Land of Israel. This year, we are slaves; next year, free men!” 

We are still in exile today. The exile of Egypt was a difficult one, with bricks, mortar, and back breaking work. While today’s is one of abundance and wealth, so much so that sadly, people often do not realize that they are still in bitter Exile. It is like:

A prince rebelled against his father. The irate king exiled his son to a place far from the palace, decreeing that the rebellious prince must do hard labor and working with is hands. 

Now the prince had never done any work at all, and he was completely unaccustomed to hard labor and working with is hands. He imme­diately sent his father a letter, begging for forgiveness and promising faithfully that he would never again do anything to challenge or disrespect him. 

The letter touched the king’s heart, and he granted to the prince’s request and returned him to the palace as before. 

Sadly, after a while, the prince forgot all that had hap­pened and again rebelled against his father. The angry king exiled the prince once again, to the same land and to the same hard physical work. 

When the king’s son saw that he was truly in a terrible situation, he wrote to his father once more, begging for mercy and forgiveness, and promising that he would never repeat his wicked actions. 

The king received this letter and thought to himself, “My son writes to me now only because he finds himself in great distress, and not because he truly wishes to he close to me. If I forgive him and return him to the palace, he will once again sin against me. 

“So instead, I will release him from the hard physical work in his exile—but not return him to the pal­ace. Instead, I will support him there, in his exile, bountifully and pleasantly. Now, if my son truly wishes to return to my home, he will send me a letter with that request. But if he does not send me such a letter, I will know that he is not really de­voted to me, and that all of his requests to return stemmed only from the hardships that he suffered there.” 

When the Jewish people were in Egypt, the Egyptians burdened them with hard labor and working with is hands. The Jewish people cried out to Hashem, Who hurried to redeem them and take them out of Egypt. Sadly, after the Jewish people returned to the Land of Israel, they sinned against Him. As a result, the Holy One, blessed be He exiled them among the nations, where today many of them enjoy pleasant and easy lives. 

If, from this comfortable exile, the Jewish people still cry out to Hashem and beg to return, this is a clear sign of their sincere, desire for Hashem’s love, But if they do not ask to return from this exile, it is a sign that they seek only a life of ease and comfort.

Tags: Holiday, Holidays, Pesach, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Stories by Rabbi
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Pesach was approaching quickly and everyone was preparing for the holiday. Once, two Jewish beggars were traveling together. One beggar told the other to go to the shul (synagogue), and the Jewish householders would have pity on him and invite him to a seder. 

And so it was, both beggars were invited to seders. The evening started with Kiddush, and the one beggar thought to himself, “Good wine means good food.” 

This was soon followed by karpas (green vegitable), and the beggar thought to himself, “A good meal begins with an appetizer.” 

After a long while, people washed and the blessings were said and the matzah was served, and the beggar thought to himself, “It’s about time the meal was served, I’m just about starved.” 

Then the maror (bitter herbs – usually horseradish) was served. The beggar took a full teaspoon and his mouth felt as though it was on fire. He quickly ran from the house. 

“How was your Seder?” asked one beggar to the other. The disgruntled beggar then told him what had happened. 

“Fool!” replied the one beggar. “If you had waited just a little longer, you would have had a fine meal, as I had.” 

The same is true when we want to come close to the Holy One, blessed be He. After all the effort to begin, we are given a little bitterness. This bitterness is needed to purify the body. But we might think that this bitterness is all there is to serving G-d, so we run away from it. This is a mistake. If we would only wait just a short while — if we would allow ourselves to be purified — then we would experience every joy and delight in the world in our closeness to G-d.

Tags: Holiday, Pesach, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Stories by Rabbi
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